![]() “It changed the trajectory of our offline retail business,” contends Ganguly. The brand launched ‘Puma on the Move,’ a consumer outreach programme wherein it set up pop-up stores at residential societies across the country. There was also something-an experiment-which restrained Puma from being defensive in its approach. The embroidery and printing machine allows consumers to customise and personalise PUMA footwear, apparel and accessories using paints, dips, dyes, patchwork, embroidery, 3D knitting, laser printing, and pinning The state-of-the-art customization studio at the PUMA India’s store at Cyber Hub, Gurgaon. ![]() While stores were taking orders on WhatsApp and delivering to the consumers, Puma rolled out experiential outlets with F1 simulator, personalisation counter-get name, number, and design embroidered or printed in 30 minutes-and launched limited-edition products. From 360 stores in 2020, the count jumped to 411 in 2021. The German brand kept on expanding offline footprint in the country. Interestingly, Puma’s aggressive offline play gave momentum to online sales. In two years, the numbers almost doubled to 36 percent, and touched 43 percent in 2021. While, in 2018, most fashion and sportswear brands struggled to get their online act together and continued to stay largely offline, Puma had already made heady gains as 19 percent came from online sales. What also helped was the lead the brand had on the digital curve. While, in 2018, apparel made up just 32 percent of Puma’s sales, it touched almost 40 percent in 2021. Puma sniffed an opportunity as work-from-home and online classes created massive demand for athleisure wear. Human instinct would have meant exercising more caution, Puma resorted to animal instinct. The company closed 2020 at Rs 1,215 crore, as against Rs 1,413-crore revenue that it clocked in 2019. “For the first time in our history in India, sales dropped,” says Ganguly. Everyone started cutting cost, halting expenditure and suspending operations. With negative and uncertain business environment, a pessimistic outlook on the job front, and hyper subdued consumer sentiment, companies and brands went inside their shell. Two months later, the country went under the first spell of lockdown. January was the best the company had seen in India. Meanwhile, in March 2020, Puma found itself in a weird situation. “I knew others had more resources, but I had to maximise what I had,” he adds. “It has really worked in my life,” he says. It made him perpetually hungry, and relentless. Ganguly reckons the underdog tag stoked fire in his belly. Puma is now bigger than Adidas, Reebok, and Nike combined. What, though, is most interesting is the big leap over its rivals. ![]() Puma has clocked Rs 2,044 crore in revenue in FY21 as against Rs 1,215 crore in FY20, making it the first multinational sportswear and fashion brand to enter into the Rs 2,000-crore club in India (see box). He kept running.įast forward to March 2022. “Looks like a one-time bump,’ and ‘the gap is not much’ were some of the back-handed compliments. The performance still couldn’t convince detractors. It posted a revenue of Rs 1,157 crore in 2018-Adidas’ corresponding number for FY18 was Rs 1,132 crore-and became the biggest in India. The simulators installed at the store are exactly the same as used by F1 racing professionals worldwideīack in early 2019, Puma sprinted ahead of Adidas. Showcasing the success of PUMA’s Motorsport category in India, the brand’s experiential store at Cyber Hub in Gurgaon features professional-grade Formula 1 racing simulators for shoppers to enjoy a virtual race on multi-country tracks. IIM-Lucknow was perceived to be fourth on the pecking order of IIMs-Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta were the top three. Later on, when he stepped into the professional world, he realised that he didn’t have the ‘ABC’ of management on his resume. ![]() “What is TNB college”, some of his batch mates took a dig, alluding to the institution from where Ganguly graduated. The new recruit had lived a life of the underdog, and a series of déjà vu moments only made him more dogmatic.įive years ago, in 2000, when Ganguly made it to IIM-Lucknow, the maths grad from Bhagalpur University in Bihar encountered one such ‘who are you’ moment. Was there space for one more sports brand in India? Did Puma actually stand a chance in its fight against the big boys? After all, Puma’s underdog status in India was a grim reality. The questions asked, though, had serious merit. “There was a lot of doubt, which could have led to self-doubt,” recalls Ganguly. The cockiness of the biggest brand permeated into the behaviour of the top bosses. ‘Who knows Puma’ was how Ganguly’s bosses mocked and pricked the enthusiasm of their soldier who was about to snap the buckles and put on new marching shoes. Adidas sells Reebok to Authentic Brands for $2.5 billion
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