As we all know, in order to increase the sales volume, every company has his special strategies. They can be inspiring slogan, such as Hongxing Erke's "To be No.1", Lining's "Everything is possible", Nike's "Just do it", Adidas's "impossible is nothing".They can be attractive advertisement, for example, inviting some stars as their brand image. They can be symbolic logo, and they can be substantial sales promotion activities and other methods. All they have done is to make their products well known by more people and increase the sales volume. There is no exception for PUMA, he also carried out some strategies to survive in this time filled with fierce competition.
However, there's no alternative for Jochen Zeitz to carry out guerrilla marketing t when he took over PUMA. In 1993, PUMA's financial loss amounted to $ 32 million. Under the huge pressure, Zeitz can only be resorted to layoffs and reduced marketing costs and other measures to solve this problem. After that, the surprising investment return made Zeitz determine to return to guerrilla marketing tactics in the end.
Different from other competitors' large investments on advertising and publicizing, Puma put limited marketing funds into a low-cost and creative guerrilla marketing activities. In 2002, Puma's advertising expenses in the United States is only 3.9 million yuan, far less than those of Nike and Reebok and other competitors.
In the fall of 2002, Puma sponsored a sports shoes design contest named Thrift, participants of which are some avant-garde designers. Designers must use the old shirts, pants, ties and wallets and other raw materials to design sports shoes. The company will produce 510 pairs of shoes called "sports shoes with spirit." These limited edition products were sought by many collectors, The price of each pair of shoes was as high as 250 dollars, and some were even collected by the London Art Museum.
In 2002, during the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, other sports brands seized this rare opportunity, and spent millions of money to obtain the official sponsorship and sign a contract with stars. While Puma did not follow such an uncreative action, but signed a sponsorship contract with Jamaica, Tunisia and some other African football teams. On one hand, these African teams performed excellently and caught much attention from audience and media. Wha's more, their sponsorship fees are much lower than the big teams. On the other hand, Zeitz said, Jamaica's and Tunisia's athletes' characters are in accordance with Puma's brand image. Because sports are not only just blood, sweat and tears, but also an enjoyment that never ceases.
During the World Cup in Japan and South Korea in 2002, Puma has also organized a public relations activities entitled "Shudoh" (which means the ways to be the owner of football). Besides, Puma invited the famous Japanese chef Masaharu Morimoto to specifically design a sushi roll for the World Cup, which can be supplied in major cities around the world(including New York, London, Sydney and other important market) and regard as the most common foods during the World Cup. During that time, if football fans chose this dish in a restaurant, they will be additionally offered the chopsticks with printed Puma Logo, Japanese saki glass and napkin, and they can participate in activities, such as, sushi making competition.
Jochen Zeitz said: "As a matter of fact, Americans are not particularly interested in football match, what really attract them is these public relations activities, which are based on the 'Japanese lifestyle' as the main selling point. And people feel these activities are very fresh and interesting. In addition, it makes our brand distinctive from other brands.
Through the above strategies, PUMA not only solve his financial problem, but also succeed in the fierce competition.
