PUMA operates in a thrilling but often brutal category where only businesses that can move at the hyper-speed of change are able to maintain cultural relevance.
PUMA’s Forever Faster ad campaign celebrated the successes of a new generation of influencer partners and helped the brand rebound.
But PUMA needed more than a campaign. It needed to convert temporary momentum into sustained growth.
It also needed a unifying brand idea inspired by its rally cry Forever Faster that could guide employees and drive synergies across PUMA’s business units and retail partners.
Finally, the brand needed to create an ownable, inspiring definition of its audience that was built around a shared mindset and not a narrow demographic.
Through a global ethnography, we uncovered and defined an audience whose mindset, values, and behaviors aligned with PUMA’s: Generation Hustle. It’s a new generation of entrepreneurial hustlers who are expressing themselves in new ways, removing labels, influencing their crews, and pushing harder than ever to find success.
Over the course of a four year partnership, we designed the strategy and seasonal go-to-market plans for PUMA’s biggest global business units including Sportstyle, Teamsport (Futbol), Running & Training, their Women’s business, and their launch into Basketball in North America.
We translated the strategy into the stories behind 34 of their highest priority products across 8 seasons, inclusive of:
We helped launch PUMA’s Basketball category with end-to-end direction of the brand and creative. We developed the core brand strategy, defined the key audiences, brand guidelines, and aesthetic to define the attitude, mood, and tone. Basketball has become one of PUMA’s key growth categories.
We defined PUMA’s go-to-market strategy across flagship business units, product categories, and targeted demographics. We conducted global research and persona development; designed content; defined retailer and ambassador strategies; and established partnerships, collaborations and influencer relationships.
We built the strategy for priority product drops like the 50th anniversary of the iconic Suede silhouette and 34 other shoes over the course of four years.
We shepherded the design and development of #TeamReform. This included oversight of the project, where we acted as the connection point between all PUMA stakeholders. We took the kernel of the #TeamReform concept and turned it into a global platform for social justice and equality. We defined their partnership and ambassador approach, and developed on-boarding materials for #TeamRefrom which included a mission statement, messaging strategy, social strategy, and brand guidelines.
The Do You Docuseries hosted by Cara Delevingne spotlighted amazing women who were changing the world in unexpected ways, all with an unapologetic mode of self-expression. We engaged, activated, and inspired girls with true stories of triumph and self-empowerment, building a real community around female pride. We handled the campaign launch strategy; the channel plan; influencer marketing strategy; activations; social content strategy and creation (Instagram + FB); PUMA ambassador strategy; and a commercial product tie-in (Basket Heart).
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