Adidas, the sportswear giant, is planning to leverage innovation and its brand "heritage" to strengthen its bond with athletes and drive revenue growth.
The German company currently produces an estimated 200 million pairs of shoes and 400 million pieces of apparel each year.
It has manufactured a range of new products linked to the forthcoming World Cup in South Africa, of which it is an official sponsor, and will use this event as a springboard for further launches going forward.
"Football is our DNA," said Herbert Hainer, the chief executive of Adidas. "The World Cup is definitely the next biggest event for us. But this is just one part of getting to where we want to go."
As part of this process, Adidas recently adopted a range of internal "standards" that are said to reflect the goals of its founder, Adi Dassler.
Hainer suggested that Dassler was not a "marketing genius", but instead focused on the needs of customers who were passionate about sport.
"We have to make the best products for athletes, and this is only possible if you … work together with them in trying to get all their needs and their experience into the product development," he added.
The initial impetus behind this move came as part of the long-term turnaround programme initiated by Hainer upon taking up his current role in 2001, when "our lack of innovation was shining through."
In his first year as ceo, Hainer doubled the size of the firm's R&D department, set up a new research unit in the US and gave the company's board member for marketing responsibility over this area.
"We are today much faster, much more proactive how we cater to the market, how we talk to our consumers, how we bring products and concepts to market, how fast we can react to certain trends in the market," he said.
The downturn has further encouraged this shift, as shoppers have reined in their expenditure on all but vital purchases, meaning brand owners must create goods that are essential acquisitions for their target audience.
"In my opinion this industry is clearly product-driven, and the product is innovation. You can see it already in these tough times ... where consumption is going down," said Hainer.
More positively, Adidas exploited the opportunities offered by the recession to "cut out the dead wood", while the demise of many smaller rivals should also enable it to gain market share going forward.
Another factor that will benefit the company in this area is its long history and established credentials among sports enthusiasts, according to Hainer.
“Heritage can definitely be a very, very positive tool to guide you into the future if you use it right,” he said.
One recent example of this trend in action has been Reebok's EasyTone running shoes for women, which have rapidly assumed a leading position in their category.
"Reebok was the one who founded step aerobics 20 years ago and therefore created a complete new way of fitness ... This is a heritage which Reebok still has in the mind of a lot of consumers," said Hainer.
