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Toronto
08-03-2005, 12:34 PM
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=52&story_id=22490&name=Adidas+to+buy+Reebok%2C+expand+into+Nike+turf
not work breaking news, but it is news :P

911GT1
08-03-2005, 01:15 PM
Adidas sure is hell bent on taking Nike of the top of the list. They bought back Puma and now Reebok. Think they gonna make it? Not as long as Nike are in control of all the american based sports and all the top atheletes. Football sponsorship alone just wont cut it, nike used to ignore this but for the past 5 years they work extremely hard to win footie fans heart around the globe.

Toronto
08-03-2005, 01:43 PM
reebok and adidas stock in basketball is growing... the only thing nike has right now is more money to throw into ad spots :P

911GT1
08-03-2005, 01:51 PM
Hey, marketing is what it's all about. You can have a killer product but if your marketing team sucks, you might as well be dead. Nike have shown that it have one of the best ad campaigns and product placements ever. Their shoes sucks, it dont last as long and not as comfortable as adidas shoes; their design however is out of this world.. But in real world where the coolest shit prevails, nike is unrivalled. So throwing all your money into ads might be a smart thing.
Anywho, I always prefer the german engineering than american styling, thats why i only wear adidas.

Global Warming
08-03-2005, 01:56 PM
Good god!! Reebok's stock is up 29.5% today!!! Damn I wish I would have know this was going to happen yesterday... That would have been a nice piece of day trading.

911GT1
08-03-2005, 02:02 PM
HOLY SHIT!!! That high?!! Clearly the market didnt have confidence in Reebok management comitee.

Global Warming
08-03-2005, 02:13 PM
Hey, marketing is what it's all about. You can have a killer product but if your marketing team sucks, you might as well be dead. Nike have shown that it have one of the best ad campaigns and product placements ever. Their shoes sucks, it dont last as long and not as comfortable as adidas shoes; their design however is out of this world.. But in real world where the coolest shit prevails, nike is unrivalled. So throwing all your money into ads might be a smart thing.
Anywho, I always prefer the german engineering than american styling, thats why i only wear adidas.

I really disagree with you about Nike shoes sucking. They make MUCH better shoes for real athletes than Adidias. Nike shoes are designed more for function than looks. Plus they make so many more models for all sports, Tennis, Golf, Baseball, basketball, Running...

Adidas just can not compete with Nike when it comes to professional athletes, Adidias is all about looking cool when you are walking around in $200 jeans... That’s why they are popular with musicians, skateboarders, etc.

SFDMALEX
08-03-2005, 02:16 PM
/\/\/\I have Nike football kleets(soccer for you Yanks) and they are great, have to agree. But as far as durability goes they are rubbish, never buying Nikes again because they really dont last me long.

I think Adidas hold up the best, Puma is not that great, I also have Vans(skater shoes) and those are as solid as the first day I bought em.

Cant comment on the rest of the sports but my kleets are great.

RC45
08-03-2005, 02:32 PM
Interesting.

Reebok has a very particular culture within the organisation. Very much like Compaq had - before HP bought them.

This culture was very evident as an outsider, when ever I did consulting work at the Reebok HQ in Boston.

I do not see this very effective culture mixing well with a German management style - not at all. This move is simp,ly a way for the core executives and founding share holders of Reebok to cash in, slow down and retire.

Reebok is not Adidas for a reason - Adidas is Adidas for a reason. The same failure to share/redistribute and "profit" from cooperation that Chrysler/Dodge suffered when Daimler bought em is going to happen here.

I think the only "tie" that Reebok has to Germany is SAP ehehe.

This is also rather a pity, because the awesome and unique culture at the Reebok headquarters was so refreshing - it made it a pleasure to work there. It reminded me a lot of the dynamic and progressive nature that Compaq had fostered over the years - which was stifled by the HP take over.

The only winners in this deal are short term investors, and executives and lawyers on both sides of the table.

Oh well - at least I got to buy a shit load of stuff from their company store and in-house sales. :)

Toronto
08-03-2005, 02:41 PM
don't think adidas is looking at it as a take over, more like expanding.
they just want to make more money, not take away from the reebok market :P

Global Warming
08-03-2005, 02:42 PM
/\/\/\I have Nike football kleets(soccer for you Yanks) and they are great, have to agree. But as far as durability goes they are rubbish, never buying Nikes again because they really dont last me long.

I think Adidas hold up the best, Puma is not that great, I also have Vans(skater shoes) and those are as solid as the first day I bought em.

Cant comment on the rest of the sports but my kleets are great.

On the professional level durability is not always a good thing. People would rather have the best shoe possible for doing that task. And if they wear out twice as fast as some other brand you just buy new ones twice as often. Many athletes in the USA wear a brand new pair of what ever shoe they like best every single game, some even go in at half-time and but on a new pair!! Many runners go to a new pair of running shoes every 5 days or so… By making the shoes out of less durable materials you gain things like lighter weight, breathability, performance.

As for people like me that primarily where athletic shoes to walk the dog, mow the lawn, go to the store. Any brand will last years if you treat them half way decently.

RC45
08-03-2005, 03:32 PM
don't think adidas is looking at it as a take over, more like expanding.
they just want to make more money, not take away from the reebok market :P

There is no such thing as a "this is not really a take over" in business.

Top managment will be reshuffled, fired, retirted, let go and replaced.

Middle management will be restructured and re-aligned to allow for the Adidas processes to be followed.

Systems, where duplicated and redundant will be replaced, ripped out or decommisioned.

Savings where possible, such as reducing common staff and systems, will be pursued.

The bottom line, when Company A buys Company B, they don't want "the old way" tp linger too long.

This is just the reality of life.

Oh - and don't be surprised to hear about shared production facilities and material suppliers and design teams etc... :P - again, why spend twice when you can spend once.

;)

antonioledesma
08-03-2005, 04:10 PM
/\/\/\I have Nike football kleets(soccer for you Yanks) and they are great, have to agree. But as far as durability goes they are rubbish, never buying Nikes again because they really dont last me long.

I think Adidas hold up the best, Puma is not that great, I also have Vans(skater shoes) and those are as solid as the first day I bought em.

Cant comment on the rest of the sports but my kleets are great.

On the professional level durability is not always a good thing. People would rather have the best shoe possible for doing that task. And if they wear out twice as fast as some other brand you just buy new ones twice as often. Many athletes in the USA wear a brand new pair of what ever shoe they like best every single game, some even go in at half-time and but on a new pair!! Many runners go to a new pair of running shoes every 5 days or so… By making the shoes out of less durable materials you gain things like lighter weight, breathability, performance.

As for people like me that primarily where athletic shoes to walk the dog, mow the lawn, go to the store. Any brand will last years if you treat them half way decently.

yes yes yes... but 80% of regular "atlethes" don't like buying shoes every 2 months.
I used some nike soccer shoes. Good ones but didn't last too long. By the time I got used to them, they started to tear apart.
To me as a soccer player I like more a well used pair, it fits better. I don't care if the shoe weighs only 120 grams instead of 300 grams.
I want durable shoes that can withstand at least 2 whole soccer seasons
my 2 cents as a money-grabbed, tight-ass buyer

Global Warming
08-03-2005, 04:19 PM
Well I think Soccer/football is Nike’s single weakest line area as soccer is actually less popular in the USA than figure skating!! That’s a real stat I read. I’m not a big Nike fan, I do have some pairs of Nike shoes. I have a very rugged pair of Nike ACGs kind of like a mid-range boot. I wear them all winter long in light snow and rain. Those damn things are 6 years old and still look almost brand new! I swear they are bullet proof! I had a different pair of Nike ACGs that fell about in about 1 year. It just all depends on the style, sport, model, and price range. And Nike makes just as many durable shoes as anyone else, they also have a MUCH larger product line than anyone else so naturally they are going to have many different levels of durability.

Nike also makes just about the best golf shoes out there. And that is pretty amazing because 15 years ago they didn’t even make golf shoes. FotJoy was the #1 brand. Well Nike managed to move in the top 2 brands in golf shoes in only a decade’s time. Same is true with their golf clubs, balls, etc. They have grown to be one of the dominate brands in golf in such a short period of time.

Toronto
08-03-2005, 04:34 PM
don't think adidas is looking at it as a take over, more like expanding.
they just want to make more money, not take away from the reebok market :P

There is no such thing as a "this is not really a take over" in business.


no true just look at the latest Beer Brewing companies in Canada take overs in recent years/months most of them have gone un-noticed because of such a smooth take over allowing people to keep their jobs and run "the old way" and just but the profit into a diff bank account :P

RC45
08-03-2005, 04:38 PM
don't think adidas is looking at it as a take over, more like expanding.
they just want to make more money, not take away from the reebok market :P

There is no such thing as a "this is not really a take over" in business.


no true just look at the latest Beer Brewing companies in Canada take overs in recent years/months most of them have gone un-noticed because of such a smooth take over allowing people to keep their jobs and run "the old way" and just but the profit into a diff bank account :P

That's the customers perception - however, go ask the people whose jobs are made redundant and laid off... but any way... you know better - after all you have been witnessed a number of "buy outs" first hand... :P

Global Warming
08-03-2005, 04:40 PM
I'm sure it varies depending on the companies. I was working at BankBoston all during the take over of Fleet Bank. (it’s now Bank of America). It was VERY harsh, people just freak out. People that have been there for 30 years getting "the package" and being walked out every day. It an extremely tense and rough thing to go through in the work place and lasts for a good year. You also go through all the new people that move into your department from the other company and everyone trying to get a long.

It’s a pretty fucked up thing to go through. I'm sure not all mergers are like this, but almost all the financial industry mergers are.

antonioledesma
08-03-2005, 04:47 PM
Now I'll take RC's side because it happens in real life.
my girlfriend's dad was regional director for a company of concrete and cement (if those are the right words :| )
the company had 2 divisions, concrete and cement. Then one day a swiss company bought the mexican company and guess what, they decided to merge the 2 divisions. So my gf's dad was laid off because the company would have 2 regional directors.

"smooth" take overs are when they lay off ppl slowly and without big news about 2000 employees fired

and all mergers are brutal. Why have 2 equal departments and functions with employees. All companies are guided by financial things... :|

Global Warming
08-03-2005, 05:00 PM
At BKB which I was talking about I was the tech guy for the FX group. I reported directly to the CFO and sat on the trade desk with all the traders. one of my job was to shut off all their network and e-mail access about 30 mins before they were told they were being "made redundant" (lol couldn’t resist a “The Office” ref). This was really fucked up because al most all these people were my friends. About 30 of the 90 or so traders were fired. And then new traders from the new parent company moved into their place.

And at a bank in a department like FX when they fire you that is it, you are allowed to go get your personal stuff out of your desk with a security guard standing there and then are walked out the door right then. They can't risk you trying to get back at the bank by e-mailing clients, deleting files, etc. So that is why when they got back to their desk after getting the word the already had been completely cut off from the system.

Of course the next part is all the people left have to start working with the new people that moved into those positions from the other company, lots of resentment and awkwardness.

I agree, I have never heard of a “smooth” take over either. But again, I think banking mergers are among the roughest of all.