Marketing Post #5: Puma goes Social

So we all know that Puma is a well known for making sports wear like their football shoes (soccer cleats) and how they sponsored many famous footballers such as Pelé, Diego Maradona, and Gianluigi Buffon. As well, Puma is known in the USA for their suede basketball shoe. However despite all these successes in the sports wear market, Puma continues to build on their brand by extending it to include differentiated products or services in this case.

For the past week, we talked about products and branding and when my friend told me about Puma's new stratgey to increase their brand image, I cant help write about Puma! And what may this new stratgey be? Puma Social - A series of nightclubs that honors the After Hours Athlete. The object of these social clubs is to "remind us that we are all athletes, even if the only time we run is to catch a cab home.  From ping pong and foosball to darts and karaoke, PUMA Social is dedicated to after hours sports. Because we know it takes just as much effort to score a phone number as it does to score a goal." http://www.puma.com/social

Will this strategy work for Puma? Perhaps. I think that by extending the brand this way, Puma can attract more people and increase their market share. It definetly differentiates them from Nike and Adidas and also helps create a new image for Puma. As well, Puma sports wear and casual wear are also marketed through these social clubs known as "social wear". So Puma is definetly getting the double dipp in advertising their brand.