adidas Group North America President Mark King Speaks on the Brand's Growth
“We’re back in the game.”
Earlier this year, adidas made headlines all over the world when it overtook Jordan Brand as the second largest sneaker brand in the United States. With a number of notable collaborations with the likes of Kanye West and Rick Owens, the brand is in a much better place than it was three years ago when North American president Mark King arrived at the Three Stripes. In a recent interview with Oregon Live, King says the influence from pop culture icons and athletes helped bring the brand up to where it is today. King stated:
“We’re back in the game. Three years ago, we weren’t. We’re now growing at a pretty substantial clip. And (our competitors) are not. I think they feel it. I think consumers see it, retailers can sense it. We hear about it from athletes. Three years ago, they didn’t want to be part of the adidas community. Now they do.”
In addition to this, King says the brand put an emphasis on growing the brand in North America in order to compete with the brands that have dominated the region for years. King says adidas somewhat neglected the region for years, which left a lot of hungry consumers unsatisfied.
“For me, it all started when the management board of the company made a decision to make North America one of the top priorities. Prior to that, it was important, but it wasn’t the top priority. When you think about nearly 40 percent of the global sports market is in North America, it’s pretty hard to be the best sports brand in the world if you don’t have more success there than we were having.”
King goes on to talk about rooting the brand’s influence at a grassroots level rather than only focusing on professional sports.
“Club sports is really one of the biggest activities for kids in North America. And it’s very important for us or any sports brand to form an emotional relationship with the consumer at a young age. So being able to have the opportunity to have our gear on young athletes is still a top priority for the company. That’s not going to change.”
Head over to Oregon Live to read the full interview for yourself.
In other adidas-related news, Kanye West steps out in new adidas YEEZY sneaker.
