Focusing on speed and performance and rolling out ahead of a summer of blockbuster sporting events, April saw Puma launch its largest marketing investment ever in the form of a global brand campaign titled ‘Forever. Faster. – See The Game Like We Do’.
This multi-market, multi-sport marketing burst emphasis speed and sporting performing across its portfolio and marks Puma’s first global brand campaign for a decade.
Marking the first time the brand has unified its marketing message platform across its sports silos – including athletics, basketball, football, and handball – the creative features a strong team of athlete ambassador’s from the Herzogenaurach headquartered company’s endorser stable: including pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, sprinters Shericka Jackson and Karsten Warholm, basketball star Breanna Stewart and soccer super stars Neymar Jr, Jack Grealish and Luis Suarez.
Objective
The aim is to leverage major global sporting occasions – including the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, UEFA’s Euro 2024 and the Copa América – through a global campaign focusing on a unified primary message across its product and sporting portfolio to reinvigorate its positioning around sports performance and forge a stronger connection with consumers.
Activation
Working with New York-based agency Matte Projects, the 75-year-old brand’s marketing team’s response to the brief was ‘Forever. Faster. – See The Game Like We Do’ – its biggest campaign ever in terms of media investment.
Opening with an umbrella launch phase in the first half of April, Puma’s campaign will evolve through the year with follow-up creative dedicated to specific blockbuster sports events – including the UEFA Euro Championship in Germany and the Summer Olympics in Paris.
The launch phase spans TV, social media (led by Instagram, TikTok and YouTube), PR, out-of-home and point-of-sale channels throughout the year with vibrant creative capturing the energy of elite athletes in action and fans enraptured and inspired by their skills led by a visual motif which embeds the Puma logo in the eyes of these sports stars.
The opening phase was spearheaded by a hero launch spot which dropped in 90- and 30-second versions from 10 April and featured multiple endorsers.
As the copy states: “When you’re fast, you set the pace. The game moves slower. The ball looks bigger. This is how the greats change the game. This is how they win. We invite you to break through your limits, unlock transcendent athletic performance, and see the game like we do. Forever Faster.”
Connected through the hashtags #PUMA #ForeverFaster #SeeTheGameLikeWeDo, the supporting launch social executions feature athlete ambassadors with a metallic Puma logo in their eyes to drive home the message about seeing things like the brand does.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
“Everyone dreams of having a superpower and speed is Puma’s. Through our ability to bring speed to life, Puma invites all people to break through their own limits, unlock their personal best and become a better version of themselves, allowing them to see the game like we do: Forever. Faster.”
Puma CEO Arne Freundt
“This campaign is the first time that Puma has one single message in its marketing across different categories, from football and running to basketball and handball. The holistic brand message is emotional and distinctive to make sure it connects and resonates with our target customers.”
Puma Vice-President For Brand And Marketing Richard Teyssier
Outcome
Within 24 hours of launch, the spearhead spot had generated more than 19m views across the brand’s own YouTube, Twitter and Instagram channels.
The campaign double down on the brand’s primary focus on speed and performance and thus continues the key themes of Puma’s other recent marketing around the world as illustrated by its latest work activating its IPL partnership with the Delhi Capitals in India and its official kit tie-up with the Jamaican Olympic Team.
This campaign follows on from its 2021 ‘Only See Great’ marketing programme around the previous Olympics and Euros,
as well as its last ‘Forever Faster’ global advertising campaign which launched a decade ago, was led by sprinting legend Usain Bolt and reflects a very different era in which Puma positioned itself as a risk taking challenger.
Since then, the sportswear landscape has evolved – even shifted significantly – as streaming and social have emerged in a major way, athletes themselves have gained more power and control, women’s sports have boomed, new entrants and competitors have arrived in the space, geographic realignment has altered the playing field, as have changing consumer tastes and lifestyles.
Not to mention the pressures of inflation and global strife.
In recent years, Puma – like other established companies in the space – have felt the pressure of this change and in recent years has seen flagging profits.
In fact, April’s YouGov BrandIndex (brand health) scores show Puma lagging behind direct sportswear rivals in recent years. It’s score of 14.7 compares unfavourably with Reebok (17.4), New Balance (20.1), Under Armour (20.4), Nike (31.1) and Adidas (35.3).
In response, Puma has recently shaken up its marketing organization: moving its primary base from Boston to Germany, establishing a consumer insights team to gain a deeper understanding of its customer base, opening new entertainment marketing hubs in Seoul, Los Angeles and London and replacing its Global Brand Chief Adam Petrick with Richard Teyssier.
This campaign was developed not only part of Puma’s shake up, but to lead the way to its future.