Text / Li Luyuan
Edited by / Guo Yang
For PUMA, 2021 is undoubtedly a year of harvest.
The Italian men's soccer team sponsored by the italian football team won the European Championship in one fell swoop, helping PUMA to appear on the highest podium in Europe again; signing drivers Verstappen and Hamilton earned enough attention in the fierce championship competition in the final stages of Formula 1, continuing to consolidate PUMA's unique position as a sports brand in the field of racing; and providing NBA player Lamello Lloyd.) Bauer's first signature shoe, the MB.01, was sold wildly as soon as it was launched, and the nearly double premium in the secondary market also announced the success of the series; signing one of Africa's most influential musicians, Davido, as a brand ambassador, further deepening its overseas market layout...
A series of precise operations have brought optimistic results. According to the 2021 fiscal year financial report data released by PUMA, the brand's annual sales last year reached 6.805 billion euros, an increase of 32% year-on-year, and the net profit increased nearly three times to 310 million euros.
On February 19, with the opening of the 2021-22 NBA All-Star Game, PUMA also officially announced its cooperation with NBA China in Shanghai, becoming the latter's official market partner.
PUMA Greater China Marketing Vice President Liang Puxiang and NBA China Vice President Tong Kaishen exchanged gifts at the signing ceremony
"Basketball is one of the most dynamic and popular sports in China. Since PUMA returned to basketball, we have gradually established a diversified product matrix and continued to provide consumers with an excellent product experience." PUMA Greater China President Bo Jiyong said, "We are very pleased to have reached a cooperation with NBA China this time, and this long-term strategic cooperation between the two sides will help PUMA continue to create brilliant performance in the basketball industry, and PUMA basketball will enter a new stage of development in China."
Becoming the NBA China's official market partner is undoubtedly an important step taken by PUMA since its return to the basketball market in 2018. But as a brand that has created an epoch-making initiative in the history of basketball, from the rise and fall of puma basketball business in nearly half a century, we may also be able to see the survival of sports brands in the professional field.
01
The once forgotten PUMA in the basketball world
If any brand in history has brought basketball shoes to a higher dimension, the answer in many people's minds must be Air Jordan. But the old "shoe dogs" will tell you that before Air Jordan, there was PUMA.
In the NBA's decade-generation discussion, the '70s never seemed to be a hot topic. At that time, there was no bloody rivalry in the league, no invincible dynasty division, and even because of the small amount of information retained, it became a blank space that many veteran fans were difficult to reach.
However, for lovers of sneaker culture, the 1970s were a presence that could not be ignored – because the first pair of signature sneakers in the history of basketball was born here.
It all started in 1973. At that time, New York Knicks point guard Walter Frazier was just like the day, averaging 21.1 points, 5.9 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game, which not only made him one of the most dominant players in the league, but also gained the attention of many brands, puma is one of them.
PUMA contacted Fraser to sign him as a spokesperson for the brand's basketball shoes. The latter put forward three conditions - the need to create a flat-bottomed, lightweight shoe with sufficient internal padding to adapt to their own style of play on the field; the upper of the shoe to replace the popular leather material at that time with suede, and the introduction of a variety of colors to meet their own taste for fashion; and the printing of his nickname "Clyde" on the shoe.
Fraser's series of ideas were ahead of its time for sneaker design, but PUMA met his requirements one by one. With the launch of the PUMA CLYDE series, the first signature shoe in the history of basketball was born.
PUMA CLYDE sneaker poster
Fraser did not fail puma. That season, he wore his signature sneakers to the field and defeated the Lakers led by Chamberlain and West in the Finals, helping the team win another championship, creating a period of glory in the history of the Knicks and bringing PUMA to a higher stage.
At that time, PUMA not only became the most photographed brand on the major basketball courts in New York, but even Rapper and B-Boy dancers would wear CLYDE sneakers to perform, and PUMA became the best synonym for style and fashion in the hearts of young people at that time.
In addition to the signed shoes, the first sports brand to provide endorsement fees for players is also PUMA.
In 1983, the Houston Rockets signed Ralph Sampson with the first pick in the draft as a 2.24-meter-tall, technically versatile interior player who was recognized as a future star in basketball circles at the time. It was Sampson's potential that PUMA approached in his first season in the league.
The difficulties were obvious– for PUMA at the time, Sampson's 51.5-yard (SIZE US 17) and very slender feet did not have the right shoe shape to match. To this end, they had to create a new exclusive shoe for them from scratch, and the latter could only wear unlisted prototype shoes for the entire season.
A year later, PUMA Ralph Sampson was officially unveiled, and along with the shoe came Sampson a check worth about $400,000, which was not a small amount at the time. After Sampson, Michael Jordan signed Nike to a five-year, $500,000-a-year contract in 1984, and the player's signature shoes entered an era of blooming flowers.
PUMA Ralph Sampson
Alex Inglish, Terry Cummings, Vis Matthews... Looking back at the timeline of PUMA basketball business, there were too many star players who appeared in the brand endorsement matrix, which once created the heyday of PUMA basketball.
Isaiah Thomas wore PUMA Palace Guard sneakers to the field in 1989–90, leading the then "Bad Boys" to championships and honoring FMVP, which are still in his collection today; Vince Carter's first exclusive pair of sneakers after entering the league also came from PUMA, when the two sides signed a ten-year, $50 million contract.
Isaiah Thomas wore PUMA Palace Guard against the Bulls led by Jordan
However, for a variety of reasons, these endorsement contracts were very "short-lived" - Isaiah Thomas's cooperation with PUMA lasted only one season, and Carter tore up the contract after signing 14 months.
With the latter switching to other camps, PUMA also bid farewell to the NBA stage after 1999, turning into a sigh in the hearts of countless old fans.
PUMA launched a promotional poster to build momentum for Carter's Rookie of the Year
02
The king returns with the wind
In fact, since the late 1980s, PUMA has gradually tilted its brand strategy towards the lifestyle field. Facing the product performance upgrade accelerated by major brands in the sports market at that time, PUMA basketball shoes seem to exist only in fashion and feelings in the memory of many people.
In the 1990s, as the "Smiling Assassin" turned away, PUMA also fell into an embarrassing period in the field of basketball. In order to continue the brand's consistent star spokesperson strategy, PUMA signed Phoenix Suns replacement forward Cedric Z. Ceballos in 1992 on a much higher-than-market offer, making it the spokesperson for PUMA Disc System Weapon sneakers – a lace-free design that made it a transformative shoe at the time.
Seballos wore these shoes to the 1993 dunk contest and incorporated them into his dunk performance, which combined with the design of the shoes to earn PUMA full exposure at the time. However, the shoes did not perform well on the professional stage, and the former chose to terminate his contract with PUMA in 1994 and return to the Nike camp. This scene also seems to have become a true microcosm of the fate of the PUMA basketball business in the next few years.
Seballos and his Puma Disc System Weapon
There is no doubt that in professional basketball, sneakers are the first element for athletes to improve their athletic performance. PUMA's shift in brand strategy and the stagnation in product development have also caused it to gradually fall behind in the competitive landscape with other brands in the market until it leaves the basketball market.
However, for a comprehensive professional sports brand with a long history, the lack of any one field is a huge blow to brand value and influence. To this end, when PUMA decided to reshape its image as a professional sports brand in the minds of consumers, basketball, one of the most influential sports in the world, became the best choice for them to exert their strength - in June 2018, with the opening of the NBA Draft, PUMA also officially announced its return to basketball business.
As the brand slogan "Forever Faster" said, PUMA's layout in the basketball market is also amazing. At the beginning of their return, they signed a number of potential stars such as DeAndre Ayton and Marvin Bagley III — the winners and leaders of the 2018 NBA Draft, and five of the top 16 picks in that draft eventually joined the PUMA camp.
It turns out that in a current league where a large number of star players are divided by Nike and Adidas, starting from a rookie to gamble on the future is a wise move for the "newcomer" PUMA.
Today, a number of potential new stars such as Ayton have grown into the mainstay of their respective teams, and with the subsequent signings of Danny Green, Rozier, Kuzma, RJ Barrett, and even Lamelo Bauer and other star players, the PUMA basketball spokesperson matrix has been star-studded and is still growing. The "three-ball" successful appearance in this year's All-Star Game also allowed PUMA to return for four years, and it had its first NBA All-Star signing player.
Lamelho Bauer kicked mb.01 boots at this year's NBA All-Star Game Image: Getty Images
At the same time, in four years, PUMA has also rapidly developed a more perfect product matrix - not only launched Clyde Court and Clyde All-Pro that pay tribute to the classic CLYDE, but also launched a series of products such as Triple, Court Rider, RS-Dreamer, Fusion NITRO and other products that focus more on performance, as well as the first signature shoe MB.01 after the return of the brand.
Eye-catching design, a cultural heritage that goes into the details of the product, and excellent performance have all contributed to PUMA's high attention in the market.
The data says it all. According to the 2020-21 NBA League player choice list data released by the well-known sneaker website BALLER SHOES DB, PUMA ranks fourth in the list of major sports brands with a proportion of 4.1%, which is already a big achievement for this brand that has just returned to the basketball field for 4 years.
Image source: BALLER SHOES DB
It can be said that whether it is from signing the first NBA player, to launching the first sneaker, to creating the first signature shoe series, PUMA is announcing its return to the market at its own unique fast pace.
03
Why is "basketball rookie" PUMA rising rapidly?
According to the 2019 financial report data released by PUMA, the sales of branded footwear increased significantly by 16.8% year-on-year to 2,552.5 million euros, and this proportion is still in a steady growth trend in 2021. Among them, the return of the basketball business has undoubtedly played a great role in boosting.
From the perspective of market laws, for any sports brand, whether it is to develop or return to a professional field, it will take a decade or more to succeed. However, as a "rookie" in the field of basketball in the 21st century, PUMA has been able to achieve such results in just four years, and the speed is amazing. In depth, their success still has its own laws to explore.
The first is culture. Nowadays, the main consumers of Generation Z and the middle class have formed a consumption concept of "light price, heavy quality", and they are more concerned about the inherent quality of the product and the additional value that can be given to them than the price.
At the same time, driven by a number of emerging sports brands and star effects, people's demand for sports equipment is no longer limited to a specific scene, but is integrated into part of daily wear. As a result, more fashionable design and in-depth product culture genes have become the only weapon for brands to seize consumers' minds.
As a professional sports brand with a history of more than 70 years and the first basketball signature shoe product in history, PUMA's cultural accumulation in the field of basketball is not without depth. At the beginning of the return in 2018, they also established a brand strategy that implements the cultural gene early.
In fact, before the promotion of the "grabbing" strategy of the draft conference that is still praised by the industry, PUMA has signed the first spokesperson for the brand after returning to the basketball business - Walter Fraser.
Nearly 50 years later, Fraser signed another contract with PUMA
As the owner of its first basketball signature shoe, PUMA offered Fraser a lifetime contract in 2018, tying the legendary superstar more firmly to the brand. Moreover, in the subsequent launch of a number of basketball shoes, the word "Clyde" also frequently appears in product naming, which is undoubtedly a proud gesture to declare to the market its identity as a pioneer in the field of basketball, as well as a deep historical heritage.
At the same time, in the brand's consistent spokesperson strategy, PUMA also always shows its own unique style. Paying attention to the PROMOTION strategy of PUMA's basketball business, it is easy to find that most of the most commonly exposed are young athletes such as Bauer and Kuzma, who not only have a smooth ball on the field, but also always show their unique taste for fashion outside the field, which is very concerned among young fans.
This is undoubtedly deeply integrated with the brand's emphasis on the concept of "fashion sports" in recent years, so that sports are no longer limited to the stadium, but also a way of life leading the youth group to show their own style. The style and high exposure of these young stars on a daily basis are a rare promotion resource for PUMA.
The leading role of the stars, coupled with the distinctive design style of PUMA products, has attracted the attention of countless young consumer groups. However, for sneakers, product performance is ultimately the first thing that attracts consumers to pay for them. With the lessons learned from the late last century, PUMA clearly does not want to repeat the mistakes of the past.
In fact, as a professional sports brand with deep roots, PUMA's performance products have always had a good performance in the professional sports field, such as Bolt choosing PUMA running shoes to participate in major events, and they are also one of the brands with the highest appearance rate on the green field. However, in the field of basketball, everyone seems to have a lack of confidence in PUMA, which has prompted them to make functionality the top priority of product development when they return.
Returning to 4 years, PUMA has created a perfect basketball shoe product matrix
Jack, head of athletic performance at PUMA's Chinese market department, told Krypton that for PUMA, athletic performance is a key area that the brand has continued to cultivate in recent years, including basketball, football, running, yoga, and even e-sports products, which have been given more functional indicators.
"Product technology and functionality are an integral part of PUMA's DNA as a hardcore professional sports brand and an important part of what sets it apart from other brands. Just as headquarters companies have increased their investment in research and development of various categories of products in recent years, investment in the field of sports performance has continued to increase. We hope to bring more advanced technology to consumers through products, and even apply technologies that have been successful in other categories to different fields to enhance consumers' sports experience."
What Jack said is not empty talk. Judging from the financial report data, PUMA's R&D investment in 2021 reached 113 million euros, excluding the impact of the epidemic in 2020, which has achieved growth for 5 consecutive years. High investments bring positive returns. One of the most eye-catching is the creation of supercritical nitrogen foam NITRO FOAM cushioning material, whose rich foot feedback has helped the brand to achieve great success in the running market, becoming another major technology of PUMA since Trinomic and CELL.
In terms of products, taking fusion sneakers in the basketball category as an example, the NITRO FOAM cushioning material, which was previously mainly used in running shoe products, was applied to the midsole of this product; at the same time, THE SLIGHTXEVO upper technology, which created the lightest record in the field of PUMA football shoes, was also extended here. Similar technological "grafting" is also common in the brand's sneaker matrix.
Good rebound performance and a lightweight foot feel have given PUMA positive feedback on the market. According to BALLER SHOES DB data, in the 2020-21 NBA season, 10 athletes have been wearing Clyde All-Pro sneakers for a long time, ranking in the top ten of the player selection list; the platform has also scored a high score of 4.6 points (out of 5 points) for this shoe, and even called it "one of the best shoes released in the past year".
Kuz immediately kicked the PUMA Clyde All-Pro sneakers
In addition to the stylish design and excellent product performance, the attention paid to women in basketball has also quickly won a lot of word of mouth for PUMA in the market.
According to Euromonitor data, in the 35 years until 2015, sports participation in the United States continued to increase, with the high school sports participation rate rising from 25% to 35%, and the number of girls almost doubled. Globally, the growth of women's sports participants cannot be ignored.
As one of the first brands to respond to affirmative action, PUMA has publicly focused on the growth of female athletes in the professional field many years ago. In 2020, PUMA officially appointed legendary fashion designer June Ambrose as the creative director of the brand's women's basketball business, from the perspective of its four WNBA players, to create exclusive sports equipment for girls running on the court.
June Ambrose
As PUMA's first women's basketball sports equipment series, Ambrose launched 25 products for the brand, including clothing and shoes, and through the style of red and orange, contrasting with black, showing the rise of contemporary female athletes in the professional field and the fashion taste in daily life.
She said in an interview, "When I started designing, I tried to redefine the meaning of fashion in sports, and through a bold emotional display, let every woman in this outfit realize her fearlessness and strength." After the series was launched in 2021, it received very positive feedback both at the media and market level. The success of this attempt has undoubtedly deepened PUMA's determination to deepen the women's sports market.
PUMA Women's Basketball Sports Equipment Series
Jack revealed to Kr that in the second half of this year, PUMA is also expected to create the brand's first women's signature basketball shoe for its contracted player, Breanna Stewart of the WNBA's Seattle Storms.
"We have actually been designing this shoe since last year, it will never be as simple as a pair of ordinary sneakers to launch the player PE version through color matching adjustments, but based on the PUMA basketball product development department's extensive data analysis of the foot structure and game characteristics of female athletes over the years, a new women's exclusive basketball shoe product." Jack said. With the launch of this sneaker, the brand is also looking forward to setting off a new wave of sensation in the market.
Looking back, the rapid renaissance of PUMA basketball doesn't seem to have many secrets. Full respect for basketball culture, combined with fashion design to meet the consumer needs of a new generation of consumer groups, and provide a better sports experience with strong product strength, has become the key to the rapid foothold of this sports brand after its return. And this is one of the factors that should not be ignored in the development of most sports brands.
It is believed that in the future, with the continuous deepening of PUMA in the field of basketball, it will inevitably bring more surprising products to consumers, and the slightly boring sneaker market in recent years will eventually find the development trend of the beginning of the century.