Adidas Arena: why digital is the new game out of town
Adidas has raised expectations of the out-of-town campus through a process of digital transformation for its Munich headquarters, as Michael Grosam of Combine Consulting explains
The suburban campus hasn’t been renowned in recent years for its bustling community and thriving infrastructure. Yet global sportwear brand Adidas has reinvented expectations of the out-of-town corporate campus with its Digital Arena concept for its Munich-based headquarters. Located just outside of the small Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach – near Munich – Adidas recognised the struggle to recruit the best new talent because of its untrendy location.
New strategy
Adidas worked with Combine Consulting to develop a new strategy which could transform the formerly analogue campus into a digital hub which promotes collaboration and wellbeing of its employees. Together with Berlin-based design firm Actincommon, Adidas created Adidas Valley based in the campus. Adidas Valley combines workspace with co-creation areas and lounge platforms to allow a more liquid flow of communication and knowledge sharing within the campus.
In this exclusive interview with WORKTECH Academy, Michael Grosam – formerly of Adidas and speaker at the WORKTECH Munich 2018 conference – talks about the journey to digital and agile in Adidas’ transformative workplace strate.
As part of the transformation process, Adidas developed the ‘My Arena’ concept which used design thinking principles to understand the needs and wants of employees. As a result, the campus caters for a diverse spectrum of employees and provides a more inclusive and flexible experience.
This transformation included implementing a range of workspaces which have seamless connectivity to the company network, workplace apps to digitally enable agile working and an emphasis on workplace community.
