PUMA launches new marketing strategy with national ad campaign aimed at alternative youth culture.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 1996--

Advanced CELL technology basis for

retro-futuristic campaign developed by

Gyro Worldwide and award-winning music video producers

PUMA, the fourth largest sporting brand in the world, makes a bold marketing move this week with the launch of the brand's first nationally advertised campaign in more than a decade.

The television campaign -- a retro-futuristic perspective on PUMA's revolutionary advanced CELL technology -- was developed over the past two months by Gyro Worldwide, the highly acclaimed Philadelphia-based advertising agency that specializes in marketing to the alternative youth culture, and was produced as the first commercial endeavor by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, producers of the 1996 MTV music video of the year, "Tonight Tonight" by the Smashing Pumpkins. PUMA named Gyro Worldwide its advertising agency of record in September 1996.

The advertising campaign sets the stage for a major turnaround of the PUMA brand in the United States, and comes on the heels of PUMA AG's announcement last month of its strategic partnership with Monarchy/Regency Enterprises, a leading Hollywood film producer or co-producer of such blockbuster hits as "Pretty Woman," "A Time To Kill," "JFK" and "Free Willy." Monarchy/Regency's standing in the entertainment business enables PUMA to further step up its marketing efforts in the United States.

"PUMA enjoys 68 percent brand awareness in the United States, and with this ad campaign and other strategic marketing initiatives we are now focused on shortening the gap between our strong brand awareness and 1 percent market share of American consumers," said Herbert Elliott, president of PUMA North America, which is based in Brockton, Mass. "We will leverage PUMA's distinctive identity as a superior performance sport brand that also is perceived as confident and rebellious -- a personality that appeals to young Americans, who as a group purchase between 70 and 80 percent of all athletic footwear in the United States."

To help build its brand positioning, PUMA turned to Gyro Worldwide, an advertising agency that has gained both notoriety and praise for its own brand of unabashedly "hip" advertising that is decidedly different from traditional Madison Avenue campaigns. The agency, founded in 1990 by Steve Grasse, 31, has distinguished itself for an ability to tap into the psyche of a generation of American consumers who refuse to be "demographic targets" and who do not respond to the same marketing messages that have appealed to generations before them.

The PUMA advertising campaign reinforces PUMA's heritage as a performance sports brand whose product excellence is derived from highly advanced technology. PUMA, which has a long history of leading-edge technical advancements, revolutionized the sporting goods industry earlier this year when it launched CELL technology and became the first athletic footwear manufacturer in the world to introduce a "foamless" midsole running shoe. Using sophisticated computer analysis, PUMA developed a mid-sole made of interlocking polymer cells that are differentiated in size, thickness, firmness and height to create a running shoe that provides better support, motion control and cushioning and lasts 50 percent longer than foam-based running shoes.

To highlight that PUMA is technologically ahead of its time without being "too technical," Gyro developed a series of fast-paced :15 and :30 commercials, shot on location at the Rockwell Defense Center in Seal Beach, Calif. The commercials dramatize the futuristic laboratory creation of PUMA's CELL technology coming to life as if in a Petri dish, and intersperses a sci-fi chase scene with "Bionic Man" type images.

Gyro's Grasse also reached out to Dayton and Faris, producers of music videos for R.E.M., the Beastie Boys and Smashing Pumpkins, winner of seven MTV music awards in 1996. The PUMA ads are the first time Dayton and Faris lent their music video expertise to commercial production.

The nationally televised PUMA ads initially are airing exclusively on MTV. In addition, PUMA launched a national print campaign that includes alternative youth culture publications such as Spin, Details and Ray Gun in addition to running publications such as Runner's World. Both the television and print campaigns feature the PUMA running shoes CELL Speed and CELL Venom, the cross training shoe CELL Gator and the revolutionary CELL Pro and CELL Top soccer shoes to be introduced in mid-year 1997.

Since introducing the CELL technology in 1996, PUMA has substantially increased its penetration into U.S. specialty sports stores. This week, PUMA introduced a line of shoes with more advanced CELL technology that extends across the full-length of the mid-sole rather than limited to the heel-to-instep section of the mid-sole. The PUMA CELL is now incorporated into a broader product line, including men's and women's running, soccer and cross-training footwear.

"To make it in today's competitive athletic footwear marketplace, it is imperative to first establish credibility for performance," added Elliott. "We believe we have done that, and PUMA is now in a position to extend our appeal to a wider general audience and to capture a substantially larger share of the U.S. footwear market."

PUMA's history dates back to 1924 and includes relationships with generations of championship competitors and sports enthusiasts who have endorsed PUMA products for their innovation, quality and performance, including U.S. stars Roger Clemens, Isiah Thomas, Evelyn Ashford, Bill Rogers, Thomas Smith and Walt Frazier, as well as international stars Martina Navratilova, Linford Christie, Merlene Ottey and Boris Becker.

PUMA products include footwear, apparel and accessories and are manufactured for a wide range of sports categories, including soccer, running, cross-training, sports lifestyle, basketball and tennis for professional and recreational athletes.

PUMA AG is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany and the company's North American operations are based in Brockton, Mass.

CONTACT: The Hubbell Group

Lisa Stearns or Alyson Riley, 617/878-8882