A Quote by Jochen Zeitz

Puma is a brand deeply rooted in sporting lifestyle. — © Jochen Zeitz
Puma is a brand deeply rooted in sporting lifestyle.
I grew up wearing PUMA, and our national team is sponsored by PUMA, so those were always in the store. We couldn't afford Nike or Jordan, so PUMA was our brand. If you were wearing PUMA, that's dope.
If you live in an acquisitive society you are likely to be acquisitive, but it isn't deeply rooted in human nature, except in the sense that it's deeply rooted to be psychologically receptive to your peers and to advertising.
The company was ready to close its doors; there was real financial distress. But on the other side, there was high brand awareness, but that was negative because Puma was perceived as low-priced. It had lost its cachet. It was a well-known brand without a presence.
We decided that sports, lifestyle and fashion were three elements that could be mixed together to a very unique formula. That's what we did: make Puma a very sports-fashion brand when, at the times, everybody talked about sports and sports performance and functionality. We said, 'Well, it's about more.'
I never felt that although we were based in Germany, Puma was and should be considered as a German brand. So we restructured it in a way that positioned us as a global brand, with English being the corporate language, rather than us looking at it from a German perspective.
When I joined in 1990, as they say in the sport of sailing, Puma was in the doldrums. It was a difficult time, and Puma had gone to sleep.
I am sure my association with a big brand like PUMA is really going to help me in the long run.
We believe that African football is among the best in the world and very much characterized the Puma brand mentality, which is to win.
Puma was all about function and not at all about design. The founder of the company always believed functionality and performance were the only ingredients that could make Puma successful and design never mattered.
When I started at Puma, you had a restaurant that was a Puma restaurant, an Adidas restaurant, a bakery. The town was literally divided. If you were working for the wrong company, you wouldn't be served any food; you couldn't buy anything. So it was kind of an odd experience.
I was a Puma guy for a while. When System got signed, we got a deal with Puma, and they would just give me carte blanche, bro. I would walk into the Puma office and they would just give me whatever I wanted. I would just take it. I'd walk out with boxes and boxes, so I had every color, every style that I wore.
I am big on not pushing anything that I wouldn't do or use. I understand my brand, vision, and the story I want to tell. I am not into taking short-cuts like tummy teas or waist trainers. I want my brand to be a lifestyle and very premium but, at the same time, relatable.
Consumers fall in love with a brand and it's important for a brand to develop and stretch itself to provide for their consumers. I don't suspect that a customer will walk into a store to buy a pair of jeans and end up buying a sofa, but it's about providing loyal consumers with a choice to create a lifestyle.
The only lifestyle I'm promoting is the lifestyle of love and friendship. The lifestyle of music, and joy, and fashion. So whoever wants to come and get part of that lifestyle, we accept anybody.
Leaving golf aside for the moment, I'd choose Roger Federer as a sporting role model, Muhammad Ali for a sporting and non-sporting role model and Nelson Mandela as a true and lasting inspiration.
To move freely you must be deeply rooted.
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