Source: Puma net profit up 4% on footwear sales – MarketWatch
The source article is from Market Watch in April. Today stock shares for Puma are higher than they’ve been in years. Puma saw a 5 year high in share prices around the 2012 Olympics. Usain Bolt was crushing the competition and Bolt Madness actually delivered on the promise of improving the business model of Puma. Then Puma took that extra money and signed Meek Mill. Meek Mill was finalized at the start of 2013. January 2013 saw Puma SE reach 316/share. After this point it went downhill quickly. Instead of generating new technology on the back of Usain Bolt, Puma began a streetwear campaign based on a dude named Meek. By May 29th, 2015 the stock dropped horribly to 162/share. (Blaming Meek is an analogy for poor planning and marketing so it’s not Meek’s fault, but you get the picture.)
Puma SE is a stock that is volatile and any uptick is short lived, but it doesn’t have to be this way. This past year Puma took it’s endorsement game to the next level by signing Rihanna. Ri Ri has dropped a line that has bolstered the brand in a critical area for sports and apparel, women’s performance and casual athletic wear. Since signing Ri Ri the shares have moved from its low of 162/share to 263/share. A far cry from the high of 316, but at the rate the line is performing with women, it’s a great stock to buy… right now. The women’s market is growing in competition and Puma won’t maintain with just a roster built on Ri Ri and Kylie Jenner. Puma has to make waves in both the men’s and women’s segment to keep up with the growth of Adidas and Nike and to prevent a slide.
5 Ways for Puma To Maintain This Growth
- Dump Meek Mill: A company that’s in performance should never align itself with a dude who has the word MEEK in his name. Athletic performance and Hip-Hop are about strength and bragging rights. There isn’t anything Meek about either. More important, dude stays losing and ain’t selling shit for the brand. This is dude on other sneaker sites from his Instagram wearing Nike… Really Meek?
That Ain’t Puma For Real Bruh?
2. Why in dafuq would you attempt to grow the men’s category by signing The Weeknd?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/declaneytan/2016/09/30/the-weeknd-signs-sneaker-deal-with-puma/#3c15969ccc09 Maybe the brand isn’t looking to sustain. Rihanna is golden. Kylie is family with Adidas’ biggest endorser. I get the Dassler feud and creating family conflict angle, but the girl is torn and I think placing a greater emphasis on Cara Delevigne in Rihanna’s gear would be a smarter move.
3. While all companies seem to be abandoning their websites and leaving it for their stores only. The company that continues to shine and grow is the one that has the most active blog for its brand. That company is Nike. Nike has seamlessly integrated content creation and e-commerce on its site. They spend just as much time creating stories on their sites as placing pictures for items to purchase. I feel absolutely nothing when I visit Puma’s online presence. Take the time and build your content, and then look very closely at Flagship “stores” in the US. Multichannel is the wave of the future, multichannel…
4. Kill the collabs with dudes collabing with other freaking brands. I mean I get it; Ronnie Fieg is dope. Jeff Staple is dope, but seriously every damn brand in the world is collabing with these dudes and your brand is the only one that isn’t gaining the resell status that the other brands are. To the kids your resale price = your dopeness. The shoes may sell out, but they do absolutely nothing to improve sales on other styles in the portfolio. A quick search on eBay shows that Puma collabs are the lowest performing collabs behind all of the casual athletic brands trying to work with the “hot” dude:
Puma x Ronnie Fieg:
Asics x Ronnie Fieg:
New Balance x Staple:
Puma x Staple:
5. Puma’s creation story is the foundation for competition in the sneaker world. That creation story should be front and center in every promotional item. Not literally, but figuratively. Puma needs an aggressive approach to marketing. Contact me and I will explain this in greater detail, but the bottom line is, dudes ain’t rocking Puma, because Puma looks soft as hell. The recent growth is great, but Lulelemon, adidas and Nike are coming at the women’s area with guns blazing. Look at the names of these campaigns below. Puma is relying solely on Ri Ri:
Nike Beautiful X Powerful Collection
Reebok Be More Human Campaign
adidas Avenue A Subscription service
Under Armour I Will What I Want with Misty Copeland
If you remain hopeful that Ri Ri will carry Puma and that a deal with The Weeknd is big, you are going to see another drop in stock as some brand figures out how to sign Beyonce eventually. (Update on the Beyonce Move)
Puma needs to figure out the Men’s market or the shares will slide again, real soon.
When this dude below is on your website, who are you marketing towards? I mean Young Thug, a mumble rapper, in a too tight velour tracksuit is supposed to represent Hip-Hop to backpackers who still get excited over MF Doom Foamposites dropping this month… Puma is moving, but their tactics leave a lot to be desired. Young Thug, how Sway?
Stop hating.
LOL! No hate just facts.
Lol, 2 words sums up your whole article… Pseudo and hate.
Fake and Hate? What? Puma’s stock dropped 200/share. Rihanna made it go back up. When they signed Meek they focused on a campaign with Meek right at 2013 instead of looking at Bolt and creating new tech. Now they signed The Weeknd. Weeknd won’t sell kicks, just like Meek rocking Nike. Where is the fake and where is the hate? If you can respond with something that makes sense I will let this one go.
You sir is are a pseudo intellectual and a hater!! You talk as if puma’s customers is 100% hip hop, lol at you blaming meek and the weekend for a global franchise, come on !!
if you going to do an article on a global brand at least be subjective, not blame a couple of individuals for the share drop of a big company like puma, try again!