PUMA ran a full-page ad on the back of The Sunday Times over the weekend to mark the debut of No.1 draft pick and PUMA-sponsored athlete Harley Reid.
The full-back page ad created by PUMA’s creative agency, Bursty, was in response to the extensive coverage that Harley had received in Western Australia since he was drafted to the West Coast Eagles. This coverage included over 30 back pages across The West Australian and The Sunday Times.
As proud partners of Harley, PUMA wanted to highlight their relationship in a unique and supportive way and not add any additional pressure. Given he had appeared on the back page of the paper nearly every day of his debut week, PUMA stepped in to buy the back page for the day of his debut with a simple and supportive message “A back page without the pressure, Good Luck Mate”.
The ad was supported by a piece of content that showcased the hype and explained why PUMA was taking this big step.
The response to the ad and PUMA’s unique act was incredible. It generated over 100+ news articles and extensive exposure on social media, the majority of which was extremely positive.
The ad was covered by Fox Sports, News.com.au, Fox Footy, 7 News, 7 AFL’s Post Match Show, The Sunday Footy Show, Footy Classified, 3AW, SEN, Perth Now and even generated three news stories in The West Australian. It was also shared by ex-football players and media commentators alike, including Kane Cornes, Jason Dunstall, Tom Morris, Adrian Barich and Sam Edmund.
Despite receiving incredible feedback from across the footy world, it was one response that really mattered to PUMA marketing manager Simon Hall. “We loved seeing our ad being picked up and praised by the footy world but the main feedback we really enjoyed seeing was that from Harley, who showed his love for our post on social media, but also took the time to send our team a note of thanks,” Hall said.
“At PUMA, it’s not just about providing product to help our athletes perform on the field, but how we show up and support them off the field as well, and this is a great example of that,” Hall said.
