Puma + Stewie vs. The Swoosh
Puma Hoops debuted Breanna Stewart’s latest signature shoe ahead of the WNBA’s Tip Off.
One of their social media posts exposed the challenges of having a signature shoe, but not the league partnership.
Puma can sign a deal with Stewie herself, but they can't actually show her in a NY Liberty uniform without the Nike Swoosh.
This is trade off many brands have to make. Increasingly, it's brands not named Nike as the Beaverton behemoth now has the NFL, MLB, NWSL, NBA, WNBA and a majority of D1 college programs.
So for the initial debut, they show her in non-league apparel, which is fine, particularly to push some Puma hoops apparel (like the above).
But this is a challenge in a lot of sports because most fans know their favorite athlete in context of their sport or in context of their league.
This is particularly true in women’s sports and the college landscape.
Brands get creative and try to show athletes in their team colors, but not with the licensed logos. The capacity for trademark risk depends upon the size of the brand and the risk tolerance of the legal team in said brand. LSU WBB’s star freshman Flau’jae has a deal with Puma Hoops despite LSU being a major Nike school.
You’ll see Patrick Mahomes and adidas getting pretty close below, but they’ve removed Chiefs logos from what appears to be Arrowhead Stadium. They are not allowed to show the Chiefs marks without the league partnership, or in some cases, a team specific deal.
Baltimore based Under Armour has exercised this exception with their hometown team, the Ravens, most recently sponsoring flag football with the team itself despite the League agreement with Nike. They also sponsor their training facility.
Under Armour will need all the help they can get after taking another “L”. They lost Aliyah Boston to adidas after making her the face of their “Protect this House” campaign. See my latest video for a full breakdown (& my praise of them) here.
Back to Stewie, the post below shows four swooshes and two Puma shoes. This has got to be painful, but they weighed the risks and run it anyway. In fairness, this was the single post of her in uniform compared to about 9 others in solo Puma gear.
I’ve had my eye on Puma Hoops since they came out the gate and appointed Jay Z creative director. I’m not sure that was more than a figurehead, but it’s a playbook adidas has followed getting a much more hands on approach with Jerry Lorenzo. I’ve loved their social media approach. It’s scrappy, resourceful and creative. Creativity can come through restraint, and Puma has exercised theirs to the fullest extent.
I’m excited to see what the Puma X Stewie partnership delivers. The women’s game is on fire and the ladies deserve signature shoes too.
Sabrina X Nike are up next…but, if needed, their photoshoots can stay in the Liberty’s Arena. And if they want to show her in uniform, they can…Just Do It.
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