At the beginning of 2007 - for the first time in his 13 years at the helm of Puma - Jochen Zeitz was able to take a deep breath, reflect on the company's successful turnaround and, most importantly, contemplate the way ahead. After reinventing itself, creating a new market segment and demonstrating that the company could compete with its bigger brother Adidas, Puma was at a crossroads. It had become very profitable in the past decade and the stock price had also done well. Analysts considered Puma a jewel. It was therefore not a real surprise that rumours began to circulate within the industry that two firms were flirting with the idea of buying the company: Nike and Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR). Mr Zeitz and Puma needed to make a decision: (1) sell out to the leader in the sports industry; (2) join a conglomerate of luxury brands and run with a herd; or (3) remain solitary like a Puma in the wild? What should be the next step to grow the company, keeping in mind the interests of Puma's shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders?

Watch case author, Professor Johanna Mair, talking about the key learning objectives of this case.

Case details

Click on the case title to view further details and, where available, an educator preview copy.

A Puma vs. Giants: The rise of David
Johanna Mair and Mark Fruechtnicht
IESE Business School
Ref DG-1519-E

About the authors

Johanna Mair is associate professor in the Strategic Management department at IESE Business School, Spain. e jmair@iese.edu

Mark Fruechtnicht is a Research Assistant at IESE Business School, Spain.

Related links

• Adidas website
• Puma website
• Puma vs Adidas: Return of the battle of the boots
  by Ruth Elkins
  The Independent, 24 April 2006

View full list of featured cases