The marketing director discusses the sports brand’s partnership with cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur, its own latest ad campaign, and more.
“PUMA always has supported athletes as a sports brand. “We are interested in being a sponsor on the journey of athletes who’ve already done fantastically and are now actively promoting the causation of sport in the country,” says Shreya Sachdev, PUMA India‘s head of marketing. Continuing the brand’s vision, an active campaign aims to close this same gender divide in cricket. Cricket is more than just a sport in India; it’s grown into an essential component of Indian culture. Players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma have achieved celebrity status, becoming influential figures with brands vying for their endorsements. In this scenario, PUMA initiated the first leg of its campaign last month, by going to post an enigmatic teaser trailer of a player having to take a stance at the stumps and challenging this same viewer to assume the next brand ambassador. PUMA monitored consumer comments on Instagram, and Twitter, but also its native shopper’s platforms such as Puma.com as well as retail stores. Surprisingly, by the 5000 responses gathered over 36 hours, 80% of consumers presumed the brand ambassador was a male cricketer. The brand then released a video introducing Harmanpreet Kaur, captain of India’s women’s cricket team, just like its new ambassadors. “For us, sexual identity has not played any role in onboarding ambassadors,” Sachdev says of the decision to bring this same cricketer on deck as an ambassador. PUMA has previously collaborated with athletes such as Mary Kom (boxer), Savita Punia (hockey), and paralympic player Avni Lekhara (rifle shooter). The label has continuously attempted to help these people on their journeys. “The campaign is the brand’s commitment to demonstrating its investment in the sporting ecosystem,” Sachdev adds. In the return fixture of the campaign, PUMA reveals how a Google search for the leader of the Indian cricket team returns only men’s team captains such as Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, while unfairly excluding women’s team captain Kaur. “One part of the action plan was to get the woman on deck as the brand ambassador,” Sachdev explains, “but the primary essential element is to guarantee that she receives the same sort of awareness and recognition that a man throughout her position would get.” According to the marketing director, the brand’s message is that female teams have a lot to offer, as well as Harmanpreet as a cricket player is an absolute legend.
Follow and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter
