Adidas 2000 Annual Report Download - page 15

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adidas-Salomon ANNUAL REPORT 2000
11
Management Speaks Out
Brand Marketing Successes
Success in linking our brands and products to world-class
sporting events and personalities is critical in improving our
profile with consumers. Here are a few examples of how we
did this in 2000:
At the Summer Olympics in Sydney, we sponsored more
than 3,000 athletes, giving us more medals and sponsorship
identification than any other company.
At the European soccer championships, France won the
competition, helping us to retain our number one position in
the European market.
In the United States, Kobe Bryant’s scoring helped bring
the Lakers another NBA title and boosted the sales of
The KOBE shoe – our most successful new basketball
release in a decade.
In the United States again, Marat Safin won the US Open
and is the hottest prospect in men’s tennis worldwide.
Martina Hingis is the undisputed number one in women’s
tennis. Together with Anna Kournikova, the most famous
female athlete in the world today, these stars have propelled
adidas to first place in the US tennis market and driven
double-digit growth in this category in 2000.
At a World Cup race in Kitzbühel, Austria, 21-year-old Salomon
sponsored Mario Matt, wearing our hot selling Equipe 10 3V
skis, established himself as the new winter sports icon by
winning the downhill. After a great ski season, he went on
to become the world champion in early 2001.
And at golf tournaments throughout the world, the
TaylorMade 300 SeriesTM metalwood really made its mark.
The driver had 27 wins globally as well as 57 top ten finishes.
Other Big Wins in 2000
In addition to these major sporting events, there were two
special recognitions that adidas-Salomon received in 2000,
which show that the changes we are making as an organization
are also starting to be recognized externally.
On the marketing side, the adidas brand won the prestigious
CLIO “Advertiser of the Year” award in recognition of our
superior worldwide advertising over the last few years. This is
important in reaching the audiences – young, fashion-oriented,
media-focused – that will determine our success in the future.
We are proud of this work and, as we reposition adidas for
stronger performance, this media skill will be important.
Another big area of pride for our Company was being selected
to join the Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index. This is the
world’s premiere index for sustainability-driven companies.
Sustainability-driven companies are characterized by integrat-
ing environmental and social responsibility into their business
strategy to deliver lasting benefits to current and future genera-
tions. Based on our social, environmental and financial perfor-
mance, we are now recognized as an industry leader for sus-
tainability issues. In particular, Dow Jones cited our significant
progress in improving the social and environmental conditions
in the factories which supply our products. This is a distinction
we have worked hard for, are proud of and will make sure we
maintain going forward.
The Future
2001 is going to be a really exciting year. We have reinvigorated
our team and refocused our energies. adidas-Salomon is a far
better organization today in terms of design, marketing and
sales than it was a year ago.
That means we now have the right platform to move on to the
next phase in our plans to maximize the performance and prof-
itability of our brands by making top-line growth our top priority.
I am convinced that this year our new strategic initiatives will
bring us even greater successes.
In the following pages, we have outlined our strategy for
pushing adidas-Salomon to the next performance level.
Our passion to compete and win is what pushes us forward.
And it is our passion which will drive us to extend our position
as a global leader in the sporting goods industry and to deliver
the financial performance which this Company is capable of
achieving.
Herbert Hainer
Chief Operating Officer
March 2001