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Puma is a German multinational firm with its headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. The company designs and manufactures sports and casual footwear, clothes, and accessories. It is difficult to believe that Puma was once only a single storefront in Germany given that the company is now the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world. Puma has thousands of stores located all over the world. Today, PUMA is recognized as one of the most prominent and long-lasting sports companies in the world.

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Puma's Beginnings And Breakthroughs

The company's footwear, apparel, and accessories are more popular than they have ever been as a direct result of their high-profile partnerships with high-profile artists and athletes such as megastar Rihanna and Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt. During each new season, PUMA creates thousands of new goods, which are then distributed to retail stores, online marketplaces, and wholesale partners in a total of 120 countries. However, one can wonder when and where everything first got started.

Brothers with a talent for developing performance-enhancing shoes sparked the beginning of Puma's lasting journey to success. In 1924, brothers Rudolf and Adolf Dassler established the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory in Berlin and Austria. Rudolf and Adolf Dassler started Dassler or Puma today in Herzogenaurach, Germany, in 1919. They had no notion that they were building the groundwork for the sports shoe at that time. Their first plant opened in 1924, five years after they started out in a garage in 1912. In their mother's laundry room, the two began their new business enterprise. A stationary bicycle with pedal power provided the brothers with an alternative method of powering their equipment because the town's electrical supply was unstable at the time.

The Decades Of Excellence

The brothers' fortunes began to turn around after only a short period. The majority of German athletes wore Dassler kicks to the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. After driving to Berlin from Bavaria with a suitcase of spikes, the brothers convinced American sprinter Jesse Owens to utilize them as the first sponsorship for an African American at a Summer Olympic Games. Owens finished with a total of four gold medals under his belt. Before World War II, the Dasslers sold 200,000 pairs of shoes a year. This was the key to the breakthrough, both nationally and internationally. In the end, Rudolf and Adolf decided to break up a few years later. They divided up the company's assets equally and continued on their way.

Rudolf Dassler started PUMA in 1948, and the rest is history. The shoe industry's most well-known brand, sponsored by celebrities such as Selena Gomez, and listed among the world's top shoe brands. Puma also introduced its first football footwear, the Atom, in the same year. It was in 1952 that Puma made a significant contribution to the sport of football when it introduced the Super Atom, the first football boot with screw-in studs. Brasil, a later improved variant, was produced by the business. When the Brazilian squad won the 1958 World Cup in Sweden wearing Puma shoes, this became an international sensation.

The Puma Making Its Mark In The Industry

Puma became known for their sophisticated vulcanization process in the 1960s. As a result, I was able to deliver a better performance. During the 1960s, Puma was always in the spotlight as world-famous athletes like Pelé and Portuguese football player Eusebio won competitions. Lutz Backes, a cartoonist from Nuremberg, came up with the idea for Puma's iconic jumping cat logo in 1967. It was changed to a puma leaping across the word PUMA in 1979. A hallmark of Puma's quality and attention to detail, this may now be seen on every Puma footwear and apparel.

From 1970 up to the 1990s saw a lot of success for the Puma brand thanks to the famous active athletes who wore Puma products winning their games. By wearing contact lenses with white Puma cats on them, Linford Christie attracted worldwide attention to Puma's unique marketing in 1996. Puma's increasing portfolio of football-related merchandise dominated the 2000s. Also, Usain Bolt was the driving force behind Puma's rise to prominence during this time period. evoPOWER, Puma's new football boot, and a slew of other cutting-edge football gear made their debut at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Becoming One Of The Leading Sport-Lifestyle Brands

Puma, which has its headquarters in Germany, currently serves both the male and female sports markets and is the major manufacturer of clothing for the Formula One racing series. In addition to this, it has a whopping 13,000 workers under its payroll and is also traded on the Frankfurt Stock exchange. In addition, PUMA has collaborated with a number of well-known artists and musicians, such as Rihanna and Jay Z. Additionally, in 2014, it entered into a merchandising agreement with the Arsenal football club, which stands out as the most significant of its kind to date.

Puma's heritage is a one-of-a-kind depiction of the ever-evolving world of culture; the company has successfully diversified its brand across a variety of subcultures, including fashion, art, music, and sports. Because of its extensive history and genuine cultural presence, the European sports brand has been able to transcend the culture of business and sports over the course of more than seven decades.

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Sources: Puma, Statistica, Forbes