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Puma signs exclusive commercial deal with Football Superstars

June 13, 2008

World renowned sportswear brand PUMA today announced its partnership with Football Superstars - the first MMOG (massively multiplayer online game) to recreate the game of football and its accompanying luxury lifestyle. The game features thousands of human players online in a virtual world competing with and against each other and has been created by UK based CyberSports.

The deal with the free to download game will see PUMA products and branding incorporated interactively in the game play courtesy of IGA Worldwide, the leading provider of in-game advertising. Players will not only have the ability to experience the awesome speed of the PUMA v1.08 Speed Boot but also visit a virtual facsimile of London’s Carnaby Street concept store in-game, to kit their avatar out with the latest PUMA lifestyle apparel.

As if this wasn’t exciting enough, PUMA will assist you in improving your ability as a player in the game via state of the art training academies where you can learn tricks and skills from the pros.

In Football Superstars - developed by Nottingham based Monumental Games - players re-create themselves online as a footballer and then have free reign in a state of the art interactive virtual world. Players can play their way from 3-a-side up to full 11-a-side matches, gaining new attributes and skills in order to specialise in their chosen playing position. Away from the pitch players can socialise in restaurants, bars and clubs and visit virtual stores where they can buy the latest equipment and designer clothes. Players can train in gyms and on training pitches to enhance their skills or flirt with the paparazzi in a bid to boost their fame and status and gain access to the most exclusive clubs and venues.

In the game’s PUMA Training Academy, the player can train to increase their skills in order to move up through the leagues and acquire more money to spend on the products and services found in the game’s two huge towns. The Academy’s trainer will be wearing PUMA training kit, as will the player themselves. The Academy will also feature PUMA footballs, PUMA pitch side advertising hoardings, a PUMA pitch logo and a video wall. PUMA branded Dynamic Hoarding Placements enabled by IGA Worldwide’s proprietary Radial ad serving network will also be in situ around the perimeter of the 3, 5 and 7-a-side pitches available for playing matches on.

Andy Law, Head of Business Development at CyberSports, said: “We are delighted to be working with a globally recognised football brand such as PUMA. They are leading the way by providing footballers with everything they need to succeed on the pitch and now they will be doing the same on the virtual pitches of Football Superstars. With a brand like PUMA interactively involved we further blur the divide between reality and our virtual world. Association with PUMA will ensure that Football Superstars will be at the top of the league.”

Richard Callaway, Head of Sport PUMA UK comments; “We are very excited about our new partnership with Football Superstars as it provides us with a unique opportunity to communicate the brand and it’s benefits to a wider audience.”

Giuseppe Bellanca, VP Ad Sales Europe at IGA Worldwide added: “We are proud to facilitate the execution of this campaign, which aligns a leading sports brand with one of the most innovative community-based football games. With the engaging opportunities available within Football Superstars, we believe this is the first of many. This strong integration between both parties will set the standard for other brands looking to get in the game.”

The showpiece of the collaboration will be the creation of PUMA’s flagship store within the game, based on their Carnaby Street concept store in London. The store is being created to scale and will boast an unrivalled level of realism experienced in any virtual world to date it will include a number of PUMA branded items that will offer some level of player enhancement/buff, increasing skills such as strength, stamina, power and speed to aid the player in their quest to be the ultimate Football Superstar.

Executive quote

Giuseppe Bellanca, VP Ad Sales Europe at IGA Worldwide added: “We are proud to facilitate the execution of this campaign, which aligns a leading sports brand with one of the most innovative community-based football games. With the engaging opportunities available within Football Superstars, we believe this is the first of many. This strong integration between both parties will set the standard for other brands looking to get in the game.”

Customer quote

Andy Law, Head of Business Development at CyberSports, said: “We are delighted to be working with a globally recognised football brand such as PUMA. They are leading the way by providing footballers with everything they need to succeed on the pitch and now they will be doing the same on the virtual pitches of Football Superstars. With a brand like PUMA interactively involved we further blur the divide between reality and our virtual world. Association with PUMA will ensure that Football Superstars will be at the top of the league.”

Richard Callaway, Head of Sport PUMA UK comments; “We are very excited about our new partnership with Football Superstars as it provides us with a unique opportunity to communicate the brand and it’s benefits to a wider audience.”

About the company

IGA Worldwide, Inc. is the market-leading in-game advertising network offering brands and agencies a single point of access to an exclusive range of opportunities within the world's premium videogame franchises. IGA's proprietary Radial NetworkSM enables advertisers to dynamically-target over 15 million uniquely engaged consumers and has successfully delivered campaigns for brands such as Intel, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Nokia, Gillette and Unilever. IGA also provides brands with customized branding solutions including integrated product placement and co promotion. IGA Worldwide is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Los Angeles, Connecticut and Berlin.

For more information please visit www.igaworldwide.com.

Contact details

For further press information please contact:
Anna Moseley at LEWIS
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7802 2626
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7802 2627
Email: annam@lewispr.com
Web: www.lewispr.com

For IGA Worldwide enquiries, please contact:
Ed Bartlett
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7250 4340
Email: ebartlett@igaww.com
Web: www.igaworldwide.com

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