Adidas hopes to make hay while the Olympics shine and is looking to more than double the number of its retail outlets on the mainland by 2010 as a result of the Olympic effect.

It has been a bit of a slow start but more than a decade after Adidas sneakers were first introduced at a shopping mall in Beijing, the brand has now become a household name.

The success of Adidas in China coincides with the country’s growing enthusiasm for sports.

Nationwide, there are more than 2,500 Adidas outlets in 300 Chinese cities attract millions of sports fans. Adidas, is the world’s No.2 sporting goods maker after Nike and is expecting the number of its outlets in China to grow to over 5,000 by 2010.

Adidas, which has been the official supplier of the World Cup since 1970, is also committed to the Olympic Movement. The partnership between the Olympics and the company dates back to the 1928 Amsterdam Games.

On January 24, 2005, Adidas signed a deal with the Organizing Committee of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to became one of 11 official partners of the 2008 Olympics.

The German company is estimated to have paid as much as $100 million in cash and extras such as uniforms to win the Beijing Olympics sponsorship bid. The company will supply approximately 40,000 volunteers, staff and technical officials with sportswear. The illustration is of an Adidas factory in Suzhou which is no doubt going flat out to cope with the expected demand.

Note that in this article Adidas is spelled thus. In fact, it was registered as ‘adidas’ and was one of the first companies with such a damn silly idea regarding capitalization of a name. Since when it has spread like a disease.

Adidas was founded by Adi Dassler in the 1920s in Herzogenaurach, near Nuremberg. His brother, Rudolf Dassler, who worked with him, later formed the other shoe company, Puma and became a bitter rival.
Source: China Daily

Samsung Electronics is stepping up its partnership with the Olympic Movement.

The electronics company, a flagship of South Korea’s Samsung Group, joined the list of sponsors at the 1988 Seoul Games. Two decades later, it is one of 11 Worldwide Partners, or TOP Partners, for Beijing 2008.

Gyehyun Kwon, vice-president and head of Samsung Electronics’ Worldwide Sport Marketing and Global Communications Department said, ‘We learned a lot from the Seoul Olympics. We began to realize that the Olympics is an excellent platform in terms of marketing, public relations and public recognition. In the 10 years leading up to 1997, we prepared well in every respect, weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of us being a potential Worldwide Partner. After that, we just waited for an opportunity.’

This happened in 1996 when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) turned to Samsung as Motorola was only willing to pay half of the agreed sponsorship money. Samsung and the IOC came to an agreement.

During the Beijing Games, Samsung will provide more than 10,000 pieces of mobile equipment to guests, staff, athletes and journalists. It will continue to run Wireless Olympics Works, or WOW, a cellular network that gives designated users timely information about event results, medal counts and other matters.

According to the company brand value ratings issued annually by Interbrand, Samsung’s brand value grew more than five-fold from $3.1 billion in 1999 to $16.2 billion in 2006.

On April 23, Samsung demonstrated its commitment to the Olympic Movement by signing a new TOP partner contract till the 2016 Summer Games with the IOC in Beijing.
Source: China Daily