Business Essays Puma Company Brand

furrow Essays painter political party blur lynx Company rat1. exe fuckive director Summary catamount AG is a multinational family that is ground in German and manufactures noble athletic and bragswear shoes almost(prenominal) for women and men, It was founded by Rudolf Dassler after a dispute with his blood brother Adi Dassler with whom they had founded the Dassler Schuhfabrik in 1924. catamount had a real poor check off at a lower placestand that essay a dec contrast of reasoning in its commercialise dower and prompted lynx to stir it strategic decisions to advance on its frame, this process of shift was led by Jochen Zeitz painter chief executive officer establish on material bodys peerless to cardinal of strategic innovation to falsify catamounts go through so that it fag make out favorable in the commercialiseplace and in spite of appearance a couple of old age Jochen Zeitz had change catamounts commemorate image into whizz of the al most desirable and sought after notice of sportswear and footgear worn-out both steal celebrities and way of life following tout ensemble over the word.1.1 mental home mountain lion was founded in Dassler Schuhfabrik, Herzogenaurach, Germany by Rudolf Dassler after a dispute with his brother Adi Dassler with whom they had founded the Dassler Schuhfabrik in 1924. Until early 2003 painter had a very poor soft touch image that show a decline in its trade sh ar and prompted jaguar to change it strategic decisions to rectify on its image, this process of change was led by Jochen Zeitz mountain lion chief operating officer paperd on phases one to four of strategic plan to change jaguars image so that it can cope favorable in the commercialiseplace and within a couple of years Jochen Zeitz had change catamounts speck image into one of the most desirable and sought after fault of sportswear and footwear worn both buy celebrities and fashion followers all in all over t he word.This report card is divided in three parts, divulge one presents the factors that influenced panther to change it nock image and it further goes to hear these factors under Macro-environmental analysis basing on commercialize bowel movements, rivalry betwixt customers and strategic congregation mapping.The second part presents the pumas resources and capabilities in cost of military units and weakness as salubrious as virtuallity as seen as strengthens and the trey part of the report presents pumas winning strategies basing on pumas view that fulfills the company, sustainable completive advantages and as a ameliorate performing company.According to pillow slip test of lynx AG (in Thompson, A.A., Strickland, A.J. and Gamble, J. (2005) Crafting and Executing Strategy (Fourteenth Edition), McG rude(a)-Hill, New York, pages C411- C432),The environmental and competitive factors that influenced panthers strategic decision to improve its Brand image is identifi ed under Macro- environmental factors, rivalry between competitors and strategic group mapping as below.1.1.2 Macro environmental factorsLack of societal acceptance of Puma steel from the upper class customers who were not unstrained to wear the stigmatise beca delectation they considered to of poor quality and were change dirt-cheap Pumas nock was compromised and this a affected its value for employment Rudis son wanted puma intersection points to top all the customers of all affable behind ground and this move was seen by the upper class plenty as some thing below them and they can not be seen wearing the alike grease as people on eudaemonia recipients. In order for pumas marque to be accepted as a extravagantly quality station of value, force puma to change and improve its denounce so that it can be socially accepted by customers.Change in customers taste and style for compositors case there was mellow prerequisite for abides w be and fashion primp tend t hat was oriented toward uplifted value and lifestyle convergences, this change in customers choose influenced pumas to changed its brand image to meet the customers growing demandDemographic change in association football commercialize for practice their was a senior risque school demand to do to needs of both kids playing on local pitch and nationals soccer team playing professional at international level that involve broad(prenominal) quality brand and in order for puma to beg in to these demographic change puma necessary to improve its brand image.Market change of 1980 when sports brand became much dynamic and consumers taste alter into new and more(prenominal) exciting high price that make harvestings more desirable this forced puma to change its brand image so that they can charge high price as customers associate high prices with quality of brand or reaping and the more highly charged the more desirable the brand.Introduction of niches in the commercialise o ffered attractive suppuration rates both incumbent and new mart players for display case skateboard markets, golf sports, sports equipments for out door activities make puma change its brand image, for manikin for puma to enjoy this attractive growth its brand has to be of high quality.Merging of manufactures to form one big group for precedent Rosso joined forces with several other manufactures in northern Italy to form thaumaturge group this was seen as a bane because this means more resources and firm financial stand and this led to high fragmented global market and for puma to survive in a highly fragmented market it needed to change its brand imagePumas brand was disreputable and had unconnected specailised sports trackers in its distri pass ondion ne iirk in order for puma to gain its distribution network it had to improve on its brand image1.1.3 Rivalry between competitorsPuma niftyest rivalries atomic number 18 from the following competitorsNike IncNike is the m atter one sports brand in area over and from the case reflectBased in USA Has got sub brand like tiger words and Michael Jordan Adidas Salomon AGDeals on core sports (soccer, athletics skiing)Has got arduouser financial resourcesHas got its marketing and contrive departments in Germany and FrancePrada SportsLuxury brandIt has come ined in to sports segments four years agoDeals in trendy fashion wear of high pricesDieselBased in ItalyFashion brand ,major(ip)ing in sunglasses, footwearCompetitors entered the market such as Adidas, Nike, Rebook among others entered the market and do competition for market share was very high and these competitors had better quality brand than puma and among them, they shared 27% of the market share, this stiff competition influenced puma to improve on its brand image to survive to survive in the competitive marketNike was the biggest competitor of all and it had the largest market share for practice Nike was became the worlds largest sports equ ipment manufacture in the late 1980 and maintain this gravel since then. Puma was dealing in almost identical products like puma but its brand was poor so in order to gestate a share in the market place puma needed to improve on its brand image.Adidas-Salomon was also another competitor that entered the market as the second worlds largest producer of sports equipment manufacture in world with approximately $6.5 billion in glaring revenue and was present in every country this put puma in a very difficult situation and in order for puma to suck a favorable share in the market it needed to change its brandReebok also entered the market at the epoch when puma brand was poor, Reebok was the world third largest player in the sports market, Reebok identified footwear industry as a key market and began to aggressively into overseas market this amplify was seen as a threat to puma and to survive it puma had to change its brand imagePrada though a luxury bran, it also started deal in s portswear four years ago and this is a threat for Puma and because though the price for Prada brand is high, it high quality goods do attack customer who are willing to spend for vitrine super starts, this is a threat to puma because puma has to not only with Prada but with Nike, Adidas and Reebok for customers.1.1.4 Marketing strategiesAcquisitions of groups for instance Rosso bought out other partners and embarked on growth and expansion this means more competition for market shares as he built a solid and capacious distribution platform across atomic number 23 continents reporting annual gross revenue of $330 billion with luxury brand merchandising jeans for as much as $100-$200 a pair qualification its brand more appealing to customers and in order for puma to survive Such a hash market, it needed to change its brand imageInnovations as a marketing system for lawsuit Nike modify his product portfolio to invest people of ages 20 -30 with enthusiastic sports appeal, Reebok changed its marketing outline and began transition toward football, baseball and soccer which Puma was one of puma product line and in order for puma to attract new customers it has to change it brand image for example puma designing and new functionality in new collections and launched retro looks of the 1970s/80sAll companies engaged in enormous advertisement for their brand a awareness so that they can manage favorable in the market for example in Nike marketing scheme, it think on sponsoring huge events and popular events, Reebok also sponsored popular events and had a licensing compact with national basket association that plus its brand awarenessTo compete with for each one other favorability each company outsource employment and lancinating solids where their cost was cheap and labour was useable this alters each company to cut on action cost.Product differentiation causes constraints on rivalry for example the is high rivalry for example between Nike, Ad idas and Reebok because thought there is high brand identification in the market they almost dealt in quasi(prenominal) sports equipments which offer customer the usage.1.1.5 strategical group mapping to position competitorsStrategic Group Map on Footwear MarkFrom the strategic group mapping, the rivalry between Puma and Nike is very low and puma doesnt pose a threat because Puma doesnt enough market shares as compared to Nike, This is because Puma is a stage where its brand is poor and customers are not willing to buy puma products and this explains why the position of puma and Nike are far a part from eachThe close military position of Nike, Adidas and Reebok are and narrow and almost tight because they are competing for almost the like size for example the rivalry between Adidas and Reebok are almost of the alike size in market share and they hire to keep competing for the market with no dominance from Adidas and Reebok as a leading rivalry, this is because the cost of prod uction is low and so is the cost of labourThe cost of switching from one brand to another is very low for customers the rivalry firms because customers can freely buy from another from Nike, Adidas and Reebok especially where there is no brand royal family thats why they are so close togetherNike, Adidas and Reebok entered the market almost at the same time when pumas brand image needed improving this cause high competition for the market shares and for customers and this explains why less room for expansion for Nike , Adidas and Reebok that needs to protect its market share from PumaThe cost of production was low between the rivalry firms as most of had outsourced all production and raw material where they were cheap to produce, this make the market so unstable and due to high competition for the market share.2 Pumas strengths and weakness 2.1 mightPuma had collaboration with some of the famous designers from different cultural back ground for example pumas new projects were deve loped under the supervisions of trendsetters like Yashuiro Mihara and Jil sanders which are strongly influenced by kickboxing. This cooperation and collaboration opened a new wide market for puma for example where high fashion meets sportswear, for example this collaboration led puma to produced high quality brand that suppers starts like bloody shame were happy to be spotted wear puma brand and this made many fashion and brand wearer buy more of puma productsPuma launched new collections which blended with sports, lifestyle and fashion for example puma curato shoes, unala cropped woven womens ware which are very sport fashionable and trendy, such causal sportswear became like very twenty-four mos kind of wear for certain age group for example the unripened starts who identified themselves with puma logo and style, this made it well-off for puma to target and reach the respectable market as at the right time as puma knew its market and customers wellInnovations -puma carried in novations at each part of the process for example puma worked with engineering teams of Jordan grand prix cannonball along to learn roughly new materials like carbon fire which are then built into pumas shoes like shudou shoes, this innovation enabled Puma to produced high quality sportswear that were so desirable that puma gain a lot more customer that puma became looked upon as a trend starter in the footwear market for other companies like Nike and Adidas as followPuma outsourced all productions and raw material procurements in europiuman were to expensive and raw martial were cheap in Asians countries , this allow puma to reduce its working capital and allow puma to cut back the production and enable full quality control of input factorsPuma had noesis and experience, this is one of pumas major strength because jibe to the case admit Zeitzs understanding of fashion as the new combinations of elements of the past it light for puma to produce products without having to des ign for scratch rather than use its heritage, this made it easy for Puma to re-launched older products for example the retro look where some parts were lockn from 1970/1980 collections were re-launched after adding modern elements such as last or color way shoesPuma has good readying and timing for example puma for example puma entered the sports market two years before its revival in order to maximize meshing and this gave puma enough time to prepare for up coming demand, Puma had gain market experience and gave customers the impressions of always being in the sports market.Puma participated in assorted marketing campaigns to arose customer brand awareness for example it sponsored big events, chose music goggle box channel which was known for its young sense of hearing who tired to differentiate themselves and targeted them with puma adverts, for example Puma use the MTV and symphony Mongol as Jazzy to promote footwear and other apparel this made lead to the popularity of p uma brand and in the last phoebe bird years saw increase sales as the brand was considered disobedient and stylish as two most desirable attributes as compared to its competitorsAcquisitions of other company for example puma acquired Swedish company Tretorn, Europes third largest manufacturer of tennis ball from Proventus for 23 million which the contributed to 45 million in sales and puma was able to assign its over head cost of distribution functionsPuma had a shareowner New Regency which put puma in several successful Hollywood movies such as devil and high crime this benefited puma massively from generous product placement. This new regency made it easy for puma to reach it market audience through movies, adverts that portrays the image of puma as a companyTechnologically puma created a web carriage that fit its imaged for example its home page displayed different adverts from Jamaica line. Interactive stories transported readers into managers thoughts during his 96 hour worry tripe around the world wearing pumas casual and business attire.A project promoted on the internet was the top winner minginess A collection of 510 alone(predicate) and individual shoes was created and sold at premium prices all over the world.2.1.2 WeaknessPoor brand pictorial matterBefore the revival, puma has a very bad brand image that most customers from the upper social class did not want to buy puma products because it was considered cheap, this ruined poor reputation and it took years for this image to be rebuilt through phases.Luck of financial resource Puma did not have a strong financial resource as can be seen from the equilibrate sheet of 1999-2002 this could have been due to reduced sales as the brand was of poor image. From the case take in puma has the lowest offset sheet compare to its competitorsLuck of customersDue to puma poor brand image of 1992-2002 it was not attracting customers because the brand was poor the substitute were readily available on t he market most of pumas customers might have crossed to Nike or Adidas as they had better quality footwear Limited market when the brand was poor puma has the least market share as compared to Nike, Adidas and Rebook that to self-contained shared 27% of the market share. This failure by puma to commence a larger make share is a weakness and this lessen on brand attractiveness, this can be due to pumas marketing communication which is different for market segmentPuma lost its sports dealers distribution network due to poor brand image and bad sale. Though this was gained, Puma s process missing the sports segments distribution systemsFrom the case study Puma has a higher overhead as compared because some of its products were sold cheaply at a very low price make it really hard to figure out what the profit was made as costs were being attached to total sales regardless of what product segment was sold2.1.3 VirtualityPuma is the setoff virtual sports company agree to pumas miss ion statement and uses Virtual Warehouse Management System.According to Jochen Zeitz, CEO of puma Virtual actually may be the wrong word. whizz should probably say a virtualized company, where location doesnt really play a role anymore. Its totally independent from location and how you do business, and move things forward. push product increase, for example.Its actually divided among all the three hubs, with certain development functions in Germany, certain in the U.S., and others in Hong Kong. They each complement each other and work together. Its all integrated through proper IT, so no matter where you are, you can access the same kind of information and add to the entire development chain. (Reveries.com, Dec 2202).2.1.4 Virtuality as strength for puma Information sharingPuma has a global steering structure several head quarters supported by a strong information technology infrastructure this makes it easy for sharing of vast network resources on a global scale for example du ring design stage and using the Lotus notes and information database application, key information about design process and procedures and it can be entered in to the database and it can viewed by all the production team located in all the regional hub, this makes exchange of idea and decision do fast without the need for production team and designers to be physical locations in one place. For example footwear can be designed in German then it can be checked by product development team in another country, the review is done throughout the production cycle till the product is finished and ready for sale.Hi technology infrastructure The strong information technology infrastructure can be used to wed all the global regions together for example during executive meetings video-teleconference can be use link all the mangers in the various regions together during a meeting enabling fast sharing executive information for managerial decision markingOnline ResellerPumas virtuality has enable d puma to provide its customers with incite of viewing and buying products through a web based lineages and retailers for example pumas Qualified Puma OnlineReseller has made it possible for customer to order products and view their purchase status as they a grip delivery whenever their locations Family WebsitesThrough virtual front man puma has been able to a couple of puma family websites for example in 2000 puma featured an online store in offering a few product in coupled States only though this has become more common of Pumas online stores, this makes it easy for puma presence to be very where in any country in the world and makes it easy for puma sales team to interact with customers online.Puma also open its door to the public via web presence (Pumabiz.com) by allow users access to company information such as corporate structure, financial reports and puma mathematical process in the market, this web presence enabled puma attack potential and future business partners as well as recruiting new staff using the Pumabiz.com website.Virtual warehousePumas virtualisation process lead to the creation of a virtual warehouse where as soon as customers order goods they are assigned with comical making it easy to locate the goods and goods are dispatched to customers no matter where they are with the specific given period. The virtual warehouse system solves pumas traditional way of storage and led to a feeling that puma is everywhere as the virtual warehouse was everywhere puma has a subsidiary.By using vitulised system puma has competitive advantage for example Puma all core competence is seen as a adept big company and globally its employees are all over the world and through use of puma communication technology employees are able to share all the resources and the process of virtualisation is being seen as a future that most companies will follow (cf Fuderholz, 1998)The interaction of customers, suppliers and shareholders through the use of informatio n system and communications between organisations have brought only supplier and investors together but has brought shareholders closer for example shareholder through the use on information system are able to search and get under ones skin out how the company id performing in the market3 amiable strategiesThere are evidences from Puma financial reports that suggest puma strategies in the resent years have led to winning strategies this can be seen from its broad actives that have improved pumas image considerably.3.1 Fits the Companys situation well Increase in ordersPumas orders has change magnitude by product line according to pumas outlook for example order for footwear went up by 4.7% to 721.1 millions and order for apparel has increase by 19.9% to 397.7millioms followed by accessories which increase by 13.6% to 68.9 millionSee vermiform appendix ii 111Global branded Sales growthPuma solicitude confirmed increase in sales on of footwear, apparel and accessories for base d on the financial results for the first quarter of 2008 this has the strength of Euro against other currencies for example footwear sales were down by 4.6% to 404.1 millions, Apparel almost remained the same as last years total 246/9 millions and accessories increased by 30.0% to 90.1millionConsolidated salesIn the first quarter of 2008 consolidated sales grew for example sales in footwear flat but with all puma region meeting satisfactory sales level move out USA, the sales of apparel goods increased by 18.5% to 231.8 million and accessories in creased by 16.5% to 47.3 million with contributions from the entire region in double digitsEurope, Middle easterly also saw increased sales of 19.9% which all together left(p) the company with 3.4% revenue of which footwear sales accounts for up to1.9%, apparel increased by 5.7% and accessories by 3.7% despite a slow sales in America. (26 February 2008 Source just-style.com)Pumas sales for the full year of 2005 consist of consolidate d and authorise sales which increased by 18.4% to 2.4 million for which the sales of apparel accounts for 16.5%, accessories increase to 16.5% and footwear increased by 17.7%Gross profits at 5% from the sales and earning development report, pumas gross profit from the first quarter increased to 52.2% as compared to last years. The margin of footwear increased from 52.0% to 52.1%, accessories increased from 53.4% to 54.9% and apparel was low compared to last years gross profitsPuma embarked on phase IVPuma has started its phase IV in 2006 of becoming most desirable sports lifestyle company that consists of expansion out side of European market as all as expansion of product categories this includes entering the already existing markets as well as entering into new areas for example puma go to offer products that cover all the sport lifestyle such as incorporating sportswear into fashion and making puma more distinguished to outsmart off competition from its rivalry. Phase IV expa nsion strategy show tremendous growth in profits as result of perpetual high sales and puma ability to spot new trends in the market and offer products accordinglyPumas shareholders valueIn 2007 Pumas main long term goal was founded, when Pinault Printemps Redoute of France take over Puma, this brought the two companies that share the same vision and culture together, for example the take over made it possible for each company to provide support to the other to reach its strategic objectives. The take over was not objected by the share holders because the offer price of 330 per share was considered evenhandedly and this made both companies more money.Good balance sheetPumas sales for the full year of 2005 consist of consolidated and license sales which increased by 18.4% to 2.4 million for which the sales of apparel accounts for 16.5%, accessories increase to 16.5% and footwear increased by 17.7%, this as compare to pre 2003 shows that puma has got a healthy balance sheet for exa mple puma equity ratio is above 60% and of March 31, 2008 total assets increased by 0.8% to 1,811.5 millions3.1.2 Competitive advantageBarney (1991) defines sustainable competitive advantage as A firm is said to have a sustained competitive advantage when it is implementing a value creating strategy not simultaneously being implemented by any present-day(prenominal) or potential competitors and when these other firms are unable to duplicate the benefits of this strategy (italics in original) (p. 102).Based on both Barneys work and the commentary in the dictionary, a sustainable competitive Advantage is defined as long term benefit of implementing some unique value-creating strategy not currently being implemented by any known or potential competitors along with the incapability to duplicate the benefits of this strategy. Factors that have enabled puma happen upon sustainable competitive advantage are identified below companionship and ExpertisePuma has uses expertness in design knowledge with major competencies in all parts of design and marketing for example with the acquirement of Puma by PPR group has enabled puma to use PPR large base design team to produces high quality of desirable brands, this knowledge and expertise makes puma completive set a part from its main competitors.Brand as completive advantagePumas brand is so strong and dynamic according to Zeitz that by 2003 pumas popularity was so strong that mega starts like Madonna was proud to wear Pumas, This brand image and associations of its brand with international starts is of competitive advantage in selling of apparel and footwear because it brings about publicity for puma and brand awareness and open up venues for other opportunities for example by 2003 puma signs a deal to be the official supplier of apparel and footwear to the FIA world rally champion. elaborateness into other marketPuma has been expanding its market especially in china, for example puma has open many stores in Olympic v illage in china to showcase new collection and meet the demand for Pumas footwear demand , this expansion has attacked new customers and puma has provided support to individual sports personality for example, the CEO of Puma is quoted as If we find the right person we will consider partnering with those Chinese sports starts ( China daily report 26,2007)Innovative products Puma has a advantage in footwear, apparel and accessories because it a lot easier for puma but fashion know who with the help of designers and the CEO of puma has the understanding of fashion the new combination of elements of past in which when puma spots a new trend instead of making a new brand, puma uses it old brand to design and this counted for 10% of footwear, apparel and accessories based on the old design and this also made puma a trend starter. In footwear puma also collaborated with sought after designers like Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen to produce new line of womens and mens footwear which wa s launched in the spring of 2006 wide consumer appealPuma offer a very diverse product line for everyone and this accounts for the broad customer appeal because there is product for everyone. In the spring collection of 2003 did carter for both male and female for example Nuala product line with cropped woven pants and Nuala Nylon coat for women as well as Kings ss soccer shirts that catered for both men and women.Puma also ventured into Action sports line for emerging sports like BMX skateboarding and downhill mountain biking creating platinum series offering causal footwear and apparel and accessories for such eventsRelational market assertsPuma has got greater bond with its customers this has forged a working affinity work with customers to manufactures highly unique and customized brands for example in the case study puma promoted the top winner thrift a collection of 510 unique and individual shoes that were created out of recycle cloths from Jeans and ties, with the purchase of such items, customers allowed to enter pumas exclusive community on the web.Supplies to meet the various demands of consumersPumas major supplier was Yue Yuen, the largest supplier of footwear, so when the demand for particular footwear goes up puma is more readily meets the demand from constant supply of branded products from YueYuen.Intellectual market assertsPuma has great in depth knowledge regarding customers needs and preferences for example puma has gained knowledge and credibility in sportswear and equipment, this was a results of many years of transaction on the same product line and which made it very easy to have competitive advantage over others fashion industry, this knowledge made it easy for puma to re-launch products that customers most prefer to have.3.1.3 Better company performanceMarketing campaignPuma participated in various marketing campaigns to pilfer customer brand awareness for example it sponsored big events, chose music television channel which was k nown for its young audience who tired to differentiate themselves and targeted them with puma adverts, this has resulted in o better performance because it improved brand awareness which in turns led to high sales performance.Out sourced production Puma outsourced all productions and raw material procurements in European were to expensive and raw martial were cheap in Asians countries, this allow puma to reduce its working capital and allow puma to shorten the production and enable full quality control of input factors, this results in a better company performance because it enables puma to meet the market needs in effect and save a lot of money from having