Sports brand PUMA India has launched a AI-led campaign called PUMA DIVE. Virat Kohli, ace cricketer and PUMA ambassador, took to his social media to announce the campaign along with an image of him diving and asking fans to rate it.
Kohli’s fans in the past have often compared his iconic dives on pitch to PUMA’s leaping cat logo, creating content that has gone viral several times. PUMA has taken the fans’ love for spotting the cat and created a platform to reward them for every image of a dive that they upload on X (formerly Twitter).
As a part of the campaign, participants will be invited to upload images of best dives in everyday life – be it swimming, sky diving, artistes at concerts, to even self-participation at PUMA’s offline events at malls and stores. The campaign is an the integration of generative AI, which will assess the accuracy of each dive in relation to the PUMA’s iconic leaping cat logo. Top entries will have a chance to play a real life cricket match against Kohli or win his special boots.
“Fans are the heart and soul of the sporting culture of our country. As a brand, PUMA wants to give these fans a fun way to engage to celebrate iconic moments. Our #PUMADive campaign is a reflection of PUMA’s unique approach at capturing a collective emotion and creating innovative ways for people to own and express it. This campaign is an immersive mix of fun and AI-led technology with once-in-a-lifetime rewards such as playing a game with our star ambassador Virat Kohli, building an all-round fan experience,” said Karthik Balagopalan, managing director, PUMA India.
The campaign is conceptualised by Leo Burnett India.
“When it is about owning the sporting season, we at Leo Burnett spotted a simple observation. Be it a diving catch at mid-wicket, or a goal-keeper saving a top corner penalty; all dives in sport and in life resemble the PUMA logo. We leaned on AI technology to open the PUMA Dive campaign for fans, offering them dive scores for each dive they capture and share, gamifying the two-screen experience entirely. Our big plan is to make “PUMA Dive” a universal phrase because ‘once you see it, you can’t unsee it’,” added Sachin Kamble, national creative director, Leo Burnett India.