Nike and Adidas are arguably the two largest shoe companies in the world, both are deeply entrenched in youth culture and are considered to be essential items in any wardrobe in urban, grime, and hip hop subcultures. For years the two have been in direct competition and have been trying every trick in the book to win over market share from one anther.
A Brief History of Nike
Nike was founded by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight in Oregon, USA. Originally the company was called Blue Ribbon Sports and focused on delivering high quality footwear for athletes, a concept previously unheard of. However in 1971 the company was rebranded as the Nike we know and love. To start Nike only featured one shoe and one T-Shirt however the brand has now expanded to the sell thousands of different sporting products in roughly 170 countries worldwide
See Nikes Product Line here: https://www.nike.com/au
A Brief History of Adidas
The Business was founded by a German Man named Adi Dassler in 1924, who operated the company out of a wash room under the name “Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik”, However Adi rebranded the company in 1949 under the new name “Adi Dassler adidas Sportschuhfabrik” and focused on footwear sporting the iconic adidas “3 stripe”. Unfortunately adidas nearly went bankrupt in 1992 but was fortunately taken over by Robert-Luis-Dreyfus and completely overhauled. The Brand is now highly successful and sells over 850 million products annually across 160 countries.
See Adidas’ Product Line Here: https://www.adidas.com.au
Adidas vs Nike
While Nike has traditionally been Top-Dog in the sneaker game for a very long time, the reinvention of adidas in 1993 was the beginning of a substantial threat to Nike. Whilst Nike remain the dominant player with approximately $15.3 billion in sales annually, Adidas has been spiking in profits rapidly and has quickly grown to take up approximately $5.1 Billion of the shoe market. With Nike being aware of the threat posed by adidas they have employed many different techniques to try and differentiate their brand or create a sense of perceived superiority over adidas. Firstly both brands are very competitive in the sporting arena and are found sponsoring the most successful teams and athletes in a huge variety of sports worldwide. Another method of competition is by getting celebrity endorsements from the likes of Kanye West, Skepta and many more. Perhaps one of the most notorious examples of this is the famous “All-Star” concert put on wherein Kanye West Publicly Dissed Nike and endorsed Adidas – turning his back on a multi million dollar endorsement deal and unveiling his new line of footwear – the Adidas Yeezy.
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