OPPORTUNITIES
Opportunities should be recognised, assessed and, where possible, exploited by PUMA at an early stage. Opportunity management is a company-wide responsibility that starts at the strategic level and extends through operational management to every single person in the company. As part of the annual strategic planning, budget and medium-term process, the opportunities identified are integrated into PUMA's overall planning approach. PUMA has identified and defined several key opportunity categories for the planning period and beyond.
PUMA's corporate strategy aims to strengthen our brand. With this overarching framework, we particularly want to create an even stronger foundation for growth, above-average success in the market, the acquisition of additional market share and sustainable profitability.
To strengthen the brand, we have defined three pillars that open up important opportunities: Establishing a distinctive brand DNA, strengthening our credibility and authenticity through a strong performance business and reinforcing our relevance in the Sportstyle prime segment.
PUMA will continue to invest in the brand and sees significant opportunities to increase market share in all key markets. To further increase brand equity, we relaunched our “See The Game Like We Do” campaign in April 2024 for the first time in ten years. The improvement in brand awareness in key markets and the positive KPI development following the campaign support the increase in popularity of the brand and the acquisition of additional market share.
In the second pillar, perception as an authentic and credible sports brand is further promoted through innovation, strong performances by our brand ambassadors and a strong presence at our sales partners' points of sale. In recent years, we have made great progress in our key sports categories and significantly strengthened our market position in soccer, running, fitness, basketball, golf and motorsports. In the running segment in particular, which we only re-entered a few years ago, we continue to see considerable potential for increasing our market share. Our product offering is continuously optimized and further developed across all categories, with a particular focus on innovation, technology (e.g. NITRO) and franchise management. In 2025, several international sporting events will provide an important platform to underline our performance and further strengthen our brand presence. We will build on the visibility and brand popularity we achieved at the 2024 Olympic Games.
The third pillar of our strategy focuses on increasing relevance in the Sportstyle Prime business. The prime segment and the success of our franchises offer PUMA a significant opportunity to increase our market share in a very large and relevant market segment. We will continue to focus on trends in the low profile segment, launch new products and expand distribution with key partners.
In terms of distribution, PUMA will continue to focus on the wholesale channel. Strong partnerships with our wholesale customers offer opportunities for future market share gains and business growth. However, we also see significant opportunities in our Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business with a particular focus on PUMA's e-commerce channels. In line with our overall brand development strategy, we will continue to improve the consumer experience in all e-commerce channels and invest in the underlying technology infrastructure. New store formats and improvements to the overall shopping experience in our own retail stores can and should also lead to additional business opportunities. In the distribution area, ensuring delivery through new, state-of-the-art multi-channel distribution centres in key markets continues to support business development.
In the area of information technology, we identify opportunities both in the strategic realignment of our global organization and in the next phase of our Enterprise Business Planning (EBP) transformation, which will provide best practices and governance structures in all regions and thus contribute to a strengthened global structure. Furthermore, advances in generative artificial intelligence are driving new digital use cases that will impact almost all areas of work and offer significant potential for innovation and increased efficiency. In addition, modern technology platforms with a flexible, modular architecture will increase the speed at which new functions are implemented and ensure an agile and scalable IT landscape that can quickly adapt to new requirements. We also see the integration of digital teams with comprehensive end-to-end responsibility as an opportunity to implement digital projects more efficiently and successfully. In summary, by creating a global Digital & Technology organization, we aim to support PUMA's growth and drive digital transformation to become faster and more efficient. Through innovation and close collaboration with our business partners, we will create seamless digital experiences for our employees and customers. At the same time, we have a responsibility to protect PUMA's data and assets through the use of cutting-edge technologies and targeted training for our employees.
At PUMA, we are committed to people and our planet in all areas of our business. We take responsibility and are constantly finding new ways to become even more sustainable. As sustainability becomes increasingly more relevant to our end consumers and external stakeholders, the importance of sustainability-related communication, recycled and certified products and sustainability disclosures is growing. PUMA's strategic approach to sustainability is focused on maximizing impact within the company itself, within the supply chain and with the end customer. Numerous initiatives are currently underway. In 2024, for example, PUMA manufactured eight out of ten products in accordance with its sustainability index, thus reaching another milestone. The sustainable products are made from materials that are classified as preferred by Textile Exchange or come from certified sources. PUMA has launched the “Voices of a RE:GENERATION” initiative, which aims to continuously communicate with activists and environmentalists of today's generation and provide feedback to our leadership on how PUMA can further strengthen its sustainability initiatives and communicate its sustainability efforts to young audiences. Through these initiatives, we can further develop sustainability at PUMA, capitalize on resulting business opportunities, increase productivity, drive innovation, further strengthen the brand's reputation and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
To achieve the goals of our corporate strategy, PUMA complements it with “nextlevel”, a comprehensive efficiency program targeting cost optimization and operational improvement, which puts an increased focus on translating top-line growth into increased profitability growth. The “nextlevel” programme aims to achieve an EBIT margin of 8.5% by 2027 by optimizing direct and indirect costs. In combination with our brand elevation strategy, we are committed to achieve a 10% EBIT margin in the long term. PUMA will continue to strategically invest in the brand, innovative products, wholesale and retail, productive warehouses, advanced technologies and our people, which are the foundation for sustainable growth.