Apparel Online India Magazine May 1-15, 2019 | Page 43

DOMESTIC UPDATE
American singer Selena Gomez as Puma’s global brand ambassador
host of new brands are making a
beeline for India presently, Puma is
all geared up for the ever-growing
competition and claims to be growing
every single year in ‘this buoyant
market’. Puma offers an expansive
range of products for consumers from
varied age groups. “While the basic
target audience is in the age group
of 15-25 years, we cater to the needs
of every consumer who is fitness as
well as fashion-conscious. India has
become very well aware about global
fashion trends and about technological
advancements in fashion,” informs
Atul. For Puma, approximately 38%
of its business comes from apparel,
10% from accessories and 52% from
footwear. Even as this keeps changing
season to season and from city to city,
the brand maintains that its business
is pretty much spread evenly between
apparel and footwear. The sportswear
major makes sure to maintain the
freshness among all of its collections
ensuring the growth trajectory
remains positive. “Puma works on
a four-season calendar because it
is important for the brand that the
consumer keeps getting new collection
every quarter. Besides, we also
introduce fresh infusions every month
to keep things new and exciting for
our discerning consumers. Of course,
the collection doesn’t completely
change but one gets to see a lot of
newness coming in every month
keeping in pace with today’s world
which is very fast moving and digitally
connected,” informs Atul.
While the brand has numerable good
selling products across categories,
the brand has always tried to
An association worth many – Virat Kohli’s One8 has clocked Rs.100 core sales in its first year of launch
expand its horizons and enter new
avenues. Puma is planning to enter
the bodywear segment with watches
and has signed a global license
partnership agreement with Fossil
Group for the design development
and distribution of Puma watches
and smartwatches. Atul maintains,
“In terms of technological innovation,
we introduced the hybrid technology
last year which is Puma’s unique
proprietary technology. It is actually
an amalgamation of two technologies
we had introduced earlier, which
are energy and ignite. What this
technology offers is that it gives
class leading cushioning along with
responsiveness, which gives ultimate
speed. We have had an amazing
response from products made with
hybrid technology in India as well as
globally. The price of merchandise
made with hybrid technology ranges
between Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 14,000.”
ESSENTIALS
According to a
research report, the
global market for
Sports and Fitness
Clothing is projected
to reach US $ 231.7
billion by 2024. The
report points out
that the Asia-Pacific
region is expected
to be the fastest
growing region, with
a CAGR of 6.9% over
the forecast period.
trends come from outside India, here
we have collaborated with an Indian
sports star who is known for his own
fashion sense, co-creating a range of
quality products for India. Kohli puts
in a lot of thought process in the range
building. We have had tremendous
success with One8. The kind of sales
number we are generating from
this range so quickly is just hard to
believe and I think a lot of that is due
to the fact that we are offering India
something which is made especially
for India.” While the One8 products
are being sold right now at Puma
exclusive stores and the multi-brand
stores, the brand might plan to have
exclusive outlets for One8 in the times
to come. Also, Puma is exporting One8
merchandise to countries like the
Middle East and is looking to expand
it in UK and Canada as well. Puma
has always been upfront on using
celebrity endorsement in order to
The midas touch of a celeb
Celebrity brand endorsement is the
new in-thing in retail in India and
worldwide, and Puma has the best of
the best as its face. The brand has
recently appointed boxer Mary Kom
as its brand ambassador for women’s
training category. Kom will lead the
brand’s advertising campaign #DoYou
that aims to motivate women to be
strong and accomplish their goals.
Also, Puma has co-created One8 with
Indian cricket team captain Virat
Kohli which has greatly impacted
sales and revenue at Puma. Atul
excitedly tells, “One8 has got its own
philosophy. While most of the fashion
British Formula 1 Racing Car Driver Lewis Hamilton sporting Puma’s ‘hybrid technology’ shoes
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