Brands
Adidas reveals official match ball for UEFA Champions League knockout stages
MUMBAI: Global sportswear giant Adidas reveals Finale Istanbul, the Official Match Ball for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League knockout stages in India.
Drawing its inspiration from the host city, where East and West merge, the intricate design features a hand-drawn artistic interpretation of a map of Istanbul, which uniquely bridges the two continents of Europe and Asia.
The 2019/20 UEFA Champions League Final takes place in Istanbul on 30 May 2020. The Adidas Finale Istanbul Pro will be available to purchase online, in Adidas retail stores and selected retailers from today.
The Official Match Ball of the final has been designed to highlight the famous stars of the UEFA Champions League. Nodding to Istanbul’s deep culture of art, the carefully placed white stars contrast to a hand-printed artwork of a map of the city which can be followed and adorns the rest of the ball.
Fusing art and football, Adidas designers looked to more traditional methods to bring the map pattern to life. The ball features the latest Adidas performance technology to help ensure Europe’s top can perform at their best during the UEFA Champions League Final.
Offering the same high-performance structure and panels as recent iterations of the iconic star ball, an outer texture coating gives a secure grip and complete control while the panels are thermally bonded, with more sustainable glue, to provide a seamless surface for an improved first touch.
Equally distributed colour and the star formation are arranged across the ball to ensure peak performance and enhance aerobatic stability.
Celebrating the thrill and action of football, Adidas also announced an interesting initiative for fans across the country. The buyer of the Adidas Finale Istanbul Pro ball gets a chance to enter an exciting raffle draw. The lucky winner of the draw will stand a chance to win an all-expense-paid trip to watch the UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul along with his/her partner.
Brands
Lululemon picks former Nike executive to be its next chief
Heidi O’Neill, who helped grow Nike into a $45 billion giant, will take the top job in September
CANADA: Lululemon has found its next chief executive, and she comes with serious credentials. The athleisure giant named Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO on Wednesday, ending a search that has left the company running on interim leadership since earlier this year. O’Neill will take charge on September 8, 2026, based out of Vancouver, and will join the board on the same day.
O’Neill brings more than three decades of experience across performance apparel, footwear and sport. The bulk of that time was spent at Nike, where she was a central figure in one of corporate sport’s great growth stories, helping take the company from a $9 billion business to a $45 billion global powerhouse. She oversaw product pipelines, brand strategy and consumer connections, and played a significant role in shaping how Nike spoke to athletes around the world. Earlier in her career, she worked in marketing for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss. She also brings boardroom experience from Spotify Technology, Hyatt Hotels and Lithia and Driveway.
The board was unequivocal in its enthusiasm. “We selected Heidi because of the breadth of her experience, her demonstrated success delivering breakthrough ideas and initiatives at scale, and her ability to be a knowledgeable change and growth agent,” said Marti Morfitt, executive chair of Lululemon’s board.
O’Neill, for her part, was bullish. “Lululemon is an iconic brand with something rare: genuine guest love, a product ethos rooted in innovation, and a global platform still in the early stages of its potential,” she said. “My job will be to accelerate product breakthroughs, deepen the brand’s cultural relevance, and unlock growth in markets around the world.”
Until she arrives, Meghan Frank and André Maestrini will continue as interim co-CEOs, before returning to their previous senior leadership roles once O’Neill steps in.
Lululemon is betting that a Nike veteran who helped build one of the world’s most powerful sports brands can do something similar for an athleisure label that has genuine love from its customers but is still chasing its full global potential. O’Neill has done it before at scale. The question now is whether she can do it again.
