Company Announcements

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

PUMA reorganizes Brand Marketing and appoints Maria Valdes as Chief Brand Officer

 

 

Herzogenaurach, October 27, 2025 – Sports company PUMA will reorganize its Brand Marketing and create a new structure which will include Product Creation, Innovation, Go-to-Market as well as Brand Marketing to enable stronger and more consistent storytelling for its products. As a result, Maria Valdes (41), previously Chief Product Officer, will become Chief Brand Officer to oversee this new organization at the Management Board level.

With the new organizational structure, product creation and storytelling will happen in parallel with the aim of delivering authentic and impactful stories that inspire customers and consumers.

“With our amazing Archive and our cutting-edge sports-performance products, including our NITRO™-technology, we have the clear opportunity to tell stories that resonate, but PUMA’s previous approach to storytelling was too fragmented,” said Arthur Hoeld, CEO of PUMA. “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 in the sporting goods industry.”

Maria Valdes, who has been a member of PUMA’s Management Board since 2023, will now be responsible for Brand Marketing, Product, Creative Direction, Innovation and Go-to-Market. Brand Marketing previously reported to CEO Arthur Hoeld, while Go-to-Market reported to Chief Commercial Officer Matthias Bäumer.

Sports Marketing will be separated from Brand Marketing and report to CEO Arthur Hoeld.

The organizational changes will take effect immediately.

 

Media Contact: Kerstin Neuber – PUMA Corporate Communications – kerstin.neuber@puma.com

 

PUMA is one of the world’s leading sports brands, designing, developing, selling and marketing footwear, apparel and accessories. For more than 75 years, PUMA has relentlessly pushed sport and culture forward by creating fast products for the world’s fastest athletes. PUMA offers performance and sport-inspired lifestyle products in categories such as Football, Running and Training, Basketball, Golf, and Motorsports. It collaborates with renowned designers and brands to bring sport influences into street culture and fashion. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra Golf and stichd. The company distributes its products in more than 120 countries, employs about 20,000 people worldwide, and is headquartered in Herzogenaurach/Germany.