Results and Effectiveness

The web partnership was a major success, with the brand event page receiving 3.2 million impressions over the course of the campaign. And consumer involvement translated into massive sales. Despite PUMA’s media budget being 40% lower than 2008/09, Korean goose-down jacket sales leapt 75% YoY. This was 36% above PUMA’s target. Added value secured via PR and media reached US$1 million. The entire Winter campaign secured PUMA a media ROI of 6 to 1. And as for the risqué fashion shoot? That image became the most searched for term on Naver!

Creative Execution

PUMA prioritised quality over price. Containing sought-after Polish goose-down (as opposed to the Chinese product favoured by others), the new jackets benefited from extra pockets of down to protect inner layers and offer extra comfort and warmth. Vibrant colours were introduced and, with two types of jacket available (the main product and an inner goose-down ‘vest’ that could be used alone or as an undercoat), weather-activated media was used to promote individual products based on forecast temperatures. Beyond standard ads and editorial slots, the bright jacket creative was used to ‘hijack’ newspaper, magazine and web pages featuring duller styles and tones. To complement the brand’s convention-flipping mission, an online goose-down ‘Create your Own Style’ event was held with Korean web leader Naver and a risqué fashion shoot was undertaken as a centerpiece for our message, featuring Yoon Uen Hye wearing nothing but goose-down, hot-pants and heals!

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Winter has a habit of draining the vibrancy from people’s lives, right down to their clothing choices - a fact reinforced by PUMA research. But the brand, which emphasizes joy, colour and energy, learned that its young and active target audience was keen to break free of winter conventions. PUMA found that clothing purchase decisions were based on availability rather than preference. The brand saw an opportunity to inject unparalleled effervescence (and quality) into the key winter market of Korea via the second year of its goose-down jacket campaign. Taking the regional strategy of ‘Winter is the New summer’ as its cue, PUMA deliberately went against the grain to lighten the dark days with a stand-out new product that would prove THE must-buy jacket for the 2009-10 winter season. But armed with 40% less budget than 2008-09 and increased competition in the sector, the brand had its work cut out.