Nike Posts Strong North American Numbers, But Adidas Gets Global Love

Analysts had thought that Nike’s third quarter earnings would come in at 67 cents per share, but when the info was finally doled out Thursday, the company surprised with a 16 percent increase in net income to $662 million. That’s 73 cents per share. Not too shabby.

The sporting brand saw growth across the globe, except for a teensy consumer market called Asia. Apparently, Nike is doing just fine without China and Japan, as stocks hit a 20-month high at $58.69, Bloomberg reports.

"Our team delivered strong results in Q3. We did it with a relentless flow of innovation into our key categories," said Mark Parker, president and CEO of Nike. "Given the diversity of our portfolio, we're able to capture big opportunities that drive sustainable, profitable growth. At the same time we continue to invest in new ways to enhance athletic performance, build strong consumer communities, and improve how we design and manufacture our products. That’s how we increase our potential and drive shareholder value."

 

One of those innovations came into the public eye earlier in the week when Nike announced its partnership with Swiss company Bluesign to try and “increase the sustainability of textiles used in its products, which are made in nearly 800 factories worldwide,” according to Bloomberg. Bluesign makes screening tools so that they can pick more sustainable dyes, detergents and chemicals for their products. Bluesign already works with a number of big brands, such as North Face, Patagonia and REI.

That’s all well and good for Nike, but don’t count its main competitor, Adidas, out of any battle for world-shoe dominance. As the Las Vegas Informer points out, Nike may be the strongest shoe brand in the States, but Adidas dominates elsewhere in the world and is aiming to improve its U.S. position with a new line of “energy shoes.”

Adidas is also making its move in the U.S. on another front: college basketball. Nike may outfit more teams involved with March Madness but Adidas has deals with three of the No. 1 seeds (Louisville, Kentucky and Indiana) and is also getting a lot of comments from sports broadcasters about their wildly colored uniforms. If one of the teams makes it to the Final Four, it’ll be worth more than $11 million in exposure, Forbes reports.

 

Adidas is also turning to celebs outside of the sports world to help broaden its market. Justin Bieber is the spokesperson for the NEO label and he is featured in 12 short films in a digital lookbook from the company to help showcase the new spring/summer line. The marketing copy that goes along with the lookbook is heavy on hashtags, including  #liveyourstyle, #nailit, #dreamit and #styleit, evidence of the brand's heavy social media push.

It’s not all good news for Adidas these days, though. Penn State has suspended its licensing contract with the company due to a controversy at a clothing plant in Indonesia, MSN reports, and it might not be the last school to do so. PSU will give Adidas 60 days to fork over compensation for the 2,600 workers that have been affected.

Source : http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2013/03/22/Nike-Adidas-032213.aspx