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Information about Puma Ag

For other uses, see Puma (disambiguation).
PUMA AG
Public
Founded1924
HeadquartersHerzogenaurach, Germany
Key peopleRudolf Dassler, Founder
Jochen Zeitz, CEO
IndustrySportswear and Sports Equipment
ProductsSports clothes, equipment and vehicles
Revenue € 2.755 billion (2006)
Employees6,831 (2006)
Websitewww.puma.com


Enlarge picture
A single black Puma shoe.


PUMA AG Rudolf Dassler Sport (PUMA) (FWB: PUMG) is a large German-based multinational company that produces high-end athletic shoes and other sportswear.

The company is perhaps best known for its soccer shoes and has sponsored such international soccer stars as Pelé, Johan Cruijff, Enzo Francescoli, Diego Maradona and Lothar Matthäus. In the United States, the company is probably best-known for the suede basketball shoe it introduced in 1968, which eventually bore the name of New York Knicks basketball star Walt "Clyde" Frazier. In Australia, Puma is best known as the official apparel and footwear supplier of 5 clubs within the AFL (Australian rules Football League), the West Coast Eagles, Hawthorn Hawks, Sydney Swans, Brisbane Lions, and the Essendon Bombers.

Puma is the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world behind Nike and Adidas. The company also offers lines shoes and sports clothing, designed by Lamine Kouyate, Amy Garbers, and others. Since 1996 Puma has intensified its activities in the United States. Puma owns 25 percent of American brand sports clothing maker Logo Athletic, which is licensed by American professional basketball and football leagues. The American entertainment group Monarchy/Regency owns 32 percent of Puma[1]

History

Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik

Christoph Dassler was a worker in a shoe factory, while his wife Pauline ran a small laundry in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, 20 kilometres from the city of Nuremberg. Their son Rudolf Dassler after leaving school joined his father at the shoe factory, and was then called up to fight in World War I. On his return from the front, Rudolf took a management position at a porcelain factory, and later in a leather wholesale business in Nuremberg[2].

After tiring of working for others and away from home, Rudolph returned to Herzogenaurach to found Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) in 1924, with his younger brother Adolf, known as "Adi". The pair started their venture in their mother's laundry, but at the time, electricity supplies in the town were unreliable, and the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment[3].

By the 1936 Olympic Games, Adi Dassler drove from Bavaria on one of the world's first motorways to the Olympic village with a suitcase full of spikes and persuaded United States sprinter Jesse Owens to use them. After Owens won four gold medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world's most famous sportsmen. Letters from around the world landed on the brothers' desks, and the trainers of other national teams were all interested in their shoes. Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II[4].

Company split

Both brothers joined the Nazi party, but Rudi as a World War I veteran was slightly closer to the party. During the war, a growing rift between the pair reached breaking point, after an Allied bomb attack in 1943 when Adi and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in: "The dirty bastards are back again," Adi said, apparently referring to the Allied war planes, but Rudolf was convinced his brother meant him and his family. After Rudolf was later picked up by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, he was convinced that his brother had turned him in[5].

In 1948, the brothers split their business, when Rudi left the high hill for the other side of the Aurach river: Adolf called his firm Adidas after his nick name; Rudolf called his new firm Ruda after Rudolph Dassler.

Puma

Rudolf's company changed its name to PUMA Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler in 1948, and became a public company in 1986, listed on the Börse München and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The sponsorship of sports stars continued, including:
  • 1948 - In the first football match after World War II, several members of the West German national football team wear PUMA boots, including the scorer of West Germany’s first post-war goal, Herbert Burdenski
  • 1952 Summer Olympics - Josef Barthel of Luxembourg won PUMA’s first Olympic Gold (1500m) in Helsinki, Finland
  • 1960 Summer Olympics - PUMA paid German sprinter Armin Hary money to wear Pumas in the 100 metres final. Hary had worn Adidas before and asked Adi for payment, but Adidas rejected this. Hary won gold in Pumas, but then laced up Adidas for the medals ceremony - to the shock of both Adi and Rudolf. Hary hoped to cash in from both with the trick, but Adi was so outraged he banned the Olympic champion.[6]
  • 1970 FIFA World Cup - Pelé stopped the referee with a last-second request to tie his shoelaces at the opening whistle of a 1970 World Cup finals match and then knelt down to give millions of television viewers a close-up of his Pumas. Pelé was complying with a request by Puma's representative Hans Henningsen to raise the German sports shoe company's profile after they gave him $120,000 to wear their boots[7]
However, the brothers earlier split led to a divided town. From 1948, the town was really split in two like a sort of mini Berlin. Brand loyalty became paramount for many residents, and there were stores, bakers and bars which were unofficially known as either loyal to Rudolf's Puma, or to Adolf's Adidas. The town's two football teams were also divided: ASV Herzogenaurach club wore the three stripes, while 1 FC Herzogenaurach had the jumping cat on its footwear. Intermarriage was frowned upon. When handymen came to work at Rudolf's home, they would wear Adidas shoes on purpose so that when Rudolf would see their footwear, he'd tell them to go to the basement and pick out a pair of Puma shoes, which they could have for free[8]. The two brothers never reconciled, and although both are buried in the same cemetery, they are spaced apart as far as possible.

In May 1989, Rudolf's sons Armin and Gerd Dassler agreed to sell their 72 percent stake in PUMA, to Swiss business Cosa Liebermann SA[9].

Present day

PUMA AG has approximately 7,742 employees and distributes its products in more than 80 countries. For the fiscal year 2003, the company had a revenue of €1.274 billion. Puma were the commercial sponsors for the 2002 anime series, , with the jerseys and clothing sporting the Puma brand.

Puma is the main producer of enthusiast driving shoes and race suits. They are the prime producer in both Formula One and NASCAR especially.

They had successfully won the rights of sponsoring the 2006 FIFA World Cup champions, the Italian national football team, with them making and sponsoring the clothing worn by the team. Their partnership with Ferrari and BMW to make Puma-Ferrari and Puma-BMW shoes has also contributed to this effect. On March 15, 2007 PUMA launched its first new 2007/2008 line of uniforms for a club, and Grêmio will be the first to use the laser sewn technology;similar to the one worn by Italy at the World Cup in 2006. Grêmio and other Brazilian clubs will be the first to use the technology because their season starts six months earlier than European clubs. Puma also makes baseball cleats, and Johnny Damon, the all-star center fielder for the New York Yankees, is their spokesperson. He wore pumas during the Red Sox 2004 world series win. He has his own cleat called the DFR metals.

PPR

In February 2007, Puma reported that its profits had fallen by 26% to 32.8m euros ($43m; £22m) during the final three months of 2006. Most of the profit decline was due to higher costs linked to its expansion, and sales actually rose by more than a third to 480.6m euros[10].

In early April 2007, Puma's shares rose 29.25 euros or 10.2% higher, at 315.24 euros[11]. On 10 April, 2007 French retailer and owner of Gucci brand Pinault-Printemps-Redoute announced that it had bought a 27% stake in Puma, clearing the way for a full takeover. The deal values Puma at 5.3bn euros. PPR said that it would launch a "friendly" takeover for Puma, worth 330 euros a share, once the acquisition of the smaller stake was completed. The board of Puma welcomed the move, saying it was fair and in the firm's best interests[12]. On 17 July 2007 Pinault-Printemps-Redoute have 62.1 % of Puma stocks.

Sponsorship

Like many other sports brands, Puma sponsor a number of teams and players.

National football teams

Puma sponsors many national soccer teams:



At the 2006 FIFA World cup, in 36 of the 64 games, at least one team playing was wearing clothing sponsored and made by Puma.

Clubs

It has also sponsored and created the clothing for several noted professional football clubs:

Footballers

It also sponsors footballers:

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Cricketers

It also sponsors the following cricketers:

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Rugby League Teams

Puma supply equipment to four National Rugby League Teams PUMA supply equipment to International Rugby League Teams
  • Great Britain

Australian Football League Teams

Puma supply equipment to five Australian Football League Teams

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ [5]
6. ^ [6]
7. ^ [7]
8. ^ [8]
9. ^ [9]
10. ^ [10]
11. ^ [11]
12. ^ [12]

External links

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The Puma is a mammal of the Felidae family, native to the Americas, and very commonly called the Cougar.

Puma may also refer to:
  • Puma (genus), the genus of the Cougar and the Jaguarundi
  • Puma (comics), a Marvel Comics hero/villain

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Herzogenaurach
Adidas factory outlet in Herzogenaurach
Coat of arms Location

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Anthem
"Das Lied der Deutschen" (third stanza)
also called "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"
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Rudolf Dassler (March 26, 1896 in Herzogenaurach (Germany) - October 27, 1974 in Herzogenaurach), is the German founder of the sportswear company PUMA and brother of Adidas founder, Adolf Dassler.
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Jochen Zeitz (born on April 6, 1963 in Mannheim, Germany) is a German manager, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Puma.

Career

Breaking from his family’s tradition of studying medicine, Zeitz attended the European Business School of Oestrich-Winkel.
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Industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent, industrious"), is the segment of economy concerned with production of goods. Industry began in its present form during the 1800s, aided by technological advances, and it has continued to develop to this day.
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    Sportswear (or Active attire) is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or exercise.

    Typical garments include shorts, tracksuits, T-shirts, polo shirts and trainers. Specialised garments include wet suits and salopettes.
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    The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the biggest and most efficient exchange places in the world.
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    Anthem
    "Das Lied der Deutschen" (third stanza)
    also called "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"
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    Full name Edson Arantes do Nascimento
    Date of birth September 23 1940 (1940--) (age 67)
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    Full name Hendrik Johannes Cruijff
    Date of birth March 25 1947 (1947--) (age 60)
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    Full name Enzo Francescoli Uriarte
    Date of birth November 12 1961 (1961--) (age 46)
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    Full name Diego Armando Maradona
    Date of birth September 30 1960 (1960--) (age 47)
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    Full name Lothar Herbert Matthäus
    Date of birth March 21 1961 (1961--) (age 46)
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    :''For the British rock group, see Suede (band).


    Suede most commonly refers to a type of leather with a soft, napped finish; however, it can also refer to a similar napped or brushed finish on many kinds of fabrics.
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    New York Knickerbockers

    Conference Eastern Conference
    Division Atlantic
    Founded 1946
    (Charter member of the BAA, later NBA)
    History New York Knicks
    (1946–present)
    Arena Madison Square Garden
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    Walter "Clyde" Frazier (born March 29, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a retired American basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently a spokesman for Just for Men hair products and a commentator for telecasts of New York Knicks games.
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    Nike, Incorporated

    Public (NYSE:  NKE )
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    Adidas AG

    Public
    Founded 1949[1]
    Headquarters Herzogenaurach, Germany

    Key people Adolf Dassler, Founder
    Herbert Hainer, Chairman/CEO Adidas Group
    Erich Stamminger, President/CEO Adidas AG
    Industry Sportswear and Sports Goods
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