Global sports brand PUMA officially announces K-Pop boyband NCT 127 from SM Entertainment as their official ambassador for the Asia-Pacific region (APAC).
The appointment will see the Korean group being active in fifteen different Asian and Oceanian countries, which is more prevalent than ever thanks to the spread of the Korean wave centred on the rising trend of K-Pop fever worldwide.
According to PUMA, NCT 127 is a renowned K-Pop boy group that has gained popularity with the younger generation across APAC, including Japan, China, Singapore and Thailand. Based on the strong influence, passion and creativity of NCT 127, the brand plans to conduct various campaigns and communicate with fans and consumers across the region while increasing its brand value at the same time.
As the new face of the brand, NCT 127 fronts their first campaign with the PUMA SLIPSTREAM sneaker collection. The appointment of NCT 127 as the ambassador for PUMA also aims to strengthen its influence across Asia Pacific, especially amongst the Gen-Alpha and Gen-Z.
A SM Entertainment official also adds: “Collaborating with the world-famous sports brand PUMA is very meaningful to ‘NCT 127’, and through this great opportunity, we will reflect a more diverse side of ourselves, along with PUMA.”
For the uninitiated, NCT 127’s group name ‘127’ indicates the longitude of Seoul where the home of K-Pop is. It is also a reminder that no matter how active they are globally, they are always rooted to where home is and where it all started.
The group has released a number of hit songs, including ‘Hero (英雄; Kick It),’ ‘Sticker,’ ‘Regular,’ ‘Cherry Bomb’ and ‘Highway to Heaven’, gaining global popularity for their unique music and overwhelming performances. With their third full-length album released in 2021, they sold over 3.64 million copies and became a ‘triple million seller,’ entering third place on the US Billboard’s main album chart ‘Billboard 200’ and then charting for seventeen consecutive weeks. This is the highest ranking and longest lasting chart entry among K-POP albums released in 2021, once again highlighting the global popularity of ‘NCT 127’. In addition to Billboard, ‘NCT 127’ has also entered the ‘Official Albums Chart Top 100,’ the main official music chart of the United Kingdom, as well as various global music charts in countries such as Germany, Australia, Japan, and China.
In addition, ‘NCT 127’ is meeting with fans around the world through its second world tour. The event started last year, beginning in Korea and then moving onto a dome tour in Japan with 220,000 audience. Also, the consecutive concert tickets in Singapore were all sold-out.
In the meantime, ‘NCT 127’ will begin its activities as PUMA’s APAC ambassador, starting with the SLIPSTREAM campaign on 29th July 2022. Launched in 1987, the PUMA SLIPSTREAM is an iconic sneaker that best represents the brand’s heritage, featuring a classic basketball silhouette redefined with modern sensibilities, mixing leather and suede materials to suggest a premium look.
Watch NCT 127’s first campaign with PUMA as its APAC ambassador, featuring the PUMA SLIPSTREAM sneaker.
[All images from PUMA]
Martin Teo
Editor-in-Chief
Martin has a soft spot for art and architecture, fashion and food history. When embracing his spirit-ual side, he finds himself switching between a Negroni and an Old Fashioned, especially after a long week. His day is never complete without time at the gym and three cups of coffee — flat white with oat milk, no less.
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