PUMA Australia gets the footy world talking with unique back page takeover via Bursty

PUMA took out a full-page ad on the back of The Sunday Times over the weekend to mark the debut of No.1 draft pick and PUMA sponsored athlete Harley Reid. The full back page ad created by PUMA’s creative agency Bursty, was in response to the extensive coverage that Reid had received in Western Australia since he was drafted to the West Coast Eagles, which included over 30 back pages across The West Australian and The Sunday Times.

As proud partners of Harley, PUMA wanted to highlight its relationship in a unique and supportive way, and not add any additional pressure. Given he had appeared on the back page of the paper nearly every day of his debut week, PUMA stepped in to buy the back page for the day of his debut with a simple and supportive message “A back page without the pressure, Good Luck Mate.” The ad was supported by a content piece that showcased the hype and why PUMA was taking this big step.

The response to the ad and PUMA’s unique act was incredible, generating over 100+ news articles and extensive exposure on social media – the majority of which was extremely positive.

The ad was covered by Fox Sports, News.com.au, Fox Footy, 7 News, 7 AFL’s Post Match Show, The Sunday Footy Show, Footy Classified, 3AW, SEN, Perth Now and even generated three news stories in The West Australian. It was also shared by ex-football players and media commentators alike, including Kane Cornes, Jason Dunstall, Tom Morris, Adrian Barich and Sam Edmund.

Feedback included:

• • “Marketing genius from the team at PUMA” – Saturday Scoop Channel 7
• • “Loved it” – Footy Classified
• • ‘The page has gone viral, with rival news organisations picking up the story about the extraordinary measures to support their teenage star’ – The West Australian
• • “A unique act of support” – Fox Footy

Despite receiving incredible feedback from across the footy world, it was one response that really mattered to PUMA marketing manager, Simon Hall: “We loved seeing our ad being picked up and praised by the footy world but the main feedback we really enjoyed seeing was that from Harley, who showed his love for our post on social media, but also took the time to send our team a note of thanks.

“At PUMA, it’s not just about providing product to help our athletes perform on the field, but how we show up and support them off the field as well, and this is a great example of that.”