PUMA - Puma Sneakers - Germany

PUMA - Basic Information

PUMA logo

Puma was the fastest growing brand in the sports apparel market in terms of sales and profits from 1998 to 2003, with growth rates exceeding double digits for six consecutive years. Surprisingly, Puma spent only $3.9 million on advertising in the U.S. in 2002, compared to $120 million for Nike and $45.3 million for Reebok in the same year.
PUMA jingle: Happy walkers!

Puma (PUMA) endorsers: Zhao Chenhao, Heat Brothers, Big Mouth, Yu Wenle, Elva Hsiao, Gianluigi Buffon, Yong Berry, Eto'o, Stam, Pire, Hasselbaink, Wiltord Hildebrand, Kuranyi and Hargreaves, Kostinha (Portugal), Thomassen (Denmark), Beattie (England), Yang Chen, Pele.

PUMA's fifty years of history are written page by page on great sporting achievements.PUMA accompanied King Pele on his march...

Puma (PUMA) spokespersons Guo Caijie, Chen Yihan, Lan Zhengrong, Yoga Lin, Big Mouth, XIAO Yaxuan, Zhao Chenhao, BOSS, Buffon, Yong Berry, Eto'o, Fabregas, Aguero, Toure, Stam, Pire, Arteta, Hasselbaink

World Football Championship finalist, accompanied tennis great Beck to victory on the grass at Wimbledon. We work with the best athletes and are constantly looking for the latest technology to produce the best sports equipment. Founder Rudolf Dassler Rudolf Dassler established PUMA as a German brand in 1948, and for decades PUMA has been a major player in the sports world, and in recent years it has successfully combined sports, leisure and fashion into one, and has risen to become one of the most popular brands among young people.

PUMA - Brand Profile

PUMA logo

PUMA was founded in 1948 in Herzogenaurach, Germany, PUMA Chinese as Puma, meaning Puma, Germany, a large multinational company to produce shoes and sportswear.

Founder: Rudolf Dassler.

Rudolf Dassler joined his brother Adolf Dassler (nicknamed Adi Adi) in 1924 at the Dassler Company in Herzoglach and renamed the company Dassler Brothers, Inc. in the mid-1930's. Dassler Brothers grew to become the leading brand of athletic footwear in the world with nearly one hundred employees and more than thirty styles. After World War II, Dassler Brothers resumed business with 47 employees and made its first post-war sneakers from canvas and U.S. Army fuel tanks to extract rubber.

In 1948 Adolf Dassler with its own name combination of Adi and das will Dassler Brothers renamed adidas, two brothers from the second parting of the ways, brother Rudolf Dassler another set up a PUMA company, the same direction as adidas, are based on the production of sporting goods, the two have since become competitors.

In 1986 PUMA joined the Munich and Frankfurt stock exchanges. Today, PUMA employs 3,200 people and sells its products in more than 80 countries; in 2003 the company's assets amounted to 1.2 billion euros.

PUMA shoes and apparel were extremely popular in hip-hop graffiti culture, both inside and outside of the U.S. PUMA is also one of the icons of hip-hop culture in the 1970s and 1980s, along with adidas.

PUMA is now a 61-year-old sportswear brand with first-line appeal and influence in the world. PUMA's history over the past 50 years has been written on pages of great sporting achievements: PUMA has accompanied King Billy to the final of the World Football Championships, and tennis player David Beck to victory on the grass at Wimbledon. It has worked with the best athletes and constantly pursued the latest technology to produce the best sports equipment. Founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler, PUMA is a German brand that has been at the forefront of the sports world for decades, and in recent years has successfully combined fashion/sports to become one of the favorite brands of young people.
Herzogenaurach (Herzogenaurach), located in the southern German state of Bavaria, at the end of the nineteenth century, was an obscure town, the main economic tradition of the garment industry, but today, because it is the world-famous sporting goods - PUMA "Puma" company's headquarters, and attracted a lot of attention. The town is now a center of attention because it is home to the headquarters of PUMA, a world-renowned sporting goods company.
Puma was the fastest growing brand in the sports apparel market in terms of sales and profits from 1998 to 2003, with growth rates exceeding double digits for six consecutive years. Surprisingly, Puma spent only $3.9 million on advertising in the U.S. in 2002, compared to $120 million for Nike and $45.3 million for Reebok in the same year.

PUMA - Big Year

PUMA Sweatshirt

1924 Brother Rudolf Dassler (1898-1974) and brother Adolf Dassler (1900-1978) found the "Dassler Brothers" shoe factory.

The first soccer cleats were originally designed in the family bathroom, made and patented with wooden pegs inspired by the...

1935 The shoe factory is born and mass production begins, but conflicts begin to arise between the brothers.

1936 U.S. men's track and field athlete Jesse Owens (1913-1980) runs in a Dassler at the Berlin Olympics, winning seven gold medals; five bronze medals, breaking two world records and three Olympic records.

1948 Brothers' conflicts intensify and split up. Rudolf Dassler founded PUMA.

PUMA is officially founded and the first soccer cleats are born PUMA ATOM

1952 PUMA is known and recognized in five states.

1958 At the World Cup in Sweden, Brazil and Sweden compete for the title in PUMA soccer boots. The "runway" design on the upper is introduced.

In 1962, Brazil not only won the championship in Chile again, but also Mr. Pele won the best player of the World Cup, also wearing PUMA shoes.

1967 PUMA NO.1 trademark was officially born, it is by the famous German cartoonist LUTZ BACKES design puma

1968 "LOMA1968" - PUMA sponsors the Italian team to win the European Cup in Rome.

At the same time brotherly relations open fire, backsliding, and even the crowd wearing two brands of clothes are separated

1970 The third World Cup for Brazil with King Pelé in Mexico City! This time he's wearing PUMA KING!

1974 Dutch footballer Deliverance Cruyff leads his team to second place in the World Cup in Germany wearing PUMA boots and is named best player.

1982 Diego Maradona makes his World Cup debut wearing PUMA boots.

Amin Dassler invented the "PUMA DUOFILEX" outsole. Dassler invented the "PUMA DUOFILEX" outsole.

1984 Navratnova wins the fifth of her nine career Wimbledon titles wearing PUMA sports gear.

1986 Diego Maradona helps his team win the World Cup with his famous "Hand of God".

In the same year, PUMA was transformed into a joint stock company.

1993 Former American football player Jochen Zeitz, aged 30, is appointed President and Chairman of the Board of PUMA. A solid step towards a long-term development program.

1998 PUMA enters Hollywood, investing in the movies City of Angels, Shaolin Soccer, Nightcrawler, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Scream, and Apple Pie 2.

In the same year signed the famous German fashion designer Jil Sander the first sports brand that combines fashion and sports.

The same year sponsored Williams Jr. and became the official sponsor of the sweatshirt.

1999 First concept store in California, followed by London, Rome, Tokyo, Boston. Frankfurt, Melbourne. Beijing World Trade Center, Sanlitun

2000 Signed supermodel CHRISTY TRULINGTON to be the spokesperson for Nuala, the brand's NUALA yoga product.

In the same year, Cameroon, the lion of Africa, wore PUMA's new and improved sleeveless T-shirt at the African Cup of Nations.

In the same year, the official sponsorship and the field of formula car racing, Ferrari BMW Red Bull 1 Red Bull 2 team

2001 PUMA signs a contract with renowned Japanese designer Yasuhiro Mihara to distribute his fashionable alternative, the MY series of signature "boardshorts" worldwide.

2005 Signed Schumacher, Massa. And provide daily life clothing for the whole family.

Designed with fashion guru Neil Barrett Italy's uniforms, PUMA became the official sponsor of the Italian national soccer team.

2006 PUMA sponsors the Italian soccer team that wins the World Cup in Germany. PUMA totaled 12 teams during the World Cup in Germany and provided them with match uniforms.

(AD sponsors 8 teams, NK sponsors 6)

In the same year, PUMA launched the GOLF (golf) collection.

In 2007, PPR Group became the largest shareholder of PUMA. (PR sales entity <> under the brand GUCCI MQUEEN YEL and other international first-line brands) Also signed the designer MQUEEN (as Giovanni), represented by <>.

2008 PUMA enters the regatta VOLVO with 12 stops around the world, the last one being Qingdao, China.

PUMA - Attitude towards life

PUMA sneakers

In the 1980s and 1990s, Puma was once far behind sportswear giants such as Nike, Reebok and Adidas in terms of marketing and sales. At that time, Puma was seen as an outdated brand, department stores have put Puma sneakers on the bargain bins, in 1993 Puma to the brink of bankruptcy.

In 1994, at the age of 30, J ochen Zeitz was appointed CEO of the company, and he was also the youngest president of a listed company in Europe. From the late 90's, under the leadership of J ochen Zeitz, Puma relies on guerrilla marketing tactics to become the world's sportswear market, "explosive brand". 1993 to 2001, Puma's turnover nearly tripled. 2002, the U.S. sportswear market value of 7.8 billion U.S. dollars, while Puma's sales increased by 48% year-on-year to 121 million U.S. dollars. Puma's sales increased by 48% year-on-year to $121 million. Puma was recognized by Brandweek as the "Marketing Brand of the Year" for 2002.

According to John Shanley, Managing Director of Wells Farg o Marketable Investments in New York, "Puma is the best brand-managed sports apparel brand, with a disciplined and well-designed product line and clear, long-term goals for segmentation and distribution channel management." Thanks to its excellent marketing tactics, Puma's stock has been ranked as the best investment on the German market for several years in a row.

Puma segments consumers by "attitude to life".

The vast majority of analysts and observers agree that the appointment of J ochen Zeitz as CEO and Chairman of the Board was a major turning point for Puma. Prior to that, Puma's marketing plan was routine, except for that tiny jaguar Log o, there was no way to see the difference between this brand and Nike and Adidas, and distributors placed the same products on different sales terminals.As soon as Zeitz took over, he pointed out: individuality is the key to our survival, and we have to be the sports lifestyle brand that consumers want the most, or else there is no way for us to compete with Nike and other giants to compete."

At the time, just about all companies used traditional demographic methods when segmenting consumers, dividing them by criteria such as age, education and income. Tony Botteron, Director of Global Brand Management at Puma, however, believes that "a 19-year-old Japanese high school student may have the same attitude to life and brand preference as a 30-year-old black man in New York. Attitude and lifestyle are the most important influences on the Puma consumer, and creating a brand attitude that is uniquely Puma is at the heart of our brand marketing. We define 'sport' as an active lifestyle and want Puma consumers to remain that way of life even when they become 70-year-old grandmothers, as well as loyal customers of the brand."

The core of Puma's market segmentation is to firmly grasp the "Early-Adopter". According to marketing theory, all consumers can be categorized into Innovator, Early-Adopter, Early Majority and Early-Adopter according to their acceptance of new products and technologies. Early Majority, Late Majority and Lagging Ard. Of these, the "First-Timers" account for about 13.5% of the total, and they are generally the "opinion leaders" in a particular market or sector, who can help recommend brands or products to the "Followers" and "Laggards". "Laggards.

Brand management director Bertram said that Puma does not differentiate the brand's product lines according to price, but rather considers which products are "designed for the first to try" and which are "designed for the herd," with products for the "first to try" having a more forward-thinking and fashionable concept. The products for the "first-timers" are more forward-thinking and fashionable. The distribution channels of the products are also the same, Puma according to the characteristics of different product lines, so that the avant-garde design products appear in some small fashion stores, while those mainstream products are sold in the sportswear specialty stores such as Foot Locker.

J ochen Zeitz revealed that Foot Locker had offered to sell Puma's full line of products in the chain, which could easily double product sales if Puma did so. However, the offer was politely declined by Puma, with Bottlen saying, "We don't want the guys who buy Puma's coolest products to see the shoes they've gone to great lengths to find all over the streets." Zeitz said, Puma is not about spelling out sales volume, long term steady growth and a solid lifelong connection with the consumer is what we are aiming for."

Next, Puma collaborated with supermodel and yoga trainer Christy Turlington to launch the Nuala collection, designed specifically for women's yoga, which created a wave of yoga practice in the West. Thanks to Puma's efforts, it's now common to see fashionistas like Madonna wearing Puma loafers and carrying LV handbags.

PUMA - Marketing activities

Jochen Zeitz had no choice but to use guerrilla marketing tactics when he first took over Puma, which lost $32 million in 1993, and under great pressure Zeitz had to resort to streamlining measures such as laying off employees and cutting marketing expenses. But then, the surprising return on investment made Zeitz determined to carry out guerrilla marketing to the end.

Unlike its competitors, who spend heavily on mass advertising and promotion, Puma invests its limited marketing dollars in low-cost, creative guerrilla marketing campaigns.In 2002, Puma spent only $3.9 million on advertising in the U.S., less than a fraction of the amount spent by competitors such as Nike and Reebok.

In the fall of 2002, Puma sponsored a sneaker design competition for avant-garde designers called Thrift. The designers had to create sneakers out of old shirts, pants, ties and wallets, and the company named the final 510 pairs "Sneakers with Soul". The limited production was sought after by collectors, with prices reaching $250 per pair, and some being collected by the London Museum of Art.

During the 2002 soccer World Cup in Japan and South Korea, other sports brands seized this rare opportunity to pay big bucks for official sponsorship rights and sign contracts with big stars. Puma avoided this kind of swarm, lack of characteristics, but with Jamaica, Tunisia, such as the African team signed a sponsorship contract. On the one hand, such African teams perform well, appearances are quite high, and sponsorship costs are much lower than the big-name teams; on the other hand, Zeitz said, Jamaican and Tunisian athletes character is very suitable for the Puma brand line, because sports is not just blood, sweat and tears, but also endless fun.

During the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Puma also organized a public relations campaign called "Shudoh" (meaning a way to become the master of soccer). Puma invited the famous Japanese chef Masaharu Morimoto to design a sushi roll specifically for the World Cup, which was served in major Japanese restaurants in major cities around the world (including New York, London, Sydney and other important markets) during the World Cup, and called it the food of the season during the World Cup. If fans order the dish in a restaurant, it will be accompanied by chopsticks bearing the Puma Log o, sake cups and napkins, as well as activities such as sushi making contests.

J ochen Zeitz said, "[Americans] aren't really that interested in the game of soccer, and this kind of PR campaign with the 'Japanese lifestyle' as the main point of appeal is new to our audience and makes our campaign so different compared to other brands.

PUMA - Cross-border association

PUMA Bags

As early as 1999, Puma put forward the concept of "Cros s over" (Cros s over), collaborating with German high-end clothing brand J il Sander to launch high-end casual shoes. Since then, Puma's new concept has gained a large group of followers, with Adidas collaborating with Japanese brand Yohji Yamamoto, Reebok with Chanel, and the alliance between sports brands and fashion brands becoming a trend.

In 2003, Puma took a step ahead and established a product and brand partnership with BMW's Mini brand, which is also a big fan of guerrilla marketing tactics. Puma specifically designed a "Mini-Motion" series of sneakers based on the BMW Mini for worldwide distribution. BMW used the air mesh of the Puma sneakers and other technologies to design the seats of the new Mini model, and printed the famous Puma puma logo on the exterior of the Mini.

Jochen Zeitz describes this brand crossover as a date or marriage between two brands, "We can't just look for a partner based on the size of the business, we have to see if the personalities of the two parties are compatible". Rinat Aruh, BMW Mini's Lifestyle Development Manager, says: "Our two brands have so much in common that we just clicked. We are both 'anti-conformist brands', both believe so much in guerrilla marketing, and both spend a lot of energy researching how brands spread among consumers. We, through our attitude to life, find our consumers and it was a really easy, enjoyable and fun job to develop a marketing plan with the marketers at Puma."

In 2004, Puma announced that through a crossover partnership with BMW Mini, Puma became the apparel supplier for the BMW-Williams team, which had the highest bid to win the 2004 Formula One championship.

PUMA - Evolution

PUMA Bags

From a small German shoe factory that initially produced only sports shoes to the world-famous company it is today, PUMA has traveled an unknown path of development. In recent years, PUMA has prospered and its product range has become much richer than before: in addition to the continued production of sports shoes, sportswear and balls, as well as accessories such as gloves, sports rucksacks and handbags, are also printed with the PUMA logo.

Between 1993 and 2001, PUMA's turnover nearly tripled; in 2002, it rose by 50% to 900 million euros; after-tax earnings rose by 84% to 0.73 billion euros. In the stock market, PUMA's stock price rose by 1,68% in 2001, making it the most successful stock in Germany that year. In 2002, it rose by 97% again, making it the runner-up in the top 100 German stocks. While we marvel at these figures, we can't help but ask what factors have made PUMA such an enviable success?

The early 1990s was PUMA's most difficult period, when PUMA was regarded as an outdated brand, many department stores have put PUMA's sneakers on the counter of low-grade products, PUMA was heavily indebted. 1993, when only 29-year-old JOCHEN ZEITZ took office as chairman of the board of directors, he took a lot of effective streamlining and saving measures to make PUMA a year later to return to profitability. PUMA was profitable again a year later.

In order to bring its products back into the premium segment, PUMA began to focus on cooperating with outstanding, trend-setting product designers; in 1990, seven well-known designers cooperated with PUMA, and the number has now grown to 50. More creative designers, design level is naturally high, PUMA product grade and price naturally up. 1990 PUMA sneakers were once sold for only 20 marks, but today a pair of PUMA's high-end sneakers can be sold for 250 euros.

A sneaker called "THRIFT" is similar to another old PUMA product, "TOP WINNER", except that the designers used old shirts, pants, ties and wallets as raw materials to produce this line, which they called "Sneakers with a soul". In this way, the value of an otherwise mediocre product was immediately elevated to another level by repackaging it.

In terms of sales, PUMA adopted a limited release strategy, which pushed the value of PUMA products to another level. For example, only 510 pairs of PUMA THRIFT were produced in total, and naturally buyers rushed to buy them. Nowadays, most of PUMA's high-grade sneakers can only be bought in some special PUMA stores. So, if you want to get your hands on these PUMA sneakers, you have to work hard! With this strategy, PUMA products can always maintain a fervent degree of worship.

The "star effect" is an indispensable factor in product promotion, and PUMA's spokespersons are all world-class sports stars, which has a long history in PUMA: In 1962, the king of the ball, Pele, wore PUMA sneakers and his Brazilian teammates won the World Championships; in 1985, Becker won the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament with his PUMA In 1985, Becker won the Wimbledon tennis tournament with his PUMA sneakers and tennis racket; in 1986, soccer superstar Diego Maradona wore PUMA's "KING" sneakers and took the Cup back to Argentina; in that year, women's tennis dominant Williams wore PUMA tennis uniforms to gallop on the court; and for the handsome and dashing athletes of Italy's national soccer team, PUMA provided them with PUMA shoes. athletes, PUMA customized jerseys for them; even Madonna in her world tour, also foot PUMA. In the 29th Beijing Olympic Summer Games, Jamaican flyer Bolt in the men's 100-meter flyer battle foot PUMA boots, became the new world record holder.

As JOCHEN ZEITZ has always sought, PUMA, today, stands for cool, rebellious and trendy. However, there are some brand experts who believe that PUMA's claim to be a trend-setting lifestyle is a risky one. Because every trend can only exist for a short time, when PUMA's products no longer catch up with the changes in trends, its turnover and profits will fall dramatically.

JOCHEN ZEITZ countered that a large number of trendsetting brands have survived for decades, that they have an enduring appeal to the market, and that there is no danger in keeping up with the trends as long as they are run properly. And some representatives of the banking sector are also on the side of PUMA, who don't think that PUMA, an example of success, is about to come to an end. "Maybe PUMA's incredible growth rate will slow down a bit, but it's almost impossible for trends to go backwards anymore."

The company's brand was ranked four hundred and fifty-third in the 2006 World Brand 500 list compiled by the World Brand Lab.