Trent KahuteCommunication Planning : ID520B : Fall 2006Instructor: Peter LaundyIIT Institute of Design

Brand Communication Analysis

BrandBrand origins..................................................................................Brand meaning as it has changed over the years.............Current brand differentiation...................................................Current brand portfolio..............................................................

Brand identityBrand names...................................................................................Brand name visual treatment...................................................Brand communications identity elements..........................

Brand communicationsCommunication assets................................................................Key brand communication decisions....................................Detailed analysis of a communication..................................

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Contents

A Family BusinessThe 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 BrothersAfter 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.

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

Adi Dassler Founder of ADIDAS

Rudolf Dassler Founder of PUMA

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Brand Origins

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.

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

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Brand Origins

Outfitting the worlds best soccer players

Best in class performance

Innovative features (first removable stud)

Elite, exclusive, personal, masculine

German professional soccer team

Soccer boots

Professional soccer players, experts, trainers, coaches

New player in the field

Reason for being

Value Proposition

Differentiation

Persona

Associations

Range of authority

Audience

Relationship

Brand meaning as it has changed through the years

Era 1 1948 - 1960The best in football

Era 2 1960- 1970Going for the gold

Equipping the worlds best athletes

Enhances your performance in style

Celebrity athlete endorsementsClandestine advertising

Exuberant, elitist, colorful, energetic

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

Soccer boots, track shoes, football shoes

World class athletes

Trusted partner

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Era 3 1970 - 1986Beyond the playing field

Era 4 1986 - 1997Trying to keep pace

Era 5 1997 - PresentHip, cool, and leading the way

Targeting the sports lifestyle

Play in style and comfort

Comfort & styleConsistent brand message

Casual, laidback, cool, minimal,

Soccer players at all levelsChampion athletes (Martina Navratilova)

Clothing, street footwear

People who play sportsPeople around sports

Familiar friend

Business survival

High performance with personalized fit

Innovative footwear systems (closure & cushioning)

Hi tech, advanced, not relevantClassic, cheap, low quality, dated

Professional soccer, tennis, track athletesDiego Maradona, Boris BeckerDiscount bins

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

Young athletes, soccer athletes, trackathletes,

A old friend you lost touch with

Fits your active lifestyle

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

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

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

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

Hip friend who shows you a good time

Mixing the influences of sports, lifestyle, and fashion

Performance / Casual footwear, apparel, gear, accessories

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Reason for Being

Value Proposition

Reasons to Believe

Persona

Associations

Range of Authority

Audience

Relationship

Current Brand Differentiation

Fits your active lifestyle

- 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)

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

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

Anyone who leads an active lifestyle

Hip friend who shows you a good time

Mixing the influences of sports, lifestyle, and fashion

Performance & casual footwearApparel & accessories

PUMAIn 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.

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ADIDASAdidas’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.

NIKENike 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.

Anyone who plays sports

Respected coach

To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world

Just do it

- 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)

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

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

Footwear, apparel, equipment in multiple categories

All athletes - anyone with a body

Fellow athlete

Improving every athlete’s performance through innovation

Perform at the highest level

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

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

High performance footwearPerformance & casual apparel

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

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Current Brand Differentiation

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.

Brand Portfolio Overview

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Co-Brands Masterbrand - Sport

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

• Classic• Lifestyle

Masterbrand - Sport Lifestyle Sub-Brands

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

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, techsavvy urban hipster circles, Puma is as much a fashion statement as it is an athletic brand.

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.

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

• Urban Modern• Urban Street• Contemporary Fashion

Brand Portfolio

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 ac-cessories that are trend setting, urban, and ultra hip.

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.

Masterbrand - Sport Lifestyle

“Classic”Suede, Roma, Brasil

“Lifestyle”Speed Cat & Numostro

Masterbrand - Sport

Football

Running

Golf

Motorsports

Women / BMX

+“Lifestyle” - Co Branding Ferrari

Cooper Mini Motion+

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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.

Technical, Mechanical, Performance

Casual, Fresh, Whimsical

Feminine, strength, dynamic

Performance, Distinctive, Heritage

Brand Portfolio

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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.

Sub-Brands

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.

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.

Co-Brands

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.

The Mongolian Shoe BBQ, is a natural evolu-tion 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.

Brand Expansion / Adding New Dimensions

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.

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PUMA

Brand Names

nualaThe 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. “Individu-ality” addresses the idea that lifestyle products should fit and adapt to the demanding needs of each woman.

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 ref-erence Puma nor the creator and sponsor, model Christy Turlington.

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.

Brand Names

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 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.

96 HOURSThe Puma brand name stands for distinctiveness, individualism, spontaneity, internationalism, and sporting heritage. “Distinctiveness” and “indi-viduality” 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. Interna-tionalism 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 brand name alludes to the attributes of the puma animal: the combination of speed, power, elegance , attributes often associated with ath-letes. The name is also short, easy to pronounce, and memorable.

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 styleconscious types who embark on impossibly glamorous blurs of airport lounges and boutique hotel lobbies, meetings and cocktail bars, gyms and gallery openings. 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.

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Refined Color PalettePuma’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.

Type Face and Text Placement Color Layout

Adhering to the gridArranging 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.

Clean & Modern TypographyPuma 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 im-age 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.

Master Brand CommunicationIdentity Elements

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Master Brand CommunicationIdentity Elements

Logo Identity & Placement

Master LogoPuma 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.

Typography LogoThe 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.

“Leaping Cat” LogoThe “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

“Super Cat” LogoThe “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.

Product Tags

Ambient Street Advertising

Retail Signage

Footwear & Apparel

Street Graffiti

Event Signage

Apparel & Accessories Footwear & Accessories

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Master Brand - SportIn 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.

Imagery

Master Brand CommunicationIdentity Elements

Master Brand - Sport LifestylePuma’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.

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96 Hours96 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 com-municating 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.

Sub Brands

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

NualaNuala is represented by a warm and sophisticated color palette. The brand utilizes sans serif font in lower cases adding a feeling an organic, approach-able and friendly feel. Photo imagery depicts both the collection designer (Turlington) in up close shots and active women participating in activi-ties like yoga and dance. Overall, the Nuala brand communications convey an intelligent approach to addressing the needs of a womens active lifestyle.

Sub Brand & Co Brand Communication Identity Elements

Co-Brands

Puma - StarckStarck 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

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 stylesNew 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.

Puma Stores - Providing Rich Customer InteractionsPuma’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.

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Communication Assets

Sub Brands Serving Premium Niches 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.

Wearing the Brand - Inherent Brand VisibilityThe 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.

Leading Sports Lifestyle Creates DifferentiationPuma, which has managed to differentiate itself from more power-ful 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 clari-fied 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.

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Communication Assets

Deep pockets for communicationsPuma 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 AssetsOne 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 ContextPuma’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.

Creating the buzz with key influencersPuma 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”.

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Key Brand Communication Decisions

Puma Concept Retail StoresPUMA 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 ShowsAs 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 campaignThe 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 audiencePUMA 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 messagesPuma 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 customersA 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.

Usage of mixed mediaPuma first introduced this campaign in 15 second television advertisements.The campaign was visually fresh and clean with crisp photography that drew at-tention to the products. The print advertising that followed reflects the focused simplicity and whimsical nature of the TV spots.

Building momentum from the holiday seasonTV 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 sea-sons 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 modeThese advertisements obviously fall into the Presentation mode and structured around the products themselves (features and attributes).

“New Stuff” Print Advertisements - Spring & Summer 2006

“New Stuff” TV Advertisements - Winter 2005/06

Ad Agency: Zenith Optimedia International/GBH

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Trent KahuteCommunication Planning : ID520B : Fall 2006

Instructor: Peter LaundyIIT Institute of Design