10. Rudolf Dassler used an animal for his company name and logo
Across the Aurach River, Rudolf used his share of the former Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory to start his own company. He initially named it Ruda, using the first two letters of his first and last names. His intent was to dethrone his younger brother as the leading provider of shoes to European footballers and track and field athletes. In 1948 Rudolf changed the name of his new company, calling it Puma Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler. For a logo, he selected a leaping puma (Quechua for cougar) and for his shoe markings, he selected a square, with a large cat in a leaping pose and the letter D. The well-known strip along the side of the shoe did not appear until 1958. By then, Adi and Rudolf had carried their rivalry, and their feud, to dimensions well known in rebuilding West Germany, and the rest of Europe.
Since Adidas and Puma both manufactured their shoes in the same town, it soon became a divisive issue among its citizens. Herzogenaurach adopted the nickname, “the town of bent necks”, as people looked down to see which brand of shoes others wore. During Rudolf’s lifetime, Puma remained a small, regional company, with his focus on beating his brother in competitions, rather than on bottom line. After his death, his sons Gerd and Armin ran the company until 1989, and it was they who moved it into multinational corporation manufacturing shoes, clothing, sportswear, accessories, and sports equipment. The bitter rivalry between two brothers, who never reconciled, created not one but two of the largest sports-oriented companies in the world. Both are still headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, though both have other manufacturing facilities at sites around the world.