The Adidas brand has been linked with athletics since its early days. The company's founder, Adolf (Adi) Dassler, helped design track shoes for high jumpers, pole vaulters, and long-distance runners at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
He also designed spikes—the cleats used to help athletes grip the track. The brand’s association with sports was solidified in 1972 when Adidas established an advertising campaign targeting people who were active and healthy.
To this day, Adidas continues to achieve marketing success by following the same strategy of focusing on professional athletes rather than random consumers and creating a high-performance product that performs better than those offered by rivals.