Usain Bolt may be the fastest man on earth, but on their own ground, the marketing and social media folks at Puma can sprint just as fast. After Bolt crossed the finish line to win Olympic gold in Rio last Monday, running the 100 meters in 9.81 seconds, he took off his trademark golden shoes and sported them above his head like a trophy. When the people watching from the company's headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, saw that, they realized they had to be quick, too.
And they were. It was 3:30 in the morning in Germany, but the Puma team flooded the internet with a speed that industry experts praised as the highest form of “ambush marketing.” Reportedly they used images of the gold shoes that they had prepared earlier for the social media.
Puma's efforts required a certain legal dexterity. The company is not an official Olympics sponsor, and its posts took care not to risk Olympic Committee wrath with any direct reference to the Games. Instead the company, playing on its slogan “Forever Faster,” featured an image of Bolt's golden shoes on its Puma Running Facebook page, without mentioning the Olympics.
Bolt already got plenty of media exposure at a well-attended press conference in Rio last week where he was seen dancing samba with hot Brazilian women. Without paying Olympic sponsorship fees, Puma already got some clever media coverage during a press conference before the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, where a previously sponsored running star, Linford Christie, was seen wearing contact lenses with the Wild Cat on each eye. One year later, it spread another image during the Athletic Championships in Athens where Christie and other sponsored athletes were dressed by like personalities from Ancient Greece.
Forbes magazine lists Bolt as No. 32 among the world's best-paid athletes, with a reported income of about $30 million a year from a variety of sponsors, but Puma is the biggest.
As the world's running star, Bolt is a major asset for Puma. He joined the Wild Cat's team of sponsored athletes 14 years ago, when he was only 15 years old. His contract was extended through 2016 and beyond in 2013. Bolt has indicated that he plans to stop competing after next year's World Athletic Championships in London.
Reports indicate that he is considering a new career as an actor. Bjørn Gulden, Puma's chief executive, said in a conference call in July that, if Bolt retires, he could work with Puma maybe even more closely, on product development and sports marketing, perhaps also in a commercial role.
