Fashion Notebook

Puma Pumps Up Its Hollywood Jam

Looks like Puma's going Hollywood. 

The fashion athletic company said that it's opening a new office dedicated to entertainment marketing in Los Angeles next month. The West Coast operation will be geared to increasing corporate partnerships and product interaction with music and film celebrities. Can we get a "Sexy Back Speedcat"??!!

Anyways, you know what new offices mean! More staff! Puma USA is adding new roles to fill up the cubes the L.A. office (hey, it might be fashion, but it's all work-a-day office aesthetics, or so we have to believe as we stretch beyond the limits of our three walled container). Ryan Babenzien joins as head of U.S. marketing operations. He was formerly the business development and strategy consultant for Oddcast, New York, a company that does web authoring tools or some other such beep-boop-beep. Ryan Ayanian, who previously worked as a consultant for marketing agency Antenna, Ontario, Canada, has been hired as music marketing manager. And last, but not least (though we admit we have no knowledge of how Puma's hierarchy works) Ed Choi, who joined Puma in 2006 following at stint at ID Agency, Manhattan Beach, Calif., has been named entertainment marketing manager.

For Barney Waters, Puma North America's vp-marketing, the new office is a move to go "fish where the fish are," though he did note that the brand has had a smaller marketing presence on the West Coast for some time.

"These moves represent a recommitment to entertainment marketing as a real driver for the Puma brand," Waters told us over email. "We're also evolving our approach, as there are so many more opportunities beyond product placement. Hollywood is a great place to develop relationships and brand driven content, which can help reach the people that may not be spending as much time looking at traditional media outlets."

Puma has been making inroads with celebrities over the past several years, working on design and advertising projects with rapper Ludacris and socialite-heiress Lydia Hearst-Shaw (we're not saying she's 100%, but she's definitely not like the other socialite-heiresses we can think of. Barf Tinsley Mortimer and Paris Hilton!), among others. This month, Puma unveiled its new TV campaign, featuring cute-but-disposable Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini (pictured, right, smoking something). Nutini's single, "New Shoes," is being used in Puma’s lifestyle campaign. We were wondering how long it would take for that to get snatched up by the commercial world.

In May, the company will begin promotional tie-ins with the film Speed Racer, which will include a signature shoe, product placement in the movie and worldwide in-store promotional campaigns. BTW... Does anyone remember what exactly Speed Racer, the show, was about, you know besides a boy racing, like, fast? We're trying to recall, but just can't seem to do it. Somehow, this didn't seem like a movie idea to us. But 'tevs, we're not filmmakers. But why not a He-Man movie? Hey, we're just sayin'.

No notes on what they'll be spending this year to pull off these tie-ins and tie-ons. In 2006, Puma spent $13 million on advertising in the U.S., excluding online, down 23% from $17 million in 2006, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Breaking News: Reebok Names New CMO

Less than a month after former Reebok CMO Uli Becker took over as the brand's president and CEO, the top marketing spot has been filled at the Canton, Mass.-based athletic company.

And, much to our surprise, it's from someone inside Reebok and not an Adi ex-patriot, like Mr. Becker was.

The new CMO will be Matt O’Toole, former (and brief) President of Reebok North America, pictured, below, left. He gets most of his accolades (via Becker) for the work he did in growing the business at the Reebok-CCM Hockey division, where he had been president and CEO, prior to assuming his Reebok NA duties.

In his new role, O’Toole will lead the brand’s global marketing efforts, including product and design, sports marketing, brand marketing, and public relations. In addition to those duties, he will continue to direct the hockey business.

And now, the lovefest from Becker.

“Matt was appointed to lead our U.S. organization on the strength of his exceptional track-record in building Reebok-CCM Hockey’s brand and business, as well as his outstanding strategic marketing expertise,” said Becker, in a statement. “These are the skills that make him a natural choice for the role of CMO. In his short time as president of Reebok North America, Matt made a huge impact on the brand, leading our restructuring efforts for the U.S. market.”

Taking over O’Toole’s old post, will be Jim Gabel, who has been tapped as President of Reebok North America. Gabel was formerly svp at Adidas America, where he managed the U.S. Adidas brand business as well as its TaylorMade and Adidas Golf Canada divisions.

O’Toole will be officially installed April 1, with Gabel’s appointment effective mid-April.

It's not news that the brand is in troubling times. In an earnings statement released earlier this month by adidas, Reebok, which reports in euros, posted sales of $3.55 billion (at current exchange rates) for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2007, down 6% from the year earlier.

The company slashed its advertising budget nearly in half last year, spending only $17 million on measured media, excluding online, for 2007, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. That's down from $28 million in 2006. Maybe they'll pump the tank back to "Full" this year.

Here's hoping that the new team will be able to turn things around.

And now, in case you've missed it, a brief recap of stuff Reebok's been cooking up:

-Forthcoming, casual athletic-themed "Your Move" campaign, that we saw last year.
-A new line of Kool-Aid scented footwear.
-Oh yeah, and that "Freestyle World Tour" collection that's supposed to appeal to chicks across the globe. 

UPDATED: The Freestyle World Tour and Reebok's Search for Female Consumers

UPDATE!: Reebok flacks reassure us that "Framed" is full speed ahead. And, what's more, it's now available on Yahoo!Sports and behind-the-scenes footage has been, er, Flickr'd. Congrats! Now, what about that whole "Your Move" campaign?

For those new readers who walked into this convo like a child wandering into the middle of a movie ("You're out of your element Donny!"), check the rhymes below. Note: There won't be any more Big Lebowski references from here on out, for better or for worse...

Been around the world and I, I, I... I can't find my
Reeboks?

Forgive the indulgence of a song we've had stuck in our heads this morning (sometimes shower song sessions can drag into the work world, even for business-minded journos like us!), but it kinda, sorta ties into Reebok's new Freestyle World Tour launch that kicks off Feb. 21. Once again, it's a puzzler. But first, the deets.

Again going after the women's market, Reebok is taking a Nylon-style tour de monde with a new collection of apparel and footwear that will incorporate the particular modes of fashion capitals including Tokyo, Paris, New Delhi (huh?), Madrid, London and New York. Starting tomorrow, the first style, a send up of Tokyo street style with inspiration taken from the city's subway map hits stores. Future releases for each city will roll out as follows:

March 2008—Freestyle Paris, which references the "Can Can" in red, pink and black
May 2008— Freestyle New Delhi, featuring embossed satin and Bollywood-style vibrant color patterns
July 2008—Freestyle Madrid, which references flamenco dancers
Setpember 2008—Freestyle London, featuring an embroidered raven on the heel
November 2008—Freestyle New York, which references our city's unmistakable taxi cabs

All shoes will retail for $85, and the apparel collections that accompany them, which include hoodies, tees, and track jackets, will retail for $28-$75.

The global ad campaign, for which spend was not revealed, will include print, in-store and digital efforts. Somehow "global" just doesn't ring right without the  "TV  spots" tag, but hey, we're traditionalists. Reebok spent $27.5 million on measured media advertising in 2006, and for the first 11 months of 2007, has spent $16.6 million. Below is a list of the pitch women the brand has signed  for the campaign. Full disclosure: We had to look them all up too, so feel free to click the names if you're unfamiliar!

Tokyo—Ai Yasuda                                Madrid—Bimba Bose
Paris—Yelle                                         London—Nikki Beatnik
New Delhi—Sagarika Ghatge                New York—Sheetal Sheth (above, in a spot for the NYC collection)
 
 Since none of the girls here are names that we've heard of—and we'd like to think we're pretty up on things—the campaign is a bit of a puzzler unless they're going for super underground authenticity appeal. But isn't that the kind of marketing that a big brand like Reebok should avoid? Shouldn't Reebok be looking for bigger sales, to grab a larger share of the market and turn around their banking books?

What happened to Scarlett Johannson? And what about that IFC film series, "Framed," that they launched not too long ago.  

And what about the "Your Move" campaign we heard about back in September, when CMO Uli Becker (a straight-talking Adidas alum), told us the following:

"We need our marketing to appreciate where the consumer comes from and make them king of the whole thing as well," Uli Becker, head of global marketing, explained of the brand's "Your Move"  campaign. "It brings the message into one campaign context. Whether we're talking about running or women, we're playing into one equity image of the brand with that single slogan."

For a brand that said it was going to focus on a single, streamlined marketing approach, it doesn't seem to be delivering. "Framed", the "Kool-Aid" collection and, now, the Freestyle World Tour seem diametrically opposed to Becker's statement about a unified message. In fact, it seems like the same kind of mixed messaging that he said, at the time, had been detrimental to Reebok in the past.

Speaking of "Your Move" campaign, why haven't we seen it anywhere yet? Has "Your Move" moved on? Trust that we're on the hunt to find some answers here.

 

Financial Desk: Abercrombie Posts Gains in Q4, But Notes Problems with Ruehl Line

Seems like Abercrombie's still on top, no pun intended. 

The New Albany, Ohio-based company posted an 8% sales increase during the fourth quarter, reaching $1.23 billion, and a 9% boost in net income, which registered at $216.7 million. For the full year, sales grew 13% to $3.75 billion, and profits rising 12.6% to $475.7 million.

While the picture was pretty glossy for the most part, the company did note a slowdown in sales for its Ruehl line, according to statement from CFO Michael Kramer, in a conference call.

"Unfortunately, sales productivity declined in the second half of 2007, as we began to anniversary markdowns  from fiscal 2006," said Kramer. "We anticipate lower sales productivity compared to last year through most of the first half of 2008 as we continue to anniversary the high markdown levels associated with Ruehl...Until we can establish Ruehl as a proven  concept we will moderate the pace of new store openings."

But despite that bad news, it was all sunshine and rainbows from Chairman/CEO Mike Jeffries.

"Our brands represent high productive, consistent businesses that are the result of an unyielding focus on merchandise quality and customer experience," said Jeffries, in a statement. "We continue to make strategic investments in the business to sustain and to enhance brand quality and to support future growth, both domestically and internationally."

Well, at least one of those "strategic investments" includes a $300 million initiative to remodel existing and construct new stores in 2008, as well as the brand's decision  to bring back its porn-a-log, A&F Quarterly, which has raised eyebrows in the past for its debatably pornographic imagery, not to mention its lack of actual clothes on lifestyle models. (Well, some things never change in that department.)

The new Quarterly has puzzled us for a while too, and not just for the obvious reasons everyone else seems to have cited which include, chiefly, that the guys aren't wearing underwear in their dungarees. What's gotten us stumped is why the campaign is still all-white.

While we admit we haven't seen  the most recent installment, the images on the brand's Web site include the same line up of idealized white models that were featured (although they have changed the bodies they're using, natch, since the shelf life of fashion models is relatively short if you're not of the Naomi ilk) when we were covering their legal discrimination troubles at El Diario/La Prensa (our Spanish-language journo days).

Check out a few shots from the current campaign, below.

Listen, we're no Pollyannas about this stuff, and are well aware that it's widespread issue in the industry, but after so many issues of its own discriminatory mess (remember those "Two Wongs Can Make it White" tees?) we just have to wonder why Abercrombie wouldn't just toss a bone out and include one minority in its prominent imaging? C'mon guys, help colorize our wank bank!

Adiesel "Successful Wastes of Time" Contest Results!

So the submissions have been sifted through, and here are our favorite responses to the question: “What’s the most successful way to waste your time?”

We’ll have to see if any of these make it into Adiesel’s “83 Ways to Successfully Waste Your Time” campaign due out next February in support of their new collaboration collection with Diesel.

Until then, here are your top 5 “successful” wastes of time:

1. Train a pigeon to deliver all of your inter-office mail (see carrier pigeon, right, sadly extinct). Hey, anything’s faster than the mailroom.

2. Googling ex-boyfriends/girlfriends/partners in order to silently triumph in your decision to drop them, or to breathe a sigh of relief at the bullet you dodged when they dropped you.

3. Surfing Fresh Direct for wines and new recipes. Because, you know, we still have another food-filled holiday to look forward to.

4. Facebook (for game-play, stalking and “social networking,” whatever that is).

5. Lifetime movie marathons. Because it’s good to know when Delta Burke’s biological clock is ticking, AND when it’s exploded. For more on that, check out the greatest film of the Lifetime genre. Ever.

Honorable Mention: “Listening to an aging baby boomer trapped in the 1960s.”

Adiesel: Upcoming Campaign Update

This just in! 

The campaign supporting the launch of the Adidas Originals Denim by Diesel collection will be titled "83 Original Ways to Successfully Waste Your Time."

Since the campaign is launching in tandem with the product—which hits Adidas Originals stores worldwide Feb. 1—there aren't anymore details coming from Adi HQ  in Herzogenaurach, Germany, and we won't be able to check out any of the creative until next year, I'm more than intrigued to know how this one will go off.

Seems like the perfect fodder for a write-in contest, especially since I know you guys are "successfully" wasting your time this rainy (at least in NYC) Cyber Monday doing your holiday shopping!

Either leave me a comment, or drop me a line here with your suggestions for the best "ways to successfully waste your time." The top 5 will be posted later today, so get yours in ASAP!

(FYI: Submissions won't won't be attributed to the sender. That way, no one has to know how you, in particular, "successfully" waste your time.)

Adiesel: Where Adidas meets Diesel

The latest in the now near-ubiquitous world of fashion-athletic design collaborations, Adidas announced today  that it's inked a four-year deal with Italian denim lifestyle company Diesel to create "Adidas Originals  Denim by Diesel."

That's quite a mouthful (why not just "Adiesel"?) for four pairs of jeans, two styles each for guys and gals, examples of which appear at left. You'll start seeing them at Adidas Originals stores worldwide Feb. 1, and if you're so inclined you'll throw down 160 to 210 euros, or about $240 to $320 in our currency. Not cheap, but not out of the realm of outrageously priced denim currently out there on retail shelves at Atrium, A Bathing Ape, A.P.C., or any of the more upscale department stores.

While the product looks pretty much de rigeur for premium denim, more importantly, the deal gives Adidas one more link in its lifestyle chain (which has included the Y-3 line, designed by Yohji Yamamoto, since 2002), according to a statement by Hermann Deininger, CMO of Adi's sport style division.

"Now when a consumer walks into one of our stores, we can offer them a complete look, from a track top to jeans to a pair of sneakers," he said.

The line will be designed by both the Adidas Originals teams and Diesel's own creative department, and stitched with both Diesel and Adidas logo details.

Not many details on the marketing front yet, though head corp PR honcho Anne Putz told me that there will be a "below the line campaign"  that will include an online initiative, in addition to pr efforts and in-store promotions.