Puma, the global sports brand, will include US/Barbadian singer Rihanna in its Forever Faster campaign which embodies the spirit of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
It signals Puma’s further alliance with celebrity icons birthed in the region.
“In 2015, world-class athletes like Usain Bolt and Sergio Agüero will be joined by a new face: style icon Rihanna,” stated Puma in its recently released annual reports 2014.
Rihanna, at 27, will assume the role of global brand ambassador and creative director for Puma Women’s Fitness and Training.
“Rihanna’s unique feeling for style and innovation will be vital in product development here,” stated Puma, which made 84 million euros in consolidated net earnings for its 2014 annual year-on-year revenues of 2.97 billion euros. This represented a tripling of net earnings year-on-year.
The “Forever Faster” campaign — the largest brand campaign in Puma’s history — was launched in August and met with a “very positive response” from consumers and retailers, the company stated. The campaign aims to show that ‘Puma is back in sports’.
“No other female superstar embodies our brand as well as she does. Rihanna is the global brand ambassador for the Puma category Women’s Training and at the same time is assuming the role of creative director for this area. In this role, Rihanna will incorporate her special flair for style and innovation in our products,” stated Puma in its report on Rihanna, who was born in Barbados but currently lives in the US.
The annual report added: “Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world, thus embodies the mission statement ‘Forever Faster'”.