Puma backs boot launch with extensive online marketing campaign

The Velocity boot, renamed as v1.06, is being pushed through rich-media advertising across the UK, Germany, France, The Netherlands and Sweden and is also being targeted in a deal with MSN and Yahoo!.

The first campaign to promote the boot is based on the promise that it gets you there faster, and ties in with above-the-line advertising.

In the TV ad, an African child is given a pair of the boots. He is discovered by a talent scout and goes on to score a winning goal in a game.

The online interpretation, aimed at men aged 17-24, is more product-focused and showcases the boot in a series of personalised ads using rich media technology from Eyeblaster.

Users can enter their name into dynamic ads to arrive at a personalised site and advertising, which aims to go viral. It will play out various scenarios where the participant goes from obscurity to notoriety in minutes and scores a goal. The overlay shows the same scenario immediately without click-though.

The campaign uses a combination of rich media ads, which vary depending on the market.

In Norway and Sweden, where rich media is not widely accepted, the advertising includes leader board positions, MPUs and supersky formats, and in the UK and France overlays are also included.

The pan-European deals with Yahoo! involves sponsorship of its football coverage where the section is branded with African football colours and bespoke creative. A deal with MSN includes placement on MSN Hotmail and MSN Messenger.

The campaign will run for four weeks and signals an increased online investment from the brand.

The online strategy and campaign was developed by Zed Media.

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This article was first published on revolutionmagazine.com