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p30 :: Industry<br />
After preparing for three<br />
years, the transition from<br />
Ronald Rink to Luke<br />
Barrett-Smith as Puma SA<br />
MD was seamless<br />
Words: Trudi du Toit<br />
Photos: Carin Hardisty<br />
The leadership change at Puma SA<br />
is probably the smoothest the industry<br />
has seen. They have, after<br />
all, been preparing for it for the<br />
past three years. Luke Barrett-<br />
Smith started the new year with the title MD<br />
— but he has been MD Designate since July last<br />
year and has been learning the ropes from retired<br />
MD Ronald Rink since March 2011.<br />
That was when Rink knew that he would be<br />
stepping down at the end of 2013 from running<br />
the Puma subsidiary in South Africa, which he<br />
started in 2001.<br />
“For the past six months Luke has been running<br />
the company and making all decisions,”<br />
Rink said at the end of last year.<br />
If anything, says Rink, Barrett-Smith will now<br />
have an easier time: for the past six months<br />
he also had the responsibility of being national<br />
sales director, a work burden new sales director,<br />
Derick Freemantle, will take over.<br />
There will, therefore, be no surprise changes<br />
in direction or policy.<br />
Sustainability<br />
“We don’t compromise on ethics and we don’t<br />
compromise on sustainability,” says Rink.<br />
“Sustainability is not a lofty ideal, we live it in<br />
this company. Sustainability and ethics are not<br />
just key issues for Puma, it’s key to life and<br />
how we live our lives.”<br />
They run as close as possible to a paperless<br />
office and have reduced their paper use by<br />
more than 60% over the past two years — while<br />
growing the company by more than 30%. They<br />
haven’t used paper invoices or statements for<br />
more than a year. ID access to track the usage<br />
of printers and scanners not only counts the<br />
Sports Trader :: 2014 March<br />
In South Africa, Puma had<br />
always been about performance<br />
first<br />
paper use of employees, it also ensures less<br />
wastage from double or overprints. Even the<br />
storage of files have gone virtual.<br />
South African focus<br />
Following a tough 2013, Barrett-Smith is looking<br />
forward to building on their strengths in<br />
2014. “The past year we’ve faced some of the<br />
most challenging times in the thirteen years<br />
that Ron and I had been working together. I<br />
think it’s the unpredictability ... you never<br />
know if there will be a strike tomorrow.”<br />
They do, however, have a strong base.<br />
“We’ve had huge growth,” says Rink, who<br />
believes one of their strengths is that all the<br />
original management team members are still<br />
with the company.<br />
“We have one of the strongest teams in the<br />
country, our balance sheet must be one of the<br />
strongest in the country.”<br />
With the World Cup in June, soccer will be a<br />
main priority for 2014. Puma’s signing of English<br />
PSL league-toppers Arsenal, will also generate<br />
welcome replica shirt sales.<br />
Eight of the 32 World Cup teams will be playing<br />
in Puma — four of the five African teams.<br />
Although their focus for the first half of<br />
2014 will be soccer, and running will remain<br />
strong, they are very happy with their position<br />
in rugby from a sponsorship perspective and<br />
are in the process of consolidating rugby into<br />
a central hub.<br />
“The Bulls are, without question, one of the<br />
strongest rugby franchises in the world, outside<br />
national franchises. We have a wonderful<br />
relationship with them, as with the Cheetahs<br />
and the Southern Kings. “<br />
Motor racing, a focus area for the brand<br />
since 1978, is still a significant part of their<br />
business. The sale of Ferrari, BMW, Mini, etc.<br />
lifestyle product is doing well, says Barrett-<br />
Smith, with South Africans considering the<br />
branded items as very fashionable, whether<br />
they drive the vehicle, or not.<br />
They are also involved with extreme sports<br />
like skateboarding, rallying and the X-games.<br />
The Social Club they ran in Johannesburg<br />
was such a success that they extended it six<br />
months beyond the original timeline. There<br />
was a disappointed fan base when they eventually<br />
closed, says Barrett-Smith, but they will<br />
be replacing it with something new. “It gave us<br />
the opportunity to interact with our consumers,<br />
and to understand them.”<br />
At the club, close to their store in the trendy<br />
Braamfontein, young people got the chance<br />
to join in all kinds of unusual activities — like<br />
playing table tennis with their phones.<br />
Performance year for Puma<br />
Worldwide, 2014 will be a big year for Puma as<br />
new CEO Björn Gulden will introduce a manifesto<br />
in July, which will indicate a new direction<br />
for the brand.<br />
When he was appointed in July 2013, Gulden<br />
said his priority would be to improve the company’s<br />
performance by focusing on their roots<br />
in football and athletics, rather than concentrating<br />
on fashion-led sports lifestyle.
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