Wouldn't you also like to have the Swiss national team under contract, Mr. Adidas?

CEO Herbert Hainer on the brand strategy for the World Cup, the St. Gallen-based chemical testing firm Bluesign, and the never-ending rivalry with Nike.

Editorial - July 3, 2014

And the Swiss are also shivering in the comforting TV fever: the national team is scoring goals at the World Cup in Brazil and "Swiss made" is playing a lively part in the biggest marketing event in the world. "Swiss football has developed very positively in recent years," says Herbert Hainer, CEO of Adidas AG. The praise comes from one of the most successful sports managers in the world. Hainer has been at the helm of the German group based in the Franconian province of Herzogenaurach for 13 years, delivering one record turnover after another as a DAX company (2013: 14.5 billion euros) and recently succeeded Uli Hoeness as head of the supervisory board at FC Bayern Munich. Herbert Hainer in an exclusive interview with Werbewoche about Switzerland as a sporting country, the marketing war for football boots and the background to the cooperation with Bluesign in St. Gallen.

Mr. Hainer, the national team has been kitted out by your competitor Puma for over 16 years. Would you like to have the team under contract?
Hainer: Good teams are always interesting for Adidas. Swiss football has developed very positively in international comparison, and we have been supporting this for a long time. For example, we have teamed up with FC Basel, and various Swiss national players such as Josep Drmic, Barnetta, Mehmedi, Lichtsteiner and Stocker are under contract with us.

But with Switzerland in its portfolio, Adidas would have had ten teams at the World Cup, just as many as Nike. So your US competitor won the starting line-up 10:9. A turning point in the global war of football shoes?
This issue is not about quantity, but about quality. For example, we only had six teams at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but with Spain, Argentina and Germany, we had three of the best teams in the world in the long term.

To date, only the Spanish national team has won major titles in Adidas. The others have come away empty-handed. Aren't such defeats negative for your marketing?
Well, don't forget the titles of the German national team. And Argentina have also been world champions in Adidas. Of course, sport is always about titles and trophies. But at the heart of the World Cup is the enthusiasm of billions of people. They join in the excitement. They sing and dance. Take Colombia: back at the World Cup for the first time in 16 years. The whole country goes crazy, and Adidas sells over a million jerseys there. The German jersey sold 2 million, 500,000 of which were sold outside the country, including in Switzerland. With sales of 2 billion euros, we will achieve a new record in the football business in 2014. We are and will remain the number one on the pitch.

Adidas' World Cup campaign in German-speaking countries is unusually martial: Podolski with a bloody heart in his hand, Schweinsteiger in a woodoo frenzy.
It used to be said that Adidas was too good, now people are complaining. One thing is certain: We have never had such a positive response to our brand image. Adidas is dominating this World Cup. Our 360-degree communication strategy is working.

What does this strategy look like?
It is based on three pillars and has proven its worth over the years. Firstly: event presence. Adidas is now on almost every television screen during the World Cup. We equip the referees and ball kids. We are the main sponsor on all advertising boards, and every game is played with our ball. The Brazuca has now become a key visual, a world star. In figures: 14 million copies sold, more than 2 million followers on Twitter, because Brazuca is the first ball with its own Twitter account. The second pillar is the teams that Adidas has under contract, and the third is the 300 professional players in all teams who represent our brand. Nike follows us in terms of teams and players, but our event strategy is unique and unrivaled.

Keyword Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Even the big DFB is stepping into the limelight with its Bundesliga foundation, currently donating 500,000 euros to projects in Brazil. How are you currently integrating CSR into your brand?
Before the term existed, our founder Adi Dassler was already doing CSR. Doing something good for society and our planet is an important part of our brand essence. Adidas began publishing its own CSR report back in 2000. There we transparently list all our goals and projects. We are at the top of all international sustainability rankings. We have been listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 14 years without interruption, including ten times as the best company in our sector. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, we were named one of the top ten most sustainable companies in the world - the only German company to do so.

They have their own kindergarten and a large fitness center for employees. There are electric charging stations for the electric company cars. And 14 days ago, they announced a cooperation with Bluesign, St. Gallen, a kind of textile chemical TÜV. Adidas, the cuddly brand?
This has nothing to do with cuddling, but is modern change management that every company has to implement if it wants to be successful in the long term. We are responding to the needs of a modern society. This brings us motivated employees and satisfied customers. With Bluesign Technologies, we have the world's leading provider of assessment methods in chemical textile processing. All manufactured materials must undergo strict tests. Adidas falls well below all EU limits. From next year, we will no longer use long-chain PFCs. The Adidas Group will publish 99 percent of the textile wet processes taking place in China on the IPE platform by the end of the year. This also underlines our leading role in chemical management.

What do you think is more important for your brand: the World Cup victory of an Adidas team or your current CSR and environmental activities?
The basis of our success will always be sporting success. Adidas provides athletes with equipment that makes them better. But an authentic positioning in a modern society is just as essential for long-term and sustainable brand success.

Peter Ehm, Germany

Adidas and Intersport: Two pretty good friends

Puma country Vacationland: This also applies to Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer. He loves being in Switzerland. Not just with FC Basel, which he brought back from rival Nike after 14 years with a 3-stripes contract. It is also his long-standing friendship with Franz Julen, CEO of Intersport International Corporation (IIC).

Intersport and Adidas - two global brands in the global sports business. Hainer is responsible for 14.5 billion euros in sales, Julen, the former sports journalist, for 10.2 billion. And for both, their profession is their vocation. Both are loyal to old-school brands and personally don't like job hopping. Franz Julen has been managing Intersport since 2000, Hainer Adidas since 2001.

"We go mountaineering together in Zermatt in the summer," says Hainer. In winter, Olympic champion Max Julen, the brother of the Intersport boss, gives him tips for Bavaria. Hainer is always impressed by the "imposing nature and the family atmosphere. The ideal setting for the Winter Olympics, isn't it?

Hainer says that, in his opinion, the Winter Games should always be held in the mountains. A hidden statement against unpopular retort games. "Pure nature" is not an advertising claim, but a demand for an authentic environment. Like in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway. Hainer: "I'm still enthusiastic about it today." However, the trend and IOC mood are moving in a different direction. Both the Bavarians and the Swiss have rejected the 2022 Winter Games in the mountains on their doorstep. So they are either going to Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Norway or China.

For the two companies Intersport and Adidas, it doesn't matter in principle: the Olympics always generate a lot of sales and on-screen time. The main thing is that the TV picture is live and in color. Like now during the World Cup.

Peter Ehm