Lacoste to increase marketing efforts

Fashion sportswear brand Lacoste is to increase its marketing efforts, following its acquisition by Swiss

retail giant Maus Freres at the end of 2012.

The company's slogan, "Life is a Beautiful Sport", will highlight how its clothes enable wearers to feel free in their mind and bodies, through products that “enable confidence and ease by being adapted to an ever-changing life".

Lacoste, which was founded in 1933 and is best known for its aligotor logo tennis shirt, plans to increase its global marketing budget to 10 percent, up from 5 percent, with print and billboard advertising to account for around 40 percent of the budget, with digital and film taking up 30 percent each.

In 2013, overall sales increased around 5 percent from 1.8 billion euros, with similar growth predicted for 2014. The brand’s first advertising film, directed by Seb Edwards, will be released in France in February.