The debate over which brand is better is always fascinating. It’s particularly exciting when it comes to footwear.
Talking about footwear, India has a market size of 15.22 billion dollars. Such a high-value market is lucrative for the top brands in the industry. Though the market is filled with many new players in the space still the few with the heavy and strong market share are at the top and dominating the marketplace.
Nike and Adidas, one of the top world’s market leaders in the shoe market. These two giants have been the market leader for a very long period and are continuing the saga.
This article will give you a deep insight the both the footwear/ shoe giant and their competition with each other
Nike vs Adidas: Who is Leading the Market?
Company’s Wall
Adidas was founded in 1924 by two brothers, Adolf Dassler and Rudolf in Germany under the name Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. This was the former name of Adidas. The company offers athletic apparel and footwear and is one of the largest European sportswear manufacturers and second in the world. In 1949, after the dispute between both brothers, both had created their own footwear company.
Adolf created Adidas and Rudolf has launched another well-known brand Puma. Apart from Nike, they are also significant rivals of each other.
Nike was founded in 1964 forty years after the brothers created their first
company together. Nike was founded by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight in the United States under the name Blue Ribbon Sports. It is the largest athletic shoe and apparel manufacturer in the world. In 1971, the name was changed to Nike.
Founder’s Wall
Nike
Nike founders Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight.
Bill was born in Portland and was the son of a former governor. Bill was an athlete’s trainer and trained many Olympic athletes as well. Knight was born in Portland and was a CPA in two companies and then became an accounting professor before joining Nike.
In 1964, Bill shook hands with Phil Knight, who was also one of Bill’s students. Bill Miller Knight in 1950 and 1964 started Blue Ribbon Sports later known as Nike. Knight managed the business end of the partnership and Bill used to look after the footwear design improvement. Initially, the partnership between them was 50-50 stake but later on, it was changed to 51-49 stake with Knight having a 51% stake and Bill having a 49% stake.
Adidas
Adolf Dassler was born on 3rd November 1900, he was a German inventor and entrepreneur. He was an innovator in shoe design. Initially starting a company with his brother he later started his own shoe manufacturing company Adidas. Adi-Das was taken from his name by adding “i” after “Ad”, bringing Adidas to us. In 1949, he registered the brand logo of Adidas as “three stripes”.
Market Share
Nike has a Market Capitalization of more than 190 billion US dollars in 2023. Adidas has a Market Capitalization of around $26.97 billion in the same period. Both companies have significant market share in sportswear. Nike has more domination in its home country market with around 41% of revenue out of the total derived from North America whereas Adidas has only 25% of revenue comes from North America.
Product diversification and distribution
Nike offers more than 770 products out of which 44.2% are male products 38.1% for women and the rest for other unisex products.
On the other hand, Adidas offers a range of more than 1830 products, out of which 62.6% are men’s products, 25.1% are for women and the rest are other products.
Product Pricing
Pricing is the most important factor driving the market. It is a very dominating marketing mix for any company.
Nike
Nike offers products in different price bands ranging from Rs. 5000 to Rs. 25000. In every price band range Nike has more than 50 products with the highest product in the range of Rs. 5000 to Rs. 12000 and the lowest product range in Rs. 25000 or more.
Adidas
Adidas has a slightly lower starting point with Rs.4000 and ranges up to Rs. 25000. Adidas has more products in the lower ranges of up to Rs. 5000 and least in the higher bands.
Brand Value
Both the companies Nike and Adidas have significant market share in the industry. Brand value tells us the value of the brand in the customer’s eyes. Nike and Adidas both have a steady brand value. As per the stats, Nike has a brand value of around $33.1 billion and Adidas has approximately $14.3 billion in 2022.
Tagline and Trademark
Nike
Nike has an iconic tagline “Just do it” This tagline was launched in 1988 and is a trademark of the company. Nike credits their “Just do it” tag to death row Gary Gilmore as his last words were “Let’s do it”.
Adidas
“Impossible is nothing”. This Slogan of Adidas was launched in 2005 which depicts the company’s faith in the strength of willpower and the capability to overcome any challenges and achieve success.
Adidas’s tagline “Creating the New ” introduced in 2019 defined the company’s ever-striving dedication to creating new, innovative, and advanced products for their customers.
Social Media Reach
Social media plays a significant role in today’s generation. The company’s social media handle followings and reactions can let us know the brand popularity and customer base of that company.
As of March 2023, stats following are the social media followers of Nike and Adidas:
Nike
Social Media Followers – Nike
| 279 Million | 36 Million | 9.7 Million |
Adidas
Social Media Followers – Adidas
| 27 Million | 40 Million | 4.3 Million |
Marketing Strategy
Nike
Nike mainly focuses on the domestic market and remains involved in the lucrative international market as well. The company has strong advertising and marketing ties and strategy which allows the company to stand at the top of the competitive market.
Adidas
Adidas generally focuses on the European market though the company also has a strong market share in other parts of the world. The company has good advertising ties and marketing tactics to compete in the market.
Financials
Nike
Nike has reported revenue of $ 51.2 billion in the fiscal year 2023, which is 10% more than the previous year’s revenue. The net income in the said period was $5.1 billion, 16% lower than the previous year. The decline in profit was due to an increase in input costs and freight and logistics costs.
Adidas
Adidas has reported a revenue of Euro 10617 million in the first half of 2023, slightly lower than the first half of the previous year’s revenue.
Net Income from continuing operations was also reported as lower than similar periods in the previous year.
Brand Ambassador and Athletes Endorsed
Sponsoring athletes helps brands to get customers and market attention as celebrities or athletes’ fans are very fond of the brand their actors/ actresses/ athletes wear. It helps the company to get a better public image and financial benefits. Sponsoring athletes creates an image of the company in the eyes of the target market audience.
Nike
Many athletes have been sponsored by Nike for its advertising and marketing ads.
Some of them are:
Mo Farah: A British long-distance runner
Tiger Woods: An American golfer
Cristiano Ronaldo: A well-known and world’s top footballer
Roberto Firmino: A Brazilian soccer player
Apart from these athletes, Nike has also sponsored many organizations and sports leagues.
Adidas
Adidas has also sponsored many athletes and celebrities for marketing purposes. Some of them are
Lionel Messi: An Argentinian soccer player.
Von Miller: An American footballer.
Paul Pogba: A French soccer player.
Justin Rose: An English golfer
Sidney Crosby: A Canadian hockey player.
Along with these famous athletes ADIDAS has sponsored many sports championships and leagues.
Conclusion: Both companies have their own market strategy, pricing model, and customer relationships across the globe. We can always compare Nike and Adidas based on various factors which is reflecting on the company, and the shoe industry.
Competition has made both companies grow bigger and earn the ultimate profit of an effort. One can never conclude a brand’s weight with the comparison.
