Puma promoted Tara McRae to president of Puma North America, where she will oversee the athleticwear company’s business in the region, according to a Tuesday press release.
McRae started at Puma North America in 2006, and worked in media planning and sports marketing, eventually becoming regional head of marketing. She left Puma in 2016 and worked with footwear brand Clarks and at athlete Tom Brady’s TB12 wellness company before rejoining Puma in 2024 as senior vice president of brand and strategy, per the release.
Her new role is effective immediately. She succeeds Bob Philion, who is leaving the company after 20 years at the company, including eight years in his current role. Philion is leaving “to pursue opportunities” outside of Puma, and the company did not provide further details.
“With Tara, we have appointed a leader with a great understanding of our consumers, our industry and the North American market,” Matthias Bäumer, Puma’s chief commercial officer, said in the release. “I strongly believe she has the experience and the strategic mindset to help us succeed in this crucial market.”
Bäumer also thanked Philion for his work, saying his tenure as president helped “put PUMA back on the map in North America.”
Earlier this month, Puma replaced its CEO, Arne Freundt, with Arthur Hoeld, a 26-year veteran of rival athleticwear company Adidas. Freundt spent more than 14 years with Puma, and the company said the move was due to “differing views on strategy execution.”
Last month, the company rolled out its most extensive global ad campaign to date, which focused on the social connection and self-expression aspect of sports, rather than performance.
Puma reported a fourth quarter year-over-year sales increase of 15.5% to 2.3 billion euros, or about $2.5 billion. For full fiscal 2024, sales grew 2.5% to 8.8 billion euros.
