Curious about the entrepreneurial adventure behind inspiring brands, Brand and Strategic Professional Martijn Arets decided to quit his job, hand in his lease car, ignore all uncertainties and follow his dream. For five months, he travelled more than 15,000 kilometres across Europe in a one-of-a-kind 1971 Volkswagen T2 camper van, meeting with the founders, CEOs and brand managers of 20 authentic European brands in what was to prove a unique trip: Brand Expedition. On popular demand, he has bundled the lessons and stories behind 20 appealing European brands such as Lego, Mini, Skype, The Body Shop and Adidas to create Brand Expedition, the book. More information? Check www.brand-expedition.com or send Martijn a Tweet: @martijnarets.

1. READ OUT LOUD
THE STORY BEHIND
- ADIDAS -
CLEATS MAKE ADI FAMOUS

2. BEFORE YOU START….
please look into your camera and tell
us slowly your name, city and
country… Then you can start reading
this paragraph out loud… Have fun!

3. The split between the brothers
literally constituted a split within the
village. Adidas employees and Puma
employees hated each other. Is this
still the case? Jan smiles: “We are now
more than 60 years down the

4. road and there is no evidence of it
whatsoever. Adidas and Puma finally
took the initiative and publicly
buried the hatchet on
September 21, 2009. On this ‘Day of
Peace’, the employees of Puma

5. and Adidas, including the CEOs,
played a soccer match with and
against each other.” The real
breakthrough for the steadily growing
company took place during the finals
of the World Championship

6. Soccer in 1954, when Germany played
against Hungary, who was slated to
win. People had very little faith in the
German team as it plodded its way
through the rain. The players were
wearing Adidas shoes

7. that had something that turned out to
be the greatest innovation of the
tournament: exchangeable cleats.
During half-time, Adi attached longer
and stiffer cleats to all the soccer
shoes, as a consequence of which the

8. German team suddenly had far more
grip on the slippery soccer field and
became champion. Adidas acquired
instant fame. The orders started
pouring in.

9. - END OF RECORDING-