Equity Magazine March 2018

FINANCE
attention. Our choice depends on the person we’re
collaborating with. People like fashion designers
know exactly what they want right down to the
product. Others have a vision but don’t necessarily
know how to translate that into a product. We have
strong designers within Puma who can translate
that vision into design.
Since he took over at
Puma, Saidi has worked
with at least 50 different
people on collaborations.
While that may not sound
like much, you should
know that each
collaboration takes between
12-18 months to flesh out.
“It’s challenging because
Puma is first and foremost
a sports brand,” he says.
“While we’re encouraged to
push the boundaries, we’re
expected to not stray from the brand’s roots.”
You may have noticed that despite being a
sports brand, Puma has collaborated with
musicians to stay relevant. Saidi believes this is
because musicians are the marketing and
communication vehicle for fashion and sports.
We had a new CEO
who brought an
amazing energy,
supported us with
collaborations
and made things
happen. I’m just
a soldier
“There’s nothing more powerful than an artist
with fans,” Saidi says. “You have fans of brands
like Puma, Adidas and Nike, but that’s nothing
compared to a Rihanna fan. The intensity and
adulation of those fans are on another level.”
Puma clearly has the right pull. At the very
least, friends in the right
places. From Rihanna, The
Weeknd and Selena Gomez
to Alexander McQueen,
Puma’s collaborations have
been with celebrities that are
trendsetters. “No one wants
to be second,” Saidi says. “If
we ever miss the boat on
something we go back to the
drawing board. We never
really planned on becoming
one of the best in the world.
That’s purely thanks to our
consumer base, which is
why collaborations are important to get closer to
those consumers. Having a corporate message in
an ad may work, but the deeper relationship
between the artist, brand and consumer works
far better. There’s no replacement for that threeway
relationship.”
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EQUITY