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Adolf Dassler (1900-1978)Founder of Adidas Sportswear

+Time Line for Adolf Dassler

+Adolf Dassler’s shoe design

Adolf made an effort to attend every major sporting event to try to encourage athletes to wear his shoes.

By 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, several athletes were wearing special shoes from the Dassler workshop.

By the early 1930s, the company was making 30 different shoe brands for 11 different sports and had nearly 100 employees.

Adolf also manufactured boots for the Nazi Soldiers for World War II

+Adolf vs. Rudolf Adidas vs. Puma

Adolf and Rudolf worked together, until the rise of Hitler.

Rudolf was a more devoted Nazi than Adolf.

When the allies bombed Herzogenaurach – where they were living – Adolf and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in.

Adolf declared that “the dirty bastards are back again”. He was referring to the allied war planes, but Rudolf was convinced his brother meant him and his family.

The damage between them was never repaired.

+Germans and Adidas

After the Germans won the World Cup Soccer against Hungary, the Germans all wore Adidas shoes.

This event helped Adolf recapture his pre-war sales of over 200 000 pairs of shoes per year.

His company was a dominant supplier of athletic shoes in the world market.

+Adidas Clothing

In 1960, Adolf introduced a sports clothing line to complement sales of him now famous three-stripes shoes.

At the Olympic Games in Rome, 75% of all athletes wore Adidas brand shoes.

In 1963, Adidas started a Ball production, and ever since 1970 the official match ball at a major soccer events has been an Adidas product

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+Adidas in the Present “Impossible is nothing captures in one short phrase the

essence of Adidas as a brand, and the attitude that is known and shared by all athletes around the world. Impossible is nothing, is the concept behind our brand positioning ‘forever sports’ that clearly and emotionally communicates our passion for sport. As an athlete you always strive to go further, break new ground, surpass your limits. So do we as a brand, to achieve our mission to be the leading sports brand in the world.” – President of Adidas

+Impossible is NOTHING!