ADIDAS & PUMA
How to compete in business
Elementary Level:
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Grammar: Both / Either / Neither
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Pronunciation: P – Ph – Silent P
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Functional Vocabulary: Word Formation
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Listening: Adidas and Puma Compete
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Business Vocabulary: Explain the Meaning
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Reading: Adidas and Puma
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Role Play: How to compete
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INTRODUCTION:
Discuss these questions:
What sports are the most popular in your country / in the world?
What do you know about Adidas and Puma?
LISTENING 1:
Do you know what these words mean? You will hear them in the listening exercise.
Famous – shoes – argue – build - aggressive – wore - brands
Listen to a spokesman talk about Adidas & Puma, and answer these questions.
1. Who started Adidas and Puma?
2. Where did the brothers start making sports shoes?
3. What happened to the brothers in World War 2?
4. What happened in 1954?
5. What happened in 1970?
PRONUNCIATION: / F/ sound
Practice pronouncing these words & discuss their meanings with your teacher:
Phase - Phase - Football - Laugh - Rough - Draft - Full - Photograph - Fight - Tough
FUNCTIONAL VOCABULARY: Word Formation
EXERCISE: Complete each sentence with a noun made from the verb given
e.g. There are over a million inhabitants in this city. (Inhabit)
1. The
to sponsor a football team is a new marketing strategy. (Decide)
2. There was a
of new shirts yesterday. (Deliver)
3. This is the biggest
4. We have an
on national television every night at 8pm. (Advertise)
5. He has a good
6. The
in Germany. (Build)
. (Imagine)
is at 4pm in the big office. (Meet)
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Question: What is the difference between these two sentences?
• Neither the blue shirt nor the red shirt is OK.
• Either the blue shirt or the red shirt is OK.
GRAMMAR PRACTICE: either, neither, both
1. EITHER means a choice between two alternatives e.g.
• Do you want tea or coffee? Either, I like tea and coffee.
In a question when there are two alternatives we use either ... or e.g.
• Either we go to the conference or we go to the home.
2. NEITHER means you do not like the two alternatives. e.g.
• Do you want to go by car or by train? Neither, I want to go by airplane.
In a negative statement when there are two alternatives we use neither ... nor e.g.
• Neither Adidas nor Puma dominate the market.
3. BOTH means a quantity of two in the positive e.g.
• Do you like Adidas or Puma? ~ I like them both
• Both of the companies are German.
EXERCISE: Write sentences using the word in brackets.
e.g. Rudolph and Adi make sports shoes (BOTH)
Both Rudolph and Adi make sports shoes
1. Paul speaks Japanese / English (BOTH)
2. They go home / work until 8pm. (EITHER … OR)
3. William is not old / William is not young (NEITHER … NOR)
4. Adidas is a global brand / Puma is a global brand (BOTH)
5. Take the Nokia / take the Samsung. (EITHER … OR)
6. I don’t want fish / I don’t want meat (NEITHER … NOR)
Supplement the grammar study with exercises from a grammar book.
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READING:
Lead-in question:
How can Adidas & Puma compete with Nike?
Read the article and fill in the gaps with words from the box.
Note: the words can be used more than once.
Neither … nor - both - either … or
How Adidas, Puma and Nike compete
‘
Puma
Nike are strong in Europe, where Adidas is number one, but
Nike is the top sports wear company in the world,' says the boss of Adidas.
Adidas is
sports brand.
a team sports
an individual sports star brand. It is simply a
Adidas bought another sports wear company, Reebok, and believes that the new
combined company will make it bigger than
Nike and Puma.
Puma was bought by the French company PPR in 2007 and has a lot more money to
invest in marketing.
What is Nike's response to this?
'We're going to focus on what we do best,’ a Nike company manager said. “We
sponsor top sports professionals who give our products a great image.”
‘We've competed for many years, with some significant success in
fashion,’ the manager added.
sport and
‘
we concentrate on what we are good at or we worry about the competition.
We can’t do
.’
SPEAKING PRACTICE: Imagine you work for Adidas or Puma.
In pairs, discuss which team or sports star you want to promote your products,
and give reasons why they are good for your brand.
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Business Vocabulary:
SPEAKING PRACTICE: Explain the meaning of the underlined phrases
1. They lent million dollars to the company.
2. They borrowed $1,000,000 from the bank.
3. We bought the car because it was a bargain.
4. Here is your receipt.
LISTENING 2:
Do you know what these words mean? You will hear them in the listening exercise.
intensified – strong – ignore - sponsor – spent – beat – won - bought
Listen to the audio and answer these questions
1. What is Nike’s business model?
2. What sport is Nike now concentrating on?
3. How many people watched the 2006 football World Cup?
4. Which company sponsored the winning team?
5. Who owns Puma?
ROLE-PLAY
BACKGROUND:
Adidas & Puma want to produce different products e.g. perfume,
holidays, hotels etc.
In groups, the management team of Adidas and Puma decide on new
products and how to market them.
Role Play: Adidas and Puma groups present their plan and then talk
about options.
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Audio 1 – elem. Adidas & Puma
Adidas and Puma – elementary level
Adidas and Puma were founded in the small town of Herzogenaurach, in Germany.
Two brothers, Adi and Rudolf Dassler started by making sports shoes in the
basement of their family home in the 1920s, and the business expanded when the
Olympic Games came to Berlin in 1936.
During the Second World War. the brothers argued and they decided to form
separate companies.
Adi started Adidas - the name comes from the combination of the words, Adi and
Dassler - and Rudolf established Puma.
The brothers began to compete aggressively, and it was this intense competition that
helped to build both companies into global brands.
The German football team won the World Cup in 1954 wearing Adidas boots.
In 1970 the great footballer Pelé wore Puma boots and his team Brazil won the cup.
Adidas profits in 2008 were approximately $1 billion and Puma’s were $50 million.
Audio 2 – Elem. Adidas & Puma
Adidas and Puma compete for sales across the world, but the arrival of Nike in the
market, has intensified the competition for both German brands. Neither Adidas nor
Puma can ignore the strong competition from the American company.
Nike’s business model is to sponsor some of the biggest teams and players in the
world, including Tiger Woods and the Indian National Cricket team.
Nike is now concentrating on football and this is a big problem for Adidas and Puma.
The three companies spent a lot on marketing during the 2006 Football World Cup.
In total, the competition attracted over 30 billion viewers around the world, and this is
very important for brand promotion.
Each of the 3 companies sponsored many of the tournament teams but in the final
Italy won the cup wearing Puma shirts. They beat a French team, wearing Adidas
shirts. The favourites Brazil, sponsored by Nike, only reached the quarterfinals.
Puma is owned by the French company PPR, who bought the company in 2007.
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LESSON PLAN – ADIDAS & PUMA – ELEMENTARY
Key objectives – to practise aural and oral Business English
INTRODUCTION: Ask the students what they know about popular sports and Adidas
& Puma. Teacher (T) – Students (SS) 5 mins
LISTENING 1: Next tell students they are going to hear a spokesman talking about
Adidas & Puma. They need to answer the questions at the end. Play the listening
and ask students the questions. (T) – (SS) 10 mins
PRONUNCIATION: Ask the students to pronounce the words. (T) – (SS) 5 mins
FUNCTIONAL VOCABULARY: Go through the exercise and discuss the meaning of
any words that are unkown. (T) – (SS) 10 mins
GRAMMAR
Ask the lead-in questions and go through the rules for Both Either Neither - and do
the exercise that follows. Ask students to read the questions and answers out loud.
(S) – (T) 10 mins
READING: Find out if the students the lead in questions. Go through the reading and
gap fill exercise. Engage the students in the speaking practice that follows.
Encourage students to use the target grammar and the functional vocabulary. (S) –
(T) 15 mins
BUSINESS VOCABULARY – Get the students to offer explanations to the
vocabulary in the exercise. (S) – (T) 5 mins
LISTENING 2: Tell students they are going to hear the 2nd part of the listening. Play
the listening and students answer the questions (SS) – (T) 10 mins
ROLE PLAY: Go through the instructions and begin the role-play. Make sure they
practice the grammar and vocabulary learnt in the lesson and to try and use the case
study material in their argument. Get the other students to discuss and offer
feedback. (SS) – (SS) 20 mins
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EXERCISE ANSWERS
LISTENING 1:
1. The brothers, Adi and Rudolf Dassler
2. The basement of their family home.
3. The brothers argued and they formed separate companies
4. The German national football team won the World Cup wearing Adidas boots.
5. The great footballer Pelé wore Puma boots and his team Brazil won the cup.
FUNCTIONAL VOCABULARY:
1. The decision to sponsor a football team is a new marketing strategy. (Decide)
2. There was a delivery of new shirts yesterday. (Deliver)
3. This is the biggest building in Germany. (Build)
4. We have an advertisement on national television every night at 8pm. (Advertise)
5. He has a good imagination. (Imagine)
6. The meeting is at 4pm in the big office. (Meet)
GRAMMAR EXERCISE 1:
1. Paul speaks both Japanese and English
2. They either go home or they work until 8pm.
3. William is neither old nor young
4. Both Adidas and Puma are global brands
5. Take either the Nokia or the Samsung.
6. I want neither fish nor meat.
READING EXERCISE:
‘Neither Puma nor Nike are strong in Europe, where Adidas is number one, but Nike is the top
sports wear company in the world,' says the boss of Adidas.
Adidas is neither a team sports nor an individual sports star brand. It is simply a sports brand.
Adidas bought another sports wear company, Reebok, and believes that the new combined
company will make it bigger than both Nike and Puma.
Puma are now looking at Africa and Asia for new sponsorship targets and markets.
What is Nike's response to this?
'We're going to focus on what we do best,’ a Nike company manager said. “We sponsor top
sports professionals who give our products a great image.”
‘We've competed for many years, with some significant success in both sport and fashion,’
the manager added.
‘Either we concentrate on what we are good at or we worry about the competition. We can’t
do both.’
BUSINESS VOCABULARY
1. You give money to be repaid at a later date (banks charge interest)
2. You apply for money to be repaid at a later date (banks charge interest)
3. Very good price for something
4. Ticket given to you when you buy something
LISTENING 2:
1. To sponsor some of the biggest teams and players in the world.
2. Football
3. Over 30 billion
4. Puma sponsored the winning team, Italy.
5. The French company, PPR
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