Puma appoints Nike and ASICS alum as Vice President of Global Wholesale

Puma continues its hiring spree with the appointment of former Nike and ASICS alumni Bertrand Blanc as Vice President of Global Wholesale.

This marks the third senior leadership hire for Puma since last week, as it aims to establish itself as a top-three global sports brand.

Blanc, who will start in the newly created position on 1 May, is tasked with developing and executing the company’s sales strategies, driving global revenue growth and ensuring the Puma brand is "elevated" at its international wholesale accounts.

He will report directly to Chief Commercial Officer Matthias Baeumer.

Blanc joins Puma from Wilson Sporting Goods, where he was Senior Global Commercial Director for Racquet Sports. He brings more than 25 years of leadership experience to his new role, having held senior roles in strategy, key account management, planning and operations in the sporting goods industry at brands such as ASICS and Nike.

"Our wholesale business is a crucial part of our commercial engine and, by appointing a dedicated leader for this channel, we can create a global centre of excellence which will support our global markets," said Baeumer.

"I'm convinced that Bertrand is the right person to lead our teams to grow Puma at strategic wholesalers both globally and in major markets."

Two days ago, Puma hired former Vice President of Originals, Basketball and Partnerships Europe at Adidas, Laurent Fricker, to lead its Sportstyle Business Unit.

This followed the announcement last week that former Adidas VP of Global Brand Strategy, James Carnes, was joining Puma to lead its new creative direction.

Puma's hiring spree indicates that competition in the sportswear industry is heating up, with rivals Adidas and Nike betting on high-profile collaborations to drive consumer demand.

The hotly anticipated Adidas collaboration with reality TV star Molly-Mae Hague, which launched on 9 April, saw demand surge by 51% at JD. This also had a positive knock-on effect across the brand’s other footwear styles, with search terms including ‘Superstar’ growing by 58% over the seven days leading up to the launch.

Nike, meanwhile, has been ramping up its collaboration with Kim Kardashian's shapewear and underwear brand SKIMS, which opened its most ambitious collection to date in a pop-up on the fifth floor of Selfridges in the first three months of the year.

In March, Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group took a 5.77% stake in Puma, adding another twist to the ownership of the German sportswear giant as it attempts to bounce back from a record €645 million net loss in 2025 and a 13% slide in annual sales.