In Sign of the Times, Puma Sends Bloggers to Cover Sailing Race

As the "Everest of Sailing" reaches its third port of call in Abu Dhabi this week, major international media outlets aren't the only ones covering the action. They will soon be joined by a small bevy of bloggers set loose by one of the competing boats' sponsors to give documentation of the race a new twist.

Ten handpicked Tumblr and Instagram users will arrive in Abu Dhabi on Monday, transported and lodged there for a week by the sportswear company Puma to photograph and post updates as the competing sailors rest and recharge while participating in short sprints before departing on Jan. 15 for the race's next stop in Sanya, China.

Puma says the sponsored bloggers will have "free reign" to cover and document what they wish, and the trip reflects the growing mainstream recognition and validity of bloggers' influence over public opinion and what is considered hip or interesting. They will also document their experiences via Twitter and Facebook">Facebook.

"The idea is to fly in these prominent bloggers and Instagramers and just have it be known that they're there because of Puma and because they deserve it," Andrew Schmidt, Puma's manager of digital media projects, says.

Puma owns one of six entrants in the 39,000-nautical-mile Volvo Ocean Race (formerly known as the Whitbread Round the World Race), and is also listed as the contest's official apparel supplier. The race is held every three years and recognized as one of the sailing's most grueling events, as un-motored yachts circle the globe over a span of nine months. The boats left Alicante, Spain, in November and will reach Galway, Ireland, in July after stopovers on six continents along the way.

Schmidt says Puma was inspired by Tumblr itself sending groups of bloggers to New York Fashion Week the past two years. Tumblr has long attracted fashion-focused users and, as a sportswear company, Puma's involvement makes sense. But the Volvo Ocean Race junket also represents a new step to major brand-sponsored blogger coverage of an international sporting match.

"I think it's a really good model for showcasing events," Schmidt says.

Puma gains goodwill from the bloggers and increased visibility at the event. The race itself gains exposure to unlikely online audiences. And bloggers eager to turn their Tumblr and Instagram passions into full-time work could find their big breaks in Abu Dhabi.

Sean Sullivan, a commercial photographer and video producer whose Tumblr blog The Impossible Cool has attracted more than 45,000 followers, says he's unsure of what he'll do with Puma's "free reign" in Abu Dhabi, although he is considering a microsite from his main blog for the photos he takes in at the race. He and other bloggers will also funnel many of the images they create in Abu Dhabi into a curated Tumblr feed with the tag #sailing for a one-stop collection of different perspectives on the event.

"This is a new thing for me," Sullivan says. "I've never been involved in something of this scale unless it was to shoot a specific short film or assignment for a brand."

Both Schmidt and Sullivan say that they expect the brand-backed-blogger coverage model to become more common as bloggers continue to gain traction and credibility as public tastemakers.

"Puma is kind of going out on a limb spending a nice amount of money and hoping to get something out of this, but the blogs aren't going anywhere," Sullivan says. "They're only getting bigger and better, so the companies that recognize that are going to be the cool companies in the coming years."

Image courtesy of Volvo Ocean Race