Puma Football Kits Outsell Nike & Adidas at World Cup

The 2010 World Cup is fast approaching with South Africa being less than a year away from kick off now and the quest from the major sports brand to produce the best selling football shirts at the tournament has already begun. More and more football kit brands are coming on the scene but there are still 3 names that dominate over most other - Adidas, Nike and Puma.

At the 2006 World Cup in Germany Puma were the best represented company with 11 countries wearing their jerseys in comparison Nike's 8 and Adidas's 6. Obviously it is very much dependent on which international teams qualify as to who will be best represented but this is a surprising result with Adidas and Nike regarded as being the top football kit suppliers.

Since the 2006 WC finals, there have been a number of 'transfers in the football kit world. The Russian national team football shirts are now manufactured by Adidas, having stolen them from Nike. Similarly, the Mexican jerseys - traditionally one of Nike's strongest selling strips - has been snapped up by Adidas. The German sports brand have also stolen a mach on Puma by acquiring the sponsorship of the Paraguayan national team.

A major advantage that Puma have over their rivals is their strong relationship with the African countries. At the 2006 WC Puma manufactured shirts for 4 out of the 5 African countries that qualified, Tunisia, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo, and look set to continue their strong relationship with Africa, having secured kit sponsorship of the African Nations Cup winners Egypt as well as Cameroon and Senegal, both of whom have made a major impact at WC Finals in the last 10 years.

The final kit manufacturers for the 2010 WC have yet to be decided by a lot of countries as they will be bringing out a new football shirt for the tournament so a combination of that and the uncertainty over exactly who will qualify means we can't predict the dominant brand for next year quite yet.

The top team that Puma produce their shirts for is Italy and they will be hoping that they can reproduce the success they achieved in 2006 with another World Cup win. The win in 2006 was Italy's 4th time of winning the tournament.

Although Puma dominated the number of teams at the last World Cup, Adidas were the only one of the top brands to have a presence at every game as they were official sponsors of the tournament and provided the World Cup ball.

They also represented hosts Germany who were the only team who refused to let their players wear boots from a different manufacturer so were Adidas head to toe.

The race for dominance has certainly begun as we start to prepare for the final round of qualifying for the World Cup finals which will determine which brands football kits are the most seen and most purchased at next years World Cup finals.

One key factor that determines how popular the football shirts sales are is the style of shirt printing. For each major tournament, the brands launch a new style of printing which they will use for the next two years. Coming up with a unique, original style can make a huge difference to the volume of sales a jersey makes, particularly when a country has a star player like Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. Over the years, we have had some unique attempts such as Nike's front circle at Euro 2004, Puma's lower case prints at the 2006 World Cup and Adidas famous three stripe football shirt name and number lettering. It remains to be seen which will be the "cool" style in 2010.

For more information on the latest football kits to be worn at the 2010 World Cup, visit myfootballkits. We provide the latest news on all the new football shirts including the latest designs, release dates and special offers. We provide exclusive discounts to over 3000 soccer jerseys as well as regular competitions, including kit design competitors, where you can win free football shirts and soccer merchandise.

Company Profiles - Adidas

In the 2007 Annual report, Herbert Hainer the CEO of Adidas discusses some of the issues of the previous year (2007). One of the issues is about the integration of Reebok. Two years ago, Adidas surprised investors with their bid for Reebok. "most (investors) agree that the deal will help to compete against Nike," was one of the headlines by that time, as well as: "Warren Buffet will continue investing in Nike."

Hainer responds to some of the concerns, like that of the flat sales of Reebok in 2007.
...major management changes at the Reebok brand, like that to improve the US distribution; even stopping supply to the brand's largest customer where excess inventories had led to a significant decline in profitability... But the real test is still in front of us - making the Reebok brand more relevant to consumers. The brand needs simple messages that stick, and that's why its 2008 products and marketing strategies focus on two important concepts - fit and choice. Reebok is striving to be the brand that "fits me".

Reebok has sharpened its 2008 product offering by including 893 new fit initiatives throughout its collections ... According to the report, sales will grow in nearly all other markets - especially Russia and China - where the brand took over distribution for the first time in 2007.

Another concern is the economic climate in North America which "has deteriorated in recent months."
- Yes, economic conditions in North America have become more difficult. Nonetheless, I am optimistic we will outperform most of our competitors during this period of relative economic weakness. We are a regionally diversified Group, which is one of our most significant strengths... Today, we have a much broader distribution base and a significantly improved performance product and partnership portfolio in the region. Therefore, I am confident that the adidas brand will again grow in North America in 2008 - although it is likely to be at lower levels than in recent years. At Reebok ... growth in this market in 2009.

About the performance of TaylorMade-adidas Golf in 2007 and about the priorities for this business going forward...
... strives to be the best performance golf business in the world. ... adidas Golf sales of footwear and apparel grew at double-digit rates for the fifth consecutive year. Segment like-for-like sales, excluding the effects of the Greg Norman Collection wholesale business divestiture, grew 9 % on a currency-neutral basis, driven by increases in all major categories. For 2008, increasing profitability is our top priority. ... We sold Maxfli because we now have all the know-how we need to be successful in the premium golf ball category. We are focused on growing our core golf brands: TaylorMade and adidas Golf.

About the financial performance in 2008 (after a solid 2007...):
... We expect high-single-digit currency-neutral sales growth - driven by improvements at all of our brands. Gross margin will range between 47.5 % and 48 %. And our operating margin will expand to at least 9.5 %. Through this strong operational performance, we will increase net income by at least 15 %.

In 2008 there will be additional costs related to the year's major sporting events. And the company will continue with the share buyback program. Adidas will be able to deliver earnings improvement of at least 15 % -" marking our eighth consecutive year of double-digit earnings growth."

Since completing the Reebok acquisition (Q1 2006) Adidas has reduced net borrowings by around € 1.2 billion. The financial leverage at the end of 2007 is 58.4 %. "We now have flexibility to deliver more aggressive shareholder returns." Total dividend will be increased by 19 %, " we will return more to shareholders in 2008 than ever before."

It is interesting to see that Adidas is much to do about style. In the annual report, the executive board members do not wear a tie...There are four members, "each responsible for at least one major business unit within the Group:"

• Herbert Hainer (previous with Procter & Gamble), joined adidas Germany in 1987, joined the board in 1997 and became CEO in 2001. He is also Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of FC Bayern München AG, Munich, Germany.
• Glenn Bennett (New Hampshire, USA) began his professional career with Reebok International Ltd. In 1993 (thus long before the acquisition of Reebok) Glenn Bennett joined adidas. In 1997, Glenn Bennett was appointed to the Executive Board where he assumed responsibility for all Footwear, Apparel and Accessories & Gear Operations activities shortly thereafter.
• Robin J. Stalker (New Zealand) joined adidas AG in 1996, Chief Financial Officer since 2000 and was appointed to the Executive Board, responsible for Finance, in 2001. In 2005, he assumed additional responsibility as Labor Director.
• Erich Stamminger (Rosenberg, Germany) joined adidas in 1993. He served in numerous marketing positions before becoming Managing Director for Germany. In 1997, he was appointed to the Executive Board and became Head of Global Marketing in 2000. Four years later, he was named President and CEO of adidas North America, while maintaining his position as Head of Global Marketing. In 2006, he was named President and CEO of the adidas brand.

The organization is managed through three main Divisions:

• AdidAs (69 % of Group sales). With Sport performance ... to support athletes in all sports, the sport performance division is mainly focused on four key categories: running, football, basketball and training. "Engineered to perform." Technological innovation and a commitment to performance are the cornerstones of this division. And with Sport Style the adidas sport style division is a leading supplier of authentic sports lifestyle products with its originals line.
• ... during 2007 the previous divisions sport heritage and sport style have been realigned into a single division
• tAYloRMAde-AdidAs Golf (8 %1) of Group sales) With Taylormade ... a leader in the industry and is the number one metalwood supplier. And AdidaS Golf
• Reebok (23 % of Group sales). Reebok ... an American-inspired, global brand that creates and markets sports and lifestyle products built upon a strong heritage and authenticity in sports, fitness and women's categories. Other brands are: Reebok-ccm Hockey, and Rockport .