Elaborated Marketing Strategy of Puma + SWOT Analysis

Updated on: Sep 8, 2021
marketing strategy of Puma-feature image |IIDE

  Hey there!

My name is Aditya Shastri and I have written this case study with the help of my students from IIDE's online digital marketing courses in India.

Practical assignments, case studies & simulations from Harvard Business Review helped the students from this course present this analysis.

Building on this practical approach, we are now introducing a new dimension for our online digital marketing course learners - the Campus Immersion Experience.

If you find this case study helpful, consider leaving a comment below.

Puma is one of the leading sports brands on the globe, producing and selling footwear, accessories, and apparel worldwide. It has not only got its fame by giving good quality products but its marketing strategy has kept it at the forefront of the market. This makes us more inquisitive about its marketing strategies and its campaigns.

 In this case study, we will be learning about the marketing strategy of Puma, its marketing mix, SWOT Analysis, and marketing campaign Puma. Before we start with its marketing strategies and campaigns let us know more about Puma.

Digital Marketing Academic Challenge 2024 - DMAC

About Puma

Puma was a company established during a sibling rivalry. The German Multinational Company was founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler. Its headquarters is located in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

Puma is considered a very reputed company. In 2011 they made a positive impact by giving importance to Environmental impact. Puma’s core values consist of “ Be brave, determined and joyful.

brand logo of Puma-marketing strategy of Puma| IIDE

Puma has various mission statements such as “ to be the fastest sports brand in the world” i.e., to be the popular sports brand and have a global reach, and another is “to be the most desirable and sustainable Sports Lifestyle company in the world”  i.e., people should have interest in sports and engage in sports activities and have a sustainable lifestyle.

Now that you have known Pumas as a company let us now have a look at its marketing mix.

 Marketing Mix of Puma

Marketing mix refers to Price, Product, Place, and Promotion. All of these marketing mixes are interlinked with each other which is then used by puma to develop its marketing strategy.

Let us now start by looking at Puma’s price strategy.

1. Price

Puma is the third-largest sports brand in the world, to stand out from the other brand’s it prices its products less than the competitors. It has used this pricing strategy so that it gives competition to its rival companies.

Puma provides seasonal discounts and offers. If a consumer buys 4 times a year at the time of its 5th purchase 50 to 60 percentage offer is been given. Which motivates the customer to buy more.

2. Product

Puma has a massive variety of products for its customers to choose from. However, it produces products according to each country’s demand for example puma produces cricket equipment more in India and Soccer jerseys in the US.

They also provide a warranty of one month so they can repurchase if they are not satisfied with the products. Puma produces products with innovation and quality.

 

3. Place

Puma has Retail stores, E-Commerce stores, and wholesale factories operating in 120 countries which makes supplies always available for its customers.

It has four different central hubs located in Hong Kong, Herzogenaurach, Ho Chi Minh City, and  Boston.

They have corporate offices in each region of Asia, South Asia, South America, and Middle & North America, Europe, Africa, Australia. 

4. Promotion

Puma had been promoted by famous sports personalities on various advertising platforms. It also uses Websites and digital platforms to promote its products.

promotional mix of Puma-marketing strategy of Puma-marketing strategy of Puma-marketing strategy of Puma| IIDE

Its main focus in India is to generate revenue from cricket equipment and sponsoring the Ranji trophy. Before we move on let us summarise the above points: Puma sells its products at prices less than its competitors to give them competition.

About its product strategy, it markets different products in different countries depending on what people prefer more.

It has retail stores, wholesale factories, central hubs, and central offices all over the world.

And last but not least it has been promoting its products by celebrities and it even uses the latest digital platforms techniques for promoting its products.

Now that we know all about Puma’s Marketing mix let us see its marketing strategy.

 Marketing Strategy of Puma

Puma is one of the most well-known manufacturers of sports shoes but they also have marketed their diversified product line using Ambassadors, CSR Strategies.

They have an Innovative Research and Development team that helps them in getting new and advanced products for them in the market

Let’s discuss their marketing strategy in detail.

First, let us see the product diversification of puma which has made it branches in all fields of sports.

1. Product Diversification

Puma has come a long way, from producing only footwear products to diversifying their products like Gymnasium equipment, Trekking Equipment.

Puma makes custom-made shoes, racer suits, and shoes for Formula One, Puma has been providing football shoes for football players and various equipment for various sports.

Let us now see Puma’s brand ambassador strategy.

2. National Brand Ambassadors

Puma has signed deals with various sports personalities like  Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sushma Verma, Sunil Chhetri to promote their brand. 

Puma also endorses its products with different celebrities for example Saina Nehwal endorsed Badminton racket and cork.

Puma has made its brand image by making famous sports players who most Indians follow in their fields. their brand ambassadors influence people in buying their products.

brand awareness- marketing strategy of Puma-marketing strategy of Puma| IIDE

Making a person feel proud of the brand they are purchasing is also an important marketing tactic.

Let us now see some of Puma’s CSR strategies implemented to bring awareness.

3. CSR strategies

Puma had been providing Sports Scholarships to promote sports culture and also Anti Child Labour Campaign. 

Puma has 10 sustainable goals to fulfill by 2050 ie Human rights, Being socially responsible, taking responsibility for environmental care, Biodiversity, using sustainable materials, less usage of chemicals, etc 

4. Gaining Commercial Advantage from Research & Development

Instead of a Shoe Box and cover for the box, Puma started replacing them with Clever Little boxes to reduce the use of cardboard, paper, plastic, and less emission of Carbon Dioxide.

Let us now see the marketing budget of Puma.

5. Puma’s Marketing Budget

Statstics of Puma-marketing strategy of Puma-marketing strategy of Puma| IIDE

(Source: statistia.com) 

Having a large budget for marketing is as important as having proper marketing strategies.

Now, let us see Puma’s marketing campaign.

 

6. Puma’s Marketing Campaign

Puma did some great work in creating campaigns that hit people differently and subtly promote their brand. Here, we have discussed the best campaign by Puma. 

  • Propah Lady Campaign 

The campaign celebrates the shift from women being told what to do and not do. The campaign celebrates breaking the stereotypes. 

The ambassadors of this campaign are Boxer Mary Kom, Actress Sara Ali Khan, International Athlete Dutee Chand, and Transgender model Anjali Lama.

This campaign focuses on how women are always told to be feminine, wear decent clothes, be soft and not be opinionated. 

From a very young age, women are always told to be proper but this campaign focuses on how women can be a Propah Lady which means women can be however she wants to be and not how society wants her to be.

During the past years, people have started using social media on a large scale and every company should have a social media campaign.

Let us now look at Puma’s social media campaigns.

 

7. Puma Social Media Strategy 

Every different social media account has its unique use. Puma has managed all of its accounts properly and is posting all relevant content on its social media.

Let us start by looking at Puma’s Instagram strategy.

Instagram 

PumaIndia has 762K followers and  Puma has 11.7 million followers on Instagram. They also have various pages on Instagram like Puma Women, Puma Motorsports, Puma Football, Puma Sportstyle which show their diversified products.

On their various social media handles, they feature the player of that sport wearing their products.

Instagram of Puma-marketing strategy of Puma-marketing strategy of Puma| IIDE

On Puma India’s account, they create engaging content using all content types offered by Instagram, i.e., Reels, Guides, Carousal, IGTV, and Single Image Posts.

 

Twitter 

Puma joined Twitter in June 2009 and they have 1.7 million followers on Twitter. 

Twitter of Puma-marketing strategy of Puma -marketing strategy of Puma| IIDE

It posts about various topics like preventing online abuses, about their product, or featuring the player or talking about the games like football and basketball.

With this, we have to see Pumas Marketing strategy.

It has a well-managed marketing strategy in all of its subcategories. starting with its large diversified products, having brand ambassadors for every different category, CSR strategies for gaining customer’s trust in the brand, Gaining Commercial Advantage from Research & Development, its marketing budget, marketing campaign, and its social media strategy.

Let now move on and look at Puma’s SWOT analysis.

SWOT Analysis of Puma

SWOT analysis means examining the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of a company.

Let’s understand the SWOT Analysis of the Puma company. 

1. Strength

  • It produces shoes and racing shoes for Formula One and NASCAR.
  • It has partnered with BMW and Ferrari and was an exceptional brand name all over the world. 
  • It was the first company to sponsor the FIFA Football World Cup, Puma has a creative Research and Development team. 
  • It has creative and innovative marketing strategies and has advertised the product very well and promoted it throughout the world.

 

2. Weakness

  • It is the third-largest footwear-producing brand. Adidas and Nike are tough competitors and it has a limited market share than its competitors.
  • There is a chance of people preferring other brands. Puma has to search for investors and can take financial assistance from competitors. 
  • It has salary conflicts among the employees that often lead to strikes and hardships in production.

 

3. Opportunities

The opportunities for Puma are:

  • It has a great opportunity to increase its business from new developing markets in Asia.
  • According to the current changing trends, they can improve their business in India, Vietnam, Mexico, etc to increase their global footprints.

 

4. Threats

  • There can be an intense competition soon as every brand wants to be at the top.
  •  With followers, you also get haters who might create false allegations against the companies. It should be able to handle any allegations by the people.
  • counterfeit products
  • innovative low-cost products, 
  • currency fluctuations are some threats to the company.
Digital Marketing Academic Challenge 2024 - DMAC

Conclusion

Puma has placed itself in the spotlight with its distinctive marketing strategies. They target certain segments of society in specific locations. A hilarious aspect is how their resale – second-hand products – sell for nearly three times its retail price! It all rounds back to the ‘limited supply, high demand’ phenomena.

 

Puma’s business model is interesting from its logo, product designs to its market reach. Isn’t that the most important thing? To make a statement! Let us know your inputs in the comments below.

 

We hope this blog was insightful and interesting. If you’re interested in the marketing field check out IIDE’s course on Digital Marketing. These are skills you can utilise to understand and curate effective marketing strategies for various industries.

 

Share post via

Aditya Shastri

Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE

Leads the Learning & Development segment at IIDE. He is a Content Marketing Expert and has trained 6000+ students and working professionals on various topics of Digital Marketing. He has been a guest speaker at prominent colleges in India including IIMs......[Read full bio]

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Posts