Puma ropes in Virat Kohli, Mary Kom & Sunil Chhetri for digital campaign
The campaign has been co-created by Ogilvy India
PUMA India has launched the ‘Let There Be Sport’ campaign based on the findings of a report by Nielsen Sports that indicates a huge lag in inspiration in the country to pursue physical fitness.
The campaign will feature Virat Kohli, MC Mary Kom and Sunil Chhetri to question the conventional mindset that sports is a digression from academics.
The brand has co-created the campaign with Ogilvy India.
The brand has affirmed to champion the cause of sport and advocate it as a life skill. The movement comes with the aim to disband the word ‘extra’ used typically for the subject of sport and integrate it into the main curriculum of educational institutions across the country.
Commenting on the report and its findings, Abhishek Ganguly, Managing Director, PUMA India and Southeast Asia said, “As a nation, we have witnessed a fundamental change in adoption of sports culture with far more running communities, gyms and people taking up different sports. However, we have just scratched the surface and have miles to go. The PUMA - Nielsen Sport study proves that there are still significant areas for development. The study indicates the growing need to create awareness and inspiration among adults and kids to play more sport as well as illustrates the myriad ways in which sport adds value to life. There is a direct correlation between sports participation in kids and improved academic performance and positive emotional well-being. A strong sports culture brings out the best in people and is critical for the development of a country.”
“PUMA’s new platform, Let There Be Sport, will be our priority this year. It will promote and encourage sport and fitness as a life skill. We will heavily invest in creating awareness towards sports adoption at a mass level, build more moments of inspiration, continue to support grassroot athletes and work closely with key stakeholders across sectors to integrate sports and fitness into the main curriculum. In five years, we are confident that a sports-focussed survey will yield better insights in India,” added Ganguly.
Denise Menasan, Managing Director for APAC & MENA at Nielsen Sports & Entertainment, said, “A study was commissioned by PUMA India to help understand the views of sports in India and how sports & physical activity impacts other aspects of our life, such as emotional wellbeing, academics and employability. While there have been multiple initiatives to boost fitness-related activities, our study indicates that more needs to be done in this space. The study highlights that an increase in sports and fitness activities can help enhance overall emotional well-being among adults, help learn valuable life skills and increase academic grades of kids. We hope this campaign from PUMA India inspires people to become more physically active in their day-to-day activities and equips government agencies with data to frame new policies.”
Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer Ogilvy India, said, “This is a partnership I am personally very proud of. PUMA was very clear from day one what they wanted us to help them create. #LetThereBeSport stems out of the vision that Abhishek shared with us in the early days about celebrating movement and agility. It is about liberating sports from tiny corner it has been relegated to, and lauding those who keep it alive in their everyday. Crafting the narrative of there is nothing extracurricular about sports which is the important subject that teaches us life long lessons, has been an enriching experience and here’s looking forward to a day when India understands that sport is extraordinary and not just an extra.”
