Ready to strike: Hainer with Adidas Fevernova, the official match ball for the FIFA World Cup, 2002

He fits his role to a T. He played semi-professional soccer in Bavaria, and is still an avid golfer, skier, and runner. It isn't all fun and games though. The 47-year-old Herbert Hainer, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman on the executive board of Adidas-Salomon AG, will need all the dollops of what he calls ''passion for sports'' as he laces up for the world's second-largest sporting goods company's big push in the US market. Then, he has to consolidate Adidas' brilliant showing in Asia in 2001. On his maiden visit to India, Hainer spoke to BT's Shailesh Dobhal on these and other issues. Excerpts:

Q. Adidas seems to be still fighting its image as a shoemaker that has technology, not style. Your comments.

A. I don't agree with that at all. It may be that one of our competitors is seen as more fancy compared to us. So a few years ago the company decided to stick to its basic image of Adidas as a performance brand, while also actively attacking the lifestyle market. It is on the basis of this decision that the company divided the brand into three categories: sports performance, sports heritage, and sports lifestyle. We at Adidas believe that this differentiation will help us simultaneously stick to our image and reach more consumers.

What's your strategy towards a 20 per cent share in the US sports shoe market (current share 11-12 per cent), where Adidas is still weak?

Let me clarify. It is true that Adidas is a weak brand in the US, but that's not because it's not a lifestyle brand. In the last 10 years, we have not been able to touch the most popular sport in America, basketball. And when you are going after the US market, you have to have two things: the right product and the right ambassador. On the product side, we are working very hard-especially over the last two years-to bring the right products to the market. I think we have made huge progress on the product side.

The second issue is of finding the right ambassador. We now have one of the game's greatest players, Kobe Bryant. We know now how we can make the right product for the right market. The product is great and the ambassador is great. Now we have to communicate with the consumer and figure out how do to introduce the product at the right time.

"Adidas is seen as a sports performance brand that people also use for lifestyle"

You recently cut your profit forecast to 5-10 per cent from the previously predicted 15 per cent every year up to 2003. What explains that?

We had made these predictions in 2000. At that time everyone thought the Euro would keep rising. That hasn't happened. Everyone thought that in 2001 consumer markets would lift. That hasn't happened either. The US economy did not pick up, the Japanese economy did not pick up, and in Europe there was sluggish growth. In addition to all that, you had September 11. And in 2002, we have put a lot of money on World Cup Soccer for carrying the momentum in Asia and in the US for the long-term future of the company.

Asia was the fastest growing region for the group in 2001. How do you ensure the party doesn't end?

It will continue in 2002 as well. We have a long-term strategy here, which we started rolling out two-and-a-half-years ago, when we started taking distribution rights back in Japan. As a result, the last two years in Japan have brought us the best sales ever. We're investing in Adidas as a brand in Asia. We have the Japanese and the Chinese soccer team under contract. Now we have taken all countries in Asia, where we had joint ventures, distributors, licencees et al, under our control with our subsidiaries. And this means we take care of our brand, and we drive our growth.

The 2002 World Cup will definitely help. But beyond 2002, since we have built the infrastructure in Asia, we will gain. We have had our own subsidiary in China now for three-to-four years and have been clocking double-digit growth.

How big is Adidas' market in China compared to India?

Much bigger. To be honest, you have more people in China who are able to buy our products. We entered China seven years ago. It was not easy at that time because we weren't allowed to have our own subsidiary, even though the Adidas brand was there through a distributor much before that.

Adidas means sports. So do Nike and Reebok. And now you have blood-rival Puma that is making a comeback as a fashionable sports brand. How do you differentiate?

What we are doing for the Indian consumer is in the way our brand has been positioned. There has been a tremendous shift. Going out of Bata stores, expanding our shelf-space, opening our own stores, and following the international strategy of opening stores at strategic locations, the communication at the stores et al. It is not by accident, but by design. We go (to the new locations) because there is a crowd of young consumers that is looking for our brand. You will find posters of our new launch in India, ClimaCool, everywhere else in the world. We are dividing our product offerings under two broad heads: Forever Sports and Original. We aim to clearly define our target groups according to these heads. The focus for the brand is on big international stories, ClimaCool, World Cup, and more excitement in terms of new product introductions.

"Our main global competitor (Nike) is already behind us here. The other one (Reebok) we will catch (up with)"

You've been a professional soccer player. But do your other employees share your enthusiasm for sports?

All employees, to a certain extent, have to have a passion for sports, because that's what drives the brand and the company. You better understand the brand and the product if you have a passion for sports. And every employee in our company, to some degree, has a passion for sports.

I do believe that generally if you play only on the fashion side, it's a dangerous game. Because with fashion you can be cool today, and you can be completely gone tomorrow. Therefore, we manage our business in a different way. We stick to our roots, and our communication is always about sports performance.

Does Adidas' split into three categories tend to confuse consumers?

Adidas is clearly seen as a sports performance brand that people also use for lifestyle. There is a fine line that you have to draw (sports vis-à-vis lifestyle) to avoid treading too much on one side. We're investing in the sports performance area. For instance, the investment in World Cup soccer is gives a message to consumers worldwide that we are a sports performance brand, and not a fashion brand. Nevertheless, we are making our Sports Heritage products (part of the Original platform) available in the market. These products were used 30-40 years ago by sportsmen, but are fashionable today. Therefore, we do not go away from our roots. We are a sports performance brand, and we make products that are sports-inspired but still fashionable. This is how we believe we can sustain this 'fashion' trend much longer.

Adidas is still perceived as a laggard brand in India, where Reebok has taken the high ground, followed by Nike...

I was in the market all afternoon yesterday. Our stores are definitely better looking than our competitors'. In terms of sales, we are as big as our two international competitors here. Our positioning of a sports performance brand is well-reflected in our stores, and better than what I have seen in competitor stores here, in terms of how the stores are located, how the interior looks, how the sales staff is trained, the price-positioning of the product, the technology of the product. In all that we make no compromises. And I'm absolutely sure that two years from now we will be number one in the Indian market.

As far as consumer perception goes, research more than confirms that we are the most preferred apparel sports brand in the country, and in footwear, we were a very close second a year ago. I am pretty sure, given all that we are doing with the brand Adidas in terms of new value and product introductions, that we may already have become the leader.

This country has huge potential, simply going by the sheer number of people living here. And sports is becoming more popular in India, and more and more people will be able to afford high-quality innovative sports products in the future. It won't grow overnight, but I am sure of the potential.

Therefore, we are committed to India. We're investing here; we have built up a completely new management; we have a new office here; we are opening stores; we're investing in sports symbols. One of the country's most famous cricket players, Sachin Tendulkar, is our brand ambassador here.

Four years ago, we had around 50 styles of Adidas shoes available in India. Today, we have more than 200. This just goes to show that the offering is becoming bigger. It is covering more sports categories-covering men, women, kids, lifestyle, and serious sports performance.

India is perhaps the only country where Reebok is leading the market. Our main global competitor is already behind us here, and the other one we will catch. Don't worry about that.

You are known for economical marketing. There is a feeling that the World Cup is an expensive party with no real long-term benefits.

It is expensive, there is no doubt about that. Regarding long-term brand implications of sponsoring the World Cup, I will give you an example. In 1998 in France (the world cup soccer), we were the sponsors of the French national team and also one of the main sponsors. Ever since, our sales in France have always grown at double-digits.

I definitely expect a similar trend, at least in Japan. And spending on the World Cup is fundamental to being seen as a sports performance brand in Asia.