Puma adds Namibia to list of 2010 African World Cup teams

Puma recently announced a sponsorship deal with the Namibian Football Association (NFA). Namibia’s national team, the Brave Warriors, will be supplied with Puma’s latest v-Series technical apparel and footwear beginning with the African Cup of Nations 2008 qualifier home game against the Democratic Republic of Congo on 16 June 2007 and for the next several years through the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. While I’m not really a sports fan, I’ve been following Puma’s push to “increase its African footprint” by sponsoring the most African football teams by 2010. Having already signed deals with Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal, Togo, Morocco, Mozambique, Angola and Botswana, Puma is already on it’s way to reaching that goal in the build-up to the 2008 African Cup of Nations in Ghana and 2010 World Cup in South Africa. As I reported previously, Puma began this journey last year by sponsoring the most African teams for the 2006 World Cup. Along with their sponsorship last year, Puma launched a targeted campaign in support of African football which included a huge press event with notable African personalities including Akon, a book “The African Game” by Nigerian photographer Andrew Dosunmu, a music CD, “Africa Plays On”, featuring music from various artists including Akon, John Legend, Amadou & Mariam, Cheikh Lô, and Daara J, and the related Puma Charity Collection. If last year’s campaign was an example, it looks like Puma be living up to its goal of pulling out all the big guns for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Now that’s what I call strategy.

“This association underlines PUMA’s commitment to African Football and specifically to the growth and development of Football in Namibia. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the NFA.” – Jochen Zeitz of PUMA AG