Project report

ON

A STUDY ON MARKETING STRATEGIES OF PUMA SHOES

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD
OF THE
DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF COMMERCE
2015-18

GUIDED BY:- SUBMITTED BY:-

ANAM CHARAN RAUL ROHAN TEWARY
LECTURER ROLL NO:-3115098

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nb

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project titled “Marketing strategies of Puma” is an

academic work done by “MR. ANAM CHARAN” submitted in the partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Bachelor Of
Commerce from Mpc Autonomus College, Odisha, under my guidance &
direction. To the best of my knowledge and belief the data & information
presented by him/her in the project has not been submitted earlier.

MR. ANAM CHARAN RAUL

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LECTURER
M.COM, LLB, PGDFM, P.hd

DECLARATION OF CANDIDATE

This is to certify that I have completed the Project titled “Marketing strategies

of Puma” Under the guidance of MR. ANAM CHARAN RAUL in partial

fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Bachelor of Commerce at MPC

AUTONOMUS COLLEGE, ODISHA. This is an original piece of work & I

have not submitted it earlier elsewhere.

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Rohan Tewary

ROLL NO. 3115098

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to thank all those with whom I have worked, interacted and whose
thoughts and insights helped me in furthering my knowledge and understanding
of the subject.

I would especially like to express my gratitude and sincere thanks to Ms. Anam
charan raul whose excellent teaching has left an undeniable print on my mind
leading me to prepare this project report in a better way and which would not
have been possible without her support and active guidance. I am highly obliged
to her for the opportunity that she gave me to work on the study on marketing

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strategies of ‘PUMA SHOES’. The present report has made me learn a lot about
the marketing industry as a whole.

ROHAN TEWARY

ROLL NO. 3115098

Introduction to topic

Puma SE, officially branded as PUMA, is a major German multinational company that
produces athletic shoes, footwear, and other sportswear. The company was formed in 1924 as
Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik by Adolf and Rudolf Dassler. The relationship between the
two brothers deteriorated until the two agreed to split in 1948, forming two separate entities,
PUMA and Puma. Both companies are currently based in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

Puma is known for its football shoes and has sponsored acclaimed footballers, including Pelé,
Eusébio, Johan Cruijff, Enzo Francescoli, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthäus, Kenny
Dalglish,

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

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American professional basketball and association football leagues. Since 2007 Puma SE has
been part of the French luxury group PPR.

Objective of the Study

1. The main aim is to find out the truth, which is hidden and not discovered
yet.

2. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon.

3. To portray accurately the characteristic of an individual

4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables.

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 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

MARKETING-MIX (FOUR P’S): PUMA

THE PRODUCT:

Whatever your athletic preference, you can now purchase an extensive range of PUMA
footwear and apparel online. From running shoes to baseball cleats, eye wear to lanyards,
collegiate licensed jackets to good old fashioned cotton T-shirts, all things sport are available
at the PUMA

As A BRAND

At PUMA –you have got to be sporty. At PUMA the brand awarding is been taken rather
seriously at its headquarters. PUMA wants to bring inline skates into India.

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What that kind of stuff got to do with Indian market? Yes, it won’t really be a hot seller, but it
will contribute a lot to PUMA brand image. That’s the PUMA way of doing it – image is a
critical part of branding strategy the world over.

The idea of the company is to introduce performance specific sports shoes in the Indian
market by building images around the world & at the same time create the need for these
shoes at the ground level.

PUMA already has heavy weight sportsmen such as Sachin Tendulkar, Leander Paes &
Mahesh Bhupathi endorsing the brand in India. They had the image, apart from endorsing the
performance element in the brand. PUMA steps out of crease with a clear sports positioning.
PUMA will take on arch Nike with almost the same positioning. It’s working with promising
athletes to give them a taste of its products. PUMA nowadays is capturing an attitude that is
sports related.

PUMA in fact did go through a limited fashion phase. PUMA says – that you are tempted to
make quick buck but we would like to stick to the sports brand image because that make us
fashionable.

Words of G. Kannan (Director – Marketing)

“Our Secret is our commitment to the sports process. We develop shoes that take into account
the needs of a particular sports & the role of this brand is driven by this factor”.

Good news for PUMA is that even in the casual market, the trend is towards being sporty.
Going to Gym is fast graduating from a mere fad to serious body building, strengthening &
toning. This is reflected in the clothes that people wear today. The three stripes, for instance
is unique property which can be reinvented in various forms as trends changes.

For PUMA the product plays an eminent role in the enhancement of their corporate as well as
sports image:

PUMA SAYS –

“Nothing compromised. The most innovative PUMA products created specifically to help
make you a better athlete. For PUMA, product is not just a assortment of few items. But it
involves—developing of the right product – which can then be put to right place & sold with
the right promotion & price.

VALUE OF IT’S PRODUCTS FOR PUMA

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 Our goal is to create a product that is honest – it must perform. The rule is simple: form
follows function.

As studied earlier an PUMA product is the result of the intense thought and creative energy
of many different people. If a company sells an automobile, is it selling a certain no. of nuts
and bolts, some metal sheet, an engine and four wheels?

If a company sells a delivery service, is it selling so much wear and tear on a delivery truck
and so much operator fatigue? As per PUMA the answer to these questions is instead what
we are really selling is the satisfaction, use or profit the customer wants.

PUMA says that the entire customer wants is, that whatever product they purchase should
fulfill all their needs and preferences. They don’t care how they were made. Further they
want that when they order something, the don’t really care how much out of the way the
driver had to go or where he/she has been. They just want their package. That means for them
only the final service matters.

As per PUMA the idea of product potential customer’s satisfactions or benefits is very
important. PUMA says that the total product is not just a physical product with its related
features, but it includes accessories, installation, instruction on use, the package, perhaps the
brand name which fulfills some psychological needs a warranty and confidence that service
will be available after the purchase.

Place and Physical Distribution:

A: Place

To take care of this problem PUMA has appointed marketing managers who decides how the
PUMA is very much concerned about its second “p”. As per PUMA place and physical
distribution of the product is something on which almost every company spends a handsome
amount of money.

Hence PUMA takes a good care of its place and physical distribution process. PUMA has
appointed marketing specialists who are taking care of the supply of the product and their
distribution channels and process.

Process used – assorting progress

Entire range, which is available is put together to give a target market what it wants.

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Marketing specialists put together an assortment to satisfy some target market. His is
usually done by those who are close to the retailers only.

B: Physical distribution

As per PUMA nearly half of the costs of marketing are spend transporting and storing
functions should be divided within a channel.

Note: Physical distribution can be varied endlessly in a marketing mix and in a channel
system.

TRUCKS

In PUMA, except the export products, trucks are considered to be the best medium for
transport. The flexibility of trucks makes them really good for moving small loads for short
distances. They can travel on almost any road. According to PUMA they can give extremely
fast service. Also trucks causes less breakage in handling.

PROMOTION:

PUMA is one of the India’s biggest companies of sports that spend nearly $10 million on its
sales promotion and advertising in Indian Market.

PUMA believe that it just cannot be taken lightly. It is a very important aspect of products
life cycle. It is the process which is responsible for the growth or decline in the sale of the
product.

PUMA thinks that promotion is communicating information about the product between the
seller and the buyer to change attitudes and behavior.

To handle the company’s promotional activities PUMA has employed marketing managers,
wherever the PUMA is located. These marketing managers look after process of the
promotion of the products of their company.

As per PUMA the marketing manager’s promotion job is to tell the target customers that the
right product is available at the right place and at the right time and especially at the right
price.

PUMA thinks that only taking the product to the customers is not a task of the company. But

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company takes a very important look about how the product works and this message is
communicated to their consumer’s .Because a wrong message can lead to the end of their
products life.

Sales Promotion

PUMA is the most popular amongst its rival for its excellent sales promotional activities.

As per PUMA they say that they themselves are responsible for the encouragement of the
customer to by their products. PUMA believes sales promotion tries to compliment the
company’s selling efforts.

As per PUMA advertising can get results in a promotion blend. Good results are obtained at a
cost of course. The amount spent in the Unites States for advertising is growing.
Continuously, from World War II to 1980 it went from $1 billion to $50 billion.

PUMA also spends nearly $2.9 million on its advertising throughout the world. PUMA in
India is spending almost $17 million on advertising.

The heavy weight players like Sachin Tendulkar, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are
already attached with their ad-campaigns.

PRICING:

PUMA is clear; it wants to become the no. one sports brand in India, a choice brand for all
brands. So far so good, but how will it tackles a price conscious market like India?

PUMA feels that being a high energy business PUMA introduces 600-700 articles every six
months – enables the brand to remain fresh and bring on an international and Indians the
brand from the price stand point.

Price, that’s the most critical factor in the Indian context. PUMA believes it has to deliver a
functional at an affordable price. It’s a tough job – to maintain the integrity of the
performance and still come out with a product a right price point. Globally shoes start at $50.
But in India as the perceived need is lower, you have to make the product more affordable.

To tackle this, PUMA came out with speed 2000, a product priced at Rs.995 with the help of
local and Hong Kong source people. PUMA however feels that it’s just the matter of time
before India coverage’s the world on this front. It is very difficult to operate on a lower price

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point and maintain integrity of product, but its been barely 3 years since the sports market has
taken off.

The original sector is just 20% of the total market and 80% of the volumes comes from sporty
shoes. But our market is producing products at a price that is relevant to the consumers.

PUMA feels that as the volume go up; PUMA will try and work out price points as people
graduate with better understanding of quality and price perception. Volumes are bound to go
up. PUMA started at the time when India had no strength out in the sports products market in
1989 – 90. It’s then licensing partner Bata, and it had limitations of what it could have put
behind the brand. So company took the next best step when the licensing agreement ended to
take a bigger share in business.

To conclude we can say that PUMA is putting all efforts to bring down the price
consciousness in the Indian market. Company is trying to make products, which are easy to
afford and still maintain the integrity of their performance.

Growth has been phenomenal for PUMA even given the base is small. In 2002 PUMA grew
by 25%, 2003 by over 50% and this year PUMA is expecting more than 50% in terms of
value in both shoes and apparel, while the industry growth as a best case estimate has been
20-25%.

Only now, the setting is not the playground or the track or the court, it is the urban landscape
– with its omnipresent traffic jams, crowded streets and so forth. This way, PUMA becomes a
part of life. Anyone’s life. You don’t have to be the high-voltage performer to be a part of the
PUMA family. And it goes beyond that – PUMA becomes something that makes you better.
Not just as an athlete, but as a sports person, a better human being.

One of the advertisements: The spot featuring Boldon shows him chasing a thief (who’d
stolen a TV set when its owner was in the bath) through the dark streets. To help a man (the
owner, in a towel) in distress. And he uses all the power that he can, to do what he has to do
and what he needs to do. And PUMA helps him perform better, than he would otherwise have
been able to. This is perhaps shown in an oblique way when the spot ends at the feet of
Boldon and the bather.

One is wearing a pair of PUMA shoes while the other is barefoot. PUMA makes you better,
goes the base. In short, the other man could have done as well as Boldon. The bather reads
any man. Any man who wears PUMA. And PUMA goes beyond athletic performance – it
becomes everyday life. In stark reality. Though humorously and light, it has a deep meaning.
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A. As A BRAND

At PUMA –you have got to be sporty. At PUMA the brand awarding is been taken rather
seriously at its headquarters. PUMA wants to bring inline skates into India. What that kind of
stuff got to do with Indian market? Yes, it won’t really be a hot seller, but it will contribute a
lot to PUMA brand image. That’s the PUMA way of doing it – image is a critical part of
branding strategy the world over.

The idea of the company is to introduce performance specific sports shoes in the
Indian market by building images around the world & at the same time create the
need for these shoes at the ground level.

PUMA already has heavy Weight sportsmen such as Sachin Tendulkar,

Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupathi endorsing the brand in India. They
had the image, apart from endorsing the performance element in the
brand. PUMA steps out of crease with a clear sports positioning. PUMA
will take on arch Nike with almost the same positioning. It’s working
with promising athletes to give them a taste of its products. PUMA
nowadays is capturing an attitude that is sports related.

COMPANY PROFILE
Outstanding performances of PUMA athletes and teams have strongly influenced
international sports through innovative PUMA products and creative marketing initiatives for
more than 60 years.

Milestones in PUMA‟s sports history were the development of the first football boot with
screw-in studs in 1952 by the company’s founder Rudolf Dassler, the legendary “two-stripe”
jersey of Johan Cruyff at the world championship in 1974, the PUMA contact lenses of
Linford Christie in 1996, the skin-tight Catsuit tennis dress of Serena Williams at the US
Open 2002, the revolutionary one-piece Cameroon football shirt in 2004, the Italian national
team winning the Football World Cup in 2006, Ferrari with its seven-times world champion,
most successful Formula 1 pilot and PUMA partner Michael Schumacher, who dominated the
sports for years, the world records of sprint hero Usain Bolt as well as the Volvo Ocean Race,

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“the Everest of Sailing” that PUMA‟s eye-catching sailing yacht il mostro finished in second
place in 2009.

Through creativity and innovative products PUMA has always set standards in sports and
style. Partnerships with federations such as Jamaica, Italy and in Africa provided the brand
with the opportunity to lead the way in creative and innovative global sports marketing.
PUMA was not only able to strengthen its positioning as a sport lifestyle brand, but created a
whole new market by establishing the segment sport lifestyle. Page 2

Football

As early as in 1952, PUMA set the first milestone on the pitch by developing the “Super
Atom”, the first football boot with screw-in studs. Eight players of German premier league
club Hannover 96 sported the new mass-produced boots during the final of the German
Premier League Championship in May 1954 and heralded a new era of football boot
development - well before Germany‟s famous World Cup win in Bern in July that year.

A story to remember is the legendary “Two-Stripe Jersey” that the captain of the Dutch
national team Johan Cruyff created at the World Cup 1974. The Dutch player refused to play
in a three-stripe shirt because he felt closely connected to his sponsor PUMA. He created a
unique Dutch two-stripe jersey which debuted in the final of the World Cup in Munich.

When Jochen Zeitz took the helm in 1993, he launched a new brand strategy which turned
PUMA into the most desirable sportlifestyle brand through successfully fusing influences
from sports, lifestyle and fashion. The epitome of the new sportlifestyle segment was
PUMA‟s cooperation with designer Jil Sander in 1998 when PUMA combined - as the first
sports brand ever - sports and style. The newly introduced trend found its way onto the
international catwalks and especially onto the football pitches where PUMA set new
standards for sports fashion and established the sportlifestyle segment.

Legendary examples of PUMA‟s sports fashion were the coloured football boots at the
World Cup in France in 1998 and the sleeveless jerseys, sported by the Cameroon national
team at the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup in 2002. The football fashion was
further revolutionized, when the Cameroon team played in one-piece jerseys for the first time
ever at the African Cup of Nations in 2004. The one-piece kits caused a worldwide media stir

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and the international football federation FIFA sued PUMA, trying to ban the sensational
jerseys.

PUMA‟s successful fusion of sports and style within the realm of football was crowned when
the Italian national team won the World Cup in 2006: The “Squadra Azzurra” represents the
perfect combination of athletic world class and fashionable flair, further extending PUMA‟s
position as one of the three leading football brands. Page 3

As the partner of 13 African football federations, PUMA has not only been the leading
sponsor in Africa for many years, but has also used the continent to launch its most
innovative products. The joy of the game, aesthetics, passion and culture are African values
that PUMA also stands for. The World Cup offers a unique platform for PUMA to
demonstrate its long-term commitment to African football and the continent. While Africa
has been carrying the stigma of conflicts and poverty in the global press, PUMA has always
emphasized the positives of the prospects and uniqueness of the continent.

In January 2010, PUMA entered into a partnership with the Environment Programme of the
United Nations (UNEP) to protect biodiversity. The joint „Play for Life‟ campaign was
launched to support projects in Africa and elsewhere. To fund this initiative, PUMA launched
the Africa Unity Kit, the world‟s first „continental football kit‟ designed to be worn by the
13 African football national teams that PUMA sponsors.

Running

PUMA has always been successful in finding the right partners, who perfectly reflect and
convey the image of the brand around the world. Sprint superstar Usain Bolt and the
Jamaican track and field team perfectly embody that sports, fun and style have always been
key elements in PUMA‟s brand strategy.

At the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing, Usain Bolt set a 100m world record of 9.69 seconds,
smashing his own mark from May that year and sprinted 200m in the world record time of
19.30 seconds, beating Michael Johnson‟s 1996 record by two hundredths of a second. He
won his third gold medal as Jamaica shattered the world record in the 4x100m relay in 37.10
seconds.

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In close collaboration with Usain Bolt, PUMA developed the Theseus II, the ultimate running
shoe. Running the 100m and 200m both, the Jamaican sprinter needed a versatile shoe that
provided support for power, as well as firmness to hold his foot in place around the turn.
PUMA produced a gold version of the shoe for Beijing, which helped power him through the
greatest sprints of his life so far. Page 4

At the World Athletics Championships 2009 in Berlin, Usain Bolt wrote sports history again
when he smashed the 100m and 200m world records. The PUMA Yaam sprint spike that
propelled him to victory was developed by a team of PUMA designers and technicians who
studied and measured Bolt‟s stride and foot form. The vibrant orange sprint spike, designed
to contrast the Olympic Stadium‟s signature blue track and Usain‟s way of achieving
outstanding performances, mixing sport and style, caused a global stir.

Sailing

At sea, PUMA participated with an own boat in one of the world’s toughest sailing races, the
Volvo Ocean Race in 2008. As the first multi-category company, PUMA entered into sailing
and combined high performance sports with cutting-edge technology, styling and adventure.
The 11-men strong crew – the PUMA Ocean Racing Team – raced 10 legs and visited 10
countries in Africa, Asia, South and North America. During nine months, they covered
37,000 nautical miles (68,524 km) before finishing the race in second place in June 2009 in
St. Petersburg.

Over 5 million people visited the Volvo Ocean Race stopover villages and witnessed
PUMA‟s il mostro, PUMA City and PUMA‟s innovative market initiatives. PUMA used the
11 port destinations of the Race to activate complex onshore marketing strategies. Such
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activities set a new marketing benchmark in the growing sport of sailing. At the same time,
while the sport of sailing is often perceived to be very exclusive, PUMA aimed to break
down this misconception. PUMA‟s retail expertise manifested itself by providing a unique
shopping experience in PUMA City, a mobile architecture at the stop-over ports. Retail
expectations were exceeded, after sales in PUMA City on a single day in Boston topped daily
sales in any PUMA store ever worldwide. PUMA City is an innovative, mobile container
building and has accompanied the sailing crew during parts of the Race, being shipped to and
assembled at the stop-over ports in Alicante and Boston to host celebrations, press events,
entertainment and in-port race viewing.

Motorsport

In Motorsports, PUMA underpinned its excellent competence to combine top performance

sports with lifestyle when it developed highly functional Formula 1 collections as the first
sports brand Page ever. With the support of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher as well as a
strong portfolio of other racing teams, PUMA successfully established Motorsports as a new
segment within a short time and became the leading Formula 1 sponsor. Formula 1 driver
Sebastian Vettel caused a sensation in 2008 when the 21-year old won the race in Monza,
wearing golden PUMA shoes, and became the youngest Formula 1 champion in history.

Tennis

On the international tennis courts, PUMA caused a stir in 2002, when the company dressed
the top player Serena Williams in a skin-tight black “catsuit” at the US Open in New York
and changed the fashion in a sport that had seen players traditionally dress in white. In 1998,
PUMA took the then 16-year old American tennis player under contract and went together
with her all the way from rank 42 to number one in the world tennis ranking list.

The following report describes and analyses Puma business 's generic and distinctive
marketing strategies, as well as providing accurate industry, competitor, market, and SWOT
analysis'. Evaluation of Puma business’s marketing strategy is conducted, thus analyzing the
strengths and weaknesses of the strategy. Lastly the report recommends probable future
courses of actions obtainable to Puma business, in order to get better profits and stop
mistakes in the future.

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  Background

According to the company’s annual report “The Puma business was originally founded by
legend fashion designers who first patented a disinfectant fashion in France which is still
marketed today as Puma Fluid. Puma was granted the Royal Warrant in France and is still a
proud supplier to the Royal Household”.

If we analyzed then we come to know that Puma be familiar with that ultimately the
consumer buys products which solve consumer desires and requirements. These desires
repeatedly expand and it is vital that products are developed to assemble these requirements.
Puma has two research & growth centers in France and the UK where the solitary focal point
is to produce ground-breaking new products.

According to the annual report of Puma Business:

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Puma Group Management Team

The Industry Analysis

Puma is in the department store/large retailer industry, an industry that has very high levels of
competition. Although this industry is extremely competitive and growing at a fast pace in
Australia, it is still not as large as the department store industry elsewhere in the world, such
as the USA. This is partly due to the fact that there are boundaries in this industry,
particularly in Australia, as there are few retail stores that can classify themselves as large
department retail stores. Puma is a very competitive and key participant in this industry, as it
is both a producer and a seller. The large retailer industry can be very volatile due to the
impact the environment has on its participants .

Due to the introduction of the GST in year 2000, retail turnover has been increased and there
has been a sharp sales slump in the retail sector (Inside Retailing, 2001). According to the
estimation of ARA, total sales were up 5%; however there had been a drop in department
store sales of 3% for the seven months prior to July on the previous corresponding period.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) also estimated that department store turnover was
up 27.8%, or approximately $1 billion.

Competitor Analysis

The main competitors of Puma stores are middle- upper class department stores that stock a
wide variety of products. Competition mainly comes in the form of premium positioned
stores in the high-class category. In Australia, the main higher class competition would come
from Nicholas Goodwin and Michel Jones, which are both fashionable stores that offer alike
products at a competitive price.

However, due to the fact that John Adam has just recently announced that two of its
Australian stores will close down at the end of 2001, Puma has experienced a slight fall in the
competition in this industry sector. On the other hand the middle class sector of the industry
is still highly competitive, with the likes of main rivals Sports girl, Kmart, Target and Harvey
Norman insuring the need for regular in-store monitoring and maintenance.

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Market Analysis

Puma main customer base, thus their main target market; are predominantly female. As the
products are of best standing, i.e. premium pricing and brand categories; the market is
customer based, not demand-based. The products fulfill wants and desires based on image,
not needs. Customers seek the product and service benefits of the image of Puma.
Geographically speaking, the market for large department store such as Puma is mainly
concentrated in large shopping centers or downtown. In a large shopping center or downtown
shopping district, the market is strong, with good profit potential.

Department stores positioned as premium are hard to imitate and start because they are built
on the prestige of the brand.

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.

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PUMA SHOES and unconventional designs inspirations, McQueen is the perfect match for
PUMA: Together we take on the challenge to successfully combine different trends in sports,
fashion as well as sport history and technology into unique collections which convince
through their distinctive style. For instance, McQueen´s footwear collection is inspired by the
anatomy of the foot, perfectly unifying elegance with an extraordinary design as well as
comfort and functionality. Mihara. The Japanese designer Yashuhiro Mihara aims to fuse
sport and fashion with innovative creations and intends to deliberately break boundaries.
Mihara shoes feature a sportive-Avant- grade design and the slogan of his collection is called
"out of sports, out of fashion", a sure hint that his shoes are neither trainers nor leather shoes.

Rudolf Dassler Schuh fabric

The "Rudolf Dassler Schuh fabrik" collection is inspired by the timelessness that is sports and
its character is stamped by the influence of cultural styles such as Cubism and Bauhaus,
Dadaism and Jazz, Modernism and Avant-garde.With its natural and puristic style the
collection takes us back down memory lane to the unforgettable hours of major sport events.
The Dassler collection is provocative and modern, going back to the origin of sports and with
its name remembering the founder of PUMA, Rudolf Dassler.

PUMA - The Black Label

PUMA - The Black Label footwear is an authentic sport-fashion collection featuring modern
interpretations of PUMA iconic sneakers with fashion-forward shapes that fuse form and

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function. The Black Label styles are truly innovative, urban and versatile and they combine
performance elements with fashion trends.

Established by Henry Dunker in Helsingborg, Sweden at the end of the 19th century, Tretorn
takes inspiration from its Scandinavian roots and carries this vitality of spirit throughout its
collection of leisure shoes, rubber boots and tennis balls.Tretorn’s expertise in rubber-made
products demonstrates a consistent commitment to quality and brand over hype, offering a
collection most appreciated by those with a practical sensibility and a lifestyle largely
enjoyed outside.

Manufacturing Facilities: PUMA uses outsourced production facilities in over 40 countries.

Official Company Language: English

Registered Office: Herzogenaurach, Germany.

FUTURE PLAN

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Determination that everyone in the company understands and embraces the company values,
as well as benefits from the experience and integrity of their colleagues. Only with self-belief will
individuals have the confidence to make things happen, take the tough decisions and realize their
ambitions for themselves and, ultimately, for the business.

Entrepreneurship

Few businesses succeed without great ideas. PUMA has been built on them and needs them
to flow relentlessly hour by hour, day by day. This demands a willingness to think outside
the box, to zig where others zag and to seek inspiration beyond the more obvious boundaries
of our business universe. Such creativity has inspired the PUMA brand strategy. It will also
be needed to make it a reality.

GROWTH DRIVERS

The company has a very comprehensive distribution network which comprises its own and
franchise stores. It has 1500 showrooms, 25 wholesale depots and 8 distribution centers.

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 Vision & Mission
To make PUMA, the dominant company in Indian footwear’s industry.
This we hope to achieve by:
Understanding the needs of customers and offering them superior products and
service
Leveraging technology to service customers quickly, efficiently and conveniently
Developing and implementing superior risk management and investment strategies
to offer sustainable and stable returns to our policyholders
Providing an enabling environment to foster growth and learning for our employees
And above all, building transparency in all our dealings

The success of the company will be founded in its unflinching commitment to 5 core values -
- Integrity, Customer First, Boundary less, Ownership and Passion. Each of the values
describe what the company stands for, the qualities of our people and the way we work.

We do believe that we are on the threshold of an exciting new opportunity, where we can
play a significant role in redefining and reshaping the sector. Given the quality of our
parentage and the commitment of our team, there are no limits to our growth.

Some of the theories I have used in my project are as follows:

Theory: What is market research and why it is important.

Market research is a method of collecting data, which will make you (as a business) more
aware of how the people, you hope to sell to, will react to your products or services. Market
research will answer questions like:

 Whether your products or services are needed?

 Who might want to buy your products?

 What age, sex, income occupation etc. are the people I want to sell to?

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 If there are changes taking place and how this might affect what you sell?

 How well your products or services might sell?

 How much demand there is for what you hope to sell?

 What price would people be prepared to pay?

HOW DO PUMA CREATE ITS PRODUCTS

PUMA goal is to create a product that is honest – it must perform. The rule is
simple: form follows function.

Technology and functional design: A development team makes the actual

prototypes. These prototypes are then presented to the retail market by the
marketing department.

A Puma product is the result of the intense thought and creative energy of many
different people. The following is a general outline of how I create our
performance-based products.

1. The marketing department evaluates athletes’ needs and develops a basic

concept of how those needs should be met. This concept is then presented to
the design department.

2. Based upon this concept from the marketing department, the design teams
sketch possible prototypes.

3. The people from design and marketing consider the prototype sketches
together; narrowing the selection to those they anticipate will most
successfully meet athletes’ needs.

4. The development department then works with the design department to

create an actual prototype from the selected sketches.

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5. Three separate groups – marketing, design and development – meet and
discuss how to improve the prototype.

6. Samples are Wear-tested to ensure the product meets PUMA standards for
performance and durability and stands up to the demands of the sport for
which it was designed.

7. Preview samples are presented to key accounts and consumer focus groups
for feedback. Based upon this information, final changes are made.

8. Samples are distributed to PUMA sales representatives for presentation to

retailers.

9. The finished product is delivered to retailers .

MARKETING: PUMA

In 1997, PUMA became PUMA-Salomon with its US $1.4 billion purchase of Salomon, a
French manufacturer of skis and other sporting goods. The deal put PUMA one step
closer to competitor and world market leader Nike, and one step ahead of Reebok.
Salomon, aside from its winter sport equipment, also owns golf club brand Taylor Made
and cycle brand Mavic. The merger makes PUMA/Salomon the second largest sport
marketer in the world, and number one in Europe. Salomon is currently very strong in
North America and Japan, and PUMA has the largest market share in Europe.

PUMA is, like Nike, very active insuring sponsorships advertising deals with celebrities.
Some of the most famous are Martina Hingis (tennis), Kobe Bryant (basketball), Peyton
Manning, Paul Palmer (swimmer), jan Ulrich (racing cyclist) and the New York Yankees.
David Beckham, Patrick Culvert and Zidane all wear PUMA boots, the Predator Accelerator.

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 SCOPE OF STUDY
MARKETING STRATEGY

PUMA intent could be viewed as the number one global supplier of fashionable top quality
fitness footwear, textiles, and sports cleats. With this intent, PUMA should have a mission to
make, distribute and sell the finest quality sporting goods that improves the potential of the
entire world’s athletes.1.

Become the industry ± leading marketer of sporting goods. Strategy PUMA is being torn
apart in marketing by Reebok and Nike. In order for PUMA to regain the lead in the sporting
goods business a new marketing strategy should be developed. PUMA should create an
independent brand name for a fitness line of shoe that appeals to both males and females.
PUMA have some of the top U.S and European fitness instructors, trainers, super models and
actors and actresses endorse the product. PUMA should forget about the American football,
baseball, and basketball markets. Let Nike and Reebok fight over this territory.2.

Have the most efficient production cycle in the industry. Strategy Reduce sourcing and
production lead times to four months. Start by outsourcing all production to independent

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manufacturers. Get rid of all production in Europe and send to Asia, where costs are lower.
For U.S market, outsource production to U.S based facilities or to South American facilities
and sell directly to retailers in the U.S. instead of subsidiaries.

Leda in the industry in product innovation. Strategy Restructure the company’s management.
With the current top down bureaucratic management structure, PUMA will never become a
leading innovator. PUMA is trying to compete in two different markets- the European market
and the American market. Each market should have its own executive with his or her own
marketing/ R&D, Sourcing, Logistics, Finance and Human Resources department and
representatives from each of the countries in the two hemispheres should report to their
respective executives. The U.S. department should be based in the U.S. and should have
individuals in charge of each division that understands the U.S. market.

Market Segments:

High quality products targeted at teens and young adults. Dominates American basketball,
football, and baseball segments. Very successful with woman market segment. Known as a
producer of fitness footwear. Trying to capture more Nike’s Sports segment. Middle ages
men’s brand. Leader in soccer market segment. R&D done by coaches, athletes, and trainers.
Have Air Sole Technology developed by NASA engineer. Pump and Hexalite Technology.
Torsion Technology. The market and sales department contains the R&D department
COMPETITORS..

Nike challenges PUMA in home market

PUMA Acquires Reebok to challenge Nike

Competitors: Nike

Others: Amar Sport

Rossigno

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LEVERAGING ON SACHIN: ONE MAJOR PART OF MARKETING IN INDIA

Continuing its association with trump card Sachin, the local four-ad print campaign tries to
connect PUMA’ product attributes with Sachin’s magic. “Instead of presenting just one
dimension:
The first ad connects Sachin’s choice of a heavy bat with PUMA’ Falcon Dorf light weight
shoes. Says the headline: ‘Sachin likes his bat heavy, not his shoe.’
The second new shoe range to be introduced for the first time in India. Sub-branded ‘Aksu’
and priced at Rs 2,299, these are athletic sandals primarily meant for water-based adventure
sports. Finally, The next ad will convey that PUMA covers various price points by promoting
its existing Portland range priced at Rs 1,499 and 1,799 (the leather version).

The importance of celebrity sponsorship and events to PUMA is illustrated by Robert Louis-
Dreyfus’ letter in the company’s 1998 annual report:

“When it comes to showcasing our brands, 1998 was truly exceptional. Early in the year, the
Winter Olympics focused the attention of sports enthusiasts on Nagano. In summer, the
Soccer World Cup in France attracted more spectators than any single sports event before.
When the French team, promoting the three stripes, won the World Cup, we could not have
wished for more. These were great times for our brand.’

PUMA has reached an agreement with ISL Marketing G of Switzerland to become an official
sponsor of the 2000 UEFA European Championships. PUMA will have access to the official
emblems, mascot and trophy for the design of its own products..

In 1998, the overall PUMA budget for promotion and sponsoring accounted for nearly 15%
of turnover.

The positioning is being communicated through its global campaign-released worldwide in

February 1999 but in India, only in May-as well as through a four-ad print campaign
developed locally by RK Swami/BBDO. Says G Kanan, general manager, marketing,
PUMA: “We are the only brand with heritage in sports. As a brand, we’re not an attitude
that’s fashionable. We’re an attitude that is relevant all the time.

The campaign also introduces a new brand line for PUMA: ‘Forever Sport’. The line sums up
the “deeply-felt” and “long-term love affair” (it has been involved with sports since 1928)
that PUMA has with sport in all of its forms. Interestingly, the new brand line has been
introduced almost after a decade, when it was using ‘Earn your stripes’ as its tag-line. The

29
company dropped it during the late 80s after it found that it wasn’t connecting too well with
its consumers.

But the golden question is that will the campaign make PUMA run?
The company expects the campaign to strengthen the image of the brand since research had
indicated that neither of the three multinational sports shoe brands present in India had a clear
image: most were perceived as diffused brands and personality-led. Says Kanan: “Sachin has
and will play a major role in pushing the brand. He is important, as there are certain values a
consumer needs to know about PUMA. But after certain duration, we have to present a global
perspective too and hence the Forever Sport campaign.”
Interestingly, PUMA claims that it did not want to be caught up in the clutter of the
World Cup promotions-and deliberately chose not to associate with the World Cup. Instead,
according to Kanan, the campaign has been broken now to coincide with the peak season
(April-June). “The World Cup is incidental. It’s too large an event to make significance for
us”, says Kanan.
However, the company is maintaining a steady and dominant presence in the media during
the Cup: strewn over select channels like Star, Discovery, and ESPN are the Sachin ads
promoting PUMA. “Star News is delivering good value while through Discovery, we can
catch the elite customer”, Kanan says.
Although Kanan admits that the sports shoe and apparel market is at a nascent stage, he
claims that PUMA has grown by over 250 per cent from last year. As a company that takes
pride in not joining the price brawl, PUMA does not intend to bring down the prices of its
products. Says Kanan, “We don’t look at driving down the market by lowering the price. We
are willing to wait for the market to evolve.”
For PUMA, the real breakthrough, says Kanan, has come through a combination of strategies:
signing on Sachin, Leander and Bhupathi; expanding its reach (it opened 45 stores last year);
a revamped range which covers a band of price points; and support to the brand. "“e built-in
value pricing in our products, and supported them through sports icons who are looked up to.
We have realized that to have just one good guy endorsing your brand is more important than
having several unknown faces”, says Kanan
The company is enlarging the scope of its business by concentrating on apparel. “Apparel is
driving the business. Most consumers start experimenting with the brand through apparel”,
admits Kanan. Essentially perceived as a male brand, PUMA however defends its range by
pointing out that currently it has 50 items out of a total of 250, for women.

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Further, PUMA is planning to add 30 new stores this year. “We’re looking at driving the
market through exclusive stores”. Says Kanan. The logic is clear: use Forever Sport to ensure
sales forever.
Never achieved profitability and collapsed under the weight of its own unrealized
ambitions.
PUMA’s objective with the new line of footwear is to generate sales leads through its Web
site, either through direct purchase or a retailer finder. Villota says that every style of
footwear has a story, particularly those endorsed by star athletes, and it’s these stories that
sell the shoes to buyers.
While Villota wouldn’t disclose how much of Bryant’s PUMA footwear is sold online, he did
say one of three visitors to the Bryant portion of the PUMA site demonstrated purchase intent
by clicking through to the store or to the retail finder.
The newest version of Bryant’s footwear hits the street Nov. 1, coinciding with the start
of the 2003-2004 NBA seasons. While PUMA won’t comment on the new site’s features,
citing competitive pressure, Villota says it is PUMA America’s most ambitious
integration of Web content and electronic marketing.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design: (Theory)

Research design is an overall plan or scheme prepared by the researcher for executing the
research study. It is an important stage in the process of conducting research as it facilitates
systematic work on the research project. It is necessary as it facilitates the smooth conduct of
research. Research design may be designed as the sequence of steps taken ahead of time to
ensure that relevant data will be collected in a way that permits objective analysis of different
hypothesis formulated with respect to the research problem.

Data Collection
Data Collection helps your team to assess the health of your process. To do so, you must
identify the key quality characteristics you will measure, how you will measure them, and
what you will do with the data you collect.
Data Collection is nothing more than planning for and obtaining useful information on key
quality characteristics produced by your process. However, simply collecting data does not
ensure that you will obtain relevant or specific enough data to tell you what is occurring in
the process.

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 A. PRIMARY DATA:
Primary data is important for all areas of research because it is unvarnished information about
the results of an experiment or observation. It is like the eyewitness testimony at a trial. No
one has tarnished it or spun it by adding their own opinion or bias so it can form the basis of
objective conclusions.
Once the primary data has been gathered, analysts study it using other research methods.
They look for relationships between factors that may suggest the designs for new studies.
When they combine the primary data from more than one study, they are using integrative
methods. Their findings present secondary data, a synthesis of several streams of primary
data. Following are the techniques used for collecting primary data:

1. Observation:
i. Natural Setting
ii. Field experiment

2. Communication
i. Personal Interview
ii. Telephonic Interview
iii. Self-administered questionnaire
a. Open ended questions
b. Closed ended questions
c. Filter

B. SECONDARY DATA:
Secondary data is when the investigator does not collect data originally for the research
enquiry but uses data already collected and available in published or unpublished from, data.
Use of secondary data in a research enquiry saves time, finance and labour. However, some
people doubt the accuracy of secondary data. If reliable and suitable secondary data is
available, there is no harm in using secondary data for any research enquiry. Most research
requires the collection of primary data, and this is what students concentrate on.
Unfortunately, many dissertations do not include secondary data in their findings section
although it is perfectly acceptable to do so, providing it has been analyzed. It is always a
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good idea to use data collected by someone else if it exists ± it may be on a much larger scale
and could contribute to the findings considerably. The sources of secondary data can be
classified as:

TYPE OF RESEARCH

1 Descriptive

SOURCE OF DATA COLLECTION

1. Primary Data

2. Secondary Data

Primary data:-
The data collected for first time is known as primary data. It is by visiting existing customer
and expected customer of Comet Shoes pvt. Ltd. And making them fill up the questionnaire

Secondary data:-
The data which has been already collected by someone is known as secondary data:
1. Books
2. Websites
3. Brochure

Research instrument
The instrument use for data collection is structured questionnaire. Question is open and close
ended depending upon the information that needed to be elicited. I am also using the scaling
technique to assess the attitude of the customer.

Sampling
Keeping all the constrains in mind a sample size of 100 people .The sampling procedure is
systematic sampling

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DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

Which Brand You Prefer

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Interpretation

61% said that they have any other brand shoes, 11% said that they have Nike shoes, 10% said
that they have Adidas shoes, 8% said that they have Reebok shoes and 8% said that they have
Puma shoes.

Which factors influence your choice

Interpretation

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50% said that they influenced by the Price, 20% said that they influenced by the Style, 10%
said that they influenced by the Quality, 10% said that they influenced by the Advertisement
and 10% said that they influenced by the Any other factors.

Do you have Puma shoes

Interpretation

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12% said that they have puma shoes and 88% said that they don’t have puma shoes.

How well you satisfied with Puma shoes

Interpretation

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60% said that they have very well satisfied with puma shoes, 20% said that they have well
satisfied with puma shoes, 15% said that they have fairly well satisfied with puma shoes and
only 5% said that they have not at all satisfied with puma shoes.

Does Puma company brand name reflect its product quality

Interpretation

85% said that puma brand name reflects its product quality and 15% said that they don’t have
puma shoes.

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 Are you satisfied with the price range of preferable brand

Interpretation

95% said that they are satisfied with the price range of preferable brand and 5% said that they
are not satisfied with the price range of preferable brand.

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 If the price of your preferred brand increase will you purchase again

Interpretation

40% said that they will purchase any other brand, 40% said that they will purchase cheap
brand and only 20% said that they will purchase the same brand.

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 Do you think weight is a factor of choosing brand

Interpretation

95% said that weight is a factor of choosing brand and 6% said that weight is not a factor of
choosing brand.

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 Do you normally switch over brand the brand

Interpretation

70% said that they normally switch over brand and 30% said that they don’t normally switch
over brand.

What kind of promotion tool you prefer

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Interpretation

70% said that they prefer buy one get one free, 15% said that they prefer discount, 10% said
that they prefer lucky coupon and only 5% prefer free gift.

Will you purchase another brand with same quality

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Interpretation

70% said that they will purchase another brand with same quality and 30% said that they will
not purchase another brand with same quality.

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 FINDINGS
 Do not nature and PARADIGMS because today “anything is possible”.

 Search for newer markets than expanding your customer base.

 Come out with state of the art, feature packed affordable and competitive

advantageous products.

 Set Benchmarks for growth.

 Improve up on distribution channels for viable coverage of the market.

 Wear out competition through trend setting, inimitable tactical moves based on our

infrastructure strengths.

 The strategic intent should be clear down the management.

 Work on your strengths i.e. Infrastructure, financial base, backward integration.

 POP and MERCHANDISING material should be made as per international market.

 CORPORATE TRAINING PROGRAMMES for Development of manpower from

external faculty.

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 CONCLUSION
I have so far identified the various areas on which PUMA and other major sports companies

need to improve upon to achieve the desired level of competitiveness. These improvements

would give PUMA and the other sports companies’ base to compete with the MNCs and help

the Indian companies to reduce the impact of MNCs on the Indian Market in the future.

Indian manufacturers will have to react quickly because any delay in reacting to the threat

posed by the MNCs would only give the MNCs time to establish them in the market. With

their expertise and financial capacity they would be nearly impossible to compete with once

they get a firm foothold in the market.

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 SUGGESTION
PUMA in INDIA has always been driven by its Value-for-money strategy. The company

needs to identify critical success factory and work assiduously towards achieving it.

Measuring Intangibles & Valuing Diversity

The knowledge, worldwide experience and diversity that an PUMA employee can bring to

the table are valuable. Recently, how successful companies are in the global world is

increasingly derived from intangibles, such as these, that organizations cannot own. PUMA

is greatly affected by these external influences since indeed it is a global company. For some

it is not common knowledge that PUMA is a German company. This is a result of good

global business. PUMA has created a product that is global and with that diversity and

knowledge greatly affect the company. PUMA must be able to easily adapt to different

cultures and must be culturally aware when conducting business. The long list of PUMA

subsidiaries where it conducts business proves that PUMA is constantly adapting to cultural

changes and must be extremely diverse. Because of this necessity, knowledge is greatly

valued. Great changes occur in this industry and as a result, new ideas, intuition and

inspiration are an asset that is a necessity in this industry and to remain a global company.

Who leads this knowledge and maintains diversity are the managers, yet they too are facing

new changes.

COMPETING IN A GLOBAL MARKET

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Since acquiring their current president, Louis-Dreyfus, PUMA, a wholly owned subsidiary,

has competed with a whole new strategy. Aside from cutting the whole line of German

senior management, Louis-Dreyfus also fired management in Asia, who failed to match

competitors’ low costs in subcontracting shoemaking to local companies. While Louis-

Dreyfus fought brings down costs, he also took a gamble on the side. PUMA began to focus

on global marketing.

Turbulent is the word that aptly describes the scenario in sports industry in last two last

financial years. By frequent price cuts in market and larger than live Marketing game plans,

competition reached its new highs and lows. It is no longer sufficient to just be competitive.

A Company, which has to survive, has got to have competitive advantage. One needs to take

strategic initiative in the short run to achieve the desired “positioning” in future. One has to

foresee ‘tomorrow’.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

SECONDARY SOURCES:

www.tandberg.net

www.adic.com

www.puma.com

www.rbk.com

Kotler Philip” …………Marketing management (11 edition)

“Chabra T.N”…………..Marketing Management (4 edition)
“Gupta S.P “and “Gupta M.P” …Business statistics (5 edition).

SECONDARY SOURCES:

www.tandberg.net

www.adic.com

www.puma.com

www.rbk.com

Kotler Philip” …………Marketing management (11 edition)

“Chabra T.N”…………..Marketing Management (4 edition)
“Gupta S.P “and “Gupta M.P” …Business statistics (5 edition).

49