Puma is gaining ground in the race to win over Gen Z as it tries to turn around its business in the competitive sportswear landscape.
The German company—one of the “big four” sportswear brands alongside Nike, Adidas, and Under Amour—has seen its reputation improve since launching its largest ever global campaign in March.
In the U.S., Puma’s favorability score among Gen Z climbed from 31.5 in March to 34 in April, according to Morning Consult, a data analytics firm that tracks how consumers perceive thousands of brands each day.
The brand’s latest marketing effort also coincides with a change in consumer behavior. In late March, web searches for Puma rose on Amazon, Walmart, and Target, according to data from Stackline, an AI-enabled retail intelligence and activation platform.
“Go Wild,” created by Puma’s new agency partner adam&eveDDB, represents an intentional shift in marketing strategy to better resonate with younger audiences. It also saw Puma increase its marketing investments by 40% compared to last year.
Puma’s marketing push is part of a turnaround strategy as it grapples with weakening business performance, forecasting slower sales growth this year. The company plans to cut 500 jobs worldwide and close unprofitable stores as part of a cost-reduction program.
Puma also announced earlier this month that it is replacing its chief executive Arne Freundt with Arthur Hoeld, Adidas’s former sales head. Hoeld, who takes over the top job in July, said in a statement that “sports authenticity and an exciting brand proposition” will be Puma’s “key focus in the future.”
That new proposition aims to “elevate Puma and turn it into a loved brand,” Julie Legrand, senior director of global brand strategy and communications at Puma, told ADWEEK.
Like other legacy rivals such as Nike, Puma has had to pivot amid an increasingly competitive sportswear sector that has been disrupted by challenger brands including Hoka and On.
“[For a long time] the market has been dominated by a few big players. Now we’re seeing new players and it’s become more competitive,” Legrand said. “The positive side is this shows there is space for other ideas about sports.”
Changing values
Puma’s marketing revamp follows its largest consumer research project, surveying 10,000 people around the world, which revealed that today’s “consumers have a lot more motivations about why they do sport,” said Legrand.
“What [younger generations] want is a space for self-expression. The codes [of sport] have been a little too heavy on past generations, and they are looking to free themselves from that,” she continued.
Puma’s findings align with a wider trend in the sportswear space. Gen Z are fueling growth in sports like running, but they tend to be less focused on motivations like competition and more focused on holistic factors such as health and wellness, said Jed Hallam, co-founder and managing director of CultureLab.
“New people coming in [to sport] is changing the way the culture operates and the value system within that,” Hallam said. “It’s more inclusive and less intimidating. People don’t necessarily want to be in that competitive mindset.”
In that vein, Puma’s first ad under the “Go Wild” platform focuses on the so-called “runner’s high” that some runners experience. But instead of featuring stereotypical sport scenes of high-octane action or professional athletes and celebrities, the spot shows regular people in everyday scenarios, like a new mom running with a stroller, a man with his dog, and a community runners’ group.
That depiction aims to return to a “sense of humor, clever joy” and light-heartedness that Puma demonstrated in past marketing, Legrand said.
“Gen Z are looking for spaces with more fun and joy, and sports should be a place for that,” she said. “We take sport very seriously but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
Speaking to communities
Up-and-coming sportswear brands like On and Hoka have also stolen market share partly by successfully targeting niche communities, Hallam observed.
He cited examples like cult running apparel brand Satisfy, which “went from an edgy brand for 10,000 people to a multimillion [dollar] brand in a few years.” Satisfy raised $12.4 million (€11 million) in funding and exceeded $11.3 million (€10 million) in revenue at the end of 2024.
Not only have these newcomers tapped into consumer preferences for more specialized and innovative sportswear, they have also capitalized on buzzy cultural partnerships with celebrities, such as On’s collaboration with Zendaya.
Now other legacy rivals like Nike—which is undergoing its own turnaround—are upping their game in that arena. Nike unveiled recent collaborations with Kool-Aid, which was inspired by a TikTok trend, and Kim Kardashian’s Skims, which could help it capture more of the women’s market.
For Puma’s part, it plans to launch a content series that explains the “Go Wild” message through the stories of former ambassadors, such as American track and field athlete Tommie Smith in 1968 and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt in 2008.
It will also spotlight other sports, such as basketball and football, and uncover their communities’ particular “nuances” as the “Go Wild” platform continues throughout 2025 and 2026, Legrand added.
“This work is about finding ways to connect on a deeper emotional level with consumers,” she said. “We are a brand that believes greatness can be reached by being your true self, and it’s up to everyone to define what greatness is for them.”
While these marketing moves are positively increasing Puma’s brand perception among Gen Z, time will tell if these efforts provide the foundation for the business turnaround the brand is hoping for.
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