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How PUMA achieved
6x ROI through
customer advocacy

PUMA transformed its customer base into a scalable acquisition engine—driving 6x ROI, increasing loyalty, and reducing reliance on paid media through referral marketing.
6x
ROI from referral
marketing
36%
increase in new customer acquisition in just 3 months
10%
of referrals convert into new customers
4x
Referred customers are 4x more likely to refer others

The Background

PUMA set out to transform its engaged fanbase into a key driver of growth for its ecommerce business. With rising paid media costs and increasing pressure on acquisition efficiency, the team needed a more sustainable way to scale.

Through an introduction via Emarsys, PUMA partnered with Mention Me to unlock the power of customer advocacy, turning loyal customers into active promoters of the brand.

The challenge

Like many global ecommerce brands, PUMA faced a familiar challenge:
  • Rising customer acquisition costs
  • Increasing competition across digital channels
  • A need to scale growth without over-reliance on paid media
They needed a strategy that would not only acquire new customers but also do so efficiently, while strengthening loyalty and engagement.

The solution: a scalable referral programme

PUMA launched a referral programme designed to turn existing customers into brand advocates.

Within just 36 days, the programme was rolled out across six major European markets.

The approach included:

  • Promoting referrals across key customer touchpoints
  • Temporarily switching off competing promotions to maximise impact
  • Running A/B tests across different markets and cohorts
  • Adapting incentives based on regional preferences

For example:

  • German and French audiences preferred giving rewards
  • English audiences preferred receiving rewards
This tailored, data-driven approach helped maximise engagement and performance in each market.

Results: driving exponential growth

After nine months of optimisation, PUMA saw explosive growth from its referral programme:
1
6x ROI from referral marketing
2
36% increase in new customer acquisition in just 3 months
3
10% of referrals convert into new customers
4
Referred customers are 4x more likely to refer others
Unlike paid channels, referrals consistently delivered high-quality customers— driving sustainable, compounding growth.

Unlocking deeper customer insights with CRM integration

By integrating Mention Me with Emarsys, PUMA was able to create seamless, data-driven customer journeys.

This enabled the team to:

  • Send automated reward reminders to increase referrals
  • Capture real-time first-party referral data
  • Enrich customer profiles with advocacy insights
  • Build more precise audience segments and cohorts
With a deeper understanding of customer behaviour, PUMA could continuously refine targeting and improve campaign performance.

What makes referral marketing so effective?

PUMA’s results highlight a key advantage of referral marketing:
  • It drives higher-quality customers
  • It reduces reliance on expensive paid media
  • It creates compounding growth through network effects
  • It leverages trusted recommendations, not ads
Because referred customers continue to bring in new customers, the impact grows exponentially over time.

“After about nine months of optimising our referral programme, our growth began exploding…”

“Mention Me supports our business goals and helps to overcome rising paid media and acquisition costs.”

David Witts Senior CRM Manager, E-Commerce Europe, PUMA

Ready to turn your customers into your most powerful growth channel?

PUMA achieved scalable, cost-efficient growth by putting customer advocacy at the heart of its strategy.
Your brand can too.
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