Adidas Aims at 590 USD TNF Market for Outdoor Market

Due to the financial crisis, the profitability of Adidas, the world's sports industry giant, has continued to decline in recent quarters. The third-quarter financial report disclosed earlier this month showed that due to the poor sales of its sporting goods, the company’s net profit in the third quarter was only 213 million euros, a decrease of nearly 30% year-on-year. In order to reverse this trend and expand its business areas as soon as possible, Adidas gradually turned its attention to the increasingly booming outdoor market, and announced recently that it will launch a series of professional mountaineering jackets priced at 400 Euros (US$595) in 2010. To capture the stable market share of The North Face, the current leader in outdoor apparel. Because in Adidas's view, the outdoor consumer market has grown much faster than the traditional sports market.

Rolf Reinscht, head of outdoor global adidas Group, said in a telephone interview that the world’s second-largest producer of sporting goods has set a goal to become a leading brand in functional clothing by 2015. “Adidas wants to be the top ten in the outdoor industry. Brand." But he refused to disclose more detailed plans and provide relevant data.

According to the report of the European Outdoor Industry Association, sales of European outdoor apparel will increase by 0.7% in 2009, and the market performance will be much better than the continuously declining sporting goods market. The highly segmented market characteristics are very attractive for Adidas. Currently, The North Face, a brand of VF Corp., the world’s largest apparel manufacturer, is the leader in the $59 billion global outdoor industry with annual sales of US$2.74 billion.

"Adidas is currently lagging behind many professional brands in this industry, but it has already begun to act." Andreas Bartmann, CEO of Globetrotter, the largest outdoor retailer in Europe, said. Globetrotter, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, with a turnover of $205 million in fiscal 2008, plans to start selling outdoor hiking shoes launched by Adidas next year.

The Terrex Jackets that Adidas will launch next spring weigh only 325 grams. Using the FORDOTION technology Adidas has and the use of Gore PRO SHELL fabrics, is a professional alpine lightweight jacket, altitude can reach 6,000 meters above sea level High mountains.

The North Face Company

The German company did not provide sales data for its outdoor apparel, but said that its outdoor apparel sales still maintained a growth trend in the first three quarters of 2009, although overall sales fell by 3.7%. The Wealth Group released data last month saying that at the current exchange rate, The North Face’s fiscal revenue rose by 10% in the third quarter, while its sports brand’s Vans rose only 4% under the same criteria.

Colombian company

But looking at the world, not every major outdoor company has performed as strongly as it did this year. Another giant in the global outdoor industry, Columbia, released last month’s financial report for the third quarter showed that fiscal revenues fell by 4% compared with the same period last year to US$ 434.5 million, and the full-year growth forecast was further reduced. The company once predicted that the annual revenue in 2009 will fall into a low double-digit figure.

From the beginning of the year to the present, the cumulative increase of Adidas shares was 30%, 34% for the Welfare Group and 11% for Colombia.

Adidas hires Huber brothers as endorsers

Rolf Reinscht has been in charge of the Adidas Outdoor Division since 2007 and has established a 40-person team to research and develop high-tech outdoor apparel and footwear. At the same time, he has increased investment in television advertising and hired German extreme rock climbing clubs (Alexander Hube and D Thomas Huber spoke as an ambassador and sponsored the mountaineering activities of the Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner (first of all 14 8000m summits) to help them increase their visibility and build a professional image.

"The most important thing for us at this moment is to gain credibility in the outdoor sector." Reinsch said.

Herbert Hainer, the current chief executive officer of Adidas Group, said last month that it will establish an outdoor division with its own brand, rather than through mergers and acquisitions. “Adidas is making great efforts to take advantage of the growing opportunities of the current outdoor market to earnestly do a promising job.” The secretary-general of the European Outdoor Industry Association expressed admiration for Adidas’ aggressive expansion into the outdoor community. He hopes that the outdoor industry will continue to maintain sustained growth next year. .

"Even during the recession, people continue to buy outdoor products and temporarily escape this serious and harsh real life." Held said.