In 2022, PUMA relaunched its iconic 1980s and 90s ‘Slipstream’ basketball sneaker range through a June campaign called ‘Welcome Unbored’ spearhead by a ‘Slipstream Shuttle’ spot starring a strong team of PUMA ambassadors led by Neymar Jr and which also included Kingsley Coleman, Lamelo Ball and Romeo Beckham.
The work, which features a group of 12 brand endorsers drawn from several walks of life (including sport, music, models, celebrities and influencers), drives home a message about how PUMA reinvented a model steeped in history for the contemporary world while keeping the original silhouette.
To engage ‘cool kids’ around the world born after 2000 who have grown up with sneaker culture and who covet iconic trainer models from the 1980s and 90s, PUMA worked with French based agency La Fourmi on the global, 360-degree relaunch campaign which began in the USA in June and then rolled out globally.
The campaign’s hero film, titled ‘Welcome Unbored’, dropped on 8 June and invites viewers to ‘Discover Your Space With PUMA Slipstream’ and pitches to young sneakerheads as a ‘crew’ inviting them to go on a ‘mission’ for the 9 June model launch date and find out more information as a bespoke web hub at go.puma.com/discoverslipstream
The spot sees the ambassadors embark on an intergalactic journey in a space shuttle piloted by Kingsley Coman with Memphis Depay and LaMelo Ball giving out the safety instructions as the group journeys to a new world with thousands of possibilities. Owning Slipstream is the only ticket to a trip which features floating screens, holograms and digital cockpit all populating a new Slipstream video universe.
The film ran across cinema, TV, digital and social channels as well as in Puma retail spaces backed by supporting online content pieces and an outdoor strand which in Europe was led by OOH executions in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Stockholm) and in the USA included giant tarpaulins, metro station takeovers and digital billboards.
As well as creative agency La Fourmi, Parisian post-production studio Mathematic worked on the campaign and developed the retro-futuristic style and visual effects.
“You can only reach people if you immerse them in a strong universe where narration and aesthetics respond to each other,” outlined La Fourmi Creative Director Clément Cimarro. “That’s what we wanted to do for Slipstream in a category, sportstyle, where form sometimes takes precedence over content.”
La Fourmi Co-President Thibaut Cornet added: “We are very happy to sign this particularly ambitious campaign, especially since this one, after many Football campaigns, marks our first foray into the Sportstyle category for Puma!”
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This campaign was built around the idea that each new generation now moves faster and faster in terms of cultural and societal change that PUMA decided to make a whole new one to aspire to on another planet.
It manages to blend the retro 80s and 90s trend illustrated by the popularity of Netflix hit series Stranger Things, mixed with entertainment and pop culture works like The Fifth Element, Star Trek and MIB and with the future-facing, rule-breaking space race accelerated by billionaire business titans like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
While Slipstream gained popularity in the US and Japanese markets during different periods, the current relaunch and international campaign seeks to turn it in to a global brand flagship product which engages sneakerheads all over the planet simultaneously.
Originally launched to target high school and college basketball players in the USA in the late 80s and early 90s, the Slipstream models typically came in a wide range of college/university colourways. Positioned as having advanced stability and cushioning and championed for its anti-shock system, the colourway range sought to engage a consumer base wider than just the core basketball community
It wasn’t until PUMA released later models called The Beast (a leather and fake fur Mix) and Snake (with imitation snake skin) that it became popular in Japan.
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