How Puma is Unifying Brand Marketing To Boost Storytelling

Global sports company Puma has reorganised its brand marketing operations, creating a new structure intended to produce more consistent storytelling for its products and customers. 

As part of the change, the brand has integrated product creation, innovation and its go-to-market strategy with its brand marketing function.

The change sees Maria Valdes, formerly Puma’s Chief Product Officer (CPO), appointed to the new role of Chief Brand Officer (CBO), a position in which she will oversee the new organisational structure at the management board level. 

Arthur Hoeld, CEO of Puma SE, says: “With our amazing archive and our cutting-edge sports-performance products, introducing our NITRO-technology, we have the clear opportunity to tell stories that resonate, but Puma’s previous approach to storytelling was too fragmented.” 

The evolution is designed to ensure product creation and storytelling occur in parallel, delivering authentic narratives to Puma’s customers.

Previously, brand marketing reported to the CEO, while the go-to-market function reported to Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Matthias Bäumer. 

Under the new arrangement, sports marketing will be separated from brand marketing and continue to report directly to Arthur. 

The changes were announced on 27 October and took place with immediate effect. 

Unifying product and brand storytelling

The appointment of a CBO to oversee both product and brand aims to create a more cohesive strategy. 

By aligning these functions, Puma intends to better leverage its product development and brand heritage with the goal of delivering impactful stories that inspire both current and future customers.

Discussing the purpose of the CBO role, Arthur says: “By putting storytelling and product creation side by side, we will strengthen our product icons and sports performance products and create the clarity and structure that is needed to better position Puma against its competition in the sporting goods industry.”

Maria's journey to CBO

Maria has been with the Puma Group for 15 years, joining in 2010 as a Global Product Line Manager for Footwear Kids after a career in marketing and product management at Zara and L’Oréal. 

She progressed to Global Senior Head of Product Line Management for Sportstyle Footwear in 2015, then became the Global Manager of Puma’s Sportstyle Business Unit in 2020.

Maria joined Puma's management board in 2023 as CPO. In that role, she was responsible for the Sportstyle, Motorsport, Teamsport, Running/ Training, Basketball and Accessories business units. 

Her remit also included the creative direction of the brand and Puma's go-to-market strategy. 

At the time of that appointment, then CEO Arne Freundt said: “As General Manager of our Sportstyle Business Unit, Maria has demonstrated a strong product expertise, a great service attitude towards our retail partners and a deep knowledge of our target consumer."

A broader C-suite reshuffle

This is not the only executive change at Puma in 2025. On 1 July 2025, Arthur Hoeld became CEO of Puma SE and Chairman of the Management Board, succeeding Arne Freundt. 

The company announced in April that the supervisory board had "mutually agreed" for Arne to step down over “differing views on strategy execution”.

Commenting on Arthur's appointment, Héloïse Temple-Boyer, Chair of the Supervisory Board of Puma SE, said that the board was pleased to appoint him as “a sports industry expert with a proven track-record of strong commercial expertise built over the last 26 years". 

She added: “We are convinced that, thanks to his strategic vision and focus on product and brand, Arthur will lead Puma into a new chapter of strength and growth.”

Alongside these changes, Matthias Bäumer was named CCO of Puma SE. 

Earlier in October, Puma also announced the appointment of Ronald Reijmers as Vice President of Global Retail.

These executive changes are part of a wider growth strategy to place Puma in a stronger position for innovation and to better communicate its product stories to consumers.