Puma was pooped. But then the German sportswear firm hired a young chief executive who had some smart ideas about celebrities stores and cool. 彪马曾跌入低谷。然而就在此时，这家德国体育用品公司启用了一位年轻的首席执行官。他对于名流、商店和时尚有着一些精明的想法。

　　译者点评：了解运动鞋历史的人，都知道“彪马”与“阿迪达斯”这两个牌子是德国赫佐格奥拉赫镇的达斯勒兄弟俩创建的。早在20世纪20年代，当“运动鞋”这个名词还没出现时，达斯勒兄弟开始研究运动穿的鞋子，并在1936年德国柏林奥运会上，首次让全世界认识到运动鞋在竞赛中扮演的重要角色。但是，事业的成功却加速了两兄弟的纷争。1948年，两兄弟决定分家，哥哥鲁道夫以美洲豹“彪马”为名，弟弟阿道夫则结合自己的名字，创立了“阿迪达斯”。“彪马”和“阿迪达斯”各自发展出自己的特色，都拥有辉煌的历史。但是，80年代末，来自美国的“耐克”逼得这两个欧洲品牌节节败退。1989年，“阿迪达斯”将股权卖给法国财团。而乔臣•蔡茨保住了“彪马”。蔡茨最伟大的贡献是为“运动鞋”找到了“时尚”新出路。当其他运动鞋品牌努力针对各类运动，继续开发愈来愈专业的运动鞋款时，“彪马”却已经在时尚设计与生活用鞋方面，投入新的设计。今天，“彪马”已成为成长最快速的运动品牌，时尚界潮流男女对“彪马”产品趋之若鹜。

　　Jochen Zeitz is late for his rendezvous with the beautiful people. The 40-year-old chief executive of Puma has dashed across Europe to catch the start of Milan’s fashion week but thanks to a delayed flight he is more than an hour behind schedule. No matter Everyone is running fashionably late at this studio complex behind the city's Porta Genova station. Stepping briskly from his limousine, Zeitz scans for any sign of his colleagues among a herd of fur�瞔lad women milling around. Frustrated, he grabs his cell�瞤hone and tracks down the studio where immediately after the Roberto Cavalli show Puma will unveil its own collection of non sportswear for the man about town—pants dress shirts jackets.

　　Puma’s leap from the locker room to the catwalk is a triumph for Zeitz and the German sporting�瞘oods company he rescued from near oblivion a decade ago. When Zeitz became CEO in 1993 Puma was a down at the heels sports shoe business with a brand that �漴eeked of mud and sweat and a balance sheet that smelled even worse. “It was probably the most undesirable sports name around�煛� recalls Zeitz an imposing athletic German who is shod for Milan in a pair of black Puma trainers created by the hip Dutch fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe.

　　Today as Zeitz’s footwear illustrates the reborn Puma cat exudes edgy�� outsider chic. “If Puma were a person�� who would he hang out with﹖”muses Antonio Bertone the company’s global brand director. Here’s a guess�� He’d go clubbing with street heroes like Travis Pastrana America’s freestyle motocross champion�� or star U.S. skateboarder Anthony Acosta�� both sponsored by Puma. He would drive a Mini Cooper BMW’s sleek retro classic wearing the “mini�瞞otion” driving shoes Puma has designed especially for the car. He’d root for the Cameroon national soccer team whose skintight one�瞤iece Puma outfit was banned in February by FIFA the game’s governing body.

　　If Puma were a person he would also be rich. In 2003 Puma more than doubled its net profit to $224 million while sales grew by 40% to $1.6 billion. Since March 2003 Puma’s shares—which are listed in Frankfurt and Munich—have almost tripled in value. And there’s plenty of room to grow�� especially in the U.S.�焪hich accounts for about a quarter of Puma’s sales and where the company has less than 2% of the sporting�瞘oods market. That compares with about 5% in Europe which accounts for two�瞭hirds of its sales. In the next two years Zeitz aims to turn Puma into a $2.5 billion global business with half its sales coming from footwear�焎ompared with 55% today�� and the remainder from higher�瞞argin apparel and accessories.

　　But that declaration of intent raises a fundamental question Can Puma grow much bigger without losing the rebellious dare to be�瞕ifferent vibe that defines its appeal—and translates into high prices and fat margins﹖ After all�焌s Nike Adidas and Reebok became global giants they lost their subversive�� streetwise image. Zeitz insists that Puma can continue to grow without becoming Nike�瞫tyle mass market. But the risks are obvious. “Puma could become less attractive because consumers think everybody is wearing the brand�煛� says Christian Schindler an analyst who covers the company for Landesbank Rheinland Pfalz bank in Mainz Germany.

　　It’s a tribute to Zeitz that Puma is even in a position to confront this conundrum. In the sporting�瞘oods business Puma is the cat that came back from the dead. The company was born in 1948 when Rudolf Dassler had an argument with his brother Adi in the German town of Herzogenaurach�� where they had founded a sports�瞫hoe company. Rudolf walked out and set up a rival business across the street. Today Puma and Adidas �烝di’s company are still neighbors�� but as Zeitz says loftily “We live in the same town�� but we don’t really look at each other.”

　　Puma’s troubles began in 1986 when Rudolf’s son Armin�漷ook the company public�� then retired. A succession of chief executives failed to address three related problems Puma’s centralized corporate structure its high�瞔ost production base in Germany�� and its inability to keep pace with global trends. In the U.S. the world’s biggest market for sporting goods there was another problem Puma had lost control of its distribution to licensees who ran the business “only to maximize sales�煛� says Zeitz. By 1993 Puma was close to bankruptcy.

　　Desperate shareholders turned to Zeitz the company’s 30�瞴ear�瞣ld marketing director. It was a risky move because Zeitz’s only other career experience had been a brief two year spell with Colgate�睵almolive in the U.S. and Germany. “Of course I was surprised to be asked�煛� Zeitz says.

　　He immediately embarked on a brutal four�瞴ear campaign of cost cutting�� almost halving the payroll to 367 employees by the end of 1993. Next Zeitz shuttered Puma’s inefficient German factories and subcontracted production to Asia. In 1996 he pulled Puma back from the precipice in the U.S. by purchasing the group’s American licensing rights�� thus regaining control of distribution.

　　By then Zeitz was ready to embark on the second phase of his rescue plan�� transforming Puma into the coolest sports brand on the planet. He persuaded Monarchy/Regency a Hollywood film and TV production company that was looking for investment opportunities to take a 12% stake in Puma. Monarchy/Regency gradually built a 40% holding it sold its stake last June��.That relationship gave Puma free advertising Its merchandise started�漰opping up in such movies as JFK and Pretty Woman and such shows as Will and Grace and Friends.

　　Celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow soon decided the cat was cool. Two years ago Puma scored its biggest marketing coup when Madonna walked into Puma’s Santa Monica store on the eve of her Drowned World tour and bought pairs of Puma’s Mostro designer trainers. "It legitimized that product" says Zeitz gleefully.

　　Meanwhile Zeitz has gone after sponsorship deals to promote Puma’s sports products. Here�� too�� his approach has been deliberately contrarian. He has shunned deals with established champions�焪hom he couldn’t afford anyway preferring to go after rising stars with an unconventional streak who mirror the rebellious image Puma wants to project. “Puma is not about just winning with blood sweat and tears�煛� says Zeitz a runner who goes to the gym most days. “It’s about having fun while you’re doing it.” A prize early catch was tennis player Serena Williams who signed with Puma in 1998. At the time she was ranked behind elder sister Venus—but would Venus have dared to wear a diamond tiara on court as Serena did﹖ Puma invited Serena to go further�� designing a black catsuit16 for the 2002 U.S. Open that predictably offended the tennis establishment.

　　Serena’s sponsorship contract wasn’t renewed last year �焥he’s gotten too expensive but there are plenty of other sporting mavericks in Puma’s stable. Meet for instance Nicolas Anelka the moody French soccer star who has been dubbed the Incredible Sulk for his refusal to play for his national team. Or Jamaica’s Olympic athletes whose mix of laid�瞓ack Caribbean cool and extreme athleticism matches the Puma feel.

　　Another key part of Zeitz’s strategy has been to raise Puma’s profile by opening its own stores. Puma now has 28 boutiques around the world 11 of them in the U.S. in fashion centers from Tokyo to Los Angeles. It plans to open another 12 in the next two years. While it’s expensive to rent downtown store sites�� Zeitz says that unlike big fashion houses Puma is “not building stores the size of museums�� where the fixed costs automatically go through the roof.” He adds that once the stores pass the startup phase they make money�焗e won’t give figures��. “The stores are a great sales generator because they allow you to really portray Puma as a brand.”

　　True to his hands on management style Zeitz personally chose the location for the Milan store which opened in 2002 on the far side of a recessed courtyard off a busy shopping street. “It’s a great entree�� because we’re a brand that wants to be discovered�煛� he says. Inside�� there’s mellow soul music playing in the background and a large white graffiti board where celebrities who drop by like legendary Italian footballer Paolo Maldini are invited to leave their autographs. As for the merchandise�� it goes from Puma’s basic athletic shoes about $50 a pair to golden designer trainers�焟ore than $200��. Upstairs customers can buy the Nuala range of yoga wear designed by supermodel Christy Turlington and pure fashion items like a cream Puma handbag.

　　A mile from the boutique the Puma fashion show is about to begin. The company has teamed up with Neil Barrett a British designer based in Italy to produce a range of off�瞗ield men’s wear for the Puma sponsored Italian national soccer team that will also be sold in limited editions in selected stores. The show�焪hich includes Barrett’s own winter collection of men’s and women’s wear begins with a film of an arctic wilderness and ends with waiters serving chilled vodka to the guests. In between there’s only one confirmed sighting of the Puma logo as the models parade up and down the runway. “It’s tone on tone�煛� Barrett explains afterwards. “I’m not about being obvious.”

　　As a marketing exercise for Puma this may not be as futile as it sounds. In fashion “Puma is creating very small runs to generate buzz and get celebrities involved�煛� says John Horan publisher of Sporting Goods Intelligence a U.S. market research firm. To remain cool the cat has to stay in that fast lane�� sprinting ahead of conventional taste to the next promotional stunt. It’s time perhaps for Zeitz to consider swapping those van Slobbe trainers for some old�瞗ashioned racing shoes.