We helped PUMA launch AI Creator—an innovative experience that let fans worldwide co-create Manchester City jerseys and compete in a landmark contest that fueled record-breaking engagement.
Impact
PUMA AI Creator generated 180,000 jersey designs1 and 1.7 million fan ratings in just 10 days, activated 54,000 users from 206 countries, and positioned PUMA as a tech-savvy innovator in the global retail market.
Industry
Retail
Key Services
KEY TECHNOLOGIES/PLATFORMS
- Google Cloud Platform
- Google Kubernetes Engine
- Nvidia H100 GPU
The Vision
How do you transform e-commerce from buying to belonging? With AI Creator, PUMA set out to create a first-of-its kind interactive experience inviting fans worldwide to become active participants in the brand story.
PUMA is a global sporting goods manufacturer that sees itself as more than that. PUMA has consistently emphasized its commitment to bringing joy into its customers’ lives through new technologies, creative solutions, and collaborations with stars like Rihanna, Neymar, and Pelé, as well as football clubs like Germany’s own Borussia Dortmund. As the kit supplier for English football club Manchester City, PUMA found a partner that shares the same vision and whose brand core is also anchored in innovation and openness to technology.
Together with Manchester City, PUMA wanted to bring AI Creator to life and create a new brand experience that intelligently combines AI technology with its own brand and Manchester City fan culture. The background: announcing new jerseys is a challenge for kit suppliers every season. Whether positive or negative, every fan has a strong opinion about the jerseys, which are the main identifying feature for supporters. PUMA AI Creator was designed to let them participate in the process and activate fans everywhere in the world.
The Solution
Together, we created an innovative ecommerce experience that delighted users around the world and positioned the PUMA brand as a pioneer in customer-oriented AI technologies.
During the live phase from December 9 to December 20, 2024, people around the globe could register and log in to the PUMA AI Creator website and bring their jersey visions to life. In the browser-based app, users created initial 3D designs with text prompts of up to 300 characters and then edited the details using intuitive tools. The designs could be saved in the gallery. Users could then submit their favorite designs in the competition for Manchester City football team's third kit for the 2026/27 season—the first AI fan jersey in Premier League history.
Upon registration, users received 10 design credits and two opportunities to submit jerseys in the competition. Waiting for the image creation, the gamified app prompted them to rate other designs by swiping. With 10 votes per day, users received two additional design credits. Manchester City fans (Cityzens), DEEPOBJECTS.ai community members, and PUMA NFT holders had double the amount available.
From concept to global activation: technology meets passion
There was no playbook for a project like this. The pressure was intense—PUMA’s brand, Manchester City’s brand, and the technical complexity all had to be managed. To succeed, the AI app needed a global, scalable infrastructure.
PUMA chose strong partnerships from the beginning: Nvidia as hardware partner; FTR as lead agency and creative, frontend, and user experience partner; Modern English as app frontend and backend builder; Google Cloud as platform partner; and Slalom as AI backend and infrastructure partner. Slalom had the critical task of developing a global, scalable infrastructure for generative AI and adapting the application to this infrastructure. “Projects without comparable values and blueprints require partners you can trust 100 percent. In Slalom, we found a partner who brought the expertise from the beginning and earned our trust,” explains Dashkov.
Robust cloud architecture with innovative user experience
For a global and scalable application, Slalom transferred the existing local app with ComfyUI Stable Diffusion image generation AI model using custom nodes into a virtual container and deployed it on Google Kubernetes Engine in Google Cloud. The heart of the infrastructure is a custom queueing system that sorts and buffers simultaneously incoming user requests. This ensures that the system processes all requests even with 10,000 or 50,000 simultaneously incoming prompts.
Another crucial success factor was using the latest Nvidia chips. These were introduced shortly before AI Creator launch—a blessing and curse at the same time. Despite better Nvidia H100 GPUs, AI Creator's performance initially declined. Within 15 days, Slalom, together with a Google expert team, identified the performance problems and solved them before the go-live date. Design-generation time was reduced from 60 to 17 seconds per four HD images, and the provided solution was significantly more cost-effective. During the live phase, the system only needed 306 instead of the original 600 Nvidia GPUs.
Global breakthrough: technology that overcomes boundaries and connects people
AI Creator exceeded the established marketing KPIs on the first day. However, the greatest success was global participation: during the 11-day live phase of AI Creator, 54,000 users from 206 countries registered, created a total of 180,000 kits1, and submitted 1.7 million ratings. During the Top Ten voting a few months later, AI Creator even reached a total of 81,000 registrations—27,000 more than in the live phase. The project received numerous awards and generated immense media coverage.
“Marketing events are often locally limited,“ says Dashkov. “In contrast, anyone around the globe with an internet connection could participate in AI Creator. Regardless of location, people could thus become part of the PUMA and Manchester City community.“
Customer Impact
PUMA AI Creator offered users from around the world a unique AI experience and let them participate in the PUMA brand.
Long-term impact: more than a marketing tool
AI Creator not only strengthened the relationship between PUMA and Manchester City but also the brand's perception. “When we started, nobody believed we could take this pioneering position. PUMA AI Creator proved to everyone that PUMA is a technology-savvy and innovative company,“ says Dashkov. Another success: after using AI Creator, many users also registered in PUMA’s CRM.
“PUMA wants to bring joy into its customers’ lives. With AI Creator, we succeeded in offering users worldwide a unique experience and enabling participation in the production process—without design knowledge or professional design tools,“ says Ivan Dashkov.
PUMA AI Creator shows what becomes possible when technological expertise meets cultural vision—and how AI technology can create genuine human connections that go far beyond traditional marketing boundaries. “For some participants, PUMA AI Creator was their first AI touchpoint. We are pleased to have inspired people worldwide with the freely accessible tool and to show how technology can be used in culturally meaningful ways. This kind of success is the breeding ground for further new pioneer projects,“ says Dashkov.
1. User-generated, virtual designs—not commercialized, produced, or sold.
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Our Slalom team
Thanks to our team‘s expertise in the retail industry, Google technologies, and scalable AI infrastructure, we were able to help PUMA quickly. Meet the team:
