The company is known for its football shoes and has sponsored acclaimed footballers, including Pelé, Eusébio, Johan Cruijff, Enzo Francescoli, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthäus, Kenny Dalglish, Didier Deschamps, Robert Pires, Radamel Falcao, Samuel Eto'o, and Gianluigi Buffon. Puma is the sponsor of the Jamaican track athlete Usain Bolt. In the United States, the company is known for the suede basketball shoe it introduced in 1968, which eventually bore the name of New York Knicks basketball star Walt "Clyde" Frazier, and for its endorsement partnership with Joe Namath.
Following the split from his brother, Rudolf Dassler originally registered the new-established company as Ruda, but later changed to Puma. Puma's earliest logo consisted of a square and beast jumping through a D, which was registered, along with the company's name, in 1948. Puma's shoe designs feature the distinctive "Formstripe", with clothing and other products having the logo printed on them.
The company offers lines of 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% of American brand sports clothing maker Logo Athletic, which is licensed by American professional basketball and association football leagues. Since 2007 Puma SE has been part of the French luxury group PPR.
History
Background
Christoph von Wilhelm Dassler was a worker in a shoe factory, while his wife Pauline ran a small laundry in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, 20 km (12.4 mi) from the city of Nuremberg. After leaving school, their son, Rudolf Dassler, joined his father at the shoe factory. When he returned from fighting in World War I, Rudolf received a management position at a porcelain factory, and later in a leather wholesale business in Nuremberg.
Rudolf returned to Herzogenaurach in 1924 to join his younger brother, Adolf, nicknamed "Adi", who had founded his own shoe factory. They named the new business "Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik" (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory). The pair started their venture in their mother's laundry. 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.
Adi drove from Bavaria to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin with a suitcase full of spikes and persuaded United States sprinter Jesse Owens to use them, the first sponsorship for an African American. Owens won four gold medals. Business boomed; the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes annually before World War II.
Company split and creation of PUMA
Both brothers joined the Nazi Party, but Rudolf was slightly closer to the party. A growing rift between the brothers reached a breaking point during an Allied bomb attack in 1943. Adi and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in. "Here are the bloody bastards again," Adi said, apparently referring to the Allied war planes, but Rudolf was convinced his brother meant him and his family. When 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.
The brothers split the business in 1948. Rudolf moved to the other side of the Aurach River to start his own company. Adolf started his own sportswear company using a name he formed using his nickname—Adi—and the first three letters of his last name—Das—to establish Adidas. Rudolf created a new firm that he called "Ruda", from "Ru" in Rudolf and "Da" in Dassler. Rudolf's company changed its name to Puma Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler in 1948.
Early years and rivalry with Adidas
Puma and Adidas entered a fierce and bitter rivalry after the split. The town of Herzogenaurach was divided on the issue, leading to the nickname "the town of bent necks"—people looked down to see which shoes strangers wore. Even the town's two football clubs were divided: ASV Herzogenaurach club supported Adidas, while 1 FC Herzogenaurach endorsed Rudolf's footwear. When handymen were called to Rudolf's home, they would deliberately wear Adidas shoes. Rudolf would tell them to go to the basement and pick out a pair of free Pumas. The two brothers never reconciled, and although both are buried in the same cemetery, they are spaced apart as far as possible.
In 1948, the first football match after World War II, several members of the West German national football team wore Puma boots, including the scorer of West Germany's first post-war goal, Herbert Burdenski. Four years later, at the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1500 metres runner Josy Barthel of Luxembourg won Puma's first Olympic gold in Helsinki, Finland.
At the 1960 Summer Olympics Puma paid German sprinter Armin Hary to wear Pumas in the 100 metre sprint final. Hary had worn Adidas before and asked Adolf for payment, but Adidas rejected this request. The German won gold in Pumas, but then laced up Adidas for the medals ceremony, to the shock of the two Dassler brothers. Hary hoped to cash in from both, but Adi was so enraged he banned the Olympic champion.
The Pelé pact and subsequent affairs
A few months prior to the 1970 FIFA World Cup, Armin Dassler and his cousin, Horst Dassler, sealed an agreement which was dubbed "The Pelé pact". This agreement dictated that Pelé would be out of bounds for both Adidas and Puma. However, Pelé complied with a request by Puma's representative Hans Henningsen to increase the awareness and profile of Puma after he received $120,000 to wear the Formstripes. At the opening whistle of a 1970 World Cup finals match, Pelé stopped the referee with a last-second request to tie his shoelaces before kneeling down to give millions of television viewers a close-up of his Pumas. This outraged Horst, and future peace agreements were called off.
Two years later, during the 1972 Summer Olympics, Puma provided shoes for the Ugandan 400 metres hurdles champion, John Akii-Bua. After Akii-Bua was forced out of Uganda by its military government, Puma employed him in Germany. Eventually Akii-Bua returned to Uganda.
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.
Puma became a public company in 1986, and thereafter was listed on the Börse München and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Present day
Puma AG has 9,500 employees and distributes its products in more than 120 countries. For the fiscal year 2003, the company had revenue of €1.274 billion. Puma were the commercial sponsors for the 2002 anime series Hungry Heart: Wild Striker, with the jerseys and clothing sporting the Puma brand. Puma ranks as one of the top shoe brands, after Reebok, Adidas, and Nike.
The company has been led by CEO and Chairman Jochen Zeitz since 1993. His contract was extended until 2012 in October 2007.
Japanese fashion guru Mihara Yasuhiro teamed up with Puma to create a high-end and high-concept line of sneakers
Puma is the main producer of enthusiast driving shoes and race suits. They are the primary producer for Formula One and NASCAR clothing. They won the rights to sponsor the 2006 FIFA World Cup champions, the Italian national football team, making and sponsoring the clothing worn by the team. They entered a partnership with Ferrari, Ducati and BMW to make Puma-Ferrari, Puma-Ducati and Puma-BMW shoes. On 15 March 2007 Puma launched its 2007/2008 line of uniforms for a club, and Brazilian football club Grêmio will be the first to use the laser-sewn technology, similar to that worn by Italy at the 2006 World Cup, because their season starts six months earlier than European clubs.
Special editions of King football boots
In 2008 Puma commemorated the 40th anniversary of the "King" model of boots with a special anniversary edition, the King XL (XL is 40 in Roman Numerals), a tribute to Portuguese footballer Eusébio, who scored 42 goals with King boots in 1968, winning the Golden Boot Award as Europe's leading scorer. Puma have continued to release new versions of the King range, and released a version in 2009 to celebrate the history of Italian soccer, and in particular the Puma King XL Italia, in honour of double World Cup winning coach Vittorio Pozzo.
In 2010 a Puma King model was released commemorating the 50th birthday of Diego Maradona, with a model called the Puma King Diego Finale football boot. This edition was created in the colours of La Albiceleste, the Argentina National football team.
Takeover by PPR
In February 2007 Puma reported that its profits had fallen by 26% to €32.8 million ($43 million; £22 million) during the final three months of 2006. Most of the decline in profits was due to higher costs linked to its expansion; sales rose by more than a third to €480.6 million.
In early April 2007 Puma's shares rose €29.25 per share, or about 10.2%, at €315.24 per share. On 10 April 2007 French retailer and owner of Gucci brand Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) announced that it had bought a 27% stake in Puma, clearing the way for a full takeover. The deal values Puma at €5.3 billion. PPR said that it would launch a "friendly" takeover for Puma, worth €330 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. Since 17 July 2007 PPR owns 62.1 % of Puma stock. While PPR owns the majority of Puma's stock, Puma remains an independent company.
In July 2011 the company completed a conversion from an Aktiengesellschaft (German public limited company) to a Societas Europaea, the European Union-wide equivalent, changing its name from Puma AG Rudolf Dassler Sport to Puma SE. At the same time, Franz Koch replaced the long-serving Jochen Zeitz as the firm's CEO, with Zeitz becoming chairman.
Controversy
Employment practices
Organizations promoting fair trade and worker's rights criticize Puma's employment practices in their developing world factories, predominantly relating to workers in China, Turkey, El Salvador, and Indonesia.
Puma, like many globalised corporations, believes that "labour flexibility remains one of the key components to ensure that individual companies survive and grow". These "flexible" labour practices allow the company to manufacture quickly and cheaply, but often under exploitative conditions.
Freedom of association
Puma’s 2009 supplier list included close to 350 suppliers, the majority of which are located in Asia, predominately China, followed by Vietnam. In these locations, Puma reports that the rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining have been difficult to enforce. According to human rights and labour organisations, Puma does not have adequate policies in place to encourage suppliers to recognise workers' union rights. Puma does not require suppliers to allow their workers to form a union, nor does it require suppliers to sign union access agreements.
Puma frequently has short term contracts with its suppliers, which means that at any time it can leave an area, and its workers, if they can source their products more cheaply elsewhere. This lack of stability does not give supplier factories a good incentive to respect workers' rights. For instance, in 2004 Puma decided to stop ordering garments from the Lian Thai factory in Thailand just after the factory had agreed to cease discrimination against trade union members. In another incident, following the formation of an independent union at one of Puma’s Mexican suppliers, the company cut orders from the factory.
Puma has not taken action to minimise the use of short term contracts, though the prevalence of these contracts creates an atmosphere of economic insecurity and makes it difficult for workers to organise.
Low wages
In a number of regions, sportswear workers producing for Puma have been increasingly vocal about the serious inadequacy of their wages. Puma has not yet made a full commitment to pay a living wage. Puma is currently undertaking research into finding a practical solution to the problem of low wages in Asia, and is working with suppliers in Indonesia, India, and Cambodia to assess the feasibility of a minimum living wage. Labour organisations, such as the Asia Floor Wage campaign, hope that this process will lead to the implementation of living wages in the future. In the meanwhile, Puma has admitted that it is still trying to achieving full compliance with the minimum wage at a number of its suppliers.
Steps in the right direction
The company has made some steps towards greater transparency. In 2000 Puma began auditing all of its suppliers on a yearly basis, and makes the results available in its sustainability reports. Since 2005 it has publicly provided a list of its suppliers.
Puma has made a strong commitment to respecting workers rights in some areas. For example, Puma has obtained the Ethical Clothing Australia accreditation for its Australian-made products. This labour-friendly accreditation applies to only a tiny percentage of Puma’s total production.
Environmental practices
In July 2011, Puma – along with other major fashion and sportswear brands including Nike, Adidas, and Abercrombie & Fitch – was the subject of a report by the environmental group Greenpeace entitled 'Dirty Laundry'. Puma is accused of working with suppliers in China who, according the findings of the report, contribute to the pollution of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers. Samples taken from one facility belonging to the Youngor Group located on the Yangtze River Delta and another belonging to the Well Dyeing Factory Ltd., located on a tributary of the Pearl River Delta, revealed the presence of hazardous and persistent hormone disruptor chemicals, including alkylphenols, perfluorinated compounds, and perfluorooctane sulfonate.
Less than two weeks after the release of the Dirty Laundry report, Puma made a public commitment to deal with the issues raised by Greenpeace. The company's statement asserts that "Puma is committed to eliminate the discharges of all hazardous chemicals from the whole lifecycle and all production procedures that are associated with the making and using of Puma products." Greenpeace also confirmed Puma's commitment to eliminate all releases of hazardous chemicals from its entire product lifecycle, and across its global supply chain by 2020.
Timeline
1920: Rudolf Dassler and his brother Adolf start making sports shoes
1924: Foundation of Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik, Herzogenaurach, Germany
1948: Foundation of Puma Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler (1 October), Introduction of the ATOM, Puma's first football shoe
1949: Rudolf Dassler has the idea of football shoes with removable studs. He begins working on their development and production. Many football experts, like Sepp Herberger, are involved
1952: Introduction of the SUPER ATOM
1953: Development of ATOM's successor: the BRASIL
1958: Introduction of Puma's signature "Formstripe" at the FIFA World Cup in Sweden
1959: The company is transformed into a limited partnership named Puma-Sportschuhfabriken Rudolf Dassler KG
1960: Introduction of the technologically advanced vulcanization production technique
1966: Launch of the WEMBLEY, the predecessor model to the Puma King
1968: Launch of the legendary KING. Puma is the first manufacturer to offer sports shoes with Velcro fasteners
1968: Launch of the SUEDE
1973: Launch of the CLYDE. Designed for basket player Walt "Clyde" Fraizer, as a wider-fitting version of suede model
1974: Rudolf Dassler dies. His sons Armin and Gerd take over the company's management
1976: Introduction of the S.P.A.-Technology
1986: Transformation into a stock corporation
1989: Launch of the TRINOMIC sport shoe system
1990: Introduction of INSPECTOR, a growth control system for children's shoes
1991: Launch of the DISC SYSTEM sports shoe
1992: Capital increase by DM 20 million, share capital reaches DM 70 million
1993: Jochen Zeitz is appointed Chairman and CEO, Proventus/Aritmos B.V. becomes majority shareholder
1994: The first profit since the company's IPO in 1986 is registered
1996: Puma is listed in the German M-DAX index; introduction of the CELL technology, the first foam-free midsole
1997: Launch of the CELLERATOR
1998: Puma starts a cooperation with designer Jil Sander
1999: Puma becomes an official on-field supplier of the U.S. National Football League (NFL)
2000: Production of fireproof footwear in partnership with Porsche and Sparco
2001: Acquisition of the Scandinavian Tretorn Group
2002: Launch of the SHUDOH
2003: Majority shareholder Monarchy/Regency sells its shareholdings to a broad base of institutional investors
2004: Collaborative partnership with world-renowned designer Philippe Starck
2005: Mayfair Vermögensverwaltungsgesellschaft mbh acquires a total of 16.91% shareholding
2006: The company is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index; Introduction of the S.A.F.E. concept, a specific tool developed to continuously improve social and environmental standards. Shoe collection in cooperation with Alexander McQueen. Italy would go on to win the 2006 World Cup. Due to Puma's sponsorship of the Italian national team, many of the teams' players wore Puma cleats
2007: Voluntary public take-over by Pinault-Printemps Redoute; Prolongation of the contract with Jochen Zeitz by five years
2008: Melody Harris-Jensbach is appointed Deputy CEO; Designer and artist Hussein Chalayan becomes Creative Director, Puma also acquires a majority stake in Chalayan's business and Hussein Chalayan
2010: Signs two year deals to make the kits of Newcastle United, Motherwell, Hibernian, Burnley & Preston from the 2010–11 season
2011: Signs a deal to make kits of GNK Dinamo Zagreb from the 2011–12 season. Signs a three year deal with A-League champions Brisbane Roar
2012: Signs a four year deal to make kits of Barrow from the 2012–13 season.
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