Music and sports have been intertwined throughout history. The Roman Coliseum was one of the most common places to find musical instruments in ancient Rome, and not much has changed. Gladiators used music to get prepared to battle, while modern athletes curate playlists designed to pump adrenaline before a match. Be it through AirPods or a hydraulis, music and sport share an ethereal connection. Puma summarizes that connection as “Flow.”
The German athletic company is rolling out its latest ad campaign “Find Your Flow” in anticipation of international soccer’s upcoming league play. The main two-minute spot features two amateur players talking about what “flow” means in a cafe.
Directors Julien and Quentin choose to show the explanation, rather than tell. Flow—in both music and sports—represents an intrinsic mix of swagger, skill and style. It can be shown by how the backing EDM artist DJ Snake builds up the beat to drop it later, or how Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann manipulates a defender before placing a beautiful through ball.
The first spot will run from now until September in England, France, Spain, Germany and Italy—the five countries that run the major domestic league championships. But the campaign won’t stop when the commercial leaves the airwaves, Puma also created a lasting impact through a new Spotify channel.
They had 14 major players publish the playlists they get pumped up too pre-pitch. Playlists come from players like Argentinian striker Luis Suarez, Slovenian keeper Jan Oblak, and Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg. The 14 players combined feature stars of Champions League contenders, and if the list wasn’t so striker-heavy, the roster could have been a favorite for the title if they all graced the pitch together.
While only one woman has a playlist right now (recent Ballon d’Or winner Hegerberg), that is because the top flight of women’s football was a bit busy over the past month at the Women’s World Cup in France. Despite being arguably the best female football player in the world, Hegerberg stopped playing for her national team in 2017 in protest of how the country’s association treats women’s soccer.
Over the summer more playlists will be added including some from stars of the Women’s World Cup. Each playlist takes a while to create as they feature a unique note from the featured player as an intro, an album cover featuring some bright art styles befitting individual brands and an original track for each player’s clip of their “flow” in action which is being produced by DJ V!ktor.