Puma is to launch its first global brand campaign for more than a decade to recoup ground after a tough few years for the sportswear giant.
In a tacit acknowledgement that the focus on short-term profitability might have gone too far, the German group said the campaign would aim to build market share.
In 2023, sales rose by 6.6% to €8.6 billion, but after-tax profits fell by 14% to €305 million as the group took a 'significant 'currency hit from the collapse of the Argentine peso.
Arne Freundt, chief executive, said: “Without the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso, which had a significant one-off accounting impact, our results would have been even stronger.”
Underlying profits dropped to €621 million (641 million), which was in line with forecasts, the company said.
Freundt added that going forward, the strategy would be to focus efforts on” fewer but more impactful Tier 1 brand ambassadors at the top of our full-tier influencer strategy, and bigger marketing campaigns to increase the relevance of our brand with our consumers”
In particular, Freundt said the aim is to build market share in the US where the target is "to clearly reposition PUMA as a sports brand, create more locally relevant products and improve our distribution quality".
Shares rose 1% to 42.82 in Frankfurt.