Sibling rivalry spawned war between Adidas and Puma
August 1, 2005
By Mathilde Richter
Herzogenaurach, Germany - They do battle on markets spanning the globe and they go head to head in major sporting events, but it was in a town of 23 000 people that sportswear rivals Puma and Adidas were born.
When Adolf Dassler invented the football boot and lent the first syllables of his names to create Adidas in 1949 in Herzogenaurach in southern Germany, his brother Rudolf moved across town and set up Puma.
More than half a century later, mayor Hans Lang is furious at suggestions that Herzogenaurach is still divided by the rivalry between the two firms, which have stayed loyal to their birthplace even as they have grown.
Lang is particularly incensed by a German satirical magazine which published a touched-up photograph of the local priest wearing one Adidas trainer and one Puma shoe.
"It is not true to say families of Puma employees and Adidas employees do not mix socially and that marriages between the two firms are forbidden," Lang says.
Perhaps not, but the differences between the two firms and their employees are inescapable.
"It starts at school. Some kids wear Adidas and others wear Puma," says Monika Eder, who works in a family-owned guesthouse "which takes people from Puma as well as Adidas".
She says employees from the rival camps cross each other's paths in the corridors of the guesthouse but admits they rarely talk to each other.
Puma people seem to get up earlier than the Adidas workers, she finds. She admits it may be better for all concerned that way.
Even the mayor is forced to admit that the recent defection of Frank Dassler, Rudolf's grandson, from Puma to the management board of Adidas "caused waves in Herzogenaurach".
The intense competition sometimes takes on an ugly tone.
When world football's governing body, Fifa, banned the Cameroon team from wearing Puma's racy all-in-one bodysuits instead of the classic jersey and shorts at the 2002 World Cup, Puma accused Adidas of applying pressure to force Fifa to act.
But while the members of the two camps often view each other with suspicion, the competition between them is a boon for Herzogenaurach's residents.
There are jobs, tax benefits for the town and - a rarity for a place nestled in Bavaria - a cosmopolitan atmosphere created by the more than 70 countries represented by employees of the sportswear giants.
Some of the old links have been broken. The two firms are now listed on the stock market and neither is headed by a member of the Dassler family.
And the rivalry now goes far beyond the local football league, in which Puma and Adidas chose to sponsor different teams.
Adidas is second in the world sportswear market, behind the US giant Nike, but with turnover last year of 6.5 billion euro (R52 billion) it dwarfs Puma, which recorded turnover of 1.53 billion euro in 2004.
In the past decade Puma has sought a new image. It now puts great emphasis on its so-called "lifestyle" range.
Puma trainers have gained cult status among teenagers worldwide and the company's quarterly results show growth figures that are the envy of its competitors.
|
|
