Product Brand Management

Submitted to:
Ms Anju Gulla

Submitted by :
Nitin Verma Preeti Khatri Himanshi Gulati Rohit Prajapat Sanjeev Kumar Sumit Bhatia Mugdha Chopra Neeraj Kumar Vishal Goel

CONTENT :

Objective Executive summary Introduction Brand Origins Brand Protfolio Competitor profile Competitive analysis Brand Identity, image and personality Brand objective Puma strategy in India Overall Brand Strategy Customer Based Brand equity Cobranding and Events Recommendations Conclusion Refernces

OBJECTIVE
Our study is to do full brand analysis of PUMA. Its life cycle , historical analysis and find how puma has done well overtime and what strategy the company have followed to keep the brand alive and kicking. And to do a comparative analysis with a similar product brand which would have captured the fascination of public rather swifty.

METHOD USED FOR STUDY

Method used in our study is using secondary data like web site of puma, news release of puma, marketing strategy news of puma etc.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
PUMA is one of the worlds leading sportlifestyle companies that designs and develops footwear, apparel and accessories. It is committed to working in ways that contribute to the world by supporting Creativity, Sustainability and Peace, and by staying true to the principles of being Fair, Honest, Positive and Creative in decisions made and actions taken. PUMA starts in Sport and ends in Fashion. Its Sport Performance and Lifestyle labels include categories such as Football, Running, Motorsports, Golf and Sailing. Sport Fashion features collaborations with renowned designer labels such as Alexander McQueen, Mihara Yasuhiro and Sergio Rossi. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra Golf and Tretorn. The company, which was founded in 1948, distributes its products in more than 120 countries, employs more than 9,500 people worldwide and has headquarters in Herzogenaurach/Germany, Boston, London and Hong Kong.

INTRODUCTION

PUMA is a major German multinational company that produces athletic shoes. Footwear,
and other sportswear The Company was formed in 1924 as Gebrder Dassler Schuhfabrik by Adolf and Rudolf Dassler The relationship between the two brothers deteriorated until the two agreed to split in 1948, forming two separate entities, Adidas and Puma. Puma is currently based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. The company is known for its football shoes and has sponsored acclaimed footballers, including Pel, Eusbio, Johan Cruijff, Enzo Francescoli, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthus, Kenny Dalglish, Didier Deschamps, Robert Pires, Radamel Falcao, Samuel Eto'o, and Gianluigi Buffon. Puma is the sponsor of the Jamaican track athlete Usain Bolt. In the United States, the company is known for the suede basketball shoe it introduced in 1968, which eventually bore the name of New York Knicks basketball star Walt "Clyde" Frazier, and for its endorsement partnership with Joe Namath.

Following the split from his brother, Rudolf Dassler originally registered the newestablished company as Ruda, but later changed to Puma. Puma's earliest logo consisted of a square and beast jumping through a D, which was registered, along with the company's name, in 1948. Puma's shoe designs feature the distinctive "Formstripe", with clothing and other products having the logo printed on them.

BRAND ORIGINS
A Family Business The roots of the Puma brand stretch back to the mid 1920s when Adi and Rudolph Dassler spent years working together building lightweight athletic shoes registered under their family shoe enterprise Gebrder Dassler, in Herzogenaurach Germany. Beginning with the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Adis uniquely designed shoes began to gain a worldwide reputation. Jesse Owens was wearing a pair of Dasslers track shoes when he won gold for the USA at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Feuding Brothers After World War II, during which Rudi Dassler had spent time in a POW camp, the Dassler brothers began a legendary feud, causing Rudolph to leave the company and found a rival company across town. Originally thinking of calling his brand RUDA, Rudi Dassler named his company Puma Aktiengesellscaft Rudolf Sport (Puma) while brother Adi incorporated as Adidas. This family rift would lead to cutthroat business feuds and sporting triumphs forging two mighty sporting brands recognized all over the world.

BRAND PORTFOLIO

The Puma sport brand category targets both mainstream sports (football golf, and baseball) as well as extreme sports (BMX, Motorsports). Puma is currently using different brand identities to differentiate their offerings and the messaging from that of the core brand.

The classic category exploits the sporting heritage appeal of the Puma brand by offering products that combine timeless classics with the latest style. The lifestyle brand category is made up of a wide variety of footwear, apparel, and accessories that are trend setting, urban, and ultra hip. To build associations with other design savvy brands, Puma has partnered with Ferrari, F1 Racing, and Cooper Mini to co-brand new and existing products

Nuala is the product of an organic partnership reflecting Christy Turlingtons passion for the ancient discipline of Yoga. The sub brand represents PUMAs commitment to create a superior mix of sport and lifestyle products. It is an elegant yet concise fashion collection to complement a womans busy work, travel and exercise schedule. 96 Hours Fashion designer Neil Barrett has created a collection with global jetsetter in mind. The collection conveys a modular concept approach that accomodates the on-the-go lifestyle of todays style conscious adventurers Platinum is a luxury shoe line that focuses on craftsmenship and pulls influences from Pumass sport heritage, and recently has drawn inspiration from the prestige of timeless sports like polo, yachting, and auto racing.

COMPETITOR PROFILE
Although Puma has labeled B brands because in terms of their market share, they form a second rung of manufacturers in the sportswear industries just below the market leader or the so called A brands like Nike, Reebok and Adidas. So the main competitors for Puma are 1.Nike 2.Adidas 3.Reebok

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS.
Almost all the sports apparel brands have strong brand recognition. They all have a wide range of products. These companies are well established not just in India but elsewhere as well. They are all geographically well diversified which has a strong brand recognition. Almost all these brands have good relationships in the form of bonds with sports clubs, athletic teams, international sponsorships, good endorsements across the world which help them to be recognized as a global brand.

NIKE
Nike has developed a brand that has global reach striving to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. Over the years Nike has partnered with the worlds greatest athletes to build their brand recognition and reach, masterfully demonstrating the power of image marketing. Nike communicates to a wide variety of sporting and lifestyle segments while retaining its focus on high performance athletes. Like Puma, Nike has extended their brand through concept retail stores, event sponsorships, online customization services, and co branding with design savvy companies. The Nike brand differentiates itself from Puma by focusing on performance driven style, whereas Puma communicates lifestyle driven style. The Nike brand goes head to head with the Adidas brand on the sports performance front, fiercely competing to improve performance through technological innovation. They are strong as market leaders. They have strong bond with athletic organizations at the same time their weakness can be noted as their products are highly expensive. Most of their profit margins come from the shoe market. They can take the opportunities of developing sportswear, sunglasses and jewellery.

ADIDAS
Adidass mission is to improve every athletes performance through innovation. The overall Adidas brand communicates the companys goal of fusing sport performance and style competing very closely with Nikes value proposition. To compete with the value propositions of their traditional competitors, Adidas has focused their brand communications in three different areas: sport performance, sport heritage and sport style. Brand communications are tailored to the specific market segments within each unit. Leveraging its cutting edge innovations in Footwear,

Adidas spends the majority of its effort communicating to the sport performance segment. In response to the sports lifestyle trend being led by Puma, Adidas has recently co developed product lines with famous designers and has focused on the timeless and classic nature of their brand Their biggest strength is that they have a very strong brand name. Their operations are diversified geographically. At the same time their weakness can be termed as poor margins and low inventory. They have the opportunity of sponsorships.

PUMA
In recent years, the Puma brand has become synonymous with fashion, style, and sport. Through fresh design, co-branding and partnerships with celebrities and famous designers, Puma has elevated their brand image so that it now competes with fashion brands as well as their traditional rivals in the sporting foot wear industry. The Puma brand communication strategy is flexible across multiple categories, yet communicates innovation for an active lifestyle. Puma communicates with each category in a unique manner, but the tone is unmistakingly tied back to the overall brand through the overarching brand personality and identity. To extend their brand Puma has created concept retail stores that enable people to experience the brand in engaging and compelling ways. Puma also engages customers through their Mongolian barbeque concept that enables customers to design and build their own footwear from scratch. Further differentiating the brand from traditional rivals, Puma frequently hosts promotional events that are based around active lifestyle themes based on dining, entertainment, fashion, an music. Pumas strength is lies in the famous brand name and variety of product range such as Athletic foot wear, Apparel, Accessories, gloves. Puma has very less no of outlets that is the weakness of puma. Puma can take an opportunity of selling consignment goods and it can also take an opportunity of sponsorship. All the three brands have the threat of increased competition and imitation of good.

BRAND IDENTITY, IMAGE AND PERSONALITY

Brand identity relates to how people perceive puma as brand. Puma brand has become synonymous with fashion, style and sport. Thus identity of puma in consumers mind is : Young, innovative Brand. People who are young or those who wants to feel young should wear Puma. The customers should feel when they energetic, young, full of life when they wear Puma. That Brand Identity we want to gain for Puma. A sports Lifestyle Brand Puma seeks to be the most desirable Sports lifestyle company by developing a sustainable, iconic and global brand built upon core values such as design, innovation and inclusiveness

and communicated to thru all consumers touch points from product to distribution to marketing. The result is holistic, meaningful and long term relationship with consumers. A socially responsible brand. Puma is recognized as an environment concerned socially responsible brand. Puma developed the social accountability and fundamental environmental standard house with 5 core pillars as a basis for their S.A. F.E concept representing a milestone for Pumas corporate social responsibility policy. Social accountability means puma stands for its responsibility to all its stake holders including direct and indirect employees, share holders and consumers. Puma needs an active dialog with these stakeholders and interest groups such as governmental organizations, academia and others. The environmental standards aims to reduce any negative environmental impact from Pumas business activities and guarantees products are free of hazardous substances. Puma aims at producing environmentally compatible sports goods. Brand Image - It is the image of the perception which the customer has about your brand.

Sports Brand.

People think that it is just a sport brand. They should also wear Puma casually.

It is not at par of Adidas and Nike.

Puma is not as famous as Adidas and Nike. It has gained the breadth of brand awareness but not the depth. When people want to buy sports shoes the brand name come to their mind is Nike and Adidas. Puma does not occur to their minds at first place. People also think that Puma is not a sophisticated Brand.

Brand Personality - A Brands relationship with human being, his characteristics and personality. Puma can be related to personality which has characteristics like innovative, fun loving, exciting, outgoing, energetic, full of life etc. Puma has related it brand personality with Indian cricket Yuvraj Singh. His full of life attitude, energetic attitude , outgoing attitude fully connect the personality of puma.

BRAND OBJECTIVES

To make Puma as sophisticated Brand Puma to be known as a Sports life style brand. Puma to be known as socially active and responsible brand.

PUMA STRATEGY IN INDIA

Puma has always gone for a subtle branding and communication strategy to target its customers in the age groups 16-25 years the ones who use their products the highest Rather than go overboard with TV, Billboard or print advertising, Puma has always concentrated on digital as well as in store branding and retailing. Positive word of mouth from satisfied customers is what Puma has always tried to achieve as its main communication strategy as this purchase is a high involvement category.

Pumas strategy is built on left brained communication as it explains the concept of the brand at a level from which one can form opinions and conclusions. This gives an option for a person to be judgemental / non judgemental.

Puma desires to be the brand for people who want something to show off as a status symbol or to satisfy their esteem needs. Early adopters would leave a brand they consider as desirable if it starts appearing anywhere and everywhere. Rather than specially placing a product by its name in a movie, Puma India concentrates on building attention or awareness about the brand without mentioning the name. Since the brand appeals to fashion as well as sports conscious individuals, it strongly relies on digital advertising. Recently puma has also launched a e-commerce portal- PumaShop.in to offer online savvy and brand conscious consumers the opportunity to buy merchandise at the convenience of a click. Rajiv Mehta, Managing Director, PUMA India said, E-commerce is an integral part of PUMA Indias strategy. With enhanced digitalization, internet penetration and savvy consumers, we aim to provide them an equally seamless, efficient and enjoyable shopping experience through our e-shop. PUMA is expecting that this e-commerce portal will contribute to 10% of the companys overall revenues by 2015. Puma has tied up with Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers and is also the official kit supplier for the IPL. After starting many digital campaigns this year, Puma India plans to go for special TV innovations during the IPL next year. What is most important in the long run for Puma is to communicate the legacy of the brand to the customers / prospective customers. Without that it would be really difficult for the brand to sustain itself and it may force it to go the conventional above the line advertising route.

OVERALL BRAND STRATEGY

In order to develop a good image in customers mind puma is coming up with number of strategies in Product, Price Promotion and Place. PRODUCT: In term of product they are going to come up with strategies in quality, warranty, and innovation. a) Quality: They are looking forward to provide better quality product to their customer, to differentiate in term of quality standard. Hence, puma has already established its brand reputation over the years. But still there

are people, who prefer other brands like Adidas and Nike. So to be the first choice in consumer mind they have to increase the standard, so that consumer should have a wish or perception on their mind to opt for the brand. b) Warranty: They will provide one month warranty to every customer to gain customer loyalty, that if any fault has been seen after purchase we will exchange with a new pair of shoes. Therefore they can create brand image. c) Innovation: They have planned to come up with continuous innovation in their product range, so that the customers get his/her suitable choice. They would like to redesign their shoes and every other stuff, for every age group. Not just sportswear but in every product of puma, every age group should find their choice of stuff in our product range. There is less interest among customers in Puma due to less product range as compared to the market leaders Nike and Adidas. To change this attitude They are trying to redesign and increase our collection of shoes not just for sportswear but for casual and office wear too. Bringing distinctive and latest trendy design is their prime focus, as we all know that these days, they all are fashion conscious. These strategies will help building image in the perception of the customer.

PRICE: They are going to set a competitive price. Due to Chinese new year we will provides

20 % discount to the customer, so that they can buy puma brand and look over the brand as in compare to other high level brand. Discount on high unit purchase i,e if 4 pair of shoes are purchased in span of 1 year then customer will get 50% to 60% off on their 5th one when they will buy, this will grow the customer attention toward our brand and they might switch from buying an Adidas sportswear. They will also introduce a innovative way, that on purchase of a pre set limit a free gift will be offered. The company will also offer package like a full range of soccer apparel, including jersey to gloves throughout the year.
PROMOTION: It can be done in various ways. They will sponsor events like Formula -1 car

racing, road shows or local football match to increase our brand identity and that will create public awareness. They will also sponsor inter school, college and corporate tournament, to gain good publicity toward our brand puma and also can indirectly help to get a positive attitude towards puma by their customers.

PLACE : They are planning to open more retail outlets in places like Clarke quay, orchard

and shopping malls like vivo city , Raffles city where there is consistent foot traffic with all the latest design and product of puma. They are trying to provide information of their latest promotions and product range through mobiles to their customers. It can be easy for

anyone to retrieve information regarding Puma anywhere and anytime. This will definitely attract more customers to their Puma stores and help building a strong brand image

CUSTOMER BASED BRAND EQUITY

Building a strong brand, according to CBBE model , can be thought of as series of steps , where each step is contingent on successfully achieving the previous step. First step is to measure identification of brand with customers and an association of brand in customers mind with a specific product class or customer need. Second step is to firmly establish the brand meaning in the minds of customers(i.e by strategically thinking the host of tangible and intangible brand associations) Third step is to elicit the proper customer responses to this brand identity and brand meaning. The final step is to converts the brand response to create an intense active, loyalty relationship between customer and the brand. Identity (Salience): Right from its inception, Puma has one of the most elegant logos among sports lifestyle goods. It has further supported its logo by the use of vibrant colors right from it packaging to its advertisements. People clearly identify this logo under any circumstances. This identity further brings to the minds of consumers the unique characteristics of the brand and the usefulness of it. Further it has tried to use this logo by making it larger than life on all its products. Meaning (Performance / Imagery):

Puma has always fulfilled the elegant requirements of a true sports lifestyle brand. It has specially designed products for a lot of sports and furthermore it has created such innovativeness that these products can be further extended to everyday casual use. People consider Puma to be a young brand that fulfils the high image requirements of the youth. It has always laid emphasis on innovation and striking designs in its products and has positioned itself as a high end fashion brand because of its high pricing. Response (Judgments/Feelings): The perception of the consumers in india for Puma has reached from functional to aspirational because not only does it fulfill the basic needs but due to its innovativeness and quality level, it has created a feeling of trust among its consumers. Unlike lower brands, consumers feel a sense of pride using puma products. All the more, the youth have understood its unique offerings and use it at various occasions by not limiting themselves to using it in specific categories. Resonance: Though Puma has improved considerably over the years in Singapore, it has still not achieved the respect showered towards Nike, Adidas and Reebok. People still consider these brands superior in quality, class and functionality. Puma is trying to reach this level by further creating awareness by emphasizing on being a sports lifestyle brand.

CO BRANDING AND EVENTS

The Mihara Yasuhiro limited edition collection consists of apparel, shoes, and accessories for both men and women that break through the boundaries that have been set up through the course of fashion history. He designs with the intent of changing our perception and stereotype. Not interested in churning out mass produced high street numbers. The Starck shoe collection is not based on design, not on showing off, not on more and more and more features, but on showing less and less and less. It means more technology, more intelligence, but less styling. This is the secret of the Starck Puma Line. The Puma has tied up with Ducati/Ferrari

To build associations with other design savvy brands, Puma has partnered with Ferrari, F1 Racing, and Cooper Mini to co-brand new and existing products It is providing co-branded footwear , Puma Ferrari Jackets, and many more options are proived in Puma Ferrari range of apparels . Puma has a predecided calendar of events which they will organize. Puma website has all the details of different events. Puma arranges al lot of events for the people to create a good image. Some of the events are: 1Stand-up Paddle Boarding Stop by the Village Beach for free stand-up paddle boarding demos. You won't want to miss out on trying the new PUMA/Laird SUP! This event was organised 18 February , 2012, where everyone was invited and entry was free. It was organised in Village beach, Serenity Marina, Sanya, CN Marmo Story Telling Here Marmo which is a cartoon character chosen by Puma told story about his experience of saving his home with his friends. This is event was also organised in February where enrty was free. Puma arranges Marmo meet and greet Here people will met Marmo and he spoke about raising awareness about ocean preservation This event was also arranged in Feb 2012 Puma fitness lounge and Bike racing Puma also arranges fitness lounge event in many places where many fitness activities are conducted for the people. Also racing events are also been conducted by Puma

RECOMMENDATIONS
Endorsement: Since puma is already a reputed brand in the market; therefore finance wont be a problem at all. Therefore in order to create a strong brand image they can endorse celeb like tiger woods to promote their strategies, that will help to create a image on consumer mind This can be made telecast through advertisements in t v and in mrt and buses or even in magazines like sports star and sports today.

 Keeping the collection available in puma website, because there are people who dont have time to check, by going on around various store so they can look through the particular website to select product of their choice and buy the stuff. This can be added advantage for us to capture those potential customers who love to shop online. It will create strong brand image. Packaging: Packaging is a vital factor for any brand. As it involves the development of a container and a graphic design for a product . Packaging function includes protecting the product from damage. As package can be a vital part of the product making it more versatile. Like a brand name, a package can influence customers attitude towards a product and so effect their purchase decision, so we will look through our packaging. They try to use the promotional logos of Formula-1 car racing competition in their shoe boxes. It will definitely enrich their brand image if they become successful being one of the sponsor of the event. The sports shoe industry is estimated to be worth S$70 million, with growth rates averaging 5-10% a year. Sports shoes have become big business, as more people are adopting exercise as a way of life. Function and style are equally important for a majority of consumers when it comes to choosing a sports shoe. Consumers want their sports footwear to be useful for their sport, and to look good on a social level, as they want to wear them on the street as well. However, keen sportsmen continue to stay with high-end performance products with the wide variety of sports shoes currently available (ranging from basketball, running shoes, aerobics, tennis, and other sports). This is probably a opportunity for puma to increase and raise the standard of the brand. Hence innovation and increase in product range is seen viable that what puma lack in comparison to other brands.

CONCLUSION
Puma has the long term mission of becoming the most desirable and sustainable sportlifestyle company. PUMA starts in sports and ends in the Fashion. Its sport performance and lifestyle labels include categories such as football, running, motorsports, golf and sailing .The black label features collaboration with renowned designer labels such as alexander mcqeen, yasuhiro mihara .

Reference
http://yourstory.in/2011/09/puma-launches-its-e-shop/ http://in.rediff.com/sports/2005/nov/08adi.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puma_SE http://about.puma.com/category/company/strategy/brand-strat/ http://about.puma.com/category/company/history/ http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/12/22/puma-india-communication-strategy/