Puma catches esports fever with apparel collection for gamers

Sports brand Puma has launched an apparel collection for gamers in partnership with video gaming company Cloud9, which has esports teams participating in the League of Legends. It is part of its #DareYou campaign to encourage consumers to dream and be themselves. Puma broke the news on Twitter yesterday, stating that PUMA x Cloud9 has “finished loading” and attaching a highlight reel of models wearing apparel from the collection on subway trains. It has garnered 25,400 views and 1,000 likes since.

[embed]https://twitter.com/PUMA/status/1182296152693248000[/embed]

Shortly after, Cloud9 posted another abstract sci-fi film for the Fall-Winter 2019 collection featuring “C9 x Puma Edition 1”. The video saw various characters, wearing the new collection, breaking out of their routines and making their way to what appears to be a new promised land of #DareYou. It has attracted over 297,000 views and 1,200 retweets within half a day.

[embed]https://twitter.com/Cloud9/status/1182295113847828480[/embed]

According to Adam Petrick, global director of brand and marketing at Puma, esports is a "critical" marketing strategy for the brand moving forward and has a "broad, dynamic consumer audience”, said multiple media outlets such as CNBC. Meanwhile, Jordan Udko, executive vice president, commercial partnerships for Cloud9 said that the parnership has allowed the company to transcend esports and elevate its brand within a broader global audience.

Marketing has reached out to Puma for more information.

In January, Puma partnered Cloud9 to be the official apparel and the official game-day pants and shoes provider of the League of Legends Championship Series team for Spring Split. The signing is the largest esports deal to date for PUMA, and a first-of-its-kind apparel partnership for Cloud9.

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