Taking up his podcast format, actor, entertainer, and entrepreneur Dax Shepard interviewed Group CIO of Adidas Andreas Hubert, as well as actor and businesswoman Kate Hudson about a host of topics. But their conversation kept returning to the SAP Sapphire Thursday theme: sustainability.
First on stage, Hubert discussed the multiple sustainability facets and goals Germany-based Adidas tackles every day, from fair wages, to materials and sourcing traceability, and to distribution and logistics.
“Sustainability has become a purchase-decision criteria for consumers,” Hubert said. “We have 1 billion customers coming to our shops every year, around the globe. Imagine if we can connect them to sustainability?”
Adidas’ Sustainability Goals
In addition to showing off a new pair of Adidas kicks made of 100% recycled materials—which will again be returned to Adidas for recycling and reuse—Hubert said that the company’s sustainability goals include targets. Adidas is aiming for nine out of 10 products to be made of sustainable materials by 2025.
For Adidas, technology is essential to its business and sustainability success. “Tech is about scaling up data collection, about traceability … about creating transparency,” Hubert said, adding that one tenet for Adidas’ business is “through sports we have the power to change lives, even more powerfully through sustainability.”
With Hudson, topics ranged from her past relationship with Shepard, to kids, rotary phones, and celebrity endorsements. They regularly redirected to sustainability, given that both celebrities oversee branded businesses. Hudson and Shepard understand that what they do and say influences fans, followers, and consumers. One of Shepard’s ventures is a diaper company; Hudson’s interests include athleisure, athletic wear, and health food and beverages.
Sustainability from the Get-Go
After joking that they didn’t need SAP technology to determine when Hudson had started Fabletics, Hudson said that the Fabletics business has been “sustainability-conscious from the get-go. I have partners who understand that, and it’s especially important in fast fashion.”
Hudson added that while “sustainability is really hard, it’s a grind,” her organizations are constantly trying to figure it out. Thankfully, sustainably sourced materials at affordable prices are getting easier to find. She also noted that her brick-and-mortar stores have carbon-neutral footprints.
In something of a call-to-action referencing businesses, their practices, policies, and goals, Hudson said that sustainability “at this point … is a responsibility. If everyone knows that that is where we are moving, we'll want to move there faster.”
To close, with a reference to the German roots of SAP, Shepard asked Hudson three questions in German—her birthday, how much her sweatshirt cost (even though she was wearing a dress), and how she was. Hudson replied, also in German. And, to wrap up the session, Hudson said, “I’m happy.”
And so was the keynote crowd on the last day of SAP Sapphire & ASUG Accelerate Orlando.