Can Puma Return To The Basketball Shoe Market For 20 Years?

Last time, the spokesperson for Puma basketball shoes was Vince Carter, which dates back to 20 years ago. At that time, the cooperation between the two sides lasted for about 2 years. As Puma turned to Nike, Puma basketball shoes products also gradually withdrew from the market.

After years of leaving basketball, Puma, a German sports brand that has been stripped by Kai Yun group, unexpectedly plans to return to basketball. According to reliable sources, Puma is developing the latest real basketball shoes recently, and will also build its own basketball endorsement team, which will likely include NBA this summer draft pop tre Yang and several League active stars.

Last time, the spokesperson for Puma basketball shoes was Vince Carter, which dates back to 20 years ago. At that time, the cooperation between the two sides lasted for about 2 years. As Puma turned to Nike, Puma basketball shoes products also gradually withdrew from the market. It is precisely so called "a long time". Puma intends to return to basketball. market There must be some intention, but no matter what the real intention is, there is no denying that Puma's exit from the basketball market itself was a mistake.

Aim at the "next pool" Teri Yang.

After nearly 20 years from the last time involved in basketball shoes market, Puma's choice of basketball shoes spokesperson's eyes did not continue the practice of the past or other brands to pay attention to star players, but instead focused on the future "potential stocks" this summer's most popular draft, known as "the next Stephen curry" University of Oklahoma freshman Torey Jan.

The reason why they are called the next Cooley is that they all have accurate three points projection ability. In the 2017-2018NCAA arena, Teri Yang can get 30.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 9.3 assists, compared to the 28.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists in the 2008-2009NCAA court. In addition, the height and weight of the two people are very similar. In the NBA simulation draft, Torey Jan ranked first in eighth, and in 2009 in NBA, the simulated draft ranking was the first seventh. So Terre Yang, a hot topic, has attracted many sports brand's vision. Previously, the new star showed great interest in Puma brand, so it was thought that Puma had a very high probability of signing Teri Yang.

Besides Puma, sports brands such as Nike and Adidas are also very interested in Teri Yang. Although it can not be said that Puma can successfully take the potential rookie one hundred percent, but this incident has been sniffed by investors. market The taste of change. Because the entry of Puma is bound to break the existing pattern. Once the balance is broken, the competition in the basketball market will be more brutal, intense and unpredictable.

At present, the global sports brand differentiation is aggravating. The traditional giants are still Nike and Adidas, followed by Puma and Andrew and some other sports brands. They are far from Nike and Adidas in the first camp. Although Andrew once once surpassed Adidas in the North American market, it was hard to shake Adidas's throne in the end. There are many similarities between Puma and Curry's endorsement. Both of them are famous brands other than Nike and Adidas. They all have their own skills and fields. Market capitalization and revenue are often compared, and their strength is very close, and they live in the second industry camp after the two giants.

Many people have speculated that what is the purpose of Puma's return to the basketball market in such a high-profile way? Because, generally speaking, enterprises will only adjust their strategy when they encounter bottlenecks. Whether Puma gossip with the next "curry" does not mean that the trend of consumer sentiment will change.

In recent years, Puma's performance has improved, but in its most powerful football field also gradually feel inadequate. In the upcoming World Cup in Russia, only Uruguay, Switzerland, Senegal and Serbia are sponsored by Puma. Compared with Adidas and Nike, "three points of the world", Puma now shows a late state. For Puma management, we need to open up new markets outside football and find new profit growth points. Basketball is second only to football after its influence. In recent years, the influence of basketball shoes in footwear has gradually increased, and the demand for multi product categories in China and other emerging markets has stimulated and strengthened Puma's desire and confidence to return to the basketball market. For Puma, only products are more diversified and grow into giants like Adidas, in order to avoid passive and out going in the more ruthless competition in the future.

Past and present

As we all know, Puma and Adidas are "the same root". In 1948, his younger brother Adolf Dassler changed his name to Adi with DAS, and Dassler brothers, which had been established for more than 20 years, was renamed Adidas. His brother Rudolf Dassler founded Puma company, which is the same direction as Adidas, mainly producing sporting goods, and two of them have changed from brothers to competitors.

Vince Carter's PUMA basketball shoes

Since its establishment in 1948, Puma has been listed on the stock exchanges of Munich and Frankfurt in 1986. Its products are sold all over the world. It has accompanied Bailey to enter the World Cup finals, and also accompanied tennis player Becker in the Wimbledon Lawn. Puma, which keeps pace with the top athletes, sports, leisure and fashion, is popular among young people. Puma, 70, has good appeal and influence worldwide.

In February, Puma's 2017 results showed year-on-year sales grew 15.9% to 4 billion 136 million euros ($4 billion 990 million), a record high, and net profit was 2 times the same period last year, 136 million euros.

In the region, sales growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa reached 19.1%, followed by 11.6% in the Americas and 10% in the Asia Pacific region, with China and Australia being the main drivers of growth and sales in two digit growth. Such a result let Puma walk in the forefront of sports brand.

In mid April, the US broker Wedbush released a research report. According to the data released by the major sports brands worldwide, in 2017, Puma's revenue has exceeded that of Andrea and has become the third largest sport brand in the world, with sales of 4 billion 990 million US dollars and US $4 billion 980 million respectively, accounting for 5% of the global sports brand market share. Although Nike has a far cry from Adidas, which has annual sales of 34 billion 400 million US dollars and 26 billion 300 million US dollars, but in the fierce competition, it can become the top three in the world. It has created a new sports brand structure, and has built vast imagination for the future sports brand development prospects.

A few years ago, Puma also suffered serious performance failures. In the 4 quarter of 2014, net losses exceeded 100 million euros. In the first few years after the financial crisis in 2008, when consumers chose sports brands, they paid more attention to practicality rather than fashion and color value. This indirectly helped Andrea's rise. In turn, Puma, which relied on fashion to attract young people, was losing ground. In the past two years, as the shadow of the financial crisis has gradually dissipated, fashion has blown again. Many sports brands, including Adidas, have carried the banner of leisure fashion and made full profits.

As a famous analyst said, "most people buy Sporting Goods nowadays. They are not used for sports." People often wear sports equipment even in bars, cinemas and concert venues. Unlike the past, many entertainment stars are also keen to endorse sports brands.

At the beginning of 2017, the five joint spokesmen who joined the Puma brand China all star lineup were all entertainment stars or models, not sports stars, including men's series of idol gods, Yang Yang, popular star Liu Haoran, quality Li Xian, and women's series of international supermodel Liu Wen and box office queen Zhang Yuqi. The same is true of Adidas. The four great goddesses in China are all from the entertainment industry, including Angelababy, Fan Bingbing, Amber Kuo and di li ba ba. It can be seen that sports "entertainment and entertainment" is the trend of the times.

One of the signs of "entertainment and entertainment" is that women's sports equipment market is beginning to thrive. In the 2017 earnings report, one of the strategies put forward by Puma was "to become a leading supplier of female sporting goods". Due to the outstanding performance of women's sports fashion, Puma clothing sales increased by 8.1% to 1 billion 441 million euros in 2017 compared with that of the previous year. At the same time, footwear products made the largest contribution in different product categories, and sales grew 21.4% to 1 billion 975 million euros over the same period, achieving 14 consecutive quarters of growth. Running, comprehensive training and sports fashion products have the largest increase.

Basketball shoes Market: a must for sports giants

However, sticking to the past limited category is difficult to maintain long-term sustained growth of performance. And because of the increasingly brutal competition in the "traditional strength" football field, Puma is trying to diversify, and the original intention of the layout of basketball shoes is reasonable.

In the past, Puma's main areas of attack were familiar cars, soccer, running and golf. As the markets in North America and Europe are relatively saturated, the growth of international brands such as Puma, Adidas and Nike is getting smaller and smaller. It has changed from extensive expansion to endogenous growth with slow growth, even in a better industrial environment. Puma's first quarter results in the 2018 fiscal year proved this. In the 3 months ended March 31st, Puma's sales increased by 1 billion 130 million euros compared with the same period last year, but sales in the Chinese market increased by an unprecedented 34.8%. And Chinese young people are also crazy about basketball.

On the one hand is the blank in the field of basketball shoes, on the one hand is the huge growth space of the Chinese market. If Puma wants to become a giant like Adidas, these two opportunities must be seized. Puma will not lose to rivals in the future competition. Plus, in China, whether it is Yao Ming's popularity in NBA or the popularity of sports fitness, basketball has become one of the most popular sports among young people in China in the 20 years away from basketball in the Puma brand. Tens of millions of young people want to wear the Curry5 or Nike LeBron 15 of James in the NBA competition between knight or warrior. With the upgrading of China's consumption ability and the change of consumption concept and the maturity of the market of the three or four tier cities, the "new continent" with huge population will soon appear in front of the sports brands of these thirsty pioneers.

In March, Reuters reported that Puma plans to return to professional basketball shoes in nearly 20 years in the hope of improving its profitability.

Analyst Christopher Svezia said, "Puma seems to have a strong strategy to enter the basketball market and may steal its share from vulnerable brands such as Andrew".

Whether Adidas or Nike, products cover a wide range of sports, ranging from basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball, running, comprehensive training, and even to skateboard shoes. Racing shoes Swimming equipment, a wide range of product categories, to some extent, ensures that the overall performance of the brand will not fluctuate. If the "bet" on a single category or market, it is easy to see a sharp rise or fall in performance, which is unfavorable to the long-term development of the company. For example, Andemar has bet on the Curie style basketball shoes and the North American market, to a certain extent, led to the recent performance and attention of the "free fall" decline. At present, Puma's excellent financial performance and hearsay of basketball shoes reflect its strong desire to grow into a sports giant and avoid passivity in the future competition.