PUMA Put Monks in Running Shoes. Here’s Why It Worked

Have you seen the pictures yet? Forty Buddhist monks from Thiksey Monastery in Ladakh, in maroon robes and bright PUMA running shoes.

The campaign, called Meditation in Motion, features the Deviate Pure NITRO, a performance running shoe priced at ₹14,999.

It’s a striking image. But the more interesting question isn’t about the monks. It’s why a brand as big as PUMA chose them for a running campaign in the first place.

The race PUMA is really running

PUMA India made around ₹3,200 crore last year and sold close to 11 million pairs across roughly 400 stores.

Running now makes up almost 30% of what its retail stores sell, and the company is betting on people willing to pay more for a proper performance shoe.

But PUMA is also competing in a space where specialist running brands already have strong credibility.

The quiet rival with the perfect name

ASICS is one of the stronger names in India’s performance running market, with around ₹556 crore in India revenue last year. Running makes up roughly 60% of its India business.

At the 2025 Tata Mumbai Marathon, the company said nearly one-third of runners wore ASICS shoes.

And here’s the detail that makes PUMA’s campaign interesting. ASICS is an acronym for the Latin phrase Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, meaning “a sound mind in a sound body.”

Calm, focus and the mind-body connection have been part of ASICS’ identity for decades.

So when PUMA launches a campaign called Meditation in Motion, it is stepping into a conversation that already exists strongly within the running category.

Why everyone is selling calm now

Have you noticed how much of what is marketed to us lately leans towards slowing down?

Slow mornings, digital detoxes, mindful routines and “romanticising your life” have all become part of how wellness is talked about online.

Running brands have traditionally focused heavily on speed, grip, cushioning and performance. Those things still matter, but campaigns are increasingly also talking about how movement makes you feel.

That is where Meditation in Motion fits in.

Long-distance running can feel meditative. There is rhythm, repetition, breathing and the ability to shut out everything else for a while.

The Ladakh setting makes that connection stronger. PUMA was the official sportswear partner of this year’s Ladakh Marathon, held from September 10 to 13. The event includes some extremely demanding high-altitude races, with the Silk Route Ultra passing Khardung La at more than 17,000 feet.

At that altitude, mental endurance matters almost as much as physical endurance.

Why the campaign got people looking

Put another runner in a pair of running shoes and most people will probably scroll past.

Put 40 monks in them and people stop.

That contrast is doing a lot of the work here. The bright shoes stand out against the maroon robes, while the calm setting makes the product look even more unexpected.

It also lets PUMA talk about running without showing the usual sweaty athlete, stopwatch or finish-line shot.

The campaign has an idea behind it, and that makes it easier to remember.

So, did it work?

In one sense, yes.

The campaign got attention because it didn’t look like a regular running ad. People noticed the images, talked about them and asked why PUMA had put monks in performance shoes in the first place.

But attention is only the first part.

PUMA still has to convince runners that a ₹14,999 shoe performs well enough to compete with brands that already have a strong reputation in serious running.

The campaign can make people curious. The shoe still has to do the running.