As Adidas is looking for a new chief executive, experts and analysts are advising the German shoe company to get creative.
“The business needs to get back to the cutting edge of creativity,” Cowen analyst John Kernan said Friday, Oct. 7, in a Bloomberg News. report looking for a general manager.
Adidas announced in August that its supervisory board and CEO Kasper Rorsted had agreed that Rorsted would step down next year but would remain with the company until a replacement was appointed.
Read more: Looking for a ‘restart’, Adidas is looking for a new CEO
“After three difficult years that have been marked by the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, now is the time to begin a CEO transition and pave the way for a restart,” Thomas said. , Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Adidas AG. Rabe said in a statement.
“The problem at Adidas is product development, brand recognition,” Ingo Speich of Deka Investment in Frankfurt, a major shareholder, told Bloomberg. The CEO needs to be more in tune with the creative team at Adidas, “and Rorsted is not the manager to do that.”
The report highlighted two names that were offered as possible replacements. One is Puma CEO Bjorn Guldenalthough Bloomberg dismissed this idea, given the rivalry between the two brands, both based in the same city.
The other is Eric Liedtke, a former Adidas executive who had previously been considered a possible successor to former CEO Herbert Hainer. He also helped oversee the company’s collaborations with musicians like Beyonce, Pharell Williams and Kanye West.
See also: Kanye West ends his partnership with Gap
The West partnership – which created the Yeezy sneaker collection – appeared to be in trouble this week, with Adidas saying on Thursday it was placing it under review.
According to published information, Adidas said the decision followed several attempts to resolve disputes with West. The company says it will continue to manage Yeezy products in its inventory and called the partnership “one of the most successful…in the history of our industry.”
Last month, West ended his partnership with Difference, accusing the clothing manufacturer of failing to meet the terms of its contract. Gap said that while he shared a vision with West, the company and the rapper/designer disagreed on how to move that vision forward.
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