Adidas CEO, Herbert Hainer, recently sat down for an interview with the Wall Street Journal in which he spoke about Kanye West's influence on the brand and how he has significantly impacted their recent success.
WSJ: How important has Kanye West been to Adidas?
Mr. Hainer: Kanye has definitely helped us, no doubt. But he is not only a celebrity who is wearing our products. He was here day and night and worked with the design team. Sometimes he drove the designers crazy, but this also gave our people inspiration. You know how he is.
WSJ: How does the future look?
Mr. Hainer: I can definitely promise you, even if I’m not here then…the double-digit growth rates we have right now in the U.S. will continue.
We all know that Kanye's Adidas Yeezy Boosts are among the most sought after sneakers in the game today but 'Ye has also impacted the sales of their other wildly popular sneakers like the Adidas UltraBOOST and the NMD. I'm not a statistician but you don't need to be a genius to know that if Kanye West steps out in a pair of UltraBOOSTS on Monday, that very sneaker will see a bump the following week.
In fact, Adidas has reported unprecedented growth in performance running sneakers in North America- up 31% in the first quarter. That's not to say that all of those sales are a testament to Kanye's influence, but he has certainly played a role in the boom of the Adidas brand as of late.
You can check out the full interview with Adidas CEO, Herbert Hainer, right here.
[Via]
