PUMA Appoints SVP of Sports Marketing Amid Growth Phase

PUMA has announced that it has appointed Steve Cecchini as its new Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing, reporting directly to Arthur Hoeld, CEO of PUMA. 

In his new role, which comes into effect 1 October 2026, Steve will be managing PUMA’s Sports Marketing organisation, to lead and manage partnerships that can align with PUMA’s brand identity. 

This builds on PUMA’s existing work with athletes, teams and federations – with the company having existing partnerships with Manchester City and McLaren Racing. 

“The partnerships with our athletes, teams and federations are crucial to who we are as a brand,” says Arthur. “I strongly believe that Steve is the right person to proactively and strategically lead our team and manage PUMA’s Sports Marketing portfolio. 

“He will drive our ambition to create high visibility for PUMA and its performance products and clearly position us as a top three global sports brand.”

Managing sports partnerships

Steve is joining PUMA after close to five years at Nike, which he first joined in 2021 as a Senior Director and Head of Strategy, EMEA, before moving to a role as General Manager of Global Football Clubs, Federations, Leagues and Partnerships. 

In this role, he was responsible for managing complex, long-term partnerships, while also delivering and implementing a product, marketing and marketplace strategy for the business. 

Prior to joining Nike, he worked at PVH Corp, holding positions rooted in strategy and business development, including a role as Strategic Project Manager to the COO and CFO.

“There's something special about a brand with such a rich sporting legacy, and I'm looking forward to working alongside our athletes, partners and talented teams around the world to build what's next,” says Steve. 

“I believe there is a tremendous opportunity to further strengthen our sports marketing ecosystem through strategic investments and partnerships that serve athletes, clubs and federations while continuing to elevate the PUMA brand.”

Becoming a top three global sports brand

PUMA has made several new leadership appointments as of late. 

In July, the company announced that it was appointing Dusan Hamlin as its new Vice President E-Commerce, and Marcia Dos Santos in a newly created role of Vice President Business Unit (BU) Core.

These changes come as PUMA looks to establish itself as a top three global sports brand, following a reset period in 2025 where it saw a sales decline of 8.1% on a currency-adjusted basis. 

“It is crucial to make the PUMA brand less commercial and ensure we once again excite our consumers with attractive products, compelling storytelling and distribution in the right channels,” Arthur said.

“I’m satisfied with the progress we have made so far. We cleaned up most of our distribution by reducing promotions in our own channels and cutting our exposure to those wholesale channels that damage our brand’s desirability. 

“To better position our product icons and our performance offering and tell more engaging product stories, we created the right structures inside our company. We also addressed operational inefficiencies and further optimised our cost base.”

Who are PUMA’s key partners?

• Accenture: PUMA India partnered with Accenture to evolve its centralised distribution model into a distributed, analytics-powered network designed to achieve agility at national scale, lower the cost to serve and support sustainable growth. PUMA India and Accenture reimagined how products move from demand to delivery, while embedding sustainability throughout the process.
• Google Cloud: PUMA has partnered with Google Cloud to leverage the capabilities of machine learning (ML) for greater customer engagement via advanced audience segmentation. 
• Shincell: PUMA has signed an agreement with Chinese company Shincell New Materials Co. Ltd. to research and develop the next generation of PUMA’s industry-leading performance running technology NITRO.
• JD Sports: Wholesale distribution through JD Sports drives massive brand exposure and revenue across major global retail markets. As a flagship commercial customer, the sportswear chain orders substantial product inventory to target youth audiences. Joint marketing activations and exclusive footwear releases strengthen consumer demand, positioning the athletic brand prominently within high street locations and thriving digital retail platforms worldwide today.