How Adidas Started to Devalue Its Own Brand
- Adidas's Strategy: Under CEO Bjørn Gulden, Adidas is releasing more products, leading to strong sales and popularity, especially in football.
- Brand Dilution Risk: By flooding the market with products, Adidas risks devaluing its premium image and facing brand dilution issues similar to Puma.
- Oversupply and Discounts: Adidas is overproducing shirts and boots, leading to heavy discounts and potentially harming the brand in the long term.
On the surface, things are running incredibly well for Adidas right now. The brand is enjoying strong sales, highly visible campaigns, and massive popularity across the football world. Much of this aggressive new strategy comes under the leadership of CEO Bjørn Gulden, who was acquired from Puma.
While releasing more products than ever before gives fans unprecedented choice, it raises a serious question about the long-term health of the Three Stripes. By consistently flooding the market, Adidas risks cheapening its premium image and could soon face the exact same brand dilution problems that Puma has battled over the years.
Too Many Products Lead to Heavy Discounts: Adidas Could Face the Same Problems as Puma
The exact same trend is already visible in the football boot market. Just a few years ago, Adidas Predator remakes were highly sought-after collector's items that sold out in minutes. Now, they are regularly sitting on shelves and ending up in clearance sales simply because the brand has pushed out far too many releases to match the actual demand. The sheer volume of new drops has already completely killed the hype for limited-edition boots, and football kits could very well be the next victim.
We are currently seeing a massive overproduction of shirts across the board. A perfect illustration of this strategy is the at least five different Germany retro remakes to be launched in the coming weeks. More concerningly, shirts that were initially hugely popular and completely sold out are being reproduced so often that retailers are eventually desperate to get rid of their excess stock.
The prime example of this phenomenon is the vibrant pink Germany Euro 2024 away shirt. It was officially celebrated as the fastest-selling German away kit ever and sold out after launch. However, Adidas restocked it several times to chase the hype. Fast forward to today, and the market is completely saturated. As a result, this once highly sought-after shirt - alongside numerous recent releases for Manchester United, Leeds United, and Aston Villa - is being dumped into sales with up to 70% off the original price.
Another reason for Adidas’s enormous success in football is the return of the Trefoil logo on football shirts. Shirts featuring the classic trefoil are far more popular than those without it, though this effect is likely to wane as more and more shirts feature the trefoil. There is still a big opportunity for Adidas here by bringing the Trefoil to the home kits, which we expect for 2028/2029/2030.
Constantly oversupplying the market and ultimately relying on extreme discounts to shift leftover stock is a dangerous cycle that could severely hurt the brand in the long term.
Current season Adidas kits available for just 33 euros via German clearance seller Prinz Sportlich (They used AI to generate the image, the Madrid kit turned out quite wrong 😅
Do you think Adidas is producing too many shirts and boots, ultimately damaging its own brand value? Comment below.
Vintage Football Shirts
from Cult Kits
2008/09 Real Madrid Robben #11 Away Shirt (S) Adidas
1991 Cruzeiro GK Shirt (L) Finta
2019/20 AC Milan *BNWT* Puma Iconic T-Shirt (Multiple Sizes)
2008/09 LA Galaxy Beckham #23 Away Shirt (XL) Adidas
1978/80 Dallas Tornado *BNWT* Home Shirt (M) Admiral Nasl
1992 Umbro *BNWT* L/S Template Shirt (XL)
2003/04 Atlas Away Shirt (L) Nike
1988 Netherlands Reusable Face Mask
1995/96 Shonan Bellmare Puma Rain Jacket (S/M)
