All language subtitles for Sneaker.Wars.Adidas.V.Puma.S01E03.1080p.WEB.h264-GRACE

-[wind howling]
-[♪ pensive instrumental music playing]

[reporter 1 over radio]
Revenue last year declined 36%.

One point three billion dollars
worth of sales lost this year.

[reporter 2 over radio]
When you take a look at Adidas,

the company needed to do something
to turn things around.

-At least…
-[reporter 3 over radio] Yes.

…that was the message
that we're getting from Wall Street.

So, it'll be interesting
to see how this new CEO

approaches maybe future partnerships.

[reporter 4] It's the German
sportswear manufacturer's

first annual loss in more than 30 years,
and comes after…

[reporter 5 over radio] This guy
is inheriting a house on fire here.

He has a lot to clean up and it's unclear…

-[indistinct chatter]
-…when any efforts by him to do so

will start to appear
in this company's financials.

-[♪ inquisitive music playing]
-[Harm] Bjørn is a very authentic,

you know,
product geek and sports romantic.

He sounds like the right one,

but also that we will see
in three or four years from now

whether he was the right one.

[Beckham] I'm very personally excited
to be able to work with Bjørn,

to be able to know exactly what he did
over the other side of the road,

and now, he's bringing it here.

-[♪ pensive instrumental music playing]
-[Erika] I'm trying not to get caught up

in some of the hearsay and rumours.

I think that this brand needs
strong leadership.

[interviewer 1]
Why do you think Adidas brought you in?

Why do I think they brought me in?

I would hope because I'm the right person
to be a catalyst for the change

that is needed.

[♪ dramatic instrumental music playing]

[Bjørn] I think arrogance and complacency
in this industry

is the most dangerous thing.

And I think that Adi needed someone again
that knows the industry,

and to focus on the things
that are really important.

[Beckham] The leadership within Adidas
is the most important thing.

And when you have a leader that leads
the whole family, the whole team…

-[indistinct chatter]
-…that starts at the top…

there's no stopping where Adidas will go.

Adi, for me, has always been the company
that focused most on doing

the best product for the athlete.

…goals after coming off…

[Bjørn] And then I think during COVID,
and all the complexity in the world…

-By all accounts, it seems like Yeezy…
-…Adi was focusing too much on things

that were not the core…

didn't take into account
that the world has changed.

There has been a time
where Puma has done a better job.

Right now,
we need to do a better job at Adidas.

All the ingredients are there,
we just need to bring it back again.

-[grunts]
-[music stops abruptly]

I was such a good shape.
I came over the hill, and it felt great.

I just came down quickly,

-and the skis went from each other.
-[indistinct chatter]

And then I fell, and then the ski broke.

And I hit my head,
and it's hard, you know?

[♪ brooding guitar music playing]

See how it goes.

[speaking indistinctly]

[Bjørn] Yup.

You know, being a CEO for Adidas
is not a job, it's a life.

So, you live that 24/7.

I don't know what else to do.
I'm not an office guy.

Being visible in the organization,

and being where the core
of your business is important.

-[indistinct chatter]
-How do I look? Bad?

[interviewer 1] You look a bit battered.

[exhales, pants]

[interviewer 1] You made it though.

-Oh, sure. I never give up. You know that.
-[♪ dramatic rock music playing]

[Beckham] The shoe culture is bigger now
than it's probably ever been.

[crowd cheering]

[Ulrich] Puma and Adidas,
they started this,

and millions and millions
and millions of dollars are going around.

-[speaker 1] The floodgates opened up.
-[crowd cheering]

-[fan 1] Stripes.
-[fan 2] Stripes.

[fan 3] Three stripes. [laughs]

[speaker 2] There were
three-striped shoes all over the place.

I wanted to be part of that.

-[crowd cheering]
-[June] Streetwear has become fashion.

[speaker 3] Puma was late to the dance.
Adidas was way ahead.

[Neymar Jr] Puma had to step up.

Very dubious business
they are doing over there.

Big suitcases with money. No contracts.

I think anybody in my shoes
would have done the same.

[Erin] We wanna beat them.
There's no question about it.

I heard something happened, like,
with Yeezys and Kanye West.

[O'Connell] Financially, a disaster.

I thought my job was to run.
"No, your job is to sell shoes."

[Horst] They have created the world
that we know today as the world of sports.

[journalist 1] More than a match
of the world's greatest athletes,

it is also the battleground
for the great sneaker war.

[Horst] If it wouldn't have happened,
somebody would have come up,

and written a story about it.
It's so unique.

-[birds chirping]
-[traffic rumbling]

[interviewer 1] So, tell us,
how did you find out

about Bjørn leaving?

I was informed as early as possible.
And yeah, it was quite a surprise.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[mobile phone ringing]

Hi. It's a bit busy, yes. [chuckles]

I was told by Bjørn
that he was gonna leave.

[indistinct chatter]

There was an email.
Friday afternoon, phoned up Helmut again.

"Helmut, have you read the news already?"
"No, what news?"

I think it was a shock to all of us,

but it's the people of Puma
that actually have to make this work.

Right, so, I've received
a lot of requests.

I'm keeping a list.

Hello, I'm fine, thank you. How are you?

Right now, I don't have anything to say
beyond the press release that we put out.

The evening of that day,
I popped by his office,

and then we had a little chat.

He basically handed me the draft
of the press release, and said,

"This is what's gonna happen."

[Bjørn] You know,
my contract was running out…

[laughs]

…end of '22.

For whatever reason,
I didn't have a non-compete.

I hope you can go higher than that, guys.
You're on television.

Adi decided to have a change.

How that happened,
and why it happened, I don't know.

Maybe it's destiny.

I think anybody in my shoes
would have done the same.

I don't know
why I should have done anything different.

I left on good terms,
and the company is in good shape.

[interviewer 1]
Are there some people in the company

who have taken it personally?

I think so, yeah.

There's a huge brand love
of everyone here.

Everyone stands behind the brand.
Some people, yeah, were disappointed.

[Helmut, in German] It's the first time
that something like this has happened,

that a Puma CEO moves to Adidas.

That's for sure.

For me, personally, a world has ended.

[♪ pensive instrumental music playing]

[Helmut] That he is going to Adidas,

he has to come to terms with that himself.

[in English]
It's a pretty cool life, right?

-Very cool.
-This is work.

[both laugh]

[Max] I think Bjørn
was an absolute master at making sure

that everybody felt like
they were part of this revival journey.

If you have that type of approach,
and that type of magnetic energy,

any time you leave,
you're gonna have very visceral reactions.

I hope he sees this. [snorts, laughs]

He'll say that I'm brown-nosing,
so this is funny. [chuckles]

But it's true, huh? Okay, so…

[interviewer 1]
Is he still part of the Puma family?

Well, he has left, so… [laughs]
He's not around anymore.

So, no, he's not part of the Puma family.

-[♪ brooding instrumental music playing]
-[indistinct chatter]

[Kerstin] What matters is,
I have a new boss,

and we've got some work to do.
His name is Arne Freundt.

He's been with Puma for 11 years,

and has had various roles
within that time.

He knows the company inside out.

Bjørn had told me quite some time ago that
it was the plan to have Arne succeed him.

[indistinct chatter]

[Helmut, in German]
Now, Arne has to make it happen.

It's quite simple.

[Arne, in English] Hi, guys.

Yeah, I think
if you look at my time at Puma,

it feels like everything has been prepared
for that role.

[Bjørn] I think for Puma, to be honest,
with Arne being the replacement,

I think it's good for them.

He worked with me for ten years,
so he probably saw some good things,

and he can fix the things
that I didn't do that well.

-[indistinct chatter]
-[Harm] Then Puma had a good run.

The last couple of years,
we didn't have a good run.

Probably the rivalry is getting
somewhat more, you know, tense again

since, you know, Bjørn joined on our side.

I respect Bjørn a lot.

We have a very deep
and trusted relationship,

and I work well with him,

and now, I look forward
to competing with him, eh?

[♪ pensive instrumental music playing]

I would say right now
that Adidas is a more complex organization

than Puma, yes,
and I think that's part of the problem.

-Hi, guys.
-[indistinct chatter]

[Bjørn] It's all about putting
the ingredients together here

so that Adi can be
the most successful sports brand

that it should be,
and give me a little bit of time,

then you will see that that will work.

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter]

[Bjørn] This week is about go-to-market
for fall, '24.

It's one of those milestones
important for the brand.

-All good?
-[office staff 1] All good, all good.

-Do we have a green room or…
-[office staff 1] Say again?

[Bjørn] We must have a green room, right?
I didn't see that yesterday.

-But where are you putting the guests?
-[office staff 1] Yeah, I guess…

[Bjørn] Guys, we don't have a green room
for the guests.

They need something to drink,
they need something to eat.

Did you find it?

I don't really understand
who organizes this.

[office staff 2] But we have little…
very little time, to be honest…

-I know.
-…sixty minutes,

and we have a couple thousand people.

[Bjørn] We all know
that we can improve the business.

We all know
that we're not making enough money,

and we're not selling enough,
but we are on the right track.

[♪ brooding instrumental music playing]

[Rogan] What you normally find
in sports businesses

that haven't really been performing

is they're starting
to re-examine their purpose.

If you look at Adidas in the period
before Björn took over,

it was the most effective,
efficient, analytic business.

But I would argue, perhaps it'd forgotten
what it meant to be as a brand.

[Arne over mic]
Well, welcome also from my side.

Huge pleasure to welcome you
to our annual press conference

here in Herzogenaurach. I hope you felt…

[Kelvyn] I feel like with Arne,
they learned the lessons and said,

let's, like, actually lift up somebody
that's worked at the brand for years,

that understands
the identity of the brand to its core.

We show to the market
that Puma is the challenger.

The challenger in sport,

as well as the challenger
in sports culture.

[Rogan] Taking over from somebody
who's been really successful

is very difficult to do.
It's not an easy place to be.

Winning after winning
is never straightforward.

[crowd cheering, applauding]

[Bjørn] What I did at Puma,
and what I will try to do here,

is use the history of the brand more
so that people understand

why Adidas has grown to be what it is.

Adidas created this,
and together with Puma,

they were the starting point
of the industry.

From the beginning to now, without them,
there wouldn't be Adidas.

We're living off their heritage.

-[projector whirring]
-[♪ inquisitive music playing]

[Ulrich] The first big rivalry
between Puma and Adidas

was the screw-in stud football boot.

We released the Super Atom,

which was the first
screw-in stud football boot.

I haven't heard the theory
that Rudi Dassler is responsible

for the screw-in studs.

For some reason,
Adidas claimed that they invented it.

I believe that it was Adi Dassler, Adolf,
who came up with the idea

to do screw-in studs that could be changed
based on the conditions on the pitch.

-We released it first.
-No.

[♪ dramatic instrumental music playing]

[laughs]

If Puma claimed they had…
they came out first,

they weren't able to take advantage of it.

-[indistinct chatter]
-[Ulrich] Sepp Herberger,

the coach back then
of the German national team,

was working very closely
with Rudi Dassler on the Atom,

the first football boot
that we have released.

He approached Rudolf Dassler saying,

"Look, I'm promoting your shoes
to the German national team,

"how about I get a bit of money
for this promotional work?"

Rudolf Dassler back then didn't understand
why he should pay.

So, he said no to Sepp Herberger.

"I don't pay you
for this promotional work."

Then Sepp Herberger went to Adolf Dassler,

and asked him
for that same amount of money,

and he paid that money.

[camera shutters clicking]

[crowd cheering, applauding]

The World Cup, 1954,
was a unique period of time for Germany,

especially after the Second World War.

It was the first time they were allowed
to compete again in the World Cup.

Hungary were the uncrowned champions.

Thirty international games
without being defeated.

They were the firm, firm favourites.

If you were a betting man,
ooh, you knew where to put your money.

-[♪ upbeat instrumental music playing]
-[crowd cheering]

[O'Connell] Against all the odds,
Germany got to the final.

[whistle blowing]

-[thunder rumbling]
-[Sandra] It was raining.

It was pouring down that day.

[crowd cheering]

[Sandra] The German national team
was also very lucky

because they had Adi Dassler with them.

[crowd cheering, applauding]

[O'Connell] And Adi Dassler had introduced
the screw-in stud,

the interchangeable stud.

[Sandra] And as it was raining,
and pouring down that day,

the shoe gave better grip
to the German national team.

He used a longer stud,

which meant the Germans
could keep their feet better…

[crowd cheering]

…turn faster than the Hungarians,
and they could run faster.

[crowd cheering]

And against all the odds, they won, 3-2.

[sports broadcaster speaking in German]

[O'Connell, in English]
And the press went into overdrive.

How did this happen?
And word came out they had better shoes.

[Ulrich] That was the first out
of many circumstances

that helped to have Adidas
becoming a bit bigger than Puma,

and unfortunately, since that day,

the German national team
is very heavily linked to Adidas.

[♪ pensive instrumental music playing]

[reporter 1] German football and Adidas
are breaking up.

The German national team
will no longer wear Adidas gear.

Instead, it's going to sport
the U.S. Nike brand.

[reporter 2]
I think it's a big win for Nike

because Adidas is a German brand.

[reporter 1] The move comes as a shock
to football fans in Germany

who've seen their players in Adidas
for the past 70 years.

-[reporter 3] Taking it away from…
-[reporter 4] From Adidas?

-[reporter 3] From Adidas, yeah.
-[reporter 4] You can't do that.

[reporter 5]
They just could not believe it.

It's a bit of a humiliation.

[Bjørn] The German national team
have a public training.

I think we have 5000 people
who are allowed to watch.

-[♪ brooding instrumental music playing]
-[indistinct chatter]

[interviewer 1] A lot of media here,
you're set to do some interviews.

[chuckles]

[interviewer 1] What do you anticipate
they're gonna be asking you about?

[Bjørn] I guess they will ask me
some questions about, you know,

the federation leaving to Nike
in three years.

[reporter 1, in German] What is the mood
between Adidas and the DFB?

I would have loved
to continue working with the DFB,

but it didn't work out this time.

[in English] We could have bid more,

and we could have gotten it
if we wanted to pay.

But you know, everything has its price,
and if the numbers are true,

I think someone overpaid.
And that's allowed.

[interviewer 1]
What number are they saying in the press?

I think it's more
than a hundred million per year.

[reporter 2, in German]
In retrospect, did you underestimate

what was coming from the USA?

No.

Looking back, how much does it hurt you
that it was not possible…

[in English] Adidas is not dependent
on one federation or one ambassador.

It's the sum of everything we do.

[indistinct chatter]

[Bjørn] The crazy thing in our industry
that we are part of destroying it too,

because the money gets so big.

You know, it's this story about Pelé,
you know?

I mean, that's a public story, right?

The agreement was
that no one should pay money,

because if they started paying money,
it would be bad for both of them,

and then one of the companies
offered him a 100,000, right?

[interviewer 1]
Is that real, this Pelé pact?

The Pelé pact is real, yeah.
I know people who were part of it.

-[♪ upbeat jazz music playing]
-[crowd cheering]

[indistinct chatter]

[in Portuguese]
It's hard to describe Pelé because…

he's a player that…

practically created football.

You can't talk about it
without mentioning Pelé.

[Kelvyn, in English] You ask any person
who has worked in football,

who has seen the game, to describe Pelé,

and they just say
that what he did for the football was art.

[♪ brooding rock music playing]

Puma didn't play nice guy
in the case of Pelé.

[crowd cheering]

[O'Connell] When it came
to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico,

Pelé was by far the big star.

The World Cup 1970 was the first one

-that was broadcasted globally.
-[indistinct chatter over TV stations]

Everybody knew this was gonna be
the number one football player

for the next ten years.

[O'Connell] Horst did sit down
with Armin and said,

"Look, let's talk business,
and be sensible."

As far as I know, they had
this kind of gentleman's agreement.

Nobody's gonna touch him.

[O'Connell] You don't touch him,
I don't touch him.

Because otherwise,
he will demand so much money,

every other player will want the same.

-[crowd cheering]
-[♪ brooding instrumental music playing]

[O'Connell] When it came to the final,

eight of the Brazilian team
were in Adidas, no Puma.

Armin became desperate.

[crowd cheering]

Puma decided, "Who cares? Whatever."
We said, "No, we're gonna get Pelé."

[O'Connell] They brought the pack
to sign over Pelé.

They weren't allowed
to advertise blatantly.

They paid Pelé, like,
a ton of money to tie his shoe

right before he kicked the ball
to start the game.

A good marketing stunt
that he tied his shoes.

[interviewer 1] There's no records
of any bonus payment or anything?

Unfortunately not.

And if so, then we would have burned it
straight after those World Cups.

[in German] We have even joked around
that we'll do the same if Puma wants.

[laughs]

[O'Connell, in English]
Horst was… couldn't believe

that Armin did this to him.

It went very deep,
and he swore he'd get his cousin again.

Puma fucked him over.
So, he… [laughs] Fuck.

[♪ pensive instrumental music playing]

[Michael] Not always is Puma
the good guys… [chuckles]

…to be honest. [chuckles]

That was the last chance
of Adidas and Puma ending their feud.

[Arne] But that's how the legacy
of King started,

with many great players to come.

-[♪ upbeat rock music playing]
-[crowd cheering]

Legends like Maradona, Johan Cruijff,
who continued to kind of grow

that Puma King brand.

[Beckham] When you have
the great players, like Maradona,

wearing these Puma King boots,
who knew what was gonna happen?

First time I saw a pair of Pumas,
I mean, I'm a huge soccer fan,

and Pelé and Maradona
only wore Puma Kings.

[Kelvyn] The Puma Kings really enjoyed
a lot of success in the '70s and '80s,

but in the '90s, what came along
was that Adidas Predator boot

that really changed the game.

[Bjørn clears throat]
You've been here before?

Yeah.

-[Bjørn] In this building?
-Yeah.

[Bjørn] But not after
they renovated it, huh?

-No.
-[Bjørn] No.

[♪ brooding instrumental music playing]

So, I guess here's the start, huh?
1949. Puma was started in '48.

-So, they're one year older.
-Yep.

[Bjørn] It's amazing
how they could even play with those.

[Beckham] Yeah.

You were faster
than people thought, right?

-But it wasn't as…
-[sighs]

No, I was… I never thought I was fast.

[Bjørn] I think David,
when you look at him as a player,

and the way he talks,
walks, everything he does,

he created, you know, himself as a brand.
And he's kept that, you know,

and he's been with Adidas
from the beginning,

so that's very unique.

Here we go.
Copa Mundial, that was my shoe.

-The best boot.
-Yeah.

-I agree with that.
-After the Predator, obviously.

But this boot just…

But we used to… When I played,
we used to go down a full size.

First memories of Adidas
have to be my first pair of boots

that my mum and dad bought me
for Christmas one year.

What I really cared about is
what players were wearing.

What players were wearing,
you know, those three stripes.

But there was no one really
at the time in the youth team

that was kind of with Adidas.

So, what I actually did was
I got my granddad

to help me write
an official letter to Adidas.

-And? Did you get an answer?
-As a kid, and I got sent some boots.

-Really? Oh.
-Yeah.

I was part of the brand at that point.
That's where it all started though.

[♪ pensive instrumental music playing]

The Predator was
a really radical innovation in football

when it first came out.
Boots had never looked like that before.

It was a leather football boot
with rubber control zones on it

that no one had seen before.

Interesting fact,
the first Predator prototype

was also built by Adi Dassler.

-It's somewhere down in the archive.
-He put shark skin on the upper.

Made already in 1969,

who was already playing
with the idea of having something

on top of a football boot to get
better ball control and ball swerve.

[Kelvyn] It was a real statement boot
of Adidas' ability

to innovate in this space,

and also was at the heart
of some of the most iconic goals

-that we had seen scored.
-[♪ stirring string music playing]

[Beckham] I played in three World Cups.

I won Champions Leagues,
I won premierships.

La Liga, French League,
the American League.

Every special moment
that I had as a footballer…

happened in a pair of Predators.

I would say that the Predator boot
and David Beckham

really defined football in the 1990s.

I remember I got a pair of the…
the champagne-coloured…

-[laughs]
-…like, Predators.

The faker ones, not the real ones though.

The champagne Predators
that I wanted so badly.

My first pair was Adidas Predators,
the '96 version.

And David Beckham and him wearing, like,
Predators back in the day.

Always quite iconic boots.

And you've got all of these at home?

-I've got all of these at home.
-Wow.

They were talking to the archive team.

I think they'd… they'd love to get
their hands on some of your boots

and kind of get them in the archive.
I think that…

-I think that could be a bit…
-I'm sure they would.

-…difficult to do. [chuckles softly]
-I'm sure they would.

-[laughs]
-[♪ soft instrumental music playing]

And as you can see, you know,
all the heroes are… [speaks indistinctly]

[Bjørn] I think everybody's waiting
for that next superstar,

you know, after Messi, Ronaldo.

Adi has a lot of players that are knocking
on the door to be a superstar.

[speaks indistinctly]

-[♪ music rises]
-[indistinct chatter]

[Kelvyn] With the introduction of Jude,

it's kind of recreating
that heritage around the boot.

[♪ intriguing instrumental music playing]

[Bjørn] You're the face
of the new Predator.

When we watch you play,
you have so fantastic energy,

and you never seem to be tired.
Where do you take the energy from?

-Think it's in the boots, no?
-[Bjørn laughs]

-Er… [laughs]
-[crowd cheering, applauding]

I think there is a lot of brand heat
around Adidas now,

and that's because Adidas has reminded us
why we loved the brand in the first place.

Putting its umbrella stamp
on global football,

but then contemporise it
with a relationship with current athletes,

-I think was a masterstroke.
-[♪ music concludes]

[♪ soft mellow music playing]

[reporter 1, in German]
The second global company in sports,

based in Herzagenaurach,
is taking massive losses.

The reasons for this rapid descent…

While the American competitors
in particular rely on the fashionable

and light shoe,

Puma stayed with the sporty,
stiff models and missed the market.

Put on some Puma shoes today,
that's nice. [chuckles]

Do you change depending
on who you interview or…?

-[interviewer 1 speaks indistinctly]
-Kind of. [laughs]

So, my name's Jochen Zeitz,
and I was the CEO of Puma for 18 years.

When I took over, Puma was,
you know, the cheapest brand.

Armin Dassler had decided that it wanted
to become the brand for everybody.

We had, like, 19 Deutschmark shoes
that were made out of plastic.

It was terrible.

And that's when they started selling
in K-Mart,

and that ruined its image
in the US as well.

And the brand became,
you know, undesirable.

We lost our mojo.

We then, early days,
had a German fashion designer, Jil Sander,

who came to us and said,

"Well, I would love to wear
your soccer boots on the runway."

-[♪ rhythmic intriguing music playing]
-[indistinct chatter]

[Jochen] Why don't we reinvent ourselves
as a sport lifestyle brand

and become relevant
by becoming trendy?

Big competitor, Adidas, at the time,
you know, they were all laughing,

and this is never going to work.

Well, this is who we are,
this is what we believe in,

and we want to be different
than anybody else.

We were the first ones, really.
It was very unique.

Late-1990s, became a huge fashion craze.

Really turned the brand around and,
you know, went from strength to strength.

[indistinct chatter]

[Jochen] You don't want
to just copy somebody else.

You want to find the next icon
that could change the brand.

-[traffic whizzing]
-[indistinct chatter]

[♪ dramatic instrumental music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

[Skepta] I feel like it was a chance
for me to write the Puma London story.

Here we are, Skope, Puma, Skepta, '24.

-[interviewer 2] In London as well?
-Yeah, yeah. We're home.

-[camera shutter clicking]
-[Skepta] Good evening, good evening.

Yo, thanks, everyone,
for coming. Follow us.

-It starts here.
-[indistinct chatter]

[crowd member 1] Skepta, what he's doing,
he's somebody that people really respect

and rate as an artist.

-[crowd cheering]
-[♪ lively upbeat music playing in venue]

[♪ dramatic instrumental music playing]

[crowd member 2] He's transcended fashion
by going through different realms.

The streetwear, he's gone casual,
he's gone couture, he's gone catwalk,

and, sometimes
he's just mashed them all together.

[crowd cheering]

-[camera shutter clicking]
-[indistinct chatter]

[designer] He's also made it
a little bit more intricate,

like this or this, I think,
or this bottom right.

So, we talked about having, like, the…
the straps on the inside,

so you can wear the jacket.

Do you know what I mean, like the 2.0
of the rest that we made

in the first collection, or are we going
completely different…

-I think it's gonna be quite…
-…shape?

I think it's gonna be
quite a different shape…

[crowd member 2] The thing I think
Skepta's doing differently

from other brand ambassadors
is that he's actually embedding himself

into the brand, so it's not
a brand telling him what to do.

I feel like he's telling the brands
what to do.

I think, in general,
when we talk about ambassadors,

we need to have that conversation of,

"Do you really want
to collaborate with Puma

"or do you really want to be part
of the Puma family?"

We had a very honest conversation
about where we think he can really help us

to get into a…
a different space of the business.

[George] Cos Skepta's
a London-born grime artist, right?

People have a lot of relationship
to him and Nike,

cos Skepta was wearing Nike
when he started out.

To see him move to Puma was met
with mixed reviews, definitely.

I cannot talk about how other brands
are treating their ambassadors,

but I can talk how we do it.

Talking specifically about Skepta,
he's one of the ambassadors

that have come to the headquarter,
has spent days with our product team,

has spent days reviewing our archive,

and that has a lot to respect
not only to us, but also from us to him.

The upper is inspired from the PG Patent.

We saw the green and white one
when we were in the archive,

and I knew straight away
that Puma have some of the best soles.

Initially, when I go to design, it's like
I'm designing from just pure magic, like…

not being able to afford it
when I was younger,

going into a… a store with my mum
and going into JD Sports.

I'm looking at shoes, and I wish
that I could get it, and I can't.

Just that magic of that…
that feeling, you know?

So, when I design, it's all I have.
I… I can only design with the magic.

[George] The shoe with, like,
the iridescent colours,

it represents what they wanted,
which is what it's all about.

It's authentic to Skepta.
And that's what this is all about.

-Yeah, here we are. The Skope.
-[crowd cheering]

-[laughs] Thank you. Thank you.
-Shoreditch, London. Thank you very much.

The Skope is out now.
Tell a friend to tell a friend. Peace.

[Kelvyn] So, it's one thing
to be big in Britain, you know,

through Skepta and that London culture,

but we all know the money
and the eyeballs are in the States.

-[♪ dramatic music plays, concludes]
-[waves crashing]

[interviewer 1] So, tell us, just quickly,
what are we doing here in Miami?

We have an amazing announcement to make.

We are partnering up with Formula One
for a great sponsorship, arrangement,

-and today we are announcing it.
-[♪ energetic intriguing music playing]

[reporter 1] Today, Puma
and Formula One have announced

that they have signed
an agreement together

for the next few years,

that now sees Puma
being F1's official supplier

at Formula One races.

-Here also we got… [speaks indistinctly]
-So…

[Heiko] Puma has a very long history in…
in motor racing.

Our big advantage
certainly is our back catalogue,

our history in those sports.

People are familiar with the pairing
of motorsports and Puma.

…a bit more techy. We did also..

…this stitching detail
is actually really cool.

-[Maria] So, we've got the other one here.
-Yeah. It's all suede?

Motorsports have definitely shifted
from a cultural perspective the last year.

The visibility, especially
in North America, have changed the game.

[Heiko] Motorsports
is a highly elevated sport.

It comes
from a quite prestigious background.

Cars are privileged products.
They are really expensive.

[Emory] I mean,
when you think about Formula One,

-it's a big-ass boy club sport.
-[♪ intriguing music playing]

Just because you're a billionaire,
don't mean you got taste.

Just because you're a billionaire,
don't mean you got style.

From a creative mindset, you… you…
you need to disrupt.

[♪ dramatic whimsical music playing]

[Arne] We are partnering with A$AP Rocky.

He's very much into car culture,
and he will join us as a creative director

for our motorsport business.

See, it's the difference
between me and them.

And the difference is me, and them.
I'm going to show you why.

[♪ slow suspenseful music playing]

[Heiko] Working with A$AP
on motorsport is exciting

because he brings
a complete fresh eye to design.

He really disrupts the game.

[inhales sharply] We want everything
to feel like… [exhales, inhales sharply]…

it's been driven, it's been worn,
it's been used for years.

Ain't nothing new.

[Maria] We don't want
to be a fashion brand.

We want to actually make sports on trend.
And motorsport is actually a trend today

that we could even leverage
within our brand.

-[engine revs]
-[camera shutter clicking]

A$AP Rocky embodies a lot
of what we want to do in this category,

that is making it closer
to a younger generation,

bringing a much more cultural approach
to the sport.

[♪ quirky techno music playing]

[Kelvyn] I think that's what Puma
have always been really good at,

being able to connect the culture,
like Skepta, or like A$AP,

to the stories that happen on the track,
in the pitch,

that allows you to kind of
really become culturally relevant.

[interviewer 1] Is there any threats
coming from this?

Clearly a lot more eyeballs in motorsport.

I mean, as every hot potato,

everybody will come
and want a piece of the cake.

There's a lot of brands coming
to the table now.

Everybody will want a piece
of Formula One.

[Bjørn] Motorsport, it's become a channel
of interesting business opportunities

And now, we are in conversations
with many partners

of maybe going into motorsport.

But again, that has nothing to do
with Puma, because it's like,

they have done a great job,
and I'm sure they will work with teams,

but they won't work with ten teams.

I would be surprised if we, at least,
not in '26, will win motorsport.

-[♪ music concludes]
-[indistinct chatter]

-[♪ rhythmic instrumental music playing]
-[indistinct chatter]

Because of all of you
and what y'all do here at Adidas,

we knock down the walls that separated us.

-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[DMC] I come from Queens, New York.

Here you are in Germany,
but we are family.

-[crowd cheering]
-[DMC] Yes, sir.

-[indistinct chatter]
-[Jan] In the eyes of the consumer,

the Adidas brand has turned around faster
than even we had thought.

-[crowd cheering]
-[Jan] If you look around now,

around the world, in the shopping malls
or in the high street,

and if you look at the feet
of the consumer,

you see that our models
are doing extremely well.

We really see that the consumer

has turned again to Adidas
and to the three stripes.

[interviewer 1] And how much of that can…
can we attribute to… to Bjørn?

[chuckles] I think that's a question
you really have to ask him.

-[indistinct chatter]
-[♪ intriguing music playing]

[Bjørn] I'm a simple guy,
so I only have simple solutions.

I'm not a great strategist,
I'm probably not a very visionary guy,

but I think I know the business
from A to Z.

-[indistinct chatter]
-[Bjørn] Eighteen months ago,

there was a lot of negativity
coming externally and internally,

and I think you probably needed
an old guy like me that,

you know, had a heart for the industry
to kind of be a catalyst or a facilitator

-to bring it back again.
-[indistinct chatter]

[Bjørn] That recipe together
with our archive, the history,

the power that the brand has,
the sum of all these things makes

a lot of people feel
they're part of something again

-that has a great future.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]

Everybody likes to be
on a winning team, so…

-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[♪ stirring string music playing]

It's a huge pleasure for me
to welcome you to our 75th anniversary.

I think along all these 75 years,
one thing which has not changed in Puma,

that was the purpose.

That we are here to write
the future history of sports and culture.

We are still Puma,
and we are still the Puma family.

-[indistinct chatter]
-[Ulrich] We take a lot of risks.

Sometimes they work out,
sometimes they don't.

If you do something
that hasn't been seen before,

even if it's maybe not that accepted
at that time, after the years,

after the decades, people still remember.

-[Arne] Mr Boris Becker!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]

[Arne] The past is… is the foundation.
That's our legacy.

That's also what we are building,
but obviously now it's all about focusing

to win in the future together.

We know what it was like to lose in the…
in the '90s, but we also know what it…

what winning tastes like
and we want more of it.

[indistinct chatter]

[Helmut, in German] Puma in the future
is for me…

We are well on our way of becoming
the best sports brand in the world.

Everyone is behind it,
whether the celebrity…

or just the individual employee.

For me, Adidas can never form a family
like that because they are far too big.

Money can't buy it,
the true history of sport.

And Puma has it.

[Bjørn] Whatever Puma does or doesn't do
doesn't really impact me.

And… And I… I know people don't believe,
but that's… [hesitates]

…I… I don't think I used the name Puma
in any meetings.

I wish them, you know, more success
than any other brand,

except for Adidas,
because they are our neighbours.

We come out of the same family.

[♪ soft emotional music playing]

Rivalry, having a competitive attitude,
instinct just leads to innovation.

It leads to wanting to do better
than the other.

[George] Adidas and Puma
were the originators.

They were the pioneers
of combining sport with fashion.

If you wake up in the morning
and you know that someone's chasing

to go after your dream as well…
you're naturally more motivated.

It's player versus player.

-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[George] Two incredible sporting brands

who have transformed the tapestry
of the world,

in such a profound way,
which even they couldn't have envisaged.

And take all the risks along the way
and build something

that we now today all enjoy is…
is phenomenal.

It's just… It's just unbelievable.

[Michael] We created a…
a fantastic company…

both of them, and, you know,
I'm proud to be part of that history.

[George] Crazy story, right?

Two brothers, argued,
and then went to build

two of the biggest footwear companies
in the world.

-[birds chirping]
-[♪ music concludes]

[indistinct chatter in distance]

[Helmut, in German] Rudolf Dassler
would often say

he doesn't love his brother,

-but he doesn't hate him.
-[♪ melancholic music playing]

[Helmut, in German] He wasn't his nemesis.

They were brothers.

At the end of the tale,
both of them found their end here.

And so ended the last chapter in the story
of these feuding brothers.

FAMILY OF ADI DASSLER

[in German] A lot has been written
and a lot has been published.

Is it all true?

[in German] What has been written
in the last few years, and in general,

is very exaggerated.

Sure, we don't… love each other

but we are still brothers.

And the war…
a war between brothers does not exist.

It's fierce competition,
but that's what it has to be, after all.

Competition is good for business.

[♪ music concludes]

[speaks German]

[♪ theme music playing]

[♪ music concludes]