Puma president discusses past, present, future

By Tawnie Bassett-Parkins
Special to the Daily Forty-Niner

Puma President Alden Sheets had a message for Cal State Long Beach students at the American Marketing Association Monday night: we want to be different.

Stephany Lottman, a senior majoring in marketing and vice-president of corporate relations for the AMA, asked Sheets to talk to students about Puma and how his career there evolved.

"Campus visits are an opportunity to stay in touch with the kids," Sheets said. "Our core customer is 15- to 25-years-old."

Sheets told about 35 students the story of two brothers, Rudolf and Adi Dassler, who parted ways in 1948 and divided the little German town of Herzogenaurach to establish rival companies, Puma and Adidas.

With more than four times the revenue, Adidas won the battle in terms of size and is a formidable competitor along with giants Nike and Reebok, Sheets said.

"How do you compete against those large guys?" said Sheets.  "I call them aircraft carriers.  Puma is the PT boat Ö we can go around the carrier three times before they can react."

Puma has design centers around the globe in key, trend-setting locales including New York, London, Munich and Japan.  Sheets, based in the North Hollywood center, believes Puma's smaller size and design network allows them to change constantly and adapt quickly to the tastes of their core customer - referred to by Puma as "young, cynical and MTV educated."

Products displayed by Sheets included a warm-up jacket with a translucent effect inspired by Apple's iMac computers and high-tech running shoes visibly impacted by biology, giving one the impression of a human artery imbedded in the sole.

"From my point of view, these speakers are not just interesting in the marketing sense, but in the creative sense," said Jennifer Garcia, a graphic design major. Compared to past AMA offerings she felt the presentation was less helpful to her career, however it was helpful from a design standpoint.