Champion sprinter Usain Bolt helps Puma trainers fly out of shops
Star athlete's appeal estimated to have brought sportswear firm €250m worth of publicity last year.
At the Olympics, he wore gold coloured shoes that he took off and paraded in front of the cameras. At the World Athletics Championships, he swapped them for a no less eye-catching fluorescent orange, designed to match the blue running track of the Berlin Olympic Stadium. Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who has attracted world acclaim after his record-breaking triumphs in the 100m and 200m last week, is turning out to be one of the best investments that Puma, the sportswear firm behind those shoes, has ever made.
Jochen Zeitz, Puma's chief executive, signed Bolt six years ago, when he was just 17. Zeitz has plenty of reasons to celebrate: a lifestyle version of Bolt's trainers, called Street Yaam after the Jamaican's favourite root vegetable, has already sold out after its launch at the beginning of the championships a little over a week ago. Puma's whole Jamaican-themed product range has flown off the shelves, supported by a "Who faster" viral campaign featuring Bolt, Zeitz said.
It is difficult to measure the impact of a sponsorship deal, but one estimate suggested that the sprinter's star appeal brought Puma €250m (£217m) in publicity value last year.
Zeitz said his continued success was worth "hundreds of millions of dollars" to the company. "It's been very big this year," he said. "Usain just broke two world records in a week. The product that we created for him sold out very fast. He is a great boost for us."
The company is said to pay Bolt $1.5m (£908,000) a year in endorsement fees.
posted by Ronnie Rocket @ 9:47 PM
0 comments
