Word: nike
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Think the World Cup is contested just on the pitch? With the finals less than a month away--on Adidas' German front lawn no less--Nike and Adidas have launched their broadest, most expensive marketing campaigns in the history of sport, all tied to a single event. (Nike is spending more than $100 million, Adidas closer to $200 million.) Some 32 billion cumulative viewers are expected to tune in to the World Cup, and an additional 3 million people will be taking in the tournament in 12 German cities. For both companies, it is the setting for another epic chapter...
Neither outfit is running up the score. Nike's übercool jock culture, led by its monklike chairman, Phil Knight, just spit out another CEO, William Perez, who lasted only 13 months. Net income rose 21%, to $1.4 billion, for the full year ending Feb. 28, but Nike's stock has slipped 5.3% in 2006. Adidas, which nearly imploded in the 1990s, is working through another restructuring. The company last year spun out its ill-fitting Salomon ski business and bought Reebok, the perennial No. 3 brand. Adidas profits rose 25%, to $537 million, over the past year...
...Nike leads Adidas in every major sport, except the one that matters the most to the planet. So the Oregonians are obsessed with claiming one last victory, in the beautiful game. For Adidas, a company started nearly 60 years ago by fussball fanatic Adi Dassler, a Nike victory on its home turf would be like the Swoosh-clad U.S. team knocking off Adidas-draped Germany in the finals. "Soccer is the lifeblood and the backbone of our brand," says Adidas brand president Erich Stamminger. "It's very, very emotional...
Should Adidas get a yellow-card warning for being cocky? Well, it's not as if Nike has ever finished second in arrogance. In July 2005, the American marketing machine sent a rosy letter to retailers worldwide that read, in part, "The new season for Spring 06 will serve as the platform for launching Nike into the number one soccer brand in the U.S. and the globe ... Prepare yourself and your business for a historic ride...
...scoreboard shows the Swoosh still trailing, though. Nike lost global soccer market share in 2005 and now has a 31% share, compared with 38% for Adidas, according to NPD Sports Tracking Europe. Historic hubris, maybe. "In 1998, they publicly said they wanted to be No. 1," Weigl says of Nike. "In 2002, 'We want to be No. 1.' I can tell you right now, they will again fail to achieve that goal." And you thought Argentina vs. England was a grudge match...