Case Study: Puma goes Omni

-
When Puma, one of the world’s top sports accessories brands, conceived its Love=Football campaign, the goal was to create a memorable tagline in a language that would be understood the world over. In the process, the company stumbled upon the power of social marketing. Puma’s ad agency, Droga5, filmed a light-hearted commercial featuring scruffy everyday men in a Tottenham pub singing love songs to their Valentines. The video went viral, gaining more than 130 million views and spawning hundreds of response videos.


Today, Puma’s marketing campaigns are branded with the slogan “Forever Faster,” which, according to Ruth How, Puma’s Head of Marketing and Communications at Puma, is a quote that applies not only to its marketing message to consumers but also to Puma’s approach to marketing itself.

Puma's presence on Social Media

Puma has a strong presence across major social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and YouTube. It integrates its social media strategy with other marketing channels to enhance consumer engagement and gain insights into its global audience, which spans over 120 countries. Puma has developed specific pages for different sports, regions, and product categories to invite diverse audiences. Initially, the company focused on growing its follower base through trial and error but now employs a data-driven approach. Puma posts personalized posts based on customers’ online behaviour and country to boost engagement and drive sales.

What does it mean "going Omni?"

The term “Omni” refers to Puma’s multi-channel or cross-channel retailing to encompass all digital and social technologies. The idea is that customers can examine, access, purchase, and return goods from any channel, even change channels during the process, and receive timely and relevant product information at each step along the way and in each channel.

Puma's Approach to Marketing

To address competitive pressures and adapt to a changing global market, Puma, with help from Astound Commerce, restructured its e-commerce operations. Over nine months, a team of 100 coordinated the integration of warehouses and credit card systems with Puma’s localized sites. This overhaul aimed to compete with rivals like Adidas and Nike and address the shift from Western markets and desktop commerce.

Puma established a command center for brand strategy and investment decisions, while regional teams handled daily operations. The company combined its global e-commerce management on Salesforce Commerce Cloud and implemented Informatica for central product and inventory management, which improved operations and reduced costs. Additionally, Puma introduced AutoStore technology in some warehouses to enhance storage efficiency and enable same-day shipping.

Puma worked with Viget, a web design firm, to overhaul its websites by creating unified templates for a consistent look across all Puma sites. They also updated physical store layouts to match the new website designs.


Puma now has twelve category-specific sites alongside Puma.com, all managed through a custom content management system (CMS) that ensures consistent branding and navigation. The CMS allows category managers to customize home pages and supports local, regional, and global campaigns. It also integrates tools for language translation, store location, and inventory management. These updates improved site navigation, leading to customers spending more time on the site and increasing order rates. Additionally, a new web app allows customers to design their own Puma shoes, enhancing the online experience.

The Results

In recent years, Puma has gained valuable experience in omni-channel retail and set the stage for a strong comeback. In 2019, it opened its first North American flagship store in New York City, which uses augmented reality and Internet of Things technology for a unique and interactive customer experience. 

Puma has also expanded into India and China, adapting its strategy to local markets. In India, it sells directly and through Flipkart, and it aims to make India one of its top markets. In China, Puma is capitalizing on its partnership with NBA players, which is popular in the region.

Puma’s successful omni-channel approach took time to yield results. CEO Bjorn Gulden noted that 2015 was a turning point, and by 2018, e-commerce sales had grown significantly. Puma’s stock price has more than tripled in three years, and its sales grew by over 17%, with net earnings rising from €136 million in 2017 to €188 million in 2018. The company credits its e-commerce strategy for its turnaround and ongoing success.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Case Study: Fathom AI to help you 'fathom'.

-
Image
In today's fast-paced work environment, meetings can often feel crowded with AI notetaking tools, each requiring attention. Among these, Fathom has emerged as a notable contender since its inception in 2020. With its recent $17 million funding, by Telescope Partners, Fathom is poised to further redefine how we manage and utilize meeting notes. Let's dive into what innovative ideas Fathom brought to the table that led to its success. A Growing Player in the AI Notetaking Space Fathom isn't just another AI tool; it's a platform built with foresight and innovation. After successfully raising a $4.7 million seed round in early 2022, the company has achieved a staggering 90x revenue increase and 20x growth in usage over the past two years. While the numbers may start modest, they signify a robust usage among businesses, with over 8,500 companies integrating Fathom with HubSpot alone. CEO and co-founder Richard White highlighted Fathom's unique positioning: “We always bui...
Read more

Case Study: Character.ai: The Dark Horse of the AI Industry

-
Image
In 2021, two former Google employees, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, decided to leave their prestigious positions at the tech giant and venture into the world of entrepreneurship. Dissatisfied with Google’s growing bureaucracy, they sought to build something new: a platform where artificial intelligence (AI) would meet creativity, allowing users to interact with AI in ways that had never been seen before. The result? Character Technologies Inc., better known as Character.ai . Fast forward to today, and their creation has caught the attention of tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and even Google itself. The platform they built is now valued at over $5 billion, positioning Character.ai as a rising force in the AI industry. From Google Bureaucracy to Startup Freedom Character.ai was founded in 2021, based in Menlo Park, California, by Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, who used to work at Google with significant expertise in AI and natural language processing. Both had mad...
Read more

Modern Entrepreneurship: 5 Common Mistakes Beginners Entrepreneurs Make

-
Image
Starting a business is an exciting journey, but the first year is often the most challenging. Many entrepreneurs make common mistakes that can derail progress. Here's a deeper look at five of those mistakes and how to avoid them: 1. Trying to Do Everything Alone Entrepreneurs are often driven by passion, and in the early stages, they may need to wear every hat in their business. Whether it’s marketing, product development, customer service, or accounting, new business owners may feel compelled to manage every aspect themselves to cut costs or maintain control. However, this approach often leads to burnout, inefficient workflows, and subpar results. Solution : Recognize that you can’t do everything well on your own. Delegate tasks that are outside your expertise to professionals who can handle them more efficiently. Outsourcing tasks like bookkeeping, web development, or social media management not only frees up your time but also ensures those tasks are done right, allowing you to ...
Read more