Glossary

A

Accessories and gear

A product category which comprises equipment that is used rather than worn by the consumer, such as bags, balls, sun glasses or fitness equipment

Athleisure

The term is composed of the words athletic and leisure. It describes a fashion trend of sportswear no longer being just meant for training but increasingly shaping everyday clothing.
C

Cash Pools/Cash pooling

A cash management technique for physical concentration of cash. Cash pooling allows adidas to combine credit and debit positions from various accounts and several subsidiaries into one central account. This technique supports our in-house bank concept where advantage is taken of any surplus funds of subsidiaries to cover cash requirements of other subsidiaries, thus reducing external financing needs and optimizing our net interest expenses.

Climate neutrality

Climate neutrality refers to a concept of a state in which human activities result in no net effect on the climate system. Achieving such a state requires balancing residual emissions with emission removals as well as accounting for regional or local bio-geophysical effects of human activities that, for example, affect surface albedo (i.e., solar radiation reflected by a surface) or local climate (definition according to ‘Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Glossary‘).

CO2e

Carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2e) is the universal unit of measurement to indicate the global warming potential (GWP) of each of the six GHGs, expressed in terms of the GWP of one unit of carbon dioxide (definition according to the ‘Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard‘).

Controlled space

Includes own-retail business, mono-branded franchise stores, shop-in-shops, joint ventures with retail partners and co-branded stores. Controlled space offers a high level of brand control and ensures optimal product offering and presentation according to brand requirements.

Creators Club

‘Creators Club’ is a membership program that helps us deepen the relationship with our consumers. Linking all adidas apps, events, communities and channels into one single profile, the program rewards members with points for interacting with the brand, e.g., when making a purchase or using the ‘adidas Running’ or ‘adidas Training’ apps. Depending on the number of points, exclusive benefits are unlocked, including access to hype sneaker and apparel drops or invitations to special events.
I

Independent manufacturing partners

We outsource almost 100% of production to independent manufacturing partners. They are defined on a supplier group level, which means one independent manufacturing partner might produce in several manufacturing facilities. The majority of our independent manufacturing partners are located in Asia.
L

Leadership, betterment, and performance

Leadership, Betterment, and performance are the three pillars of our people strategy:

  • Leadership: We will develop leaders to own the game and act as role models empowering all people to realize their possibilities.
  • Betterment: We believe in a mindset of continuous learning and improvement and are committed to providing relevant learning opportunities to upskill and reskill for the future.
  • Performance: We build the best teams that play to win, recognizing and rewarding both individual and team performances.

Lifestyle

Under the ‘Lifestyle’ category, we subsume all footwear, apparel, and ‘accessories and gear’ products that are born from sport and worn for style. ‘adidas Originals,’ which is inspired by sport and worn on the street, is at the heart of the ‘Lifestyle’ category.
M

Marketing expenditure

Expenditure that relates to point-of-sale and marketing investments. While point-of-sale investments include expenses for advertising and promotion initiatives at the point of sale as well as store fittings and furniture, marketing investments relate to sponsorship contracts with teams and individual athletes as well as to advertising, events and other communication activities. Marketing overhead expenses are not included in marketing expenditure.

More Sustainable cotton

For adidas, ‘more sustainable cotton’ means certified organic cotton or any other form of sustainably produced cotton that is currently available or may be available in the future, as well as ‘Better Cotton.’
O

Operating overhead Costs

Expenses which are not directly attributable to the products or services sold, such as distribution and selling as well as general and administration costs, but not including marketing and point-of-sale expenses.
P

Parley for the Oceans

‘Parley for the Oceans’ is an environmental organization and global collaboration network. Founded in 2012, the initiative aims to raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of the oceans, and to inspire and empower diverse groups such as pacesetting companies, brands, organizations, governments, artists, designers, scientists, innovators and environmentalists in the exploration of new ways of creating, thinking and living on our finite, blue planet.

Parley Ocean Plastic

‘Parley Ocean Plastic’ is a material created from upcycled plastic waste that was intercepted from beaches and coastal communities before reaching the ocean. The organization ‘Parley for the Oceans’ works with its partners to collect, sort and transport the recovered raw material (mainly PET bottles) to our supplier who produces the yarn, which is legally trademarked. It is used as a replacement for virgin plastic in the making of adidas x Parley products.

Performance

Under the ‘Performance’ category, we subsume all footwear, apparel and ‘accessories and gear’ products which are of a more technical nature, built for sport and worn for sport. These are, among others, products from our most important sport categories: Football, Training, Running, and Outdoor.

polybags (LDPE)

A type of product transport packaging made of recycled low-density polyethylene (‘LDPE’) that offers a more sustainable option to virgin plastic polybags, as they have a lower environmental footprint than conventional bags and most alternatives. Recycled LDPE polybags meet our quality and performance standards to effectively protect our products during shipping and handling, are available globally and can be recycled via existing waste streams.

Promotion partnerships

Partnerships with events, associations, leagues, clubs and individual athletes. In exchange for the services of promoting the company’s brands, the party is provided with products and/or cash and/or promotional materials.
S

Single-sourcing model

Supply chain activities limited to one specific supplier. Due to the dependency on only one supplier, a company can face disadvantages during the sourcing process.
W

Wet processes

Wet processes are defined as water-intense processes, such as dyeing and finishing of materials.