Reebok 2009 Annual Report Download - page 56

52 GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT – OUR GROUP Group Strategy
Group Strategy
Our goal as a Group is to lead the sporting goods industry with brands built upon a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle.
Inspired by our heritage, we know that a profound understanding of the consumer and customer is essential to achieving this
goal. To anticipate and respond to their needs, we continuously strive to create a culture of innovation, challenging ourselves
to break with convention and embrace change. By harnessing this culture, we push the boundaries of products, services and
processes to strengthen our competitiveness and maximise the Group’s operational and financial performance. This, in turn,
will drive long-term value creation for our shareholders.
N °-
01
ADIDAS GROUP STRATEGIC PILLARS
Build and manage a diverse brand
portfolio with distinctive brands
covering consumers from sport
performance to sport lifestyle.
Require a culture of continuous
innovation through improvements
of products, services and processes.
Focus investment on the highest-
potential markets and our distinct
channel approach.
Become “closest to every consumer”
by building and managing a supply
chain that quickly responds to
changing market needs and supports
multiple distinct business models.
Develop a team that is grounded in
our rich heri
tage and is committed
to the positive values found in sport
– performance, passion, integrity
and diversity – and that values
sustainability.
Brand
Portfolio
Innovation
Markets/
Channels
Supply
Chain
Team
Reorganisation of Group provides solid
platform for growth
In 2009, the adidas Group took the
strategic decision to move from a verti-
cally integrated brand structure into a
functional multi-brand structure for the
adidas and Reebok brands. This led to
the creation of a Global Sales function
responsible for the commercial activities
and a Global Brands function responsible
for the marketing activities of both
brands. In addition, the Global Sales
organisation was split into Wholesale and
Retail, to cater more appropriately to the
different needs of these two distinctive
business models. This new structure fol-
lows two important principles: to foster
further alignment and strengthen brand
management to drive long-term sustain-
able growth, while at the same time
ensuring coordinated and best practice
execution in the marketplace.
To transition to the new structure, the
Group initiated several measures in 2009
including:
Establishment of joint operating
models for the adidas and Reebok
brands in most markets around the
globe.
Elimination of regional headquarters,
moving to more direct interaction
between local markets and global
functions.
Separation of the responsibility
between Global Brands and Global
Sales management on the Board level.
Herbert Hainer, adidas Group CEO,
additionally assumed direct respon-
sibility for Global Sales. At the same
time, Erich Stamminger, Member
of the Executive Board of the adidas
Group, took responsibility for Global
Brands.
The new structure will allow us to better
leverage the strengths of our manage-
ment team and deliver best-in-class
service to our consumers and customers.
Due to the different business models of
TaylorMade-adidas Golf, Rockport and
Reebok-CCM Hockey, these operating
segments are not part of the new matrix
structure.
Diverse brand portfolio
Consumers want choice. Whether it is
the athlete looking for the best possible
equipment, or the casual consumer
searching for the next fashion trend, we
are inspired to develop and create experi-
ences that engage consumers in long-
lasting relationships with our brands. To
maximise our consumer reach, we have
embraced a multi-brand strategy. This
approach allows us to tackle opportuni-
ties from several perspectives, as both
a mass and a niche player, providing
distinct and relevant products to a wide
spectrum of consumers. In this way, each
brand is able to keep a unique identity
and focus on its core competencies, while
simultaneously providing our Group with
a broad product offering, increasing our
leverage in the marketplace.