• by Larissa Faw , August 26, 2014

Puma and DigitasLBi Boston have launched digital and social media initiatives to extend the client’s “Forever Faster” rebranding that was launched earlier this month.

Puma developed the online and offline pieces in conjunction with one another, and each uses similar content. In addition to DigitasLBi, JWT is responsible for the TV ads; ZenithOptimedia is the media agency. 

The campaign has been designed as a long lead-up to the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016.

"The TV spot and digital videos were produced by different agencies, but as we were shooting the TV spot, we were capturing that content to spread across our digital channels," says Puma's Remi Carlioz, Global Head of Consumer Marketing. 

Ultimately, this footage illustrates the athletic achievements of its athletes, and hopefully spark viral buzz that runs across social media. Digitas has created two "Faster Delivery" videos, one featuring Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt and the other football player Jadeveon Clowney, that illustrate their speed as they serve as delivery men running to get Puma merchandise to people. 

In addition, Bolt and other athletes are featured in Vine videos that also use existing footage of their athletic achievements.

"Faster Delivery brings to life the relentless nature that Puma has for pushing the norm, thus being the fastest moving brand in the category," says Carlioz. "It connects our athletes to our consumer and fans in an irreverent way that captures the essence of the brand, and surprises them in the same manner that we intend to do when we develop our products. If you look at it, we as a brand did not talk a lot. Our athletes did."

Meanwhile, Flock to Unlock is a Twitter card technology that challenges fans to tweet in order to “unlock” exclusive new content. In this case, Puma and DigitasLBi used “flock to unlock” to help debut its “Forever Faster” television spot. "But beyond the technology or the tool, the important part was how to reward our fans with exclusive content," says Carlioz. 

There are also additional tweets and Facebook posts of the Forever Faster athletes on Puma's social media channels, as well as display ads to support the broader campaign.

Innovative social media platforms, such as Vine and Twitter, are a critical aspect of this campaign. "As a brand we sponsor game changing athletes who inspire other game changers, thus it was natural to explore this approach in the digital space," says Carlioz. "The medium we use obviously influences the way we deliver the message. We looked at platforms like Twitter, which reach the game changer demographic with first-to-market products like Flock to Unlock. We looked at mediums like Vine, which changed the game from a content perspective. We created programming that changes the way consumers connect with our athletes. The Forever Faster campaign is about bringing us back to our performance roots and our heritage of pushing sports forward. The digital space was a natural fit to bring these goals to life."

Whether consumers accept this rebranding remains to be seen. "The major challenge is that you never know how it's going to be perceived - so far it seems to be exceeding our expectations," says Carlioz. "Also, talking to game changers means taking risks. We took risks, on TV, online; risks in the way we talk, and risks on the media strategy. To us it's not really risks though, it's about trusting our instincts."
Puma declines to specify total ad spend, but says it expects to increase marketing significantly in the second half of the year. DigitasLBi was named Puma's digital AOR in February.