Puma's top cat in Asia

Last year, at the press launch of Puma’s spring-summer 2010 African collection and Kehinde Wiley’s art exhibition in Beijing, China, I had the pleasure of meeting Hong Kong-based Puma’s regional director for Asia Pacific, Dr. Joerg Zobel.

He was amazed how small Manila is, as everyone seems to know each other. He mentioned a deep admiration for our exotic islands, citing the Philippines as his favorite weekend getaway.

Dr. Joerg Zobel was educated in Business Administration at Ludwig Maximilians Universitat in Munich and completed his Masters and PhD in Business on Consumer Based Innovation at the University of Witten/Herdecke.

The first five years of his career were spent focusing on corporate development and innovation at the prestigious Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

In 2003, Joerg moved to Puma as head of Global Strategic Planning and License Management. Since 2007, he’s been Puma’s regional director handling 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region, including the Philippines.

On The Radar: You used to work at a business consulting firm and now in a fashion retail brand. What led you to this path?

Dr. Joerg Zobel: The link in my career is my passion for innovation and creativity. I guess this comes from my interest to write and create art ever since. I used to work with Prof. Christensen at Harvard Business School on innovation management. When I joined BCG, I included innovative ideas in company acquisition proposals, such as finding new markets for existing products. As a result, companies could bid more money on an acquisition and secure the deal.

I joined Puma because fashion business is all based on innovation. You need to reinvent brands with new stories every quarter. You’re only as good as your last collection. We are not selling products; we are selling emotions. Emotions need to be reborn and need continuous stimulus.

What is the best part of living in Hong Kong?

It’s a great place to live. There are so many interesting-entrepreneurial people and business moves quickly. At the same time, there is access to nature, like hiking on mountains as well as water sports. The city combines fast pace and nature, and it’s close to beautiful Philippines as a weekend getaway.

What is the best part of your job?

The best part is that no day is like the other. I take care of 12 countries in the region and there is always something that needs attention. I spend much time traveling between the countries and the diversity of the markets is interesting. It makes me most happy to see something grow. Like for example, we started a few years ago, in several Asian countries, to own subsidiaries and build infrastructure, teams, and stores. Visiting these markets today and seeing how they develop are very rewarding.

Describe your typical day.

Each day is quite different and unique. There is a lot of attention to detail required in retail business. Sometimes, I debate with a country team about our five-year strategy plan. Also, I might be on a country visit, spending time in shops. A few days per year, I sell in shops to understand the customers better. And after a long office day, I like to hang out with some local trendy people such as DJs or street artists to see what is happening.

Dr. Joerg Zobel of Puma has also served as guest speaker and research fellow on Strategic Innovation at the Harvard Business School and Stanford University.

Tell us about the two books you have written?

The book about mobile business was written 10 years ago, it describes what future business opportunities will exist around mobile phone technology and location-based services. It’s funny to see 10 years later those visions already exist, like location- based social networking and iPhone applications.

The second book is very different and a result of many years of research on what makes people happy, which is a very important question to answer. What is the point aiming for something if, in the end, we are not happy?

As a summary: it links the Buddhist approach “you can only be happy in the present moment” with the Western approach of creating something and being happy about the result.

Describe your latest photo exhibit, “Catch and Keep.”

It’s about how we try to catch the present moments, and also how we keep and preserve them. However, time goes on and what really lasts is only what we felt in the past moment.

The conclusion: We need to be focused on every moment as key to future memory.

I featured decaying apples sealed in plastic conservation bags and sealed photos of apples at their starting point. Other images are sand dunes that change each day with the wind patterns and real sand captured in a bag.

It created strong reactions. Some people hated it; some loved it, which was good.

How did you get into race sailing?

In Germany, I practically grew up on a boat and naturally got into race sailing. I was fascinated by the play of nature’s forces — wind and water. I’m so lucky to work for a company now that has its own boat in the prestigious Volvo Ocean Yacht Race. Yachts go over 40 knots speed around the world and brave typhoons and thunderstorms.

Puma makes sure the team is well equipped. We design the boat graphics and guarantee the professional quality of outdoor collections.

What are the top three best places you visited in the Philippines?

I love the underwater world of Coron in Palawan, Cabilao and Balicasag islands in Bohol. I like the idea that those places don’t have electricity at night and low mobile phone coverage. Plus, I love to see the smiles and happiness of the children.

Around how many pairs of Puma shoes do you have? Any favorites?

I have around 50 pairs of Puma shoes. The first generation of Alexander McQueen crossover shoes is a huge favorite, it has laser engraved Maori tattoos and stitching.

Also I love the recent Hussein Chalayan collaboration, which is very innovative.

On weekends, I like to wear “Faas,” the new lightweight running shoes we developed with Usain Bolt, the fastest runner in the world.

What do you miss about your hometown, Munich?

I miss the beer gardens. These are chill-out places where people sit outside and enjoy drinking beer with good friends.

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Special thanks to Teresa Liwanag of Puma Philippines for arranging.