Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of Puma

Living a healthy lifestyle is a choice that many of us eventually come to. It is important that we treat ourselves with the care that we deserve. But for that, we do not only need a healthy mind that can guide us through the way but the right equipment. Not equipment like a treadmill, or weights, but the right athletic wear. That’s right. Being in appropriate clothing can be motivating. There are a good number of brands specializing in activewear, footwear, and accessories. Among those, Puma is the world’s third largest. So, what is it about this brand that fascinates people so much? To learn about that, let us go through the marketing strategies and SWOT analysis of the brand.

A good starting point will be to discuss the company’s mission and vision statements.

Mission Statement

The mission statement of Puma is “to be the fastest sports brand in the world”. It is always important to hustle, keep working and keep going when it comes to an active and healthy lifestyle. With that kept in mind, this brand does not only encourage its consumers to be fast and strive for their goals. It also cares to be up to date and create the most comfortable and recent pieces available.

Vision Statement

And now the vision statement. It is “to be the most desirable and sustainable sport lifestyle company in the world”. Not hiding that it wants to be a leader. Being a desirable company is challenging to accomplish but setting it as a priority is incredibly important.

And when it comes to sustainability, it is a very nice value as well. Knowing that they are able to do things such as purchasing sports items that are not potentially harmful for the environment, the majority of the people choose this company.

Moving on, let’s try to understand a positioning strategy that Puma utilizes.

To help us get a better idea of it, let’s look through and analyze one of Puma’s Instagram posts.

The caption plays a big role if we want to understand the concept of this post. It says “holding on to these hoop dreams”. It is kind of ironic because this post is announcing Puma and J. Cole’s second signature sneaker. It is called The Dreamer 2. The brand is encouraging its consumers to always do everything for their dreams.

Why hoop dreams? Because the guy in the photo is playing basketball and, in his case, a dream would be throwing the ball directly through the hoop. So, Puma is letting its Instagram followers know that it could only take some new sneakers to turn dreams into reality.

Now, let’s understand what archetype Puma belongs to. It makes its buyers feel powerful and in control. Does not hesitate to state that its brand can be life-changing. Makes people feel like they are free and they can change and improve whatever they want to in their lives. All of the mentioned leads to believe that the archetype that applies for Puma is Outlaw.

What do we know about the archetype Outlaw?

Desire: revenge or revolution
Aim: to destroy what is not working
Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock

And now, let’s mention what we know about the messaging levels of this archetype.

Level One: feeling powerless, angry, mistreated, under siege
Level Two: identifying as an outsider, the values of the group or society in a way that flies in the face of conventional behaviors and morality
Level Three: behaving in shocking or disruptive ways
Level Four: becoming a rebel or revolutionary

Outlaw is a promising identity for your brand if:

• customers of your brand are feeling very disaffiliated from society or identify with values at odds with those of society at large
• the function of your product is to destroy something (actually, like a bulldozer, or virtually, like many video games) or is genuinely revolutionary
• your product is not very good for people so that using it is akin to thumbing your nose at society’s ideas of what constitutes health
• your product helps retain values that are threatened by prevailing ones or pioneers new and revolutionary attitudes
• your product’s price is low to moderate

Brand Archetypes. Why do we need them in practice?

All of us know that many companies have problems in presenting their key values and attitudes. Sometimes our messaging leads to misunderstanding or it does not represent what we aimed to say in reality. Here of course the importance of the brand archetypes is very crucial. How to create a good company culture? 

What are its values? Here are some questions that need to be answered properly. “8 steps to a complete archetypal branding” eBook tells us a lot.  We have written a book that goes deeper in these notions and reveals archetypes in specific ways. Just uncover the brand archetypes with “8 steps to a complete archetypal branding” eBook.

Brand Archetypes. Why do we need them in practice?

All of us know that many companies have problems in presenting their key values and attitudes. Sometimes our messaging leads to misunderstanding or it does not represent what we aimed to say in reality. Here of course the importance of the brand archetypes is very crucial. How to create a good company culture? 

What are its values? Here are some questions that need to be answered properly. “8 steps to a complete archetypal branding” eBook tells us a lot.  We have written a book that goes deeper in these notions and reveals archetypes in specific ways. Just uncover the brand archetypes with “8 steps to a complete archetypal branding” eBook.

Next, why not look at the SWOT analysis of Puma to get a better insight into the brand.

Strengths

High growth rate: In 2014, Puma’s revenue was 2.97 billion euros. In the next year, it got to 3.39 billion. And in 2016, it got a 12.8 % increase in sales. Those are pretty impressive results. The company is working to increase its growth rate even further.

Marketing and Sponsorship: Puma reaches out to a lot of well-known football players to promote its brand via sponsorships. Among those people are Diego Maradona, Pele, Olivier Giroud, Marco Reus, and etc. Puma also sponsored the FIFA World Cup of 2014.

The company also makes sure to reach out to influential women so that its women’s business succeeds as well. A couple of famous icons in that group are Rihanna and Kylie Jenner.

Research and Development: Did you know why football players use screws in their boots? It is because this makes sure that better friction will be provided while running. In fact, screw boots were Puma’s invention and they have been around ever since. This makes its research and development team look very impressive.

Brand equity: Over 120 countries have the luxury to use Puma’s products. Another great thing is that alongside consumers, the company also has a good number of employees worldwide. In 2014, Puma began collaborating with other retailers to gain more recognition through their stores.

 As already mentioned, they are also working on women’s attire. They collaborated with Rihanna and created sneakers under her label. Its first color options got sold out in just a matter of a few hours.

Weaknesses

Competition: It is definitely not a secret that Nike and Adidas are huge competitors of Puma. They are making it hard for Puma to shine. In fact, there is a major difference between those brands’ and Puma’s earnings.

Financial strength: As the same brands mentioned above have incomparably larger profits, those can be used for innovation, research, and development. In Puma’s case, it’s harder because it can’t invest for marketing purposes as much. The reasoning behind that is that Puma has to be smarter with its income. 

Market share: Again, competitors Nike, Adidas, and Reebok sequentially hold 31%, 16%, and 6% of market share. Puma, on the other hand, holds 7%. Which allows it a lot of room to grow.

Wage dispute: Puma sometimes has salary disagreements with its employees. That problem needs to be solved.

Opportunities

New target markets: There are countries such as Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, India, Columbia, and Mexico where high growth is expected in the market. This means that it would be a smart move for Puma to increase its sales in those countries.  

New product line: Puma is specialized in sports apparel. But it would also be nice to introduce clothing and shoes in the lifestyle category. That would bring new consumers to the picture.

More sponsorships: Puma does reach out to a lot of sporting events and celebrities to help promote its brand. However, in contrast with its competitors, it still has a long way to go. So, it should reach out for every such opportunity possible.

More disposable income: As salaries are increasing, people are open to buying better quality and premium products. Puma should take this into consideration for its marketing purposes.

Threats

Economic condition: Puma can surely go ahead and open new stores across the globe. Sadly, the economy is changing and it’s unpredictable. Thus, it can be an obstacle for the brand.

Fraud products: People make knock-off versions of famous companies’ products and sell them at lower prices. This can result in a reduction in the original company’s sales.

Now, let’s discuss the segmentation strategy of Puma.

To get help analyzing it, let’s watch a short commercial.

The commercial communicates that everyone regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, and etc. is always going through something, fighting it. Fighting for different things. Things such as freedom, survival, justice, and being heard. But we can all choose to get back on our feet every time the road seems to be broken.

There is something that can always guide us. And that thing is love. If hate is free and common, then so can love be. The video ends by saying that “we are the future”. We can choose to turn the world around and fill it with positivity and love.

Everyone in the commercial is dressed nicely. Whether intentionally or not, they are showing their outfits. Those people are all working towards some goal. The main message here is the care for the future. The aim that the future will look like we have accomplished something. All of the mentioned points are hinting at one thing. The segment that Puma has chosen to target is Breakouts.

Here is some information that we know about Breakouts.

Lifestyle and values:

Breakouts pay special attention to money and recognition. In their minds, if they acquire pricy goods, then they also get status. Designer brands are their weakness because, with the help of those, their success is physically visible.

The segment likes enjoying life but at the same time worries about the future. Their attitude is questionable. It works in the traditional way. Meaning that men are supposed to practice masculine activities and women feminine ones.

Shopping preferences:

 Breakouts buy new things as soon as some time passes and they become more affordable. When it comes to less expensive things, this group can buy things just for the sake of buying them without valid reasoning.

However, when it comes to clothing, a lot of money may be spent. Items that have good quality are the way to go, but they don’t have to be premium pieces. For that sole reason, this segment likes trying out new brands and exploring their style.

Other interesting facts about the segment:

• spend the majority of free time hanging out with friends
• prefer pubs and discos when going out
• aren’t interested in cultural events and activities
• aren’t advanced in technology
• are good at fixing things manually
• aren’t fond of traveling
• like passive holidays

16 Personalities (why do you need them in your business?)

After understanding the basics of Breakouts behavior you may ask, what kind of brand will be interesting for them? Which hidden and at the same time important things have to be considered? You can find all the answers to these questions in our e-book called “16 Personalities”.  You will also find all the solutions for your marketing problems, which will obviously change your insights about Buyer Persona.

Of course this is one of the 16 personalities and with this book you will discover all of them. With knowledge of each 16 personalities you will confidently find your ideal buyer persona and change your marketing strategy to achieve new levels. 

The book also gives you some other hints for selling your product and negotiating with your clients.

To sum up, Puma is the World’s third largest sportswear company that has been around since 1948. Although it has competitors, it is doing just fine for the time being. Seeking smart sponsorships and making worthwhile products. This brand truly deserves more recognition as it offers sustainable and good quality items. With that being said, we hope that you were able to understand the strategies Puma uses to stay relevant. For more blog posts like this, visit our main page.