Association with London 2012 Olympic Games and UEFA EURO 2012™ sets adidas apart from the competition

London, August 10, 2012 – With the closing of the London 2012 Olympic Games, adidas draws a positive conclusion of its involvement in the event. “Our presence in and around the Olympic Games was fantastic,” said Herbert Hainer, CEO of the adidas Group. “It translates into record Olympic merchandise sales and a record year for the adidas Group in the UK. This clearly sets the stage for us to achieve market leadership in the UK by 2015.”

Sales in the UK for the adidas brand were up 24% currency-neutral for the first half of 2012, spurred by demand for Olympic and Team GB products. Olympic licence product sales in the UK were up 250% compared to Beijing 2008. On a global level, adidas Group sales rose 11% on a currency-neutral basis or 16% in euro terms to € 7.3 billion for the first half of 2012.

As Official Sportswear Partner of London 2012, adidas led the way at the Olympic Games by outfitting more than 80,000 Games Makers with sustainable products, supplying kit for 3,000 athletes competing in 25 out of the 26 Olympic Sports and by working together with 11 National Olympic Committees, among them the most successful Team GB of all times. Herbert Hainer: “I can only admire the enthusiasm Great Britain brought to these Olympic Games. I am proud that adidas has been able to contribute to the phenomenal success of London 2012 through our support of Team GB and iconic athletes like Jessica Ennis and Sir Chris Hoy.”

adidas’ brand marketing efforts at and around the Games with its “Take the Stage” communication campaign, on-the-ground activations in London and events with athletes and ambassadors such as Yohan Blake, Laura Trott, Sally Pearson, the Brownlee brothers, Stefanie Graf, David Beckham and Haile Gebrselassie resulted in positive ratings in the latest report of market research firm Nielsen. According to this research, adidas is regarded as the most inspirational and most empowering brand among all Olympic Sponsors. Social media research from Sociagility confirmed that adidas created the most positive buzz in social media during the Games. According to Metrica Radar, adidas UK’s #takethestage hashtag significantly outperformed all competitors during the Games.

Earlier this summer, adidas already defended its title as the most successful football brand in Europe and the world at the UEFA EURO 2012™ by announcing that it expects to achieve record sales of well over € 1.6 billion in the football category in 2012, surpassing even record sales from the World Cup year 2010 (€ 1.5 billion in sales). In 2008, the year of the last UEFA EURO, sales in the football category totalled € 1.3 billion. 

Herbert Hainer: “Our association with major sporting events sets us apart from all the competition. Our results so far this year clearly show how successfully we leverage these events and use them to preserve and sustain our business momentum.”