« To be the Fastest Sports Brand in the
World » is the new mission statement of the German company, Puma, which
has been created in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler as the PUMA Schuhfabrik Rudolf
Dassler. This company was born as a result of another company called Gebrüder
Dassler Schuhfabrik, which the founder had been running since 1924 with his
brother, Adolf Dassler. After many disagreements the two brothers decided in
1948 to split the company in two and to create their own brand: Puma and
Adidas. Nowadays, Puma is part of the multinational French group named Kering,
which also owned Saint Laurent, Balenciage, Alexander McQueen and many others.
Puma’s new mission statement was announced in 2013 when the company hosted its
new CEO, a famous Swiss footballer called Bjørn Gulden.
The re-positioning of the brand is intended to
be an innovative structure, always in search of novelty, which responds quickly
and effectively to environmental changes by providing a fast product engine and
an optimized distribution service. The brand positioning was backed up by two
massive publicity and marketing campaigns in order to capture the consumer's
attention as much as possible. For instance, they have appealed to many
celebrities to become ambassadors of the brand like Usain Bolt and Rihanna.
Rihanna, an international pop singer, is a key
element of the brand re-positioning. Indeed, Puma believes that women have too
long been neglected in the world of sport and that today is the time of change.
That is why, in addition to being one of the faces of the brand, the singer is
also one of the new creative directors, who at the time has already released
two footwear and clothing collections to her effigy. Her first collection, made
of Japaness street styles and gothic inspirations, was presented in February
2016 at the Fashion Week of New-York and has been a huge success. She directly
started by introducing pieces that mix genders and volumes, while remaining
sexy, which is in perfect match with the values that Puma wants to show. Her
second collection, presented in Paris in September 2016, was inspired by Marie-Antoinette
and the time when she lived at the Chateau de Versaille. Its completely
unpacked collection combining tradition and sporting inspiration has been
completely made in pale pink tons, in contradiction with its first much darker
collection. 
In addition to the impressive aesthetic side of
the collections of the international star, the cast of the catwalk and the
sales techniques deployed are colossal. Indeed, the models that scroll the Fenty’s
catwalk are none other than the girls in vogue such as Bella and Gigi Hadidi, Stella
Maxwell and Imaan Hammam. For the sales part, even though the first collection
was sold out in a few hours thanks to e-commerce, the singer and the brand
still decided to open pop-up stores throughout the United States to sell a
collection that they will supply at the beginning of each month. The business
looks very good for this successful collaboration that delights the fans of the
singer, the fans of the brand but also the fashion addicts.
If Rihanna's success in terms of music and
clothing continues to grow so quickly, it is certain that Puma is in on a track
to position itself as the fastest sports brand: they bet on good the right
celebrity and strategy!
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