puma brand analysis

Brand Communication Analysis

Trent Kahute Communication Planning : ID520B : Fall 2006 Instructor: Peter Laundy IIT Institute of Design

Contents

Brand Brand origins.................................................................................. 3 Brand meaning as it has changed over the years............. 5 Current brand differentiation................................................... 7 Current brand portfolio.............................................................. 9 Brand identity Brand names................................................................................... 12 Brand name visual treatment................................................... 12 Brand communications identity elements.......................... 15 Brand communications Communication assets................................................................ 17 Key brand communication decisions.................................... 20 Detailed analysis of a communication.................................. 22

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Brand Origins A Family Business The roots of the Puma brand stretch back to the mid 1920’s when Adi and Rudolph Dassler spent years working together building lightweight athletic shoes registered under their family shoe enterprise Gebrüder Dassler, in Herzogenaurach Germany.

Beginning with the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Adi’s uniquely designed shoes began to gain a worldwide reputation. Jesse Owens was wearing a pair of Dassler’s track shoes when he won gold for the USA at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Feuding Brothers After World War II, during which Rudi Dassler had spent time in a POW camp, the Dassler brothers began a legendary feud, causing Rudolph to leave the company and found a rival company across town. Originally thinking of calling his brand RUDA, Rudi Dassler named his company Puma Aktiengesellscaft Rudolf Sport (Puma) while brother Adi incorporated as Adidas. This family rift would lead to cutthroat business feuds and sporting triumphs forging two mighty sporting brands recognized all over the world.

Adi Dassler Founder of ADIDAS

Rudolf Dassler Founder of PUMA

By 1925 the Dasslers were making leather shoes with nailed studs and track shoes with hand-forged spikes.

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Brand Origins

The leaping puma also symbolizes combination of speed, power, and elegance often exhibited by professional athletes.

The Puma logo is a symbol of the fierce rivalry between the two brothers. No longer working with his partner and brother, the brand would come to symbolize the solitary and secretive nature of Rudolf’s new venture as it moved forward.

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Brand meaning as it has changed through the years

Era 1 1948 - 1960

Era 2 1960- 1970

The best in football

Going for the gold

Reason for being

Outfitting the worlds best soccer players

Equipping the worlds best athletes

Value Proposition

Best in class performance

Enhances your performance in style

Differentiation

Innovative features (first removable stud)

Celebrity athlete endorsements Clandestine advertising

Persona

Elite, exclusive, personal, masculine

Exuberant, elitist, colorful, energetic

Associations

German professional soccer team

Charismatic champions (Pele & Joe Namath) Gold medal athletes (Jim Hines)

Range of authority

Soccer boots

Soccer boots, track shoes, football shoes

Audience

Professional soccer players, experts, trainers, coaches

World class athletes

Relationship

New player in the field

Trusted partner

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Era 3 1970 - 1986

Era 4 1986 - 1997 Trying to keep pace

Era 5 1997 - Present

Targeting the sports lifestyle

Business survival

Mixing the influences of sports, lifestyle, and fashion

Play in style and comfort

High performance with personalized fit

Fits your active lifestyle

Comfort & style Consistent brand message

Innovative footwear systems (closure & cushioning)

Distinctive styles, branded experiences (concept stores & events) Co-developed celebrity lines, co branding, partnerships with famous designers

Casual, laidback, cool, minimal,

Hi tech, advanced, not relevant Classic, cheap, low quality, dated

Elegant, colorful, fresh, spontaneous, individual, urban, metropolitan, international, edgy

Soccer players at all levels Champion athletes (Martina Navratilova)

Professional soccer, tennis, track athletes Diego Maradona, Boris Becker Discount bins

Multiple sports lifestyle segments (yoga, tennis, golf, racing, music, soccer, baseball, running) CEO Jochen Zeitz implements 5 part strategy

Clothing, street footwear

Running shoes, kids shoes, apparel, Cross trainers, gear

Performance / Casual footwear, apparel, gear, accessories

People who play sports People around sports

Young athletes, soccer athletes, track athletes,

Anyone who leads an active lifestyle (businessmen, active travelers, or marathon runners)

Familiar friend

A old friend you lost touch with

Hip friend who shows you a good time

Beyond the playing field

Hip, cool, and leading the way

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Current Brand Differentiation PUMA In recent years, the Puma brand has become synonymous with fashion, style, and sport. Through fresh design, co-branding and partnerships with celebrities and famous designers, Puma has elevated their brand image so that it now competes with fashion brands as well as their traditional rivals in the sporting footwear industry. The Puma brand communication strategy is flexible across multiple categories, yet communicates innovation for an “active lifestyle”. Puma communicates with each category in a unique manner, but the tone is unmistakingly tied back to the overall brand through the overarching brand personality and identity. To extend their brand Puma has created concept retail stores that enable people to experience the brand in engaging and compelling ways. Puma also engages customers through their Mongolian barbeque concept that enables customers to design and build their own footwear from scratch.

Further differentiating the brand from traditional rivals, Puma frequently hosts promotional events that are based around “active lifestyle” themes based on dining, entertainment, fashion, and music.

Reason for Being

Mixing the influences of sports, lifestyle, and fashion

Value Proposition

Fits your active lifestyle

Reasons to Believe

- Distinctive trend setting styles - Branded retail experiences (concept stores) - Co-developed celebrity lines (Turlington / Nuala) - Co branding partnerships (Ferrari, - Partnerships with famous designers (Starck, Wanders) - Mass customization (mongolian bbq) - Promotional events (beats & treats)

Persona

Elegant, colorful, fresh, spontaneous, individual, metropolitan, international

Associations

Fashion brands (Gucci, Armani, Dolce Gabbana) Fringe / extreme sports Music artists & movie stars

Range of Authority

Performance & casual footwear Apparel & accessories

Audience

Anyone who leads an active lifestyle

Relationship

Hip friend who shows you a good time

ADIDAS Adidas’s mission is to improve every athlete’s performance through innovation.

The overall Adidas brand communicates the company’s goal of fusing sport performance and style competing very closely with Nike’s value proposition. To compete with the value propositions of their traditional competitors, Adidas has focused their brand communications in three different areas: “sport performance”, “sport heritage” and “sport style”. Brand communications are tailored to the specific market segments within each unit. Leveraging its cutting edge innovations in footwear, Adidas spends the majority of its effort communicating to the sport performance segment. In response to the “sports lifestyle” trend being led by Puma, Adidas has recently co developed product lines with famous designers and has focused on the timeless and classic nature of their brand.

NIKE Nike has developed a brand that has global reach striving to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. Over the years Nike has partnered with the world’s greatest athletes to build their brand recognition and reach, masterfully demonstrating the power of image marketing. Nike communicates to a wide variety of sporting and lifestyle segments while retaining its focus on high performance athletes. Like Puma, Nike has extended their brand through concept retail stores, event sponsorships, online customization services, and co branding with design savvy companies. The Nike brand differentiates itself from Puma by focusing on “performance driven style”, whereas Puma communicates “lifestyle driven style”. The Nike brand goes head to head with the Adidas brand on the “sports performance” front, fiercely competing to improve performance through technological innovation.

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Current Brand Differentiation

Improving every athlete’s performance through innovation

To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world

Perform at the highest level

Just do it

- Footwear technology innovations - Automatic customization (Adidas 1) - Co developed celebrity lines (Stella McCartney) - Classic styles, tradition and heritage - Mass Customization (Adicolor)

- Footwear technology platforms (shox, air, airmax, zoom air) - Cutting edge performance / lifestyle apparel - Mass customization (NIKE ID) - Full line of performance / lifestyle accessories - Digital / Physical Expereriences (Co branding with IPOD) - Social responsibility (Livestrong, United Nations programs) - Branded retail experiences (Niketown) - Event sponsorships (marathons, olympics)

Clear, orderly, practical, hi tech, classic, sophisticated, sincere

Athletic, influential, outgoing, fresh, aggressive, hi tech, futuristic, retro cool

Elite Soccer players, soccer teams, NBA stars Hip hop artists (Run DMC) Mainstream sports

Athletes at the top of their respective sport (Micheal Jordan, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong) Unfair labor practices

High performance footwear Performance & casual apparel

Footwear, apparel, equipment in multiple categories

Anyone who plays sports

All athletes - anyone with a body

Respected coach

Fellow athlete

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Brand Portfolio Overview

Masterbrand - Sport Lifestyle • Classic • Lifestyle

Puma is doing exceedingly well in the world of sport lifestyle where it is widely considered a leading brand that enjoys a comfortable old-school legitimacy. Within irony-rich, tech savvy urban hipster circles, Puma is as much a fashion statement as it is an athletic brand.

Masterbrand - Sport • Football* • Running* • Cricket* • Baseball* • Motorsports • Women (BMX) • Golf

The primary focus within the sport category is on football where Puma has leveraged its heritage in providing performance footwear for world class soccer athletes. Puma also claims a “lifestyle” niche and has branched off into fringe sports such as motorsports and BMX racing. But it is in the nonconformist environment of extreme sports that Puma has more street credibility than many of its competitors such as heavy-hitting brands like Nike, Reebok and Sketchers.

Sub-Brands • Womens Active • Urban Travel • Premium Luxury • Retro - Nostalgia

Through fresh design, co-branding and partnerships with celebrities and famous designers, Puma has elevated their brand image so that it now competes with fashion brands (Gucci, Dolce & Gabanna, DKNY, Prada) as well as their traditional rivals in the sporting footwear industry. Puma has also attracted new customers, through their designer sub brands which provide offerings outside the scope of the core Puma brand.

Co-Brands • Urban Modern • Urban Street • Contemporary Fashion

Partnering with famous international fashion designers, architects, and artists has catalyzed Puma’s recent rise within the lifestyle fashion industry. Puma has leveraged the “brand name” of the designer to help to build an identity around the offering.

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Brand Portfolio Masterbrand - Sport Lifestyle

Masterbrand - Sport

“Classic”

Football

Suede, Roma, Brasil

Performance, Distinctive, Heritage

The “classic” category exploits the sporting heritage appeal of the Puma brand by offering products that combine timeless classics with the latest style.

The “lifestyle” brand category is made up of a wide variety of footwear, apparel, and accessories that are trend setting, urban, and ultra hip.

“Lifestyle” Speed Cat & Numostro

The Puma sport brand category targets both mainstream sports (football golf, and baseball) as well as extreme sports (BMX, Motorsports). Puma is currently using different brand identities to differentiate their offerings and the messaging from that of the core brand.

To build associations with other design savvy brands, Puma has partnered with Ferrari, F1 Racing, and Cooper Mini to co-brand new and existing products.

Golf

“Lifestyle” - Co Branding +

Running

Casual, Fresh, Whimsical

Ferrari

Motorsports

Technical, Mechanical, Performance

+

Cooper Mini Motion

Women / BMX

Feminine, strength, dynamic

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Brand Portfolio Sub-Brands

Brand Expansion / Adding New Dimensions

Nuala is the product of an organic partnership reflecting Christy Turlington’s passion for the ancient discipline of Yoga. The sub brand represents PUMA’s commitment to create a superior mix of sport and lifestyle products. It is an elegant yet concise fashion collection to complement a woman’s busy work, travel and exercise schedule.

The Mongolian Shoe BBQ, is a natural evolution of the customization trend. It extends the brand by giving people the opportunity to build their own shoes and ultimately have more control over the finished product by being truly involved in the creative process.

The Puma store shows the brand and what Puma’s all about. Located in prime locations in metropolitan areas, the concept store is a communication and marketing tool, as well as a sales tool. Distinctive architectural design leverages a striking uses of puma’s familiar jumping cat logo.

Fashion designer Neil Barrett has created a a collection with global jetsetter in mind.

The collection conveys a modular concept approach that accomodates the on-the-go lifestyle of today’s style conscious adventurers.

+ Platinum is a luxury shoe line that focuses on craftsmenship and pulls influences from Pumas’s sport heritage, and recently has drawn inspiration from the prestige of timeless sports like polo, yachting, and auto racing.

The Rudolf Dassler Collection recalls the innocence and timelessness of sport through its clean, simple, and provocative styling. The collection is rooted in the heritage of soccer, tennis, running, and boxing shoes of the late 1940’s and 1950’s.

Puma extends their brand by partnering with Biomega to design a bike that addresses the needs of the urban commuter. The Puma Biomega Street Bike is the Scandinavian take on US-style bad boy culture.

Co-Brands

The Mihara Yasuhiro limited edition collection consists of apparel, shoes, and accessories for both men and women that break through the boundaries that have been set up through the course of fashion history. He designs with the intent of changing our perception and stereotype. Not interested in churning out mass produced high street numbers.

The Starck shoe collection is not based on design, not on showing off, not on more and more and more features, but on showing less and less and less. It means more technology, more intelligence, but less styling. This is the secret of the Starck Puma Line.

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Brand Names Brand Names

PUMA

nuala

96 HOURS

The Puma brand name stands for distinctiveness, individualism, spontaneity, internationalism, and sporting heritage. “Distinctiveness” and “individuality” allude to the brand focus on cutting edge design and fashion trends while retaining a non conformist attitude. “Spontaneity” caters to the brand focus on the active lifestyle. Internationalism speaks to global reach and appeal of the Puma brand. It stands for “sporting heritage” because Puma still sells a variety of classic styles that have been around for over 25 years.

The name nuala is an acronym representing: Natural - Universal - Altruistic - Limitless Authentic. The name is defined as “meditation in motion” and it stands for intuition, intelligence, and individuality. “Intuition” speaks to trusting your own instincts and your ability to connect with your inner self. “Intelligence” speaks to providing smart footwear and apparel solutions that combine style with performance. “Individuality” addresses the idea that lifestyle products should fit and adapt to the demanding needs of each woman.

Innovative, urban and versatile, 96 Hours accomodates the on-the-go lifestyle of today’s style conscious travelers. “Innovative” speaks to the concept of providing a small selection of pieces that provide everything an intrepid adventurer/ traveller would need to keep togged up for four days. “Urban” addresses the casual modern style that fits into your daily routine whether its work or pleasure. “Versatile” speaks to the “on-the-go lifestyle” of today’s style conscious types who embark on impossibly glamorous blurs of airport lounges and boutique hotel lobbies, meetings and cocktail bars, gyms and gallery openings.

The brand name alludes to the attributes of the puma animal: the combination of speed, power, elegance , attributes often associated with athletes. The name is also short, easy to pronounce, and memorable.

Overall, the name misses the mark because there is a disconnect on the number of hours a quick trip might take for the average active traveler.

Instead of 96 hours, they should have tried 24, 36, or 48 hours to really help people easily connect to the core of the concept.

Visual Treatment

The Puma symbol is one the few logos that can be used with or without an accompanying name.

The logo has been used for over thirty years and has now has gained global recognition. The iconic leaping cat tells us that the brand is active, aggressive, and forward looking. The leaping monotone cat is also a highly identifiable trademark of old-school seniority. The organic and curvacous styling of the leaping cat suggest the visual styles that Puma footwear delivers.

The all capital sans serif font helps the company create a commanding presence that sets an aggressive tone. The logo is visually appealing in black-and-white as they are in color.

The elegant geometric simplicity of the nuala symbol clearly references the principles and ideals of yoga and holistic living. The lower case lettering indicates the human and organic nature of the brand and the rounded sans serif font references the “circle of life”. Unlike other designer collections, the nuala mark does not reference Puma nor the creator and sponsor, model Christy Turlington.

The 96 hours graphic symbol is clear, straightforward and blunt. The “military” type font suggest the urgency and pace at which this brand is meant to be experienced. The font suggests a brand that is rugged, tough, and prepares you for your mission: adventorous travel at all cost.

The addition of Turlington’s name may help build brand awareness because the brand is trying to differentiate itself from Puma and other competition like Stella McCartney’s Adidas Line and Nike.

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Master Brand Communication Identity Elements Type Face and Text Placement

Color

Layout

Clean & Modern Typography Puma consistently uses Helvetica font throughout their brand communication material. From websites to ads and packaging, Helvetica font is used in both upper cases and lower cases.

The chosen typography works well for Puma’s brand image because it a timeless font that connects the classic heritage style and with trendy fashion forward styles. There is also a minimal use of text in print material, websites and advertisements, letting the products “speak” for themselves.

Refined Color Palette Puma’s primary color palette of black, red, white, and grey is consistently used across their brand communication to unify the different master brand categories, sub brands, and co brands.

Their signature color is a saturated red which is bold, distinctive, and easy to recognize. In addition clean, white backgrounds are consistently used across master brand websites. Their spartan approach to color is especially helpful to consumers because Puma’s products (footwear, apparel, accessories) are offered in a vast array of colors and styles in which the overall brand identity could get easily lost.

Adhering to the grid Arranging layouts on a grid gives Puma’s communications a clean, simple, and modern look and feel. Logo’s, symbols, and text adhere to the grid to reinforce the modern design nature of the brand. Puma uses the grid layout to organize the minimal copy in a clear and orderly manner shifting the focus to the different product offerings.

The use of their primary color palette can be found in all of Puma’s communication imagery supporting the integrate nature of the brand. Pictures and visual zones often have crisp corners that reinforce the look and feel of Puma’s products through their modernity and timelessness.

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Master Brand Communication Identity Elements Logo Identity & Placement Master Logo Puma uses their master logo across all brands and across all categories as a central unifying mark. The logo has been traditionally utilized as a footwear tag and as apparel and accessory marks.

“Leaping Cat” Logo The “leaping cap” has recently been used as a stand alone logo because the Puma logo has gained enough recognition over the years and it’s now instantly associated with the Puma brand. As Puma moves forward, they continue to use the leaping cat logo on an increasing number of their brand touch points ranging from footwear to in store environments

Product Tags

Footwear & Apparel

Ambient Street Advertising

Street Graffiti

Retail Signage

Event Signage

Typography Logo The Puma type based logo is primarily utilized in the master brand “sport lifestyle” category.

This logo is associated with the following two aspects of the Puma brand: retro classics and fashionable apparel.

Apparel & Accessories

“Super Cat” Logo The “Super Cat” logo was first designed in the early 1970’s as an evolution of the leaping puma that historically donned the sides of Puma’s footwear. Since then, the mark has served as an instantly recognizable trademark symbol for the Puma brand. As the portfolio has expanded beyond footwear, Puma has found ways to introduce the super cat log into accessories and apparel.

Footwear & Accessories

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Master Brand Communication Identity Elements Imagery Master Brand - Sport Lifestyle Puma’s master brand website and advertising campaign employ a variety of techniques to communicate the Puma’s brand integration of sport, lifestyle, and fashion. The imagery alludes to “active lifestyles” that are associated more with fashion (social events, shopping) than sport.

Imagery ranges from up close product shots, to fashion models wearing the product, to both abstract and photo imagery of activities that young hip people participate in. The imagery is clearly designed to appeal to active urban females as the target demographic.

Master Brand - Sport In the sport master brand categories, Puma consistently uses photo imagery to communicate the brand message. Advertisements and web sites typically portray an athlete dynamically participating in a sporting activity wearing the Puma products. The product itself becomes the backdrop to the dynamic gesture of the athlete. Interestingly enough, the athlete is typically portrayed as participating in the activity alone, not in a group or team. Unlike their competitors, Puma had few athlete endorsements, making the brand accessible to almost anyone involved with that particular sport.

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Sub Brand & Co Brand Communication Identity Elements Sub Brands Nuala Nuala is represented by a warm and sophisticated color palette. The brand utilizes sans serif font in lower cases adding a feeling an organic, approachable and friendly feel. Photo imagery depicts both the collection designer (Turlington) in up close shots and active women participating in activities like yoga and dance. Overall, the Nuala brand communications convey an intelligent approach to addressing the needs of a womens active lifestyle.

Co-Brands 96 Hours 96 Hours is represented by a muted, cool color palette and the bold text usage is minimal to non existent. With this sub brand, Puma takes a traditional approach to communicating their brand message by using photo imagery that captures models using and displaying the product line. Although the images are taken in urban settings such as airports and office buildings, the brand purpose seems to unclear and inconsistent.

Puma - Mihara Puma - Mihara is represented by a saturated and bold color palette. The use of typography is nonexistent, forcing the products to speak for themselves. Imagery in advertisements and websites portray exercising cyber punks, trailer trash partiers , and bowling steet zombies. Communications effectively the underground street culture origin of the Mihara brand.

Puma - Starck Starck utilizes the Puma’s master brand color palette with the addition of a saturated yellow as his signature color. Relying on the ability of the products to communicate the brand message, the use of typography is nonexistent. In atypical fashion, Starck has restrained from showing his face in this brands communications.

Instead, he opted for a clean, minimal aesthetic that focuses on a single primal character and his relation to the footwear. The result is whimsical, fun, and approachable.

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Communication Assets

Puma Stores - Providing Rich Customer Interactions Puma’s retail experience is replacing the brand message as their primary promotional delivery vehicle. Retail continues to grow in importance as a showcase for the brand and as a way of getting more innovative products to the consumer. In 2006, Puma opened 20 new “Concept” stores and countless more PUMA stores and outlets. The concept stores serve as the epicenter of the Puma brand, providing consumers with a more holistic experience by enabling interaction with their customers on different levels, displaying the depth of the brand while creating even more opportunity for discovery. In addition, Concept Stores host the Mongolian BBQ, where consumers can design their own personalized shoes. In 2006, Puma retail has been used to introduce exclusive product launches, as well as other unique brand driven consumer events.

Cultural Connection and personal expression value Dedicated to using the most advanced technology in creating products that realizes the fullest potential of its user, PUMA has remained in a pinnacle position in the world of sports. However, in recent years, Puma has bravely ventured into the realm of fashion and has proved equally successful, garnering great following by the young and trendy. Combining athletic sensibilities with fashion chic, PUMA has remained in the forefront of style with its classic styles unleashing unlimited potential. From the style capital of Paris to the streets of Tokyo, PUMA is present everywhere - a must have item for the fashionable crowds. Puma’s diverse offering of products ultimately allow their customers to express their individuality through trend setting style and fashionable utility.

Frequent product launches & a cornucopia of styles New product launches, seasonal styling changes, customer focused events, and new retail store openings help keep the Puma brand fresh in the minds of consumers. Interestingly enough, Puma communicates the cutting edge of fashion and active lifestyle trends through fresh footwear and apparel designs that combine material, colors, and styles into products that resonate with customers.

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Communication Assets

Leading Sports Lifestyle Creates Differentiation

Sub Brands Serving Premium Niches

Wearing the Brand - Inherent Brand Visibility

Puma, which has managed to differentiate itself from more powerful rivals like Nike and Adidas, has emerged as a hugely influential brand, transforming from an alternative brand to a global icon with broader desirability. The brand’s message was refined, its voice clarified and in the process, Puma has created a new market segment: sport lifestyle. Now that competitors are playing in the sport lifestyle segment, Puma now strives to be the most “desirable” sport lifestyle company in the world. Puma’s marketing strategy seeks to establish the brand as an icon that extends its lead in the sport lifestyle market. The key to achieving this position is to maintain a culturally relevant message that connects with consumers despite a cluttered media environment.

All of Puma’s sub-brands (Nuala, 96 hours, Platinum, Rudolf Dassler Collection) exist to serve different premium niche market segments.

This strategy enables the Puma master brand to focus on the core segments of sport and sport lifestyle without dilluting the brand message to its core audience.

The name PUMA has been synonymous with the athletic spirit and sport lifestyle, playing a pivotal role in the illustrious history of sports. For many years, the brand became inextricably linked with some of the world’s top performing athletes, and in some of their most glorious moments. Currently, the Puma brand is often associated with people who are fashionable, trendy and lead an active lifestyle. To build brand awareness and recognition, Puma has and continues to prominently display their logos on almost all of their footwear, apparel, and accessories. With such a recognizable brand as Puma, they spend little time on generating awareness, but instead spend a considerable amount of time maintaining visibility and awareness.

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Communication Assets

Creating the buzz with key influencers Puma focuses on making sure “key influencers” are wearing the brand, primarily through having what they call “brand zinger” events for their target audiences throughout the year. Events include underground parties, dj and dance competitions, and gatherings of different “anti establishment” segments. By respecting the culture and voice of these groups, Puma lets the participants personify the essence of the Puma brand, thus bringing free word of mouth advertising and building elusive “street cred”.

Deep pockets for communications Puma products generate significant margins. the company is rapidly growing and they are constantly testing new ways to communicate their brand. They are a company that leverages an image marketing strategy that requires heavy investments in all aspects of brand communications ranging from new concept stores to print and media advertisements.

Organizational Assets One of Puma’s greatest strengths is its CEO Jochen Zeitz who has devised and implemented a five stage strategy that focuses on innovation and design. Part of this strategy includes leveraging existing communication assets but also aggressively developing new ones. He has single handedly changed the company and supercharged the brand by helping to attract and retain top creative talent and allowing them to radically experiment with the brand and its communication assets.

Marketing Context Puma’s marketing efforts clearly fall in Kotler’s information economy category , but they still market themselves in a few ways that fits the “industrial economy” paradigm. Puma is clearly focused on customer acquisition than on customer retention. It relies on its heritage in sport categories, but the sport lifestyle category seeks to broaden the size of the market to anyone who leads an “active lifestyle”. While Puma follows the information economy paradigm of building its brand through company behavior, it also builds its brand through heavy advertising. This strategy makes sense because it needs to reach consumers who often respond to visual media and Puma is particularly adept at creating distinctive and memorable advertising.

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Key Brand Communication Decisions Puma Concept Retail Stores PUMA has taken the sport-fashion concept a step further by creating a branded store environment that showcases its cutting edge designs and collaborative projects. The design intent of the PUMA concept a place where the PUMA energy is evident, promotes city style, and encourages casual shopping. Puma has developed a strong design image through its stores in America and Europe and although there is a strong unifying style, each store has its own characteristics defined by local culture and site constraints. PUMA Concept Stores utilize the jumping cat branding as its focal point for design direction and each of the fixtures in the store is inspired by sport and it is designed to be a place where all of PUMA’s sport-fashion brands can intersect and interact in a unique way. Features that are often integrated into the retail environment design include signature internally illuminated ‘niche walls’, folding ceiling and wall panels, internally illuminated cantilevered shelving, display boxes and the large feature arch at the entry to the store. In addition, the concept stores often host signature events such as Mongolian shoe bbq’s, fashion shows, and dj hosted dance parties.

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Key Brand Communication Decisions

Puma Fashion Shows As Puma ventures into the fashion world with their “sport lifestyle” master brand, fashionable sub brands, and designer collections they are beginning to reach new audiences through different communication channels. Puma now hosts seasonal fashion shows at sleek facilities at fashion hot spots around the world. Shows are typically media rich events that combine live dj’s, visual multimedia, and models wearing the latest and hippest products from Puma.

The vibrance, energy and perpetual motion of the event mirror the PUMA brand aesthetic, and attracts “sport lifestyle” consumers from across the globe. These events attract a multitude of retail purchasers allowing Puma to expand into new market outlets. These types of events help Puma differentiate themselves even further from their traditional competitors: Adidas and Nike.

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Detailed Analysis of a Communication “New Stuff” advertising campaign

“New Stuff” TV Advertisements - Winter 2005/06

The communications I chose to analyze are the “New Stuff” ads on TV and in print featuring animals interacting with Puma products in adoring and distinctive ways.

Targeting a youthful audience PUMA decided to communicate their brand image through a product-focused campaign that conveys cutting edge style to a 16-34 year old audience.

Style focused messages Puma introduced the award winning “New Stuff” campaign as a way to showcase their design leadership. New stuff print executions highlighted the freshest new Puma styles and the commitment that Puma has to providing customers with innovative sport lifestyle products.

Attracting new customers A core objective of the campaign was to increase sales, increase the mainstream audience’s knowledge of Puma ranges and project the brand’s core values as being different. New products needed to be showcased to the mainstream audience in a creative and unique way that was “unexpected, unique and different” . To communicate this concept, animated animals such as monkeys, bats, bees, mice, and fish are depicted as playfully interacting with Puma products in an engaging and fresh manner.

Ad Agency: Zenith Optimedia International/GBH

“New Stuff” Print Advertisements - Spring & Summer 2006

Usage of mixed media Puma first introduced this campaign in 15 second television advertisements.

The campaign was visually fresh and clean with crisp photography that drew attention to the products. The print advertising that followed reflects the focused simplicity and whimsical nature of the TV spots.

Building momentum from the holiday season TV spots were run in November and they drew inspiration from Aesop’s fables by depicting two typical adversaries gifting each other Puma presents. Based upon the success of the TV ads, print ads were run into the following two seasons highlighting new Puma products. Elements of the ad migrated into surrounding media environments, engaging advertising savvy young adults who might be suspicious of broadcast advertising.

“Presentation” communication mode These advertisements obviously fall into the Presentation mode and structured around the products themselves (features and attributes).

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Trent Kahute Communication Planning : ID520B : Fall 2006 Instructor: Peter Laundy IIT Institute of Design

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