Blitzkrieg Brand Launch: Full Vision Before First Meeting Ends

"swimwear. ‘He had it all in his head, down to the most practical details, production, marketing, partnerships, and everything,” Ronc recalled. ‘“He sat there talking for two hours. He had given me work for the next three years.”"

"With Arena, Horst Dassler demonstrated just how hard- hitting his French team had become. Barely one year after the confrontation with his father, Arena swimwear duly made its debut at the European championships in Berlin, in August 1973. Two years later, at the World Championships in Cali, Colombia, roughly two thirds of the swimmers wore Arena. Horst Das- sler invested $100,000 in the championships, a substantial sum at the time. The money was spent on team sponsorship deals and an agreement with the organizers: the entire pool seemed covered with Arena diamonds. Speedo, the Australian brand that had previously held a virtual monopoly on the swimwear market, appeared completely dumbstruck by the advances of its French rival."

"For all of Adi Dassler’s disdain, clothing promptly made up nearly half of Adidas sales in Germany. The explosion occurred at a time when the distinction between leisure and sports clothing was be- coming increasingly blurred. There was such huge demand for Adidas clothing that the company’s managers hardly bothered to take orders; the retailers would have accepted almost anything. Unencumbered by his father’s hang-ups, Horst eagerly delved into the clothing market. Just like their neighbors in Germany, the French managers sold millions of three-striped shorts and tracksuits. But this was merely the skeleton of a bustling apparel business that beat the German equivalent many times over. The French clothing operation owed its edge largely to Ventex, a former supplier that Adidas France had gobbled up. Previ- ously owned by a chemical company, the Ventex laboratory soon became the envy of the industry. “When German managers asked to be shown around at Ventex,” said Jean Wendling, then textile manager at Adidas France, “I made sure that the lab remained tightly sealed.”"