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Adidas is world renowned sportswear company that is famously known for their athlete wear and footwear. They're probably one of the most expensive sneakers out in the market. As per Macro Trends, the net worth of the company as of January 2023 is $30 Billion. This is not surprising since they are the second biggest sports brand next to Nike.
The brand is among the brands of shoes that even celebrities love to collect. With the massive success of Adidas, it is hard to imagine they initially started as a small shoemaking business at a laundry area. Take a look at the inspiring story of how Adidas became a multibillion company today.
Adolf Dassler Struggles In Establishing His Shoe Company
Adidas was founded by Adolf Dassler who was born on November 3, 1900 in Herzogenaurach, German. He was born in a lower class family with his shoemaker father Christoph Dassler and mother Algirdas who's offering laundry service. At the time, the family is selling homemade slippers to supplement their household income.
Adolf Dassler finally completed his education in 1913 and followed the footsteps of his father and became a shoemaker. He went on to continue making, designing and repairing shoes until 1922. At the time, their town became the hotspot for shoemakers since most of the textile mills in their area converted to become a shoe workshop.
Life was hard for Adolf as he struggled even more because of the surge of shoemakers in their town. It did not help that the World War I had a massive impact on the economy which made their lives even more difficult. He needed to cut costs and since he could no longer afford a decent working area, he started making shoes at the back of his mom's laundry.
Due to scarcity, Adolf used everything he could find and repurpose them including military uniforms, automobile tyres, helmets, parachutes, etc. Since Adolf is a fervent sports fan, he experimented with his shoes to make the best sports shoes. By 1924, his brother Rudolf joined his shoe business.
Blossoming As A Shoe Factory In The 1920s
The brothers started a new business together called Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. The brothers complemented each other since Adolf is an excellent shoemaker while Rudolf is an excellent salesman and marketer. Their business soon blossomed as Adolf started handling the production while Rudolf handled the marketing.
Their sports shoes became widely known and by 1926, they were able to afford a place for their shoemaking business. With the new area they had, they were able to make a hundred pairs of shoes per day. The company soon grew in size and Adolf decided to expand their business outside Bavaria. He traveled to almost every major sporting events and talked to the athletes to try their shoes.
With his efforts and determination, a lot of the top German athletes used their shoes when the 1928 Olympics was held in Amsterdam. Adolf decided to sponsor the top athletes in the 1936 Olympics that was held in Berlin. He decided to branch out and tried to convince renowned American sprinter Jesse Owens to wear their shoes and Owens agreed.
The fame and sales of their business skyrocketed since Jesse Owens went on to win four gold medals in the track event and broke numerous records. Their company received international exposure and they were known as the shoes that Jesse Owens wore during his Olympics win.
While they received a massive attention from the international market, the two brothers decided to part ways due to some misunderstanding. In 1949 Rudolph took half of the company with the employees and went on to establish his own company called Ruda. He later on changed it to Puma since Ruda isn't athletic enough. That same year, Adidas was founded by Adolf.
The Biggest Break For The Brand Adidas
They went on their separate ways with a few lawsuits on trademarks and designs against each other but their businesses went on. Adidas continued to shine and make shoes for the athletes however they were in for the biggest break for the company. A group called Run-DMC released a song titled My Adidas which became a huge hit where they mentioned their love for the brand.
Fans flock the market and bought tons of Adidas products. Unlike Jesse Owens, Adidas never asked the group to market their brand and the group voluntarily did it because of their love for the brand. The hip-hop group was so popular as they were the first ones in the genre to have their album certified gold and was even nominated for a Grammy award.
The group decided to invite one of the executives from Adidas to attend their event and when the group asked their fans to raise their Adidas shoes in the air, the executive was pretty impressed upon seeing thousands of Adidas in the air. The brand soon signed Run-DMC and closed a $1.6 million deal with the group, and it became iconic shoe collabs in the history.
The company saw the growth in their sales after Run-DMC and went on to sign more entertainers to market their brand. The brand is now renowned for their association with athletes and rappers. Adidas also went on to sign Footballer David Beckham and legendary boxing icon Muhammad Ali.
Today, the brand is one of the leading footwear brands alongside Nike, and Puma. Aside from their effective marketing strategy, the brand also makes sure that they are up to date with the latest footwear trend.
Sources: Think With Niche, Success Story, Brain Prick
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