The relationship between Puma and Adidas (the battle of the century between Adidas and Puma)

Adidas came under fire for being in arrears with rent

Under the epidemic, international sports brands are undergoing unprecedented tests.

International sports events have been postponed or canceled one after another, which has directly affected the brand’s original sponsorship plan. At the same time, it has also lost a series of competitive advantages given to the brand by the events, and has become “disappeared by everyone”.

On the other hand, offline stores are closed and the resumption of work is far away. Brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Puma have laid off employees, cut salaries, destocked their inventory, and even switched to producing anti-epidemic supplies. Some brands that had already established their online presence are looking for opportunities in the cracks and trying to control the huge economic losses caused by business shutdowns.

Governments of various countries are also making plans for their own economic development.

The German government urgently passed a series of bills last week, including allowing tenants who are affected by the epidemic and unable to pay rent normally to "defer rent payments for three months." But German politicians have urged financially sound companies not to abuse the policy.

What is unexpected is that the German sports brand giant Adidas immediately announced: "Due to the closure of German specialty stores, the store rent for April will be frozen."

The news came as soon as After it was announced, it was immediately bombarded by all walks of life. "Der Spiegel" criticized Adidas for "abusing the bill". In 2019, its global turnover reached 23.6 billion euros and profit was 2 billion euros. It should use other means to respond to the epidemic. Moreover, Adidas only has 26 stores in Germany, and these rents are just a drop in the bucket.

German Labor Minister Heier bluntly stated in a TV talk show that he was "annoyed" by Adidas's "only self-interest" approach. Many netizens also criticized Adidas for not taking responsibility and launched boycotts one after another.

Under pressure, an Adidas spokesperson quickly explained on March 30: "It's not that April's rent will no longer be paid, it's just a postponement." Company CEO Luo Side also told the media that "small private landlords will still receive rent as scheduled, and only the rent paid to large real estate consortiums will be frozen."

It is said that in addition to Adidas, fashion chain stores such as H&M also have similar situations. Under the epidemic, the former giants suffered heavy losses

Data show that from the Spring Festival this year to the end of February, Adidas's revenue in Greater China dropped by about 80% compared with the same period last year.

The company expects revenue in Greater China in the first quarter of this year to be 800 million euros to 1 billion euros lower than the same period last year. On this basis, operating profit in Greater China is expected to decrease by 400 million euros to 500 million euros in the first quarter.

Recently, as the epidemic in Germany intensified, Adidas sought state loan assistance of at least one billion euros from the German government, and even stated that it was unable to pay rent.

In addition, Adidas has also sent emails to 61 advertising agencies, asking them to suspend work without orders and refuse to pay all advertising fees from now on. An advertiser revealed that Adidas is now Some advertising fees are still in arrears.

From this point of view, Adidas's "rent arrears" behavior is understandable to a certain extent. But there are still many people who find Adidas's approach disgusting as an internationally renowned brand.

Of course, they are not right about the situation. If this time it is not Adidas, but another family company Puma, I believe everyone will have the same reaction, because both are leaders in international sports brands. . A great brand created by the feud between brothers

After fighting each other for half a century, the two founders of the world's greatest sports brands are actually brothers.

Brother Rudy, the founder of Puma, a marketing overlord

Brother Adi, the founder of Adidas, a senior technology geek

The two of them founded DAS together. Dassler Brothers Sports Shoe Factory, but soon after the end of World War II, the two brothers began to have conflicts for various reasons. After his brother Rudy ran away in anger, he also took his marketing team with him from the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory.

Relying on his contacts accumulated over the years and a strong marketing team, Puma founded by Rudy quickly occupied the market.

In contrast, Adidas, the tech geek younger brother, only knows how to study the shoemaking process and knows nothing about marketing. Therefore, the sales of Adidas sports shoes are not optimistic.

In the first business showdown between the two brothers, Puma won!

What’s very interesting is that Puma’s sports shoes sell well, but the quality is not so good. Many people who don’t know the truth go to Adidas and clamor to return the shoes after buying Puma shoes! Adidas, who couldn't laugh or cry, began to think about designing an original and recognizable logo. As a result, Adidas' classic "three-pole" was born!

At first, Adidas was at a disadvantage in the competition with Puma until the 1954 World Cup finals in Switzerland.

In the 1954 World Cup final in Switzerland, West Germany faced Hungary. At that time, the Hungarian team was simply the "Undefeated East" in the arena, with a record of 31 unbeaten games (27 wins, 4 draws) in international competitions, and did not take the West German team seriously at all.

Also disdainful of the West German team is his brother Rudy. West Germany coach Zepp Herberg once approached Rudy and wanted the German team to wear Puma shoes on the field. As a result, Rudy, the snob, responded to him with "Hehehe~". As a result, the emotionally hurt West German coach angrily threw himself into the arms of his younger brother Adi.

This is undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Adidas. His younger brother Adi spared no effort in researching and customized football shoes for the West German team. The shoes he designed have good grip and are especially suitable for sports in rainy days. As a result, as if by divine help, it actually started to rain on the day West Germany played Hungary!

The German team wore non-slip sneakers and played steadily. In the end, they defeated the strong enemy Hungary and became the champion! This game was called the "Miracle of Bern". It was one of the biggest upsets in football history and Germany's first World Cup champion. Adidas became an instant hit and became world-famous, leaving Puma far behind. ,

In this contest, Adi won!

However, an investigation later claimed that the reason why the German team was able to counterattack was because of doping. But what’s the point of such hindsight? Adidas still became popular because of this game. Brother Rudy could only blame himself for his bad luck: Why did it rain that day?

However, as a marketing bully, his brother Rudy will not be defeated easily. Due to the right bets on the court, Puma began to gradually catch up with Adidas. This treasure is the football king Pele!

In the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden, the 17-year-old Brazilian boy Pele turned out to lead the Brazilian team to win the championship in one fell swoop. This was Brazil's first World Cup title, and Pele became the youngest World Cup champion in history. At that time, this talented football boy was wearing Puma sneakers.

In the subsequent World Cup games in Brazil and Mexico, Pele still wore Puma boots. While he stole the show, he also earned enough attention for Puma. Since then, Puma has also become an international sports shoe manufacturer, able to keep pace with Adidas.

This game is a tie!

Not only are Adidas and Puma competing against each other in international competitions, but the two brothers, who are over 50 years old, are also fighting each other off the court.

My younger brother Adidas once put out an advertising slogan, calling Adidas sneakers "the best sneakers in the world."

My brother Rudy was very unhappy when he found out. He secretly sent someone to send a threatening letter to Adidas headquarters, and personally called his brother Adi to warn him not to cause trouble. However, younger brother Adi is not a fuel-efficient lamp either. He filed a lawsuit against his older brother Rudy in court for illegal business competition.

As a result, Puma unsurprisingly succumbed and paid Adidas a huge sum of money.

And the younger brother Adi, who won the lawsuit, even had someone post the slogan on the window opposite his brother's office! I don’t know how my brother Rudy feels when he looks up in his office and sees the advertising slogan that caused him huge losses.

What is somewhat saddening is that the old and new hatreds between the two brothers were not resolved until their deaths.

In 1974, when his brother Rudy passed away, his brother Adi made a cold comment: "In the spirit of human sympathy, the Dassler family will not make any comment on the death of such a person."

Four years later, his younger brother Adi also died.

Surprisingly, the deaths of the two brothers did not take away the family feud. They each made a will to let future generations continue to fight to the end. The destination of the "second generation shoes"

Brother Rudy has two sons: the eldest son Amin Dassler and the younger son Gerd Dassler. Brother Adi's eldest son is called Horst Dassler.

Brother Rudy dislikes his eldest son Amin very much, and their relationship is very tense. When Rudy was about to die, he impulsively changed his will and deprived Amin of his inheritance rights.

As a result, the youngest son Gerd became the heir to Puma's property. Amin, who had nothing, was stunned and begged his brother Gerd to return Puma to him. But in the face of huge interests, Gerd rejected Amin without hesitation.

As a result, fatefully, the two began to fight each other like their fathers, and even went to court. Amin finally regained his Puma inheritance. But after all this internal fighting, Puma was also hurt.

While Puma was in internal strife, Adidas was developing prosperously. After the death of his younger brother Adi, his eldest son Horst successfully inherited the family business. Horst, like his uncle Rudy, is a marketing genius.

On the one hand, he insists on continuous innovation. Today, almost everyone has a pair of Adidas classic white shoes Stan Smith and Superstar, both of which were launched during his time at the helm. On the other hand, using his extraordinary marketing talent, he pioneered the establishment of a "pyramid" marketing promotion model, bundling the Adidas brand with athletes, sports teams, major competitions and related sports activities. Adidas' new products have been seen on the feet of elite athletes in many world-class competitions.

Under the leadership of Horst, Adidas gradually distanced itself from Puma and became the world's first-class sporting goods brand.

Like their fathers, Amin and Horst were also very willful when fighting.

An athlete once approached Amin for sponsorship. When the negotiation was about to break down, the athlete shouted to Amin, "Sign me up, Horst will be mad at you!" So, this guy The resourceful athlete easily obtained Amin's sponsorship.

Rumor has it that local painters would deliberately wear Adidas shoes when painting walls for Puma. After Amin sees it, he will immediately call them in, put them in the latest Puma sneakers, and let them paint the wall. A few days later, these painters wore Puma shoes and went to Adidas to paint the walls. Then Horst would call them in and hand out a pair of Adidas' latest models.

It is a trivial matter to lose some money and shoes if an outsider takes advantage of the hatred between the two families. However, the years of mutual confrontation between the two companies have caused serious consumption of each other, which is very detrimental to the development of their own brands.

In 1985, Horst died young. Perhaps tired of fighting, the two families began to "let go" at the same time, as they had agreed. Puma and Adidas were sold one after another.

At the same time that Puma and Adidas were acquired one after another, Nike in the United States began to rise and quickly occupied the market. The world of sports brands no longer belongs only to the Dassler family.

In 2016, according to Bloomberg estimates, Adidas's market value was around 25 billion euros, while Puma's market value was only 3 billion euros. But compared to Nike’s 81 billion euros, this figure is still embarrassing. If the Dassler brothers could always work together, where would Nike still have a foothold today?

On September 12, 2009, the International Day of Peace, in Herzogenaurach, the hometown of the Dassler brothers, there was an ordinary football match that attracted the attention of the world. The two participating parties were each other. Enemies that have been fighting for half a century - Adidas and Puma. Although the two brands no longer belong to the Dassler family, the family feud on the brands gives this competition special meaning. I believe that when the CEOs of the two companies led the team members to hold each other's hands, the grudges between the two families disappeared.

What is even more intriguing is that Frank, the grandson of Puma founder Rudy, is now working for Adidas. This also shows that the two families who have hurt each other for half a century may really reconcile.

The feud between the Dassler family has come to an end, but the competition between the two brands is still going on...

They are born from the same roots, so why rush into each other? ? The battle of the century between Adidas and Puma showed us that there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. If the two companies did not give in to each other and target each other, their prospects would be immeasurable.

The failure of Adidas and Puma to join forces is not only a regret for the Dassler family, but also a loss for German sports brands. For sports brands like Adidas and Puma, if they want to occupy a place in the world, they must gain For long-term development, technology and marketing are indispensable. At that time, Adidas and Puma each had their own advantages and ignored the advantages of the other. The reason why Nike caught up from behind is worth pondering.

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Picture editor: Qiu Qiu

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