譯者按：引起世界，尤其是鞋業界倍加關注的阿迪達斯-銳步的合并案，中國鞋都網已經翻譯了不少的相關深度報道，涉及兩個品牌如何在全球互補以打敗耐克，以及它們不同的企業文化如何的融合等等一系列問題。譯者身處鞋業界，感觸對于全球的鞋業制造商而言，如果沒有進軍歐盟和美國這兩個世界頂級市場，尤其是美國，它就仍然是被排斥在主流市場之外。從這個角度而言，中國的運動鞋制造商才是剛起步，其優勢主要來源于成本于規模，所以擅長打價格戰，企業文化和品牌的建設都是陌生剛起步的，要進入世界的高端市場是非常艱難的，但是至少，而且是必須的，中國的運動鞋制造商可以把國內市場當做企業文化與品牌建設的一個良好的舞臺，因為中國本身是一個很大的市場，還有2008年的奧運會以及中國在世界日益增長的影響力，都為中國企業提供了非常好的背景，同為擁有勞動力成本優勢的越南等國家的鞋業企業就沒有這樣幸運了，所以讓我們努力吧！

     William McCall
     美聯社
     波特蘭，俄勒岡--在距離死對頭耐克公司總部10英里的辦公室里策劃謀略，艾瑞克.斯坦明格在思考采取怎樣的措施把耐克趕下世界第一的制鞋及服裝公司的寶座。
     “我們都知道這不可能一夜而來，即使你把所有的事情都做好了，你也不可能在12個月里改變世界�！� 阿迪達斯美國公司的總裁和CEO斯坦明格說，他同時還擔任德國母公司阿迪達斯-薩拉蒙的全球營銷總監。
      在上個月宣布它將以38億美元收購總部在馬薩諸塞州坎頓市的排名第三的的銳步國際有限公司之后，阿迪達斯正在精心準備以其自己的方式打敗耐克。
       即使在合并之后，阿迪達斯和銳步仍然落后于耐克的年銷售額--去年阿迪達斯是80億美元銳步是40億美元--或者是總計120億美元，相較于耐克的140億美元。
      但是這個合并，如果被批準的話，將立即為阿迪達斯增加很大一部分國內市場的份額，阿迪達斯與耐克一直在世界其他的地方旗鼓相當的競爭。
      阿迪達斯現在擁有美國運動鞋市場9%的份額，它將從銳步那里得到額外的12%的份額--總共的份額是21%，相較于耐克36%的份額。
     它同樣將提升在每一項運動上爭奪頂級運動員的能力，一位行業分析家說。
      阿迪達斯一直拒絕為明星運動員支付最高的報酬，或者說在過去耐克的出價都要高--包括對于NBA明星倫勃郎.詹姆斯，他與耐克簽定了一份估計為900萬美元的贊助合同之后，成為了2003年的重大新聞。
     “我們不準備支付他們想要的任何數額�！� 斯坦明格在談到與詹姆斯的談判時說。
     “我們自己設有限制，最后的問題是歸結于錢，它只是超出了我們的限制�！�
       他說阿迪達斯本能夠比耐克出價更高，在它最終出局之前他們與詹姆斯開始會談時的價格是最后價格的一半。
      當被問及在與足球明星大衛.貝克漢姆(David Beckham)簽定贊助協議的時候是否也有限制的時候，斯坦明格笑了。

     “我可以告訴你一件事情，它不是關于價格的”他說，并補充道阿迪達斯的創立者安迪.達斯勒（Adi Dassler）在20世紀早些時候在德國是與足球一起成長起來的，你甚至可以在1950年代在賽場上看見他本人，為了給運動員做更好的鞋子。
     “足球是我們的第一優先選擇，”他說，他的辦公室外面有一個數字顯示器倒計時著2006年世界杯的時間，“足球是我們的生命線”。
      為阿迪達斯的贊助合同選擇運動員是一門學問，它要確保運動員的潛力與阿迪達斯的營銷計劃和產品線的良好搭配。
      但是他拒絕談論銳步作為阿迪達斯的補充是如何的與之相配。
      一些分析家已經開始推測這是否是一個好的搭配，舉出了近來在大公司之間的問題聯姻--包括另一個著名的德-美配對，戴姆勒-克賴斯勒，以及其他的麻煩的合并如惠普-康柏，迪斯尼與ABC，時代華納與美國在線。
     “我沒有看到銳步將如何能夠幫助他們與耐克之間的競爭�！币粋�名叫杰克.特勞特(Jack Trout)的資深的體育營銷顧問說，“這是否意味著耐克將不能夠獲取大球星的垂青？我表示懷疑�！�
     （英文原文引自The Associate Press，編譯：Rainpoem）

                                                 Adidas CEO charts his strategy
     PORTLAND, Ore. - Plotting strategy in his office 10 miles from the headquarters of archrival Nike Inc., Erich Stamminger contemplates what it’s  going to take for Adidas to knock Nike off its pedestal as the No. 1 shoe and apparel company in the world.
    “We all know that this does not come overnight. Even if you do everything right, you will not in 12 months change the world,” said Stamminger, the president and CEO of Adidas America Inc. who also serves as global marketing chief for its German parent, Adidas-Salomon AG.
    Adidas is mapping out ways to beat Nike at its own game after announcing last month that it will buy No. 3 Reebok International Ltd., based in Canton, Mass., for $3.8 billion.
     Even combined, Adidas and Reebok will still trail Nike in annual sales - $8 billion for Adidas and $4 billion for Reebok last year - or a total of $12 billion compared with $14 billion for Nike. But the merger, if approved, will instantly add a good chunk of the domestic market to Adidas, which has always competed head-to-head with Nike around the rest of the world.
     Adidas, with about 9 percent of the U.S. athletic footwear market, will get an additional 12 percent share from Reebok - for a total of 21 percent compared with about 36 percent for Nike.
     It could also boost the bidding for the top athletes in every sport, industry analysts say.
     Stars who have not yet signed major deals, such as D.C. United soccer player Freddy Adu and golfer Michelle Wie, for example, along with “a handful of others are now in a great position because they will take advantage of what may not be a bidding war between the two companies but will certainly be a much more compelling race,” said David Carter, founder of the Sports Business Group, a marketing firm.
     Adidas has resisted paying top dollar for celebrity athletes or has been outbid by Nike in the past - including for NBA star LeBron James, who made headlines in 2003 when he signed an endorsement contract with Nike worth an estimated $90 million.
     “We are not ready to pay any amount people are asking for,” Stamminger said about the negotiations with James.
     “We set ourselves a limit. But it finally came down to the money. It just went beyond our limits.”
      He said that Adidas could have afforded to outbid Nike but started talking to James at about half the final price before eventually dropping out.
     When asked whether there was a limit to the endorsement deal Adidas signed with soccer star David Beckham, Stamminger laughed.
     “I can tell you one thing, it was not about price,” he said, adding that Adidas founder Adi Dassler grew up with soccer in Germany in the early 20th century and could even be seen at matches personally changing shoes for players well into the 1950s.
     “Soccer is our No. 1 priority,” he said as digital display outside his office counted down the minutes until the 2006 World Cup. “This is our lifeblood.”
      Choosing athletes for Adidas endorsement contracts is a study in making sure the athlete’s potential is a good fit for marketing plans and product lines, Stamminger said.
     But he declined to talk about how good a fit Reebok will make as a corporate addition to Adidas, citing Securities and Exchange Commission restrictions on executives involved in a pending merger.
     Some analysts are already speculating whether it will be a good match, citing some of the problem marriages among big companies recently - including another famous German-American pairing, DaimlerChrysler, and other difficult mergers such as Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, Disney and ABC, and Time-Warner and AOL.
     “I don’t see how the addition of Reebok helps them in their quest to run against Nike,” said Jack Trout, a veteran sports marketing consultant. “Does this mean Nike is not going to get their hands on the big athletes? I doubt it.”