Adidas

DESCRIPTION

Jesse Owens and Muhammad Ali broke records in their adidas athletic shoes. The heart of the adidas product line is athletic shoes, but the three-stripe logo appears on apparel and other jock accoutrements. Bankruptcy once had it on the ropes, but it made a comeback by shifting production to Asia and beefing up its marketing. The #2 maker of sporting goods worldwide, behind NIKE, it has inked deals with football and basketball athletes, as well as the New York Yankees. The firm won sponsorship rights to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Its purchase of Salomon, the French maker of ski and golf gear, was short-lived. It sold the unit to Amer Sports Corp. and bought Reebok in 2006 for some $3.8 billion.

Having already put its footprint on athletic shoe history and widely recognized for its expertise in engineering footwear, adidas has been missing two integral components: a brand as strong and as global as Nike's and a sturdy foundation in the US market. With its acquisition of Reebok, adidas now has the traction it needs to cross both components off its wish list. To boot, adidas, through its purchase of Reebok, has greatly expanded its portfolio of licensed brands, got a leg up on the urban market, and begun to chip away at Nike's long-running status as the world's #1 footwear firm that controls more than 20% of the US athletic shoe market. The deal also offers adidas and Reebok, as a combined entity, more bargaining muscle with suppliers and marketers.

Kellogg

DESCRIPTION

Kellogg does more business before 8 a.m. than most companies do all day. It is the #1 US breakfast cereal maker (a mere corn flake ahead of General Mills). Among its well-known brands are Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispies. As on-the-go consumers grow impatient with the traditional cereal-milk combo, Kellogg increasingly relies on snacks and convenience foods such as Eggo waffles, Nutri-Grain cereal bars, and Pop-Tarts to buff up its bottom line. Furthering its non-cereal offerings, the company bought cookie and cracker giant Keebler Foods (Fudge Shoppe, Cheez-It), which became its Kellogg Snacks Division. The W. K. Kellogg Foundation, one of the world's largest private charities, owns about 27% of the company.