RiRi Signs Contract to be the New Creative Director for Puma
Written by Lush Radio on December 16, 2014
By ELLEN EMMERENTZE JERVELL
HERZOGENAURACH, Germany— Puma SE said Tuesday it would launch a multiyear partnership with pop star Rihanna as part of the athletic-apparel maker’s attempt toburnish its faded image.
Starting next month, Rihanna will become the German brand’s “global ambassador” for women’s fitness and serve as its creative director for women’s products, the company said. She will directly influence the product-design process starting as soon as this spring, Puma said.
Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
“Market research shows that Rihanna, although she’s not an athlete, is an icon for our main target group,” Puma Chief Executive Bjørn Gulden said during an interview. “She is putting strength to the brand in an era when we need it.”
Mr. Gulden joined Puma in April 2013 and has since worked to refocus the company’s strategy and image. This year Puma launched its biggest marketing campaign in years, under a new slogan, “Forever Faster.” The campaign highlights two of the main athletes sponsored by Puma, sprinter Usain Bolt and soccer star Mario Balotelli.
ENLARGERihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, will be the new face of Puma’s campaign, the company said.
“I loved their vision for the collaboration and especially the creative freedom,” Rihanna said. “They didn’t just want to throw my face on a billboard and call it a day.”
Mr. Gulden said Puma originally planned to sponsor a female athlete but found “few [female] athletes with global appeal.” Seeking someone in the entertainment industry was a natural second step, he said.
“Sports and lifestyle go hand-in-hand today—functional fabrics and tight fits are no longer reserved for the gym,” Mr. Gulden said, adding that “Rihanna probably has to work out more than many athletes to remain as fit as she is.”
Rihanna will be “ideal” to reach out to young women who want to stay fit and look good, he said.
‘I loved their vision for the collaboration and especially the creative freedom.’
Retro-style sneakers and athletic-looking attire have been part of Rihanna’s stage and street persona for years, and that made her appealing to Puma, Mr. Gulden said. “She has, by her nature, been involved in the glamorous side of life and is also very sporty, which is the perfect combination for us.”
The music star’s fitness is also an element of her image. Many exercise programs promise to help slim and shape a figure like Rihanna’s.
Sports brands, which traditionally have targeted men, are increasingly focusing on fitness-conscious women. The female fitness segment “has enormous growth potential, all over the world,” Mr. Gulden said. “The future is female.”
Collaborations between sports companies and nonathletes aren’t uncommon. In 2003, the rapper Jay Z became the first nonathlete to score an endorsement deal for a line of sneakers with Reebok. Adidas AG , Puma’s hometown rival, this year signed collaboration deals with pop stars Pharrell Williams and Rita Ora. Adidas also signed rapper Kanye West after he split with rival Nike Inc.
Some industry analysts question the value of such endorsements. “Brands do collaborations with artists for hype,” said Matt Powell, a sports-industry analyst at market-research firm NPD Group. “They are never commercially meaningful.”
ENLARGEMr. Gulden said Puma wants broad appeal. “If you are thinking about selling a single collectors’ shoe model with Rihanna’s name on it, then there is of course a limited commercial potential to that,” he said. Rihanna will promote the whole brand, which is “much more,” he added.
Mr. Gulden is the third CEO in three years at Puma, which is 86%-owned by French luxury-goods maker Kering SA . Puma grew in the early 2000s by focusing more on lifestyle than on sports but lost momentum.
“We failed to pivot when we should have,” said Adam Petrick, global director of brand and marketing at Puma.
Mr. Petrick said the company that Mr. Gulden took over was excessively diversified. Besides clothes and shoes, Puma put its logo on glasses, bicycles and fragrances. The brand radiated a “total lack of clarity,” Mr. Petrick said. “Consumers had no idea what Puma stood for,” he said.
Mr. Gulden set out to return Puma to its roots. “Strange as it may sound, sports was what we hadn’t been doing enough of over the past years,” he said.
His team created “a new-old” strategy centered on sports and speed. Mr. Gulden narrowed Puma’s product range, simplified designs and shrank its spectrum of colors. The aim was to equate Puma with only sports, with a special focus on fitness and training.
“Even Usain [Bolt] has to train, we all train, and that’s where we want to come in,” Mr. Gulden said. “We want to be a running brand for people who train.”
Mr. Gulden said Rihanna would influence Puma’s designs and offer a fresh face in its new campaign. Equally important, she is expected to help Puma reach ordinary women. “Rihanna is an icon for the global youth,” he said.
Puma in spring replaced U.S. rival Nike as uniform supplier for the English soccer clubArsenal and launched its biggest marketing drive yet. In November, Puma recorded the first returns on its investments, posting its first rise in footwear sales for almost two years.
“We have a long way to go, and it takes time to change, but 2015 is our year to show that we’ve done just that,” Mr. Gulden said. “The direction of what we’re doing now is clear.”
