Getting a Foot Up on the Competition
Whoever takes home next year’s World Cup--Brazil, Argentina, Germany or England--the real winner will probably be Nike or Adidas as the sportswear giants lock into a marketing battle for the hearts and minds of soccer players and fans worldwide.
In a twist for a sport that has not really grabbed Americans’ attention, war strategy is being plotted back in Beaverton, Ore., which Nike and Adidas both call home.
The stakes are high. Adidas does more than $3 billion a year in business, Nike, more than $9 billion. But neither will say how much of that revenue comes from soccer.
Nike, which is very much the new soccer kid on the block, says its soccer-related sales have increased eightfold in the last two years. German-based Adidas, a supplier of soccer equipment for decades, says its soccer sector is growing.
As the most popular international sporting event in the world gears up for France to host in 1998, Nike and Adidas are collecting teams much like fans collect trading cards.
Nike is the official sponsor of the U.S. national team, which is on its way to qualifying for its third consecutive World Cup finals. Also wearing the Nike “swoosh” logo on their shirts are current world champions Brazil, three-time champions Italy and major teams such as the Netherlands, Russia and Nigeria.
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Lining up for Adidas are 1990 World Cup winners Germany, 1978 winners Argentina, and France, Sweden and Spain. Adidas has also been designated by FIFA, the world soccer body, to be the official sponsor of the World Cup and will be unveiling new technically advanced soccer balls to be used in France next year.
Adidas also sponsors three Major League Soccer teams--champions D.C. United, the Kansas City Wizards and the Columbus Crew, as well as individual players, U.S. captain John Harkes and defenders Alexi Lalas and Eddie Pope.
But Nike, which already has big-name recognition in basketball and football, has made a conscious effort to challenge Adidas on the soccer field.
Nike--named for the Greek goddess of victory--recently identified soccer as one of its three “core” sports, along with basketball and track and field. That means taking aim at Adidas, traditionally the leader in soccer wear in Europe.
“Nike is committed to growing the sport of soccer worldwide,” Antonio Tijerino, head of Nike’s soccer department said. “We don’t worry about the opposition, we put the athlete first.”
In Portland, Ore., this month, the rivalry between the two companies was never more apparent as when the United States national team played Costa Rica in a World Cup qualifying match.
As the Americans got closer to the finals by beating the Central Americans, 1-0, no one in the crowd of nearly 40,000 could have missed the message from Adidas. On a roof across the road from the Portland Civic Stadium sat a huge inflated soccer ball and a boot emblazoned with the company’s name.
“It was to let players know we are still here and are still backing you in your efforts to get to France,” said Douglas Hamilton, business unit manager for Adidas Soccer.
John Fread, director of public relations for Adidas America, quipped that the company name actually stands for “All Day I Dream About Soccer.”
“The United States is still new territory. Soccer has made such big strides here just since the early ‘90s,” he said.
Fread said Adidas advertising and promotions were built around young players such as the U.S. team’s Pope, Dutch forward Patrick Kluivert and England’s David Beckham. “These are young studs who are going to their first World Cups.”
For both companies, product development is important to maintain the high-profile exposure.
Fread dismissed charges that Adidas had become complacent.
“We are unveiling the World Cup balls in Marseilles in December and there is more ball and footwear development,” he said. “You can’t have brand loyalty without innovation, so we keep giving them new technology and will continue to do so.”
