Adidas and Puma word's famous sports brands. Success Story of Two brothers.

Success Story of Two brothers Adidas and Puma

By Yasika Jethwani

January 6 2022

Adidas and Puma are two of the world’s most famous sportswear brands. They are the second and third-largest sportswear manufacturers in the world respectively. They have sponsored several major events over the past few decades, and boast a myriad of celebrities that endorse their brand. However, what’s surprising is the fact, that if it was not for a rift between two brothers, both Adidas and Puma would not exist today.

Early life & Career

Adidas and Puma History

70 years ago, Adolf Dassler founded Adidas, and his brother, Rudolf Dassler, created Puma. The Dassler brothers worked together on Gebrüder Dassler (Geda) which they founded in 1919. The concept of two-striped footwear originated within Geda. The two brothers started off in their mother’s laundry room. Adolf would design the shoes, and Rudolf would act as a skilled salesman. The company grew to 12 employees and the brothers moved out of the laundry room.

Their breakthrough came in the 1936 Summer Olympics. Adolf convinced American sprinter Jesse Owens to run with a pair of Geda’s shoes. Owens ended up winning 4 gold medals, while other athletes also wearing Geda’s shoes won 3 gold, 5 silver, and a bronze between them. This unexpected success shot the brand to immediate fame. Geda became an overnight commercial success with sales touching the 200,000 pairs per year mark. However, the company’s luck ran short as WWII broke out soon.

The origin of this company happened in Germany, where Adolf “Adi” Dassler used to make sports shoes in his mother’s laundry room. Later, His elder brother Rudolf joined him in 1924. And together they named their firm “Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory”. Both the boys worked hard with everything. They did not have enough regular supply of electricity, so sometimes they used pedal power for their equipment.

The second-largest sportswear manufacturer globally, Adidas was founded in the small town Herzogenaurach of Germany. Adolf Dassler is the prime founder of this multinational corporation. Initially, the company manufactured shoes, then getting updated, they introduced shoes with a microprocessor. Adding to their wealth, they set up a textile industry also.

Adolf made the updated version of spiked running shoes. He replaced the heavy metal spikes with rubber and canvas. With the regular selling of 2,00,000 pairs of shoes, Their Business touched heights before world war II. Along with it, they gained Owens’ four gold medals.
In 1933, Dassler Brothers joined the NSDAP. Also, they became members of the National Socialist Motor Corps. Dassler’s company was the only show company running during the war. But in 1943, They got forced to stop the business and engage their workforce to supply anti-tank weapons.

US Forces had almost destroyed the Dassler Factory after the war because they manufactured anti-tank weapons. It saved only because of Adolf Dassler’s wife. She convinced them that they are into this and are only show manufacturers. After this, the American workforce became the significant buyers of Dassler Brothers’ shoes.

Split up

The Dassler Brothers, Adolf and Rudolf, split up in 1947 due to their broken-down family relations. Following this, Adolf took Adidas AG’s name from his name ‘Adi’ Dassler. And Rudolf named his company Ruda (now known as Puma). Their companies received formal registration on 18th August 1949.

The Dassler brothers, Adolf and Rudolf, Adidas and Puma, stepped into the market and became the business rivals. The competition in the town had gone so far the people of the town kept looking at each other’s feet to identify which brand they were wearing. This was happening on a large scale so, they named it “the town of bent necks”. Their fan clubs went precisely divided. The football clubs also got divided; one was for Adidas players and one for those who wore Puma. Even the handymen who came to Rudolf’s residence instructed to wear only Puma. The two brothers never ended their rivalry.

Present

Recently, in the year 2005, Adidas AG introduced Adidas 1. This came up as the first-ever shoe production company which used microprocessors. The microprocessor allows adjusting cushioning level in the shoe according to comfort and outside environment. The calculator can perform 5 million calculations per second. This shoe summoned as “The World’s First Intelligent Shoe”.
Adidas were generating their highest revenues ever by the end of 2012.

In 2015, Adidas became the owner of Runtastic, a fitness technology firm. They bought it for approximately $240 million.

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