Adidas’ mission is “To be the best sports brand in the world.” Adidas AG is a German multinational initially founded in 1924 by Adolf Dassler who developed spiked running shoes out of his mother’s house. Today, the company is the largest sportswear producer in Europe and the second largest globally behind rival Nike.
The Adidas mission statement reads as follows:
“Athletes do not settle for average. And neither do we. We have a clear mission: To be the best sports brand in the world. Every day, we come to work to create and sell the best sports products in the world, and to offer the best service and consumer experience – and to do it all in a sustainable way. We are the best when we are the credible, inclusive, and sustainable leader in our industry.”
There’s a lot to unpack about this mission statement, so let’s get to it in the following sections.
The best sports products and brands in the world
Adidas is a brand built on innovation.
The company’s BOOST running shoes are one of its most successful, known for their revolutionary cushioned soles that store energy at the midsole and then release it with every step to power the athlete forward.
Launched in 2013, the performance shoe also found favor in the lifestyle market and helped Adidas kickstart (and profit from) the athleisure trend that followed.
To become its version of the best brand in the world, Adidas exhibits an attitude that considers no aspiration to be impossible.
This is backed by a specially crafted statement that reads: “We see the world of sport and culture with possibility where others only see the impossible. ‘Impossible is Nothing’ is not a tagline for us. By being optimistic and knowing the power of sport, we see endless possibilities to apply this power and push all people forward with action.”
The best service and consumer experience
Adidas’s Own the Game strategy, which takes the company out to 2025, ensures that consumers remain central to every action it performs.
This strategy is primarily focused on increasing the credibility of the Adidas brand and elevating the brand experience.
Adidas also understands that it is consumers who drive industry tends via their preferences and behaviors and not the companies who develop products. Indeed, the customers of today are more active and desire healthier lifestyles facilitated by sustainable products and technology.
To enable Adidas to grow over the next few years, the company wants to deepen its relationship with consumers by meeting their needs and living its purpose to change their lives through the power of sport.
Sustainability and credibility
Adidas’s sustainability commitment has been an established part of its business operations for over 20 years.
The company is sharpening its focus on sustainably in the short term with several key targets for 2025 and beyond. These include:
- By 2025, 90% of all Adidas products sold will be sustainable. Adidas defines “sustainable products” as those whose materials benefit the environment when compared to conventional products.
- By 2030, the company wants to reduce GHG emissions by 30% with climate neutrality for its entire value chain forecast to occur by 2050.
- Related to its commitment to people is an initiative to become more involved in Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD). By 2025, Adidas hopes to have established a system that enables it to identify human rights issues across the whole of its value chain.
Key takeaways:
- Adidas’s mission is to become the best sports brand in the world with superior levels of customer service and brand experience. Like most other companies, Adidas has also incorporated diversity and sustainability into its mission statement.
- To become what it considers the best brand in the world, Adidas has crafted an “attitude statement” that details a belief that no aspiration in the world of sport or culture is impossible.
- Adidas’s Own the Game strategy ensures its customers remain central to every action it performs. No matter how innovative Adidas may be as a company, it recognizes that it is consumers who drive industry trends and the direction of product development.
Read: Mission Statement Examples.
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