Puma employees to become stars of marketing campaign

Sports firm Puma is hoping to give its brand a bit more personality as its new campaign empowers employees.

Employees are to be invited to share their thoughts about just about anything in a retail marketing campaign.

The effort, named Puma Employees Only, features photographs of employees and their random thoughts, including their love for chicken nuggets, desire for cupcakes and rants about unnamed ex-girlfriends.

Fourteen employees are set to star in the campaign which will begin in the autumn, with many being called upon to host in-store and off-site events, such as highlighting favourite sports in respective cities and potemntially imnproving career development.

In a new social interaction concept of marketing, six US stores will also give shoppers the opportunity to write their own thoughts on a poster board to be displayed in the store, along with their photographs.

"Puma employees around the world are some of the most colourful and dynamic people. So we thought - let's show them off, hear what they have to say and while we are at it, let's tell the world about it," said Antonio Bertone, chief marketing officer for Puma.

In the first half of the year, Puma has announced its global brand sales reached almost € 1.4 billion (£1.2 billion).