There’s a scene in Damien Chazelle’s First Man that depicts a moment that I had never considered. A tune by Leon Bridges blares for the short duration of the scene. On screen, a group of young African-Americans stand viewing the Apollo 11 launch from a nearby field. Kennedy Space Center is in view but the military installation may as well have been 10,000 miles away. They were purely spectators, nowhere near the real action. And they knew they never would be.
Recently released: Puma’s first basketball shoe in 20 years.
Brands. If you’ve built a great product, you’ll need an audience. And if you’ve built a captive audience, you’ll need a great product. Draft night has come and gone. This year, a brand was the night’s biggest story. Puma was last relevant in the basketball world when NBA legend and current Knicks commentator Walt “Clyde” Frazier played in the 1970’s. Founded by the younger brother of Adidas’ Adolf Dassler, Rudolf’s Puma brand is historically viewed as the little brother to Adidas.
Their market positions would confirm as such. Adidas is currently trading at a $35 billion market cap, nearly five times the size of Puma’s $7.5 billion market position. But that’s where the disparaging ends. Puma, an American mountain cat known for its secrecy, has made one of the biggest brand splashes in recent memory. It caught the entire industry off guard.
