What is so interesting about the Adidas mission statement, and what takeaways can we get from it? Continue reading to learn more!
Ask anyone to mention three sportswear brands off the hip and chances are Adidas will be on the list. This is not at all surprising, given that Adidas is actually the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second biggest in the world, after Nike.
Adidas is a German-owned global sportswear company best known for designing and manufacturing athletic shoes, clothing and accessories in various sports. The company was founded under a different name (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) in 1924 by two brothers, Adolf Dassler and Rudolf Dassler.
In 1949, however, the two brothers could no longer manage a growing rift between themselves and had to separate. Both remained in the footwear industry, though, as Adolf went on to found Adidas while Rudolf created Puma. And now, without further ado, let’s take a look at the Adidas mission statement:
1. Adidas mission statement
The Adidas mission statement is “to be the global leader in the sporting goods industry with brands built on a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle. We are committed to continuously strengthening our brands and products to improve our competitive position.”
Technically not one of the shortest mission statements, maybe, but certainly one of the best – it is very simple and self-explanatory. There are some really interesting key points to note here, and that is the focus of this article.
We will have a deeper look into what Adidas means by this statement.
Find out how Adidas maintained its top place in the sportswear industry through several decades by staying committed to its corporate statements of purpose. Our analysis will be based on three key areas of the Adidas brand – profile, culture, and strategy.
2. Profile
At the heart of everything Adidas believes in and offers is sports. Adidas understands the increasing importance of sports in people’s lives, whether on the field of play or off it.
Adidas believes that sports has the capacity to bring out our competitive best and maximize our human capacity to see and do the impossible. This attitude of the brand can be drawn from Adidas’s corporate statements – its mission, purpose, attitude and values.
Note carefully how everything links up well together around the themes of competitiveness and leadership.
2.1. Purpose
“Through sport, we have the power to change lives.”
Adidas explains that this powerful message guides how they run their company, how they work with their partners, how they create their products, and how they engage with their consumers.
Everything is tied around their goals of continually striving to expand the bounds of human possibilities (expansion), including and uniting people through sports (inclusivity), and creating a more sustainable world (sustainability).
Under the “Culture” and “Strategy” sections of this article, we will examine how Adidas’s employees and partners are driving change through purpose and how this can influence you, too.
2.2. Mission
The Adidas mission statement is “to be the global leader in the sporting goods industry with brands built on a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle. We are committed to continuously strengthening our brands and products to improve our competitive position.”
The above narrows down to the few words: To be the best sports brand in the world.
Sports is an extremely competitive and demanding endeavor, and athletes cannot afford to settle for average. Adidas understands this and relates excellently well with the needs of athletes to perform at their peak and win.
Adidas responds to this shared belief and passion (for leadership in the sports sector) with athletes by setting up a unique working culture and an effective marketing strategy centered around four major consumer offerings:
Creating the best design
While excellence in product performance is the top priority of Adidas, at the same time, the brand is just as concerned about creating these products in style.
This is why the brand divided its products into two broad categories for different markets: sports and fashion. Today, there’s Adidas Sports, Adidas Fashion and Adidas Originals. From cute sweatpants to high-performance sneakers, the market has just the right design for everyone.
Maximizing athlete performance
This ambitious attitude of Adidas seeking only the best performance for athletes through their products dates back to the company’s early days.
It’s said that Dassler assisted in the development of spiked running shoes for several athletic events. To improve the quality of spiked sports shoes, he upgraded from a previous model of heavy metal spikes to using canvas and rubber.
Adidas mission statement
In the 1936 Summer Olympics, Dassler convinced American sprinter Jesse Owens to use his handmade Adidas spiked-boots. Owens went on to win gold medals with the boots.
Even though they already have a wealth of top athletic products, Adidas would never stop improving on their products. They remain committed to their goal of providing constant motivation and innovation for athletes to push beyond their limits and perform at maximum capacity in their respective sports.
Manufacturing top quality products
Adidas products are justifiably pricey, as they come with unrivaled quality. Every shoe, t-shirt, and shorts designed by Adidas is fit to wear to even the most demanding international sports competitions. You can be sure of getting top-quality products, as long as it comes out of the Adidas facilities.
Reaching the global market
Adidas is already known everywhere in the world. However, the sportswear giant continues to strengthen its global presence by continually executing strategic marketing campaigns and partnering with internationally recognized celebrities and public figures in the sports and entertainment industries.
2.3. Tagline / slogan – “Impossible is nothing
When it comes to the Adidas mission statement, the next important component is their slogan.
“Impossible is nothing.”
In this component (fondly tagged “Attitude” by the company) Adidas describes itself as “…rebellious optimists driven by action, with a desire to shape a better future together.”
Adidas believes that success (or failure) starts in the mind. Where others see insurmountable hurdles, Adidas sees possibilities and opportunities to break through to success.
The impossible-is-nothing attitude is a mantra designed by Adidas to help its customers and employees to be able to pull their positive energy into physical and mental tasks to create possibilities out of all situations, be it in the field of play or in making groundbreaking strides in designing the future of sports.
Adidas mission statement and tagline/slogan
For Adidas, it’s always about winning and leading (no matter the odds!), as encapsulated by this slogan.
2.4. Values
The Adidas mission statement may have evolved a couple times over the decades, but its emphasis on competition and pushing to be the best has remained relatively the same.
The reason is that Adidas was founded on exemplary values (timeless qualities) and these have been solidly forged into the company’s purpose, vision, and way of life.
Adidas core values are: Diversity, equity and inclusion. Leadership. Betterment. Performance
We will examine each of these next.
3. Culture: The People
“…if you want a job done well, you must create the right conditions for it.”
Another aspect of the Adidas mission statement is culture.
The above were the words of Adolf Dassler, the founder of Adidas. Dassler believed not only in excellence but also in self – the power of self. He believed that everything starts and ends in the mind, and that is why Adidas is so focused on pushing limits and expanding human potentials.
By focusing on “people” and investing on its workforce, Dassler’s Adidas believes a good working culture can be created and maintained, as well as excellence achieved. “People” in this context would refer to the employees and the customers of the Adidas brand.
Adidas credits much of their success to the” DEI” culture of their company. DEI refers to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – values they consider pivotal to their success.
The DEI concept explains the way Adidas employees relate among themselves and operate within the workplace. It’s designed to make everyone feel bonded and included on the Adidas mission.
In the end, it’s about creating a culture and environment where everyone can thrive, succeed, feel included, and be comfortable doing what they do. Let’s analyze some of the beliefs and attitudes that define and guide the Adidas brand.
3.1. Leadership
When it comes to the Adidas mission statement, the company believes in the role of leadership when it comes to evolving the culture of a company or any team.
Leaders at Adidas are expected to act as role models and empower all others down the rankings to realize their potentials and awaken the leader within themselves.
The company understands that when all team players are leaders and people managers – when everyone is inspired to show courage, take ownership, and drive innovation – the company can make a real impact.
Adidas mission statement
Adidas extends this culture of leadership and competitiveness to its customers, as we have discussed previously. The company is fiercely committed to making leaders out of athletes who trust their products.
3.2. Betterment
A culture of continuous learning and improvement is a priority at Adidas, and it is encompassed in the Adidas mission statement. The company believes that it can achieve its goals and become even stronger, individually or as a company, if it invests in bettering its workforce.
To act on this conviction, Adidas commits itself to providing a wide range of relevant learning and development opportunities for its employees to “…upskill and reskill for the future.”
Adidas workers are also encouraged to get out of their comfort zones and try new things, so that they can bring fresh ideas and experiences into new areas of the business.
This is why the company is so much committed to building a winning team of uniquely talented individuals selected from different parts of the world, for various sectors of their establishment.
Constant improvement is a code Adidas lives and breathes. This culture reflects in the brand’s product offerings, with lots of varieties for different consumers and regular updates according to market demands and trends.
3.3. Performance
Adidas’s competitive spirit means they’re out to win, all the time. To further imprint and encourage this attitude in the minds of its employees, Adidas promotes an atmosphere of recognition and rewards within the organization.
There are compensations, benefits and incentive programs aligned with the company’s culture and policies of measuring performance.
4. Strategy
Another aspect when it comes to the Adidas mission statement is strategy.
Adidas uses a two-pronged approach in the execution of its marketing strategy. The company fondly calls these the “Our People/People Promise” and the “Own The Game”.
Adidas mission statement: strategy
The “Our People” aspect of the Adidas strategy also doubles as the Adidas culture, and that is what we just discussed in the previous section. It deals with the working culture of the Adidas brand, relative to the expectations the brand demands of its employees in terms of behavior and performance.
Components of this strategy include: leadership, betterment and performance.
“Own The Game” is what might be called Adidas’s core brand strategy. This component concerns itself with strategic focus areas and systems through which Adidas hopes to promote itself, serve its consumers, and ultimately, achieve its goal of becoming industry best.
Elements that make up this system are credibility, experience and performance. Let’s have a better understanding of each component of the Own-Your-Game strategy.
4.1. Credibility
Adidas’s credibility in sports and culture, envisioned by the Adidas mission statement, helps establish its position as a leading sportswear brand. To further improve its credibility with consumers, Adidas makes it clear that they will continue to dish out innovative concepts in line with their mission.
Some of the avenues through which they hope to achieve this goal is “sports, lifestyle, women, and partnerships,” as specifically categorized by Adidas.
What does each offer?
- Sports
The company seeks to focus on the most important sports categories: soccer, training, running, and outdoor. Adidas products are specially designed to be competitive and to earn them the credit to remain a relevant force in such a huge, demanding, and profitable market.
- Lifestyle
While Adidas is focused on making sportswear, it also designs apparels as fashion statements for ordinary people with a sense of style. This way, it can cater to both worlds, thus, extending its coverage.
- Women
Through partnerships and programs that create opportunities for the female gender, Adidas seeks to live out the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) aspect of its culture.
- Partnership
Adidas believes that partnering with other trusted organizations and individuals can help promote its brand image and reach.
For this reason, they continue to expand their already rich portfolio of partners, which include giant soccer clubs, such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid; famous athletes, like Lionel Messi; popular events, like the Boston and Berlin Marathons; and celebrity partnerships with Kanye West and Beyoncé.
Adidas mission statement: credibility with celebrities
4.2. Experience
Customer experience is at the heart of Adidas’s marketing strategy. The company looks to build long-term relationships with its customers, and hopes to achieve this by creating personalized experiences through both digital and physical media.
The company uses a direct-to-customer (DTC) sales model that makes it easy for the brand to spread its reach around the world and even easier to access desired products as a customer.
Some of the facilitators of this component are the membership, DTC-led sales, key city coverage, and strategic markets of Adidas.
4.3. Sustainability
“Through sport, we have the power to change lives” is another component of the Adidas mission statement and Adidas’s purpose (remember?) and one of the ways it hopes to better people’s lives is through sustainability programs.
For over two decades, sustainability has been a key feature of Adidas products and approach to production. The company defines products as sustainable “…when they show environmental benefits versus conventional products due to the materials used it their respective production technologies.”
Adidas projects that by 2025, nine out of ten of their products will be sustainable. They will be made from recycled materials, made to be remade, or made with natural and renewable materials.
As we begin to see the huge environmental and economical benefits of sustainability in production, more and more companies are beginning to lean towards this idea, and more consumers (and the public at large) are ready to identify more with such companies than with their competitors who are still not on the movement.
Adidas understands the situation (for its nobler side, we’d like to assume) and are investing in this direction, which is also something that shows in the Adidas mission statement.
Final thoughts: Adidas mission statement
A good way to gauge a company’s success is when you look at its products, services and mode of operation, and you clearly see that it reflects the brand’s mission and vision statements, as well as its values. Adidas is a perfect example of such a company.
Looking at their merchandise, for example, you will instantly see products designed with top quality, modern innovation and hard work in mind.
Adidas has a deep culture centered around passion for sports and active lifestyle, and in spite of the company’s massive growth over the years, this passion has not waned but keeps growing stronger.
Numerous revisions over the years haven’t affected the company, either, as they continue to seek ways to adapt and/or adjust to the changing needs of the industry and market.
Among all its values and ideologies, two concepts stand out as principally responsible for Adidas’s success from day-one: their belief in competitiveness and leadership, and these reflect clearly in their promises, offerings, and processes, as we have seen.
Are you in the process of creating your own corporate statements for your business? The Adidas mission statement would be a great model. Of course, you would need to get creative with necessary modifications so that your statements will align with your company’s unique goals.
If you think may need help, we will be more than glad to help you craft a mission statement that perfectly outlines your business objectives and lets your company’s best qualities shine through to the right audience.
Now it’s your turn – what do you think we can learn from the Adidas mission statement? Let us know in the comments below! In the meantime, if you want to read more content on mission statement and see additional examples, you can check out these articles:
- Nike Mission Statement: The Ultimate Analysis in 2022
- 104 Incredible Mission Statement Examples (in 2022)
- What is The Purpose of a Mission Statement? +5 Key Elements
- 12 Powerful Mission Statement Benefits for Your Business
