Tag Archives: London 2012

How Primeknit was born – “There are no books we could have referred to for this project”

Astrid Lang & Stefan TammAugust 10, 2012 2:42 pmOn-the-Job Records, Sustainability Aspects

adidas recently revealed the adizero Primeknit. This shoe uses a technology for which we rethought how footwear is engineered. To celebrate the Olympic Games and this innovation, adidas created 2,012 pairs of the adizero Primeknit knitted in the same red and white colors adidas athletes are competing in at these Olympics. This limited number of individually numbered pairs of the adizero Primeknit is since then available in a London store. We helped to drive the idea from concept to shelf in 12 months. In this post we will recall what it was like to work on this concept which some people here at adidas call one of the most exciting and sustainable products adidas has ever created.

From Barcelona to London – 20 years of Olympic Games

Jan RunauAugust 9, 2012 2:15 pmOn-the-Job Records

2012 marks not only the 60th jubilee of the Queen, it also marks my 20th anniversary at the Olympic Games. I just returned from the London 2012 Olympic Games and I would like to give you an insight how it feels working for adidas at such a big sporting event.

In brief: it is fantastic. I love the Olympic Games as an event because it brings 10.000 athletes from all over the world together in one place to compete in 26 different sports. I love working at the Olympic Games because it brings together adidas PR managers from all over the world working here together for three weeks and hosting media events with athletes almost every day, working together with the world media and bringing the adidas presence at the Games to life. Watch the video, which I captured directly on-site of the London 2012 Olympic Games, to learn about some of my highlights from 20 years of experience at Olympic Games (…and what the picture of Ian Thorpe is all about).

“Can you see my goose bumps?” – How it is to visit the London 2012 Olympic Games

Constanze WolfAugust 7, 2012 4:16 pmOn-the-Job Records

There are a few words in my vocabulary I rarely use, usually for one of these two reasons: Either, I don’t like them or I don’t find them appropriate. In this particular case both is true, and yet, I have to use this single word that puts it all into a nutshell: “AWESOME”.

Here, at the Headquarters of adidas Group, we are quite fortunate when it comes to trips to go to sports events thanks to our so-called company sports program. When the last issue came out in February, I believe many of my colleagues took out their personal bucket lists and found one particular item on them: “Watch the Olympic Games live.” After a short application process twenty-four employees got lucky and all of a sudden August 1st was there – our journey began and would experience five days filled with Olympic events and the idea of true spirituality at the Olympic Games. I was lucky number twenty-five, being sent along with the group to cover the trip for our adidas Group intranet, writing a daily blog about our experiences. Here is how I experienced London 2012 as a spectator.

A winning performance: Herbert Hainer on London 2012 and the adidas Group’s financial results

Jan RunauAugust 2, 2012 4:48 pmBusiness Operations, Corporate Perspectives

adidas has a very long, unique and authentic history with modern Olympics: Adi Dassler’s shoes were worn for the first time at the Olympic Games back in 1928. Today, the Olympic Games are still very important to the adidas Group; not only as a valuable platform to present the adidas brand, its products and innovations to a global audience but also because the Olympics echo the values of our Group: performance, passion, integrity and diversity. Therefore and to give a taste of the significant role the adidas Group plays in global sports, our CEO Herbert Hainer reported today directly from the ground of the London Olympics on the adidas Group’s first half 2012 results.

The results show that the adidas Group delivered another winning financial performance in this period - despite all that is going on from a macroeconomic and competitive perspective. In a nutshell we added one billion to our top-line year-on-year. In the following video Herbert Hainer shares some background on this topic and on how these Olympics are benefiting our Group. Just to give you an example: Herbert Hainer revealed today that, from a commercial perspective, this will be the most successful Games we have ever had, with Olympic licence product sales up 250% compared to Beijing. In the video Herbert Hainer also explains why he’d be awarding adidas with a gold medal.

Top performances at London 2012 – adidas’ IT is all in

Colin HughesAugust 1, 2012 4:43 pmBusiness Operations, On-the-Job Records

We are right in the middle of the Olympic Games in London. Before the games started some members of our IT Team have moved to London to be in place to support the various adidas activities during the Games.

At its peak, we have six people in London at various locations, but many more have played an important part in getting us to this stage.

When I look back, it is difficult to remember when we started our IT planning for London 2012, so I decided to look through some old e-mails and found an announcement from 17th November, 2009, saying that I was going to be the adidas Group IT Lead. So, when we have finished wrapping everything up, it will have been nearly three years.