Lionel Telega on
why Speedcat is the
hottest sneaker of the season
"You won't find any other product like it; you can't copy it. That's why it's so unique and cool.”
December 11, 2024"You won't find any other product like it; you can't copy it. That's why it's so unique and cool.”
December 11, 2024Lionel Telega, our Vice President of the Sportstyle BU, shares why the PUMA Speedcat is topping the charts, how it elevates our brand and the strategic moves behind its success. Discover how we are setting trends and what’s next for this iconic style. Don’t miss out on the inside scoop!
The PUMA Speedcat is trending – we’ve seen the sneaker topping the Lyst Index as the 3rd hottest sneaker of Q3 2024. What do you personally think is so cool about this style?
Lionel: I think it’s cool because it’s PUMA firstly. But more seriously, the market is starving for newness, and Speedcat is a fresh silhouette. It blends a retro aesthetic for the 30-40 year olds, who are old enough to remember it, but it’s also modern and new for our core consumers aged 15-25. So, it’s something new and fresh. And another point that makes it cool is its cultural relevance. The Speedcat is rooted in motorsport. Motorsport is on trend and has come back into fashion lately. And finally, we’ve done great work with endorsements, so the Speedcat is worn by celebrities and influencers worldwide, and that certainly makes it cool.
The PUMA Speedcat has now been officially launched globally after being available in limited capacities. What does this mean for PUMA in terms of market strategy and brand presence?
Lionel: That’s a good question. I could talk a long time about that. Overall, our objective is to secure a spot in the top three brands in the industry for both men’s and women’s select and prime distribution. Speedcat is a key franchise driving our plans for 2024 and 2025. We’re strategically focusing on low-profile products, with Speedcat leading the charge as our first chapter in the segment. And following our recent drop in select distribution, we’ve seen a strong uplift in sales and a significant impact on our order book for 2025. There’s clear appetite from both consumers and customers for Speedcat. And when one product leads the market, your brand visibility in-store and online increases in those specific segments.
Can you share some figures regarding the Speedcat’s expected performance? What have we reached so far? What are PUMA’s targets for this sneaker?
Lionel: In the select space, it’s tricky to provide exact figures, but we know that Speedcat quickly entered the top rankings with our key customers, becoming one of our best-selling products. Based on this, we anticipate Speedcat will soon be one of the best sellers in the whole marketplace, which has also been confirmed by our early data from the US launch.
Initially, we thought Speedcat would be strongly led by women, but we’ve seen a more balanced split, with 60% of sales coming from women and 40% by men rather than the 80-20 split we anticipated. So, this shift means the opportunity for us is much bigger than we initially thought.
This is really interesting! How can we measure that we are in the top rankings?
Lionel: It’s based on data. We measure our top rankings through our key industry partner, Circana, which collects sales information from most retailers. They define market shares and top sellers. Additionally, we have strong relationships with major partners like Footlocker, JD, Snipes, and department stores, giving us access to their top sales data as well. This helps us know if we’re in the top rankings.
With Speedcat, we hope to enter the top rankings quickly. The global launch was on December 5th, and we’ve all been eagerly waiting for this moment. It’s expected to drive interest for Christmas and the coming months. We’ll have drops in December, February, and additional colors in March and April. Time will tell, but we’re optimistic about our position.
Topping the Lyst Q3 Index
as hottest sneaker 🔥
I see, so all all the drop dates are planned very strategicly!
Lionel: Yes, all the dates and moments are strategic for both product and marketing. This is crucial for our go-to-market journey.
When and how did you identify that low-profile sneakers would become a major trend?
Lionel: The fashion and sports industries can be very subjective, but I’ll focus on the facts. When I took over the Sportstyle BU 18 months ago, Gregor Abenstein, our Senior Director Select, his team and I, we started discussions with the Korean team. Korea is a trendsetter globally, especially through K-pop, K-music, K-food, and K-beauty.
Eighteen months ago, our global select team and Korean teams noticed the resurgence of low-profile sneakers. They worked together to define the best way to respond to this trend and claim our place in the market. We quickly identified Speedcat as the best opportunity.
I want to take the opportunity to thank the Korean team for their insights and all the product, go-to-market, and marketing teams for their hard work. The success of the Speedcat is due to their great plan and collaboration. And for me, this is a benchmark for teamwork.
Everyone brought their expertise, believing we should have one clear point of view for Speedcat. The key is PUMA’s willingness to create trends rather than follow them, and the necessity to bring something authentic to us, which brings me back to the first question, the Speedcat is cool because it’s so true to PUMA. You won’t find any other product like it; you can’t copy it. That’s why it’s so unique and cool. Moving forward, we want to ensure our products have a specific PUMA DNA, staying true to ourselves.
The key is PUMA's willingness to create trends rather than follow them, and the necessity to bring something authentic to us, which brings me back to the first question, the Speedcat is cool because it's so true to PUMA. You won't find any other product like it; you can't copy it.
How do current trends in accessories and apparel silhouettes contribute to the success of the Speedcat? What other trends are you observing in the market right now?
Lionel: When we decided to focus on Speedcat as our low-profile sneakers, we quickly realized the challenge wasn’t just making it a key silhouette. The main point was to shift consumers mindsets from seeing themselves with chunky silhouettes to wearing something sleeker. Over the last 12 months, our designers, PLMs, and marketers have done a great job teaching our consumers how to wear the Speedcat and combining it with PUMA aparel, ensuring they fit seamlessly into their outfits. Our recent campaigns, like those with Dua Lipa and Rosé, show how well the outfits work together. While footwear leads our industry, we link the low profile trend to aparel and accessoires too. So, a hot product like Speedcat creates a positive halo effect on our apparel and accessories.
Regarding other trends, we see court classics and progressive technologies like vis-tech – visible tech – rising and running in general. Our products in these areas will benefit from the halo effect created by Speedcat too.
Speedcat x Dua Lipa and Rosé
How does the PUMA Speedcat fit into PUMA’s overall brand elevation strategy?
Lionel: That’s a great question. It’s about balancing all the elements of the mix. First, the product is right— premium suede material and Ortholite sock for comfort in a low-profile silhouette. The price is right at €110, slightly above our usual points, which helps elevating the brand. We’re working with the best distribution plan to be in the right place at the right time.
Most importantly, we ensure consumers want to wear PUMA. Our strong influencer strategy, developed by our global and local marketing teams, has been key.
Brand elevation comes from building franchises as brands. The Speedcat isn’t just a product; it’s a brand. The campaigns with Dua Lipa and Rosie show how strong the name is.
This also goes back to our strategy of focusing on fewer products but doing them very well. The entire consumer journey, from seeing Speedcat to buying and wearing it, is crucial. I’ve heard from accounts that Speedcat is in fact a best practice in go-to-market strategy, with the right colors, quantities, distribution, and marketing. We’re very optimistic that this journey will lead to strong sales in the coming months.
So, would it be possible to replicate that best practice for future products?
Lionel: In our industry, you don’t have a crystal ball, so you never know. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years, and there are no rules. One day you duplicate something, and it works; the next day, it doesn’t. So, we need to trust the experts.
Our product people are very talented, as are our marketing and sales teams. They know what to do and how to read the market. I trust their expertise more than just duplicating a plan from one product to another.
I can’t be more honest when I say the reason why it’s working and why it’s cool is because of our people. They did the job, and we have very good people internally. That’s why I’m confident not only for Speedcat but also for what’s coming in the next months and future seasons.
What are the next steps for the Speedcat? Are there any upcoming iterations or special editions that you are particularly excited about?
Lionel: We product people are always excited to bring more. For the next month, we’ll focus on a limited number of colors to keep the momentum going for the next 4-5 months. As of Q2 next year, we’ll add color updates, material updates, and general execution updates to keep interest high.
In select, we’ll maintain high interest with strong partners coming up also next month. I can’t reveal more, but they’ll support Speedcat and keep it hot, balancing brand heat and commercialization. And especially for women, we’re working on franchise extensions like Speedcat Ballerina, Speedcat Ballet, and Speedcat Go, launching in spring/summer next year.
We’re confident we’re bringing the right level of newness to maintain interest. Speedcat is a key pillar of our strategy, opening doors for more to come in the next few weeks.
