Puma hones focus on speed in Olympic battle with Adidas and Nike
German sportswear brand Puma is using this year’s Olympic Games and its partnership with sprint champions Jamaica to focus on speed as it jostles with Adidas and Nike to carve out space in an increasingly competitive running and lifestyle market.
Puma CEO Arne Freundt aims to boost sales of “performance” products such as running shoes and soccer cleats, and is revamping Puma’s “Forever Faster” message in its first brand campaign in a decade on Wednesday (Apr 10) in Paris, host of this year’s Games.
As Puma tries to win over more everyday and serious runners, its sponsorship of Jamaica’s Olympic team and some of the world’s best sprinters such as Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah helps to associate the brand with speed, said Geoff Lowery, analyst at Redburn in London.
“You’re never going to sell very many running spikes, but in terms of properly iconic teams that credentialise you as a performance brand and associate you with some of the most exciting athletes, Puma have a super-strong relationship there,” Lowery said.
Freundt visited Jamaica at the end of March, attending the country’s top high school track and field meet for the first time to launch the Jamaican Olympic kit at the event seen as a testing ground for young athletic talent.
“We need to be very clear that Puma is about speed,” Freundt, who has been in the top job just over a year, said ahead of the campaign launch. “That’s something we need to strengthen further in the consumer mindset.”
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
Like other sportswear retailers that sponsor Olympians and pour marketing money into the Games, the bet is that athletes breaking records in Puma gear will nudge spectators towards its whole range of products, creating a potential “halo effect” for everything from marathon shoes to everyday sneakers.
Brands such as Puma, Adidas, and Nike will also be allowed to celebrate their Olympic athletes’ medal wins on social media during the Games for the first time, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) plans to relax rules governing online marketing in a “pilot project” with the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry.
“With the new IOC regulations we will be able to use that moment in a better way, to congratulate them also via social media, I think that’s a win-win for both the Olympics as well as us,” Freundt said. REUTERS
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Lifestyle
Former Zouk morphs into mod-Asian Jiak Kim House, serving laksa pasta and mushroom bak kut teh
Massimo Bottura lends star power to pizza and pasta at Torno Subito
Victor Liong pairs Aussie and Asian food with mixed results at Artyzen’s Quenino restaurant
If Jay Chou likes Ju Xing’s zi char, you might too
Mod-Sin cooking izakaya style at Focal
What the fish? Diving for flavour at Fysh – Aussie chef Josh Niland’s Singapore debut