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☆ Kanye and Adidas: Money, Misconduct and the Price of Appeasement
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Megan Twohey | More About Megan Twohey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Even as they squared off in arbitration, Adidas and Mr. West came to an agreement that served their common interest. But most of the revenue would go to Adidas, and Mr. West was entitled to royalties. “Very unfortunate,” Mr. Gulden said, “because I don’t think he meant what he said.”Days later, Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, posted online that Mr. Gulden had apologized for those remarks. “Our stance has not changed.”MethodologyThe grid at the top of this article includes most Adidas Yeezy releases between February 2015 and August 2023. the Yeezy Boost 380 Onyx and Yeezy Boost 380 Onyx Reflective).

Persons: West, George Floyd’s, Matt Powell, “, Bjorn Gulden, Mr, ” —, Gulden, ”, Jonathan Greenblatt, Ye, ” Adidas, Joe Coscarelli, Julie Tate, Rumsey Taylor Organizations: The Times, Adidas, Mr, Defamation League Locations: StockX

All of a sudden, after a single summer, the pink jersey is everywhere. Tor Southard was better placed than most, but even he was caught unaware. As Adidas’s senior director for soccer in North America, he had been receiving emails from colleagues for nearly a year asking if the company’s biggest star, Lionel Messi, would be joining Inter Miami, also a client of Adidas. As far as he knew, it was just a rumor. Like the rest of the planet, Southard learned it was true only on June 7, the day Messi announced his intentions in a rare interview with two Spanish news outlets.

Persons: Tor Southard, Adidas’s, Lionel Messi, Messi Organizations: Inter Miami, Adidas Locations: Buenos Aires, Bangkok, England, Southeast Asia, North America

☆ Adidas’s Sale of Yeezy Sneakers Brings in 400 Million Euros
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The Yeezy sales added €150 million to Adidas’s operating profit for the first half the year, “an incremental amount,” the sportswear maker said. And Adidas reported a steeply lower operating profit for the half-year: €236 million, versus €828 million a year earlier. Adidas began selling its first batch of its remaining Yeezy shoe models in June. But Mr. Gulden refused to elaborate on how much the rapper was making from the sales. Adidas said it has set aside €110 million of its proceeds from the first sale of the Yeezy inventory to donate to organizations.

Persons: Ye, ” Bjorn Gulden, Gulden, “, ” Mr, Philonise Floyd, George Floyd, Robert K Organizations: Adidas, Defamation League, European Jewish Association, Keeta Floyd Institute for Social, Kraft, New England Patriots Locations: North America

☆ Adidas Starts Unloading Its Yeezy Gear, to Benefit Anti-Hate Groups
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Adidas said its decision to sever ties with Ye cost the company €1.2 billion in lost sales and about €500 million in profit this year. Jonathan A. Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, which is among the groups that will benefit from the proceeds of the sale, welcomed Adidas’s decision as one fitting the complexity of the problem. But other groups noted that despite Adidas’s pledge to donate the proceeds, Ye will still make money off the sales. The Yeezy brand became a defining force in the sportswear industry and an incredibly lucrative cornerstone for Adidas. Adidas said it was considering further releases of the Yeezy inventory, but it did not give a timeline.

Persons: Ye, Gulden, Philonise Floyd, George Floyd, Jonathan A, Greenblatt, Mr, “, ”, Josef Schuster, Michael Jordan Organizations: Adidas, Keeta Floyd Institute for Social, Defamation League, Central Council of, Kanye, Nike Locations: Germany

☆ Adidas’s New CEO Shows Good Form
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Jinjoo Lee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Adidas Chief Executive Bjørn Gulden joined in January after the company suffered some major injuries. Photo: Marco Rosi/Getty ImagesAdidas ’s new chief executive officer, Bjørn Gulden , can’t quite hit the ground running yet, but his first move—setting a low bar—is turning out to be a pretty solid strategy for the company’s stock. These are still early days for the new CEO, who joined in January after the company suffered some major injuries: The fallout with Chinese consumers in 2021 from a dust-up over Xinjiang forced-labor allegations, and then a breakup with Kanye West last year. Mr. Gulden called 2023 a year of transition before the company can hit its stride again. One key goal is to reduce inventories—especially the piles of Yeezy products that Adidas has left over from its terminated partnership with Mr. West—and to lower discounts.

☆ Adidas runs harder, but also stands still
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That beat analyst expectations of 15 million euros, and was aided by double digit sales growth in Latin America and Asia. The good cheer partly reflects the low expectations of Adidas’s investors. They hold shares worth about half their mid-2021 level, and while sales globally didn’t fall 4% as forecast, they still dipped 1% year-on-year. Meanwhile, CEO Bjorn Gulden has to decide what to do with stacks of Yeezy trainers in storage ever since the company severed ties with the musician. Although certain products like Gazelle and Sambo are doing well, the 40% margins on Yeezy sales were ten times Adidas’s overall level.

☆ Investors Sue Adidas Over Kanye West Collaboration
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Joseph De Avila | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Kanye West had produced the popular Yeezy collection for Adidas. Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for AdidasA group of shareholders is suing Adidas AG, alleging the sportswear company failed to warn investors it was aware of Kanye West’s antisemitic remarks and “extreme behavior.”The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon on Friday, alleges former CEO Kasper Rorsted and Harm Ohlmeyer , the company’s chief financial officer, were involved in disseminating false and misleading statements about Adidas’s relationship with Mr. West, who legally changed his name to Ye.

☆ Adidas adds risk by tripping over its sneakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Adidas (ADSGn.DE) is having a hard time keeping its feet out of its mouth. On Wednesday, the $28 billion sneaker maker withdrew a trademark objection to Black Lives Matter over its use of three stripes in its logo 48 hours after filing it. The timing of Adidas’s objection looks tin-eared. It could have devised a partnership arrangement with Black Lives Matter that featured both brands. Trying to pick a fight with an organisation popular with young consumers shows that Adidas’s biggest risk is its mouth.

☆ Kanye West blunder puts Adidas in play
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

After a disastrous breakup with the musician formerly known as Kanye West, the $28 billion sneaker maker is slashing dividends and heading for the first loss in decades. Last year, Adidas spent 12.3% of its 22.5 billion euros of revenue on marketing and similar expenses. If it were to return to the 13.9% it allocated in 2015, it would add 2 billion euros of extra costs over the next five years, Breakingviews calculations show. Swooping on Adidas would allow the U.S. athleisure giant to dominate sportswear by servicing women and men across a wide spectrum of categories. Shares in Adidas were down 2.4% at 144.50 euros by 0859 GMT on March 15.

☆ New Adidas CEO throws Yeezy in kitchen sink
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

But if Adidas decides to write off the Yeezy inventory altogether, it will lose another 500 million euros. In the worst scenario, with one-off costs in 2023 of up to 200 million euros, the $27 billion sportswear maker expects to report a 700 million euro operating loss this year. The company had already announced that ending its partnership with the musician would shrink its net income by 250 million euros in 2022. Shareholders however seem surprised that Adidas might not try to repurpose the trainers, instead of writing off the inventory. Yeezy is not the only problem for Adidas.

☆ Edgy Campaigns Are Out, TikTok Won’t Stop and Other 2023 Predictions for Marketers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Patrick Coffee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +11 min

Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CMO Today CMO Today delivers the most important news of the day for media and marketing professionals. Most campaigns will focus on discounts to customers or showcase the usefulness of a company’s products, he said. Under this form of marketing, ad firms generally get paid upon completion of a desired end, such as a sale or download. In short, consumers should expect less “vacuous virtue-signaling” from marketers in the coming months, according to Mr. Proulx. But these platforms’ very struggles could result in ad bargains for marketers, said Mr. Solomon of Therabody.

☆ Adidas’s Kanye West bet is still in credit: podcast
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The 18 bln euro sportswear maker severed ties with the musician over offensive comments. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how the financial benefits to Adidas nevertheless outweighed the costs. That may spur other brands to pursue outspoken stars. Listen to the podcastFollow @aimeedonnellan on TwitterEditing by Oliver TaslicOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Adidas said it would end its partnership with Kanye West and Gap Inc. said it would pull apparel he helped design from its stores, after a string of controversies including a recent anti-Semitic outburst from the musician and fashion-brand owner. Adidas’s decision, which ends a lucrative arrangement that has produced the popular Yeezy collection of sneakers, comes after weeks of pressure on the German sportswear company from human-rights advocates and after other businesses severed their ties with Mr. West, who goes by Ye.

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