Puma may be a heritage brand, but it’s not afraid to test new technologies.
Indeed, if there is an animated update, it is likely that the company launched some sort of beta with it. Puma spear a Roblox experience in 2022 is tested NFT and other Web3 programs and tried his hand at augmented reality. Most recently, the sportswear brand launched a generative AI tool that allows anyone to design a kit for Manchester City.
According to the head of these emerging technologies, the hope is to ensure the brand stays at the forefront. “A lot of this is just making sure we’re innovating,” said Ivan Dashkov, head of emerging marketing technologies at Puma. “And as these technologies become a more important part of everyone’s daily lives, we are not falling behind.”
Dashkov joined this week’s Modern Retail podcast and dove into the company’s approach to new types of technology, as well as how it analyzes the success of nascent campaigns.
Dashkov knows a thing or two about testing new programs. His background was in social media before it was ubiquitous. “I was there in the early days of socials at the NBA, and I feel like it’s a very similar place now with these new technologies emerging,” he said. Today, social media is a dominant force – and Dashkov thinks that’s going to happen with some of these programs.
The challenge for him is determining where to invest time and resources, as well as determining what the next big thing will be. Part of this involves staying tuned to the field. “A crazy thing that was happening to a lot of the company’s executives: They would ask their kids what they wanted for Christmas, and instead of saying like a toy or a video game, they would actually ask Robux to spend on Roblox,” he said. This is what pushed Puma to test the Roblox platform.
Likewise, with generative AI, the company saw people wanting to design their own kits for their beloved teams, but Puma was unable to create a large-scale program. “With AI, you can really scale this,” he said. “Like, anyone can come in and use this tool.”
Here are some highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited for clarity.
Emerging technology is the new social media
“I was there for the early days of social at the NBA, and I feel like it’s a very similar place now with these new emerging technologies – like AI, like VR and XR – with which brands are sort of playing into. There’s not exactly a playbook on how you should do it. So it’s a very similar era (compared to) the early 2000s of social media and where we are now with. these new technologies and it’s rather funny. look at social media. Social media has now become the media, it’s really the traditional channel.
How Puma evaluates new technologies
“I feel like each technology is a little different and has different KPIs. I think for us, a lot of it is just making sure that we’re innovating. And as these technologies take up more and more space in everyone’s daily lives, we are not lagging behind. We just want to make sure we don’t miss the boat on these technologies – that we understand them, we know how they work. And then, hopefully, we can be a leader. And I think we achieved that with the Puma AI creator. I think we built something that was first to market, that’s very innovative and kind of pushing the boundaries.
Why Puma is launching its generative AI tool
“I think we learned two very important key lessons that helped us come up with the concept of the Puma AI Creator. The first is this: people really care about their favorite team’s jersey or outfit. It’s a big part of sports fandom and really who you are… When my favorite team releases their new kit for the season or their new jersey for the season, I have a lot of feelings about it. And when you go on social media – and you look at Twitter, you look at Reddit to see what people think about the new jerseys and the new kits – there are a lot of opinions. And generally, especially when Puma makes them, they’re usually very good. But sometimes you also receive negative comments. But again, people are really passionate about it. So this is the first learning. The second learning is this: We’ve done some of these smaller scale activations with some of our partner streetwear brands, where we invite consumers to come in and co-create with that partner and Puma. We held some that were open to the public, and you have a line out the door. People love to come (and) create their own custom gear. And again, they love to express themselves and who they are – and they do it through this personalization. But the hard part is you can’t really scale that when you’re doing in-person events that have these little stickers or patches that you iron on to these clothes. But with AI, you can really scale that. For example, anyone can come in and use this tool. It doesn’t matter where you are. You don’t need to be near New York or Paris.