The Brands: Marina Moguš, Adidas: “We believe that 2025 will be ...

Adidas' number one, Bjørn Gulden, has managed to make the brand of the three stripes sexy again with the Samba. More importantly, he has redefined the rules of the game in the sneaker world. That's how Marina Moguš, head of Central Europe for the German brand, sees it, interviewed by Mara Javorovic, editor of TextilWirtschaft, the sister magazine of The SPIN OFF.

Much was written about Adidas' newfound love for wholesale under the leadership of CEO Bjørn Gulden. What has specifically changed?We adapted our structures and rebuilt the teams in which we had previously divested. We strengthened the sales structure for specialists, especially for running, soccer and outdoor.

I spent much of the year visiting retailers to show them that we want to work closely with them again. It is extremely important for us to be present in the multi-brand environment. Especially because we get vital information from retailers. They know their consumers best, and they know what they want. If they share this knowledge with us, we can only get better. That's why we now develop product ranges together. It is an exchange on a human scale.

What does this mean?

We invite many more retailers here on our campus than in the past, sometimes even before the order is shipped, to get their feedback. In the past, only the big players could come and take a look. We have significantly more physical products here again, after we had digitized much of the work in the past. Currently there are about 35,000 samples.

The campus is now a real haven for anyone interested in products. We have opened in that sense. Based on feedback from retailers, since last year we have significantly expanded our range, introduced new price points, and brought differentiation back to the market.

How much longer will the success of the Terrace selection and the Samba continue?

We are now in the marketing phase, and of course we want to prolong the positive trend as long as possible. We have to keep an eye on the amount of volume that continues to enter the market. That is why we are constantly keeping an eye on sales daily.

And how is it developing?So far, it is still excellent and promising. The Handball Special model is doing very well.

Will Superstar be the next Samba?We believe in Superstar for next year, but we cannot start a trend without sneaker retailers who are anchored in their local communities. These are the incubators that help us create a trend and make it big. They do it through their activations, their community and their credibility. They have six months, sometimes longer, to sell these products exclusively as first movers. That gives us feedback: “Is this a trend?”, “Is this going to become something?”, “What didn't we get right?”

If a concept doesn't work-and we haven't for a while-we can't leave them out in the cold and have to take the goods back. If it does work, on the other hand, as in the case of the Samba model, we have to make sure that they also participate in marketing. So, get margins with the Samba and make money.

Is the Superstar campaign planned for the second half of 2025? Does that mean that these sneaker retailers still have six months to “create” the trend?

They have a little more time at their disposal. We postponed the campaign because the feedback from our partners was, “We need a little more time and some exclusive promotions to make this product even more attractive in our community.”

We are responding to this demand. Mainly because we also see it in our data. For example, we monitor the search frequency of the shoe. The result is still not what we would like. We are doing it much better now than in the past. We don't want to force anything, especially since we have a large portfolio for 2025.

In the U.S., however, the Superstar will be available much earlier than here. We have to keep in mind that every market is different. This way of thinking is promoted by Bjørn.

In Asia, for example, the issue of low profiles took off much earlier. So, there is no global project where all markets can be compressed. Bjørn has broken this pattern and given us much more freedom. Flexibility also means that with Superstar, unlike Samba, there are no direct “takedowns” for the more commercial channels. This is not our decision alone, but one that we make together with retailers.

What else does Adidas have in store for 2025?

In the first half of the year, we have mount expectations from the SL72. Aruku, the EVO SL and the Megaride are also very interesting. The first sell-out figures from the sneaker community are already very promising. This means that we are now based not just on one or two models with huge volumes, but on many different models.

This is also a big change under Bjørn Gulden, right?That's right. We are bolder. If things go well, good. And if it doesn't go well, that's not a tragedy. But we don't wait to test everything in detail until we are 100% sure it will work.

Gulden also overturned another law, namely the strict separation between Performance and Originals. The first Performance jerseys with the Trefoil logo were a real success. What does this mean for distribution? Will sporting good retailers return to Originals?

Everything that is “on the pitch,” meaning worn on the field, will also be available in sporting goods stores.

This means that our licensed football products with the Trefoil logo can be found at sporting goods retailers, among others. This initiative was developed primarily at the request of our clubs and partners.

We are now using our archive even more extensively. There are some historical Trefoil jerseys from our clubs. The DFB's retro products at Euro 2024 have already created a lot of hype around these archival themes. And the jerseys we've presented now from FC Bayern or Manchester United have been sensationally received, especially by the youth target group. It's a very interesting development.

But are we talking specifically about soccer?

Exactly, and so let's look. Our archive is vast and includes many different sports. Multisport is an important keyword for our sponsorship strategy. For example, we signed a contract with the German Hockey Federation. There are many things in the pipeline.

Do you also have plans to open stores?We are considering several things, including with our master franchisee in the DACH region, Heiko Ronge, currently in Vienna, for example. Of course, we can see that we are not yet represented in some areas and that we do not have retailers in some places. Munich is a problem for me; we are back in Leipzig and in a city like Berlin that always offers interesting opportunities.

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