High-school athletes to star in new round of ads from Gyro Worldwide.

Puma will seek to build credibility with urban youth for its re-turn to basketball with an ad campaign that forgoes pro endorsers in favor of the potentially risky strategy of using high-school roundball stars.

The "Back to the game" campaign is from Gyro Worldwide, Philadelphia, with TV and print ads supporting Puma's Cell Five-0. The young basketball stars are from Puma's strongest markets: Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia.

"We aspire to be the biggest underground brand of all time, so we wanted to make sure the people we use fit our brand persona," said Antonio Bertone, Puma's chief creative officer. The effort comes in advance of a global soccer push timed to this summer's World Cup 98. The two campaigns support a revitalization effort by the 50-year-old footwear brand, especially in the U.S., where 1997 sales were estimated at $40 million.

Underground Aspirations

Mr. Bertone's "underground" aspirations speak to a current marketplace dynamic, where hip kids said to be sick of the ubiquitous swoosh of Nike are looking for alternatives to call their own. Adidas and, to a smaller degree, Puma, have benefited from that, but risk losing that edge if they get too big.

Athletic footwear companies have been criticized for targeting and wooing high school basketball stars for future endorsements and even influencing their decisions to go to college or turn pro.

Mr. Bertone said the athletes featured in the ads aren't being paid, and therefore they shouldn't be considered endorsers.

He noted that Puma will stop using the athletes in their senior year in order to protect their NCAA eligibility.

Mr. Bertone said in the U.S., Puma's 1998 ad budget will be 15 of sales. The TV spots in the basketball push will air nationally and regionally during NBA playoff broadcasts on Fox Sports Net.

The Fox media buy is born out of the marketing alliance between Puma and Fox parent News Corp. New Regency, a prominent Holly-wood production company, owns 25 of Puma, and Fox has a sizable equity stake in New Regency.

Mr. Bertone wouldn't comment on Puma's upcoming soccer campaign. Gyro has shot a 2-minure spot directed by Joel Schumacher for its new Cellerator soccer shoe.

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