Puma, one of the most well known brands in the history of sport footwear and accessories, had seemed like the perfect catch when the Swedish Aritmos group saw an opportunity to acquire it in 1990. It was to become the biggest, not only in size but also by reputation, of all the sporting and leisure brands in their portfolio. However, the extent of the crisis in the Puma organisation had been largely underrated, and in the attempt to reverse the trend, Aritmos also soon found itself in a deep fix. So when Proventus in turn acquired Aritmos and all its brands in 1993 – starting its era in the world of sports – one of the most urgent priorities was to get the great Puma back on track.

The german business man Rudolf Dassler who once was nicknamed “the Puma” for his gracious athletic moves, founded the shoe factory Puma in the small town of Herzogenaurach in the center of Germany, 1948. The product range began with running- and football shoes and expanded with time to include track suits and other sports gear. The key to their successful sales and growth lay in unique design and getting medal winning athletes to wear Puma products as the ultimate proof of quality, be it on the football pitch, olympic track or tennis court. Puma had a nose for selecting winners and managed to get the iconic curved strip, the “Formstrip” on to some of the biggest names in sports, like the Brazilian football player Pelé in the 1960s.
When Rudolf Dassler passed away in 1974, he was succeeded by his son Armin. Puma had now grown far beyond Europe and was chasing after their international competitors to become the biggest sporting goods brand in the world. They continued to score successful sponsorship deals during the 1980s with names such as Diego Maradona and Boris Becker. But fast growth meant competing in volume and price and in their eager, Puma pushed for an aggressive licensing plan. And so eventually the variety of goods became too wide, the stock of products too big, and boxes with Puma products started to pile up at discount stores. The brand became watered down and in order for the company to stay afloat, Puma borrowed increasingly more money. In 1990, the same year that Armin Dassler had passed away, Puma seemed way past salvation with over 180 million d-mark in debts. And it was then that the Swedish Aritmos group had taken the chance to acquire one of the worlds true and original sports heritage brands.

Puma gathered strength for a new leap, and the hope in 1992 lay in “The Puma disc”, presumable the worlds first laceless sports shoe. It was a shoe which you tightened around your feet by turning a disc that was attached to the front. And although they might have helped the german long jumper Heike Drechsler win her first gold medal at the Olympic games in Barcelona, the disc did not work properly on the mass market due to complications in the production, and so it had to be discontinued. By then, Aritmos, with most of the brands in their portfolio failing to show profits, also found itself in a crisis with its share price dropping more than 50% in a year. Proventus forecast on the contrary showed that the companies in Aritmos portfolio had great growth potential and therefore acquired it in 1993. Puma was by far the one in most debt and after several years of loss, it was in free fall and needed immediate care.

Proventus first act as new owners was to oversee the management. Thore Ohlsson was appointed president and CEO of Aritmos, he had a long history in the sporting goods industry and at the time came from a position as chairman of the popular tennis shoe company Tretorn in USA. Proventus and Ohlsson then identified the 29 years old Jochen Zeitz as the candidate for CEO of Puma. Zeitz was a student from European Business School, who had been headhunted for the position as footwear business manager at Puma back in 1990. When Zeitz had started, he was chocked by the state of this german institution, and had among other things tried to clean up their logo, making all licensees use the same colour (dark green), and have the Puma always jump in the same direction (it should jump to the left). Zeitz had quickly climbed the ranks at Puma, but was in 1993 thinking of leaving. Given his age, Aritmos supervisory board were reluctant to make Zeitz the new CEO. But convinced that a complete new and foremost young mindset was needed, Proventus and Ohlsson insisted, and eventually prevailed, making Zeitz Puma’s fourth CEO in the space of two years.

After new management was in place and the traditionally german corporate hierarchy had been flattened, the second crucial action Proventus took to prevent Puma from extinction, was to restructure and streamline the company as a whole. Two factories were shut down and 40% of the staff was let go. Basically every service that external suppliers could offer with better quality and price was outsourced. The clean-up also meant reducing the outstanding debts, paying off loans to 14 of the 15 banks that Puma owed.

Third but not least, the historical brand needed to be re-imagined and make a move from volume- to value driven. The promise that Zeitz had given its new owners, was to make Puma the most desirable sports and leisure brand in the world. This work started by bringing the brand back home. The licensing had spun out of control and so Puma started buying back licenses, and give stricter guidelines for licensees. Puma moved to be a leaner, and notably more “European” company. It radically narrowed its product range and focused on its original strengths, which was to make goods for track and field and team sports such as football.

Proventus goal to turn Puma’s red figures into black within a year, succeeded. In 1994 Puma turned a profit for the first time in nine years. And what followed was a plan for how to position the company for the future. Partly being one himself, Zeitz understood the value of appealing to the next generation of young opinion makers. And so Puma decided to differentiate themselves from their competitors by creating an image that stood for youth and rebellion, rather than performance and competitiveness – not aiming to be the biggest, but the coolest. A new key recruit was an American skateboarder in his 20s named Tony Bertone, who was tapped in to the segment that Puma wanted to reach. And Bertone, Ohlsson and Zeitz worked together to try and make as much noise with as little means as possible, inventing new rules in marketing as they went along.

They decided to stop all conventional advertising in favour for “gerilla” marketing methods with small events and word of mouth, having people in arts and music to embrace their brand, like early day influencers. In a way, the streets had already called out for Puma. At this time, vintage style sneakers were becoming trendy and Puma was seen as less “commercial” than other known sport brands. The model that had gained traction in vintage shops, was the old school model Puma Clyde, that for example had been spotted on the feet of the infamous rap group the Beastie Boys, which for the MTV generation in the early 1990s was the ultimate seal of approval. This particular model premiered in the NBA around the 1970s. The New York Knicks basketball star Walter “Clyde” Fraizer had been approached by Puma to wear their basket shoe, which was made of leather. But with a reputation of being a snappy dresser, Clyde instead settled on a version made in suede. Needless to say, The Puma Clyde suede was brought back into production.

The creative team at Puma continued to show the world that size doesn’t matter. While its competitors could sponsor over 100 athletes at sports events like the olympic games, Puma put their faith in a team of four; Linford Christie, Collin Jackson, Marlene Ottey and Heike Drechsler. At the Olympic games in Atlanta in august 1996, Puma made marketing history when the British sprinter Linford Christie wore a pair of contact lenses featuring the Puma logo, causing gasps from reporters covering the press conference, and the images of Linford to eclipse any other sporting event in the world. The same year Proventus sold 75% of their shares in the company. And as a parting gift, Proventus strategically suggested that their remaining 25% was to be sold to an American buyer, since entering the American market was next on the horizon. Proventus finally settled on US film production and distribution company Monarchy/Regency enterprises, and a new prosperous chapter in the life of Puma could begin.