Source: PUMA FOOTBALL HIT NEW LEVELS IN LONDON WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE PUMA FUTURE 18.1
In the same manner that adidas disrupted the North American market, Puma is continuing to perform beyond expectations in the UK and Europe. They’ve used a “glitch” like campaign in preparing for the upcoming World Cup (The US didn’t make it). They’ve been consistently rolling out futbol product at a high rate with some incredible campaigns.
The soccer competition/marketing campaign was held in an underground bunker and featured social media icons and emcees as well as endorsed Puma soccer celebs. A quick explanation of glitch, which has been literally co-opted by adidas, glitch is kind of like when a crowd does a flash mob dance routine except in glitch it’s a flash mob soccer competition. Crews throughout the UK have become extremely popular. adidas understood this and latched on with iterations of “glitch” soccer models. The term was an underground/street thing and while it still remains a constant brands like Puma and adidas have found that connecting with their prospective audience via staged “glitch” events is the best form of marketing they can do. It’s an all inclusive celebration of sport, music and lifestyle. The photo below of French emcee MHD, who was also featured in the campaign for Cameroon because of his Roger Mila song, is swarmed by kids.
I’ve been stating consistently that Puma doesn’t have a presence in the US and this would hurt the company overall. My view has been shortsighted. Internationally Puma is hot and this event is basically Rick James kicking Eddie Murphy’s couch.
Note: The FUBU x Puma collection actually makes an appearance in this video.
More info from Puma:
Through a high energy 2 vs. 2 tournament and two competitive skills stations guests had the perfect chance to put the latest PUMA Future boots through their paces. After BBC Radio’s Charlie Sloth and Marko Arnautovic (International Austrian forward, West Ham) fronted the trophy giving ceremony for the various winners, a hotly tipped who’s who of European rap stormed the stage in a high-energy celebration of all things Future.Hardy Caprio, One Acen, Krept&Konan and then MHD took the stage besides Mario Balotelli (International Italian Striker, OGC Nice) and an impressive roster of next generation PUMA players from different across Europe (Vontae Campbell and Yunus Musah – Arsenal FC, Harvey Barnes – Leicester, Kevin Danso – FC Augsburg, Yann Aurel Bisseck – FC Koeln, Kevin Stewart – Hull City, Zico Asare – Fulham FC, Callum Hariott – Reading).