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 The sportswear giants dominate a soccer kit industry worth more
than $5 billion annually. They vie for the title of market leader in
the supply of hi-tech boots and jerseys to fans inspired by
Argentine Lionel Messi, who wears Adidas, or new Brazilian idol
Neymar, who is in the Nike camp.
A bootmaker since the 1950s and a World Cup sponsor, Germany's
Adidas regards soccer as its territory and wants to avoid being
overtaken by younger but larger American rival Nike, as has happened
in other sports.
"Forget all you may have heard or written about a weak Adidas
performance in football in 2013. We are leading this category that
is so close to the Adidas DNA," Chief Executive Herbert Hainer said
last week.
"2014 is a football year and it will be an Adidas football year," he
added, targeting record annual soccer-related sales of 2 billion
euros ($2.8 billion).
However, Hainer conceded that competition is fierce, with the top
two brands sharing upwards of 80 percent of the market for many
soccer products.
Nike has built its business swiftly, having got heavily involved in
soccer only 20 years ago when the World Cup was played in the United
States. It generates revenues of $2 billion from the sport and calls
itself the leading soccer brand.
It will provide kit for hosts Brazil and a total of 10 of the 32
finalists this year — outscoring Adidas and Puma in that regard.
Nike Brand President Trevor Edwards said sales should get an extra
boost from the fact the World Cup is in Brazil, the spiritual home
of stylish soccer.
"We couldn't be more excited about the World Cup being in Brazil. It
will resonate around the world," he told Reuters.
KNITTED BOOTS, BAREFOOT FEEL
Held every four years, the World Cup is a showcase for innovation in
design of boots which the manufacturers claims will give players the
edge in the big matches and hopefully go on to be big sellers
throughout the rest of the year.
"With replica kits, you will suddenly see an uptick in terms of
sales during a tournament but with boots it's more continual," said
Nike's Edwards.
Nike last week launched its new Magista boot, based on the company's
Flyknit technology in which the upper is made from knitted synthetic
strands of material.
The technology has been used for Nike's running and basketball shoes
and the aim is to create a lightweight product which is also
durable. Spanish international Andres Iniesta and German Mario
Goetze were involved in developing the boot, and Edwards said players
wanted a "barefoot with studs" feel.
Park players who want to emulate their World Cup heroes will have to
dig deep into their wallets as the boot will cost $275.
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There are only so many ways a soccer boot can be remade, and new
products from Adidas and Puma draw on technologies and ideas that
don't appear to differ radically from what Nike is doing.
Adidas has already launched colorful "Samba" versions of its four
main boots and will present its first "knitted" boot in mid-March.
Hainer said the technology had the potential to revolutionize how
and where Adidas produces shoes.
Puma, based in the same small southern German town as Adidas, wants
the World Cup to underline a shift back to performance sports and
away from fashion.
To that end, it has already launched a snug-fitting bright orange
"evoPOWER" boot with yellow laces offset to one side.
"It inspired by barefoot beach soccer in Brazil," Torsten
Hochstetter, Puma global creative director, told Reuters.
THE BALL THAT TWEETS
Technology is also being used in shirt design.
Adidas says its World Cup shirts are 50 percent lighter than
previous ones. Eight teams will wear Adidas at the tournament in
June, including world champions Spain, Germany and Argentina.
Puma launched shirts last week for the eight sides it is outfitting
at the World Cup, including Italy, Switzerland and four teams from
Africa. The tight-fitting jerseys feature built-in tapes designed to
stimulate players' muscles.
"This is based on taping used by physios to provide compression and
stimulation," Hochstetter said.
Just like team coaches, the big brands are deploying a variety of
tactics to try to gain an advantage.
Nike used a Brazil-friendly match against South Africa last week to
model two kits, playing in the traditional yellow in the first half
before switching to a new blue outfit for the second half.
Adidas has stressed the importance of social media to its marketing
campaigns.
In a sign of the times, its Brazuca official World Cup match ball
has its own Twitter account offering its thoughts in English and
Portuguese. Unlikely as it sounds, the ball already has over 100,000
followers.
($1 = 0.7225 euros)
(Writing by Keith Weir; editing by Giles Elgood)
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