After the era of the original commercials and big testimonials, the aesthetics of football marketing has abruptly halted its creative experimentation. The market leaders have turned to a rather institutional style that was reflected in little fancy sweaters in design and banal marketing campaigns. In the last year, PUMA is turning the table of marketing aesthetics, bringing elements and inspiration from the streetwear universe for its last campaigns. The last shirt presentation of AC Milan and Borussia Mönchengladbach are the natural continuation of an aesthetic change started in the last season.
Overall, PUMA is following the broader trend of crossover between football and every aspect of pop-street culture, from fashion to music, through cinema and the web.
Hard to capture in a strict definition, the streetwear aesthetic is made of urban locations, glitches, suits and neck chains. In the year of the World Cup - the most important for sports brands - PUMA has started to adopt this style for the presentation of the shirt of the Azzurri (which bitterly we did not saw in Russia) and for the FUTURE boots campaign, which had as the main testimonial was the new world champion Antoine Griezmann.
In the PUMA headquarters, the street style and it was re-launched in the new 2018-19 campaigns. You can definetly notice that in the home kit launch campaign for Borussia Mönchengladbach and AC Milan - shot by Vincenzo Schioppa and nss factory - and in the video presentation of the partnership with Marseille, inspired by Mad Max - Fury Road and Waterworld in which even Diego Armando Maradona makes a cameo.
In a complex market such as football marketing - each campaign involves the brand, the team, the players and often the city - it is a small but important revolution in an anachronistically still very connected to the faces of the great testimonials. The style of the campaigns is similar but adapted to the particular elements of the individual team and the city. For Milan have been used as a location two landmarks of the city of Milan: the Velasca tower and the San Siro Stadium. The architectural style and the shapes of the two buildings not only characterize the city skyline but also tell the true essence of it, a choice that echoes the protagonist models of the campaign, all emerging personalities of creative Milan. In a different way, the Borussia Mönchengladbach shooting and the video for Marseille reflect the values and the respective cities.
We have selected some editorial photos shot by Vincenzo Schioppa for the PUMA x AC Milan campaign to show you in detail what we are talking about.
