PUMA – “Forever Faster”

After couple of devastating financial years for Puma it reached rock bottom in 2013 with a net profit of only 5.3 million € (Puma, 2013).

“Forever Faster” Puma´s new brand platform since 2014. The aim is to boost back the brand image and be the fastest sports brand in the world. “Forever Faster is about PUMA making a statement as a brand and reminding people that we are and will continue to be the fastest sports brand in the world,” said Adam Petrick, Global Marketing Director at PUMA. 

Puma is specifically looking for individual athletes that do not only stand out as athletes but also with a strong personalities "troublemakers" as brand ambassadors like Usain Bolt, Mario Balotelli, Sergio Agüero. Like in this add that is calling all troublemakers.

They already have the fastest human on the world, Usain Bolt, under contract in order to boost their new slogan and brand image. Bolt is by far one of the top earners amongst all Olympic athletes and one of the reasons is Puma paying him around ten million Euros a year.

However Puma knows how to make use of the fastest man in the world and demonstrated it during the 2016 Olympics in Rio when Bolt won the 100m sprint in only 9.81 seconds. It was Ambush  Marketing when Usain Bolt took of his shiny golden Puma running shoes right after crossing the finishing line and carried them around like a trophy. Considering that Puma is not an official Olympic sponsor, this was a genius PR stunt to associate Puma with a gold medal.

Shortly after the race Puma went active on their social media platforms adjusting their new slogan: “When you are @Usain Bolt, you are #ForeverFastest”.