International marketing strategy of Adidas. A critical evaluation

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A, Kenyatta University, language: English, abstract: This paper aimed at exploring the competitive strategy of Adidas and growth opportunities that the company can take advantage of. Strategy is very important to the success and sustainability of any company. It involves understanding of the company¿s core capabilities, weaknesses, risks it faces and strengths and using them to design a sustainable competitive strategy.

The paper begins by exploring how the main competitors in the sporting goods industry; Adidas and Nike used various strategies to survive and sustain their positions in the market. Both companies focused on broad differentiation. However, Adidas focused on design innovation, cost advantages, speed of production and enhancing attractiveness of its products. Nevertheless, Nike remains to be the market leader in sport footwear and apparel industry. To challenge Nike¿s position, Adidas must strive to penetrate Nike main market of North America, develop new markets in the emerging economies and while putting more investments in product and process innovations. The author also found that the company can consider strategic partnerships and greater use of technological applications such as CRM systems to enhance its competitiveness.