Puma Is Still Operating Independently After Its Acquisition.

After being acquired by France PPR group, Puma (Puma), one of the world's largest suppliers of sports shoes, sportswear and sports accessories, will still maintain its independent operation. Yesterday, PUMA Asia Pacific Regional General Manager Dr.Joerg Zobel made the above statement in an exclusive interview in Shanghai. It also revealed that China has now become the fastest growing market for PUMA in the Asia Pacific region. Next year, the company will emphasize the combination of sports and fashion in product design, so as to open up Olympic business opportunities. After the acquisition, it continued to operate independently. After the completion of Adidas (Adidas) and Reebok (Reebok) last year, PUMA, a sports brand of the same level and founded in Germany in 1948, became a target earlier this year. In April, the French PPR group, which owns high-end luxury goods brands such as GUCCI (GUCCI), signed an agreement with the German Hertz family to buy PUMA27.1% stake at a price of 330 euros per share, and announced that the remaining shares of the company would be acquired in good faith. According to yesterday's Dr Joerg Zobel in Shanghai, as of the latest issue of the published data, PPR shares have reached 65%. The acquisition will not change the brand positioning of PUMA. Joerg Zobel has made it clear that PPR group implements the strategy of independent operation of its brands. Therefore, PUMA will continue to maintain its business philosophy and positioning, take the sport leisure route, and will not be transformed into a luxury brand oriented to high-end consumers. Next year, the main theme of the Olympic Games is to maintain the independence of the PPR group. However, the benefits of joining the group are obvious. One of them is to share designer resources with other high-end brands under PPR. This is of great significance to PUMA, which emphasizes design factors in recent years. It is reported that PUMA's positioning itself is not a mere sports brand, but a recreational brand that combines sports and fashion. The company's nature has also turned into a global "sports lifestyle" company. This transformation is evident from the setting up of its concept store. PUMA now there are two concept stores in mainland China, which are located in Beijing and Shanghai respectively. The concept store not only has a larger business area and shop layout, furnishings, but also exclusive exclusive sale, which is different from ordinary stores, and its price is higher than that of ordinary PUMA products. "Fashion design" has even been seen as a key factor for PUMA to distinguish itself from competitors and win in the Chinese market. At present, PUMA ranks third in China's global sports brand. At the same time, China is the fastest growing market in the PUMA Asia Pacific region. The number of existing stores (counters) exceeds that of any other country or region in the Asia Pacific region. For future planning, Joerg Zobel said that the number of shops opened in China next year will increase faster, and it will be the first tier cities and the two or three tier cities in the same period as Zobel. However, PUMA does not seek the first place on the scale, and brand positioning is "innovative leader". It revealed that PUMA has long established a cooperative relationship with the central Saint Martin Institute in London. Apart from displaying and selling 6 pairs of shoes designed by the college students in the concept store in Hongyi Plaza, Shanghai, it will also host a design competition with the theme of Beijing Olympic Games next year and launch a new series of Olympic Games products. "The Beijing Olympics will definitely be the most important marketing theme for PUMA next year".