BRAND BLOGS

Under Armour is in the midst of a painful but necessary metamorphosis. After years of struggling with a diluted brand identity, slowing sales, and a revolving door of leadership, the company is staging a dramatic “back to basics” turnaround. The architect of this plan is none other than its founder, Kevin Plank, who returned as CEO in 2024 with a clear and unflinching message: the reset will be difficult, but it is non-negotiable. As 2025 comes to a close, the “current affair” at Under Armour is one of strategic retreat. The company has been open about its “sales contraction” in fiscal 2025, projecting a low double-digit revenue decline, including a steep 15-17% drop in North America. This, however, is not a sign of failure; it’s a deliberate, self-inflicted “step back” designed to “meaningfully reset this business.” Plank’s strategy is a complete rejection of the athleisure trend-chasing that blurred the brand’s message. The new Under Armour is laser-focused on one thing: “performance-focused products” for the “young team sports athlete.” This is a return to the brand’s “humble and hungry” roots, repositioning itself as the “underdog” brand for the 16-to-24-year-old athlete who is serious about their sport. To achieve this, Plank is implementing what some have called “micromanagement,” but which he sees as essential operational discipline. The plan is aggressive: cutting the brand’s product (SKU) count by 25% to eliminate clutter, applying the 80/20 rule to focus on what works, and, most importantly, drastically cutting back on promotions and discounts. The goal is to restore Under Armour’s premium positioning and stop training consumers to wait for a sale. This strategic pivot is supported by a clean sweep of the leadership team. Plank has brought in a new Chief Product Officer, a new President of the Americas, a new Chief Supply Chain Officer, and, in a fascinating move, renowned fashion designer John Varvatos as Chief Design Officer. This signals a desire to infuse high-performance gear with a stronger, more confident aesthetic, without compromising its core athletic DNA. The brand’s marketing is also being retooled. The company is wielding its $500 million marketing budget with more precision, shifting from broad, expensive campaigns to targeted “micro-doses” aimed directly at its core athlete demographic. A significant, full-scale brand activation is expected to land in the fall of 2025, which will be the first major statement of this new, focused Under Armour. The road ahead is long. Under Armour is willingly sacrificing short-term sales for long-term brand health. It’s a high-stakes gamble, but for the first time in years, the company has a clear, authentic, and disciplined identity. The message from Kevin Plank is simple: Under Armour is no longer trying to be the next Nike; it’s trying, once again, to be the first Under Armour.

In the hyper-competitive sportswear market, Puma has long been the nimble challenger, the “fast cat” punching above its weight. As we move into 2026, the German brand is sharpening its claws with a new, disciplined strategy. After a solid 2024 that saw currency-adjusted sales grow by 4.4%, Puma is now shifting its focus from growth-at-all-costs to sustainable, profitable expansion. The new buzzword at Puma’s headquarters is “nextlevel,” the name for a comprehensive efficiency program announced in early 2025. This isn’t just a minor course correction; it’s a fundamental re-engineering of the business. The ambitious goal is to achieve an 8.5% EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) margin by 2027. How does it plan to get there? By getting leaner, smarter, and more direct. The “nextlevel” program is a direct response to a challenging global market. While the brand has strong momentum—particularly in the Americas, which has been its fastest-growing region—it recognizes that simple expansion is no longer enough. The new strategy is about improving efficiency, optimizing its product mix, and controlling costs to ensure that every sale is a profitable sale. A key pillar of this strategy is the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) channel. Puma has been investing heavily in its own e-commerce platforms and physical retail stores, and it’s paying off. The DTC business has been a standout performer, giving the company higher margins and, just as importantly, a direct relationship with its customers. This allows Puma to control its brand presentation, gather valuable data, and avoid the heavy discounting often seen in third-party wholesale. On the product front, Puma continues to play to its strengths. It has built a formidable presence in basketball by signing top-tier talent like LaMelo Ball and Scoot Henderson, creating signature shoes that genuinely compete with Nike and Adidas on both performance and culture. This “cool factor” in basketball has a halo effect, lifting the entire brand. Simultaneously, Puma is re-asserting its dominance in motorsport—a category it has owned for decades—and maintaining a strong, credible position in football (soccer) and running. The brand’s strategy is to “own” specific categories rather than trying to be everything to everyone, a smart move for a company of its size. While the 2025 outlook is a modest “low-to-mid single-digit” sales growth, this figure is misleading. It represents a deliberate, temporary slowdown. Puma is willingly tapping the brakes on top-line growth to re-tool its engine. By prioritizing brand elevation, streamlining operations, and boosting profitability, Puma is positioning itself not just to compete, but to win in the long run. It’s a mature, confident strategy that proves the cat is thinking several moves ahead.

Just two years ago, the conversation around Adidas was dominated by uncertainty. Navigating the tumultuous post-Yeezy landscape, the German sportswear icon was on the ropes. Today, in late 2025, the narrative has completely flipped. Adidas is not just surviving; it’s thriving, staging one of the most remarkable corporate turnarounds in recent memory. The proof is in the numbers. The company’s 2024 financial results, released in March 2025, were nothing short of spectacular. Adidas reported a 12% currency-neutral growth in revenue, a figure that blew past skeptical market expectations. This momentum has only accelerated, with the company confidently projecting an operating profit between €1.7 and €1.8 billion for 2025. So, what’s behind this dramatic resurgence? It’s a story of subtraction, addition, and strategic genius. The subtraction was, of course, the painful but necessary decoupling from the Yeezy brand. This move, while financially perilous at the time, forced Adidas to re-evaluate its entire portfolio and, crucially, to stand on its own two feet. The “addition” has been the masterful leadership of CEO Bjørn Gulden, who has brought a palpable new energy and product-first focus to the brand. The strategy itself has been a masterclass in leveraging heritage while innovating for the mainstream. The engine of this growth? Footwear, which surged an incredible 17% in 2024. This wasn’t driven by a single “it” shoe but by a brilliant “portfolio” approach. On one hand, Adidas has doubled down on its Originals category, turning its classic silhouettes like the Samba, Gazelle, and Spezial into a global uniform for the fashion-conscious. By skillfully managing scarcity and colorways, it has made these decades-old designs the hottest products on the market. On the other hand, it has broadened its “terrace” and lifestyle offerings into more accessible price points, ensuring that the brand’s heat isn’t just an exclusive, high-fashion phenomenon. This is complemented by a savvy dip into the archives, particularly in its Football division. The re-release of retro-inspired jerseys and gear has perfectly captured the “Blokecore” trend, turning soccer culture into a mainstream style driver. This success in lifestyle hasn’t come at the expense of performance. Adidas continues to push boundaries in running with its Adizero line and has maintained its dominance in global football. The company’s apparel division, up 6% in 2024, is also finding its footing by creating a clearer distinction between its performance gear and its Sportswear (lifestyle) collections. In essence, Adidas has successfully navigated its perfect storm. It has shed a controversial partnership, refocused on its unparalleled design archive, and broadened its appeal to a new generation of consumers who crave authenticity. The Three Stripes aren’t just back; they’re running laps around the competition.

In the relentless race for relevance, Nike is proving that its greatest competitor is, and always has been, itself. As 2025 draws to a close, the narrative surrounding the Beaverton giant is not just about sneakers; it’s about a profound and public recommitment to its core identity: groundbreaking, athlete-first innovation. For a brand that has flirted heavily with lifestyle and fashion—to immense financial success—this year feels like a strategic pivot back to the lab. The message is clear: high-fashion collaborations are powerful, but boundary-pushing tech is eternal. This renewed focus has been tangible and exciting. In late October 2025, Nike unveiled a slew of concepts that sound more like science fiction than footwear. We’re talking about 3D-printed uppers for its iconic Air Max line, a move that promises unprecedented customization and sustainability. This isn’t just a gimmick; it’s a fundamental shift in manufacturing that could one day mean a shoe is printed for your foot, on-demand. Alongside this, Nike introduced Aero-FIT performance apparel, a new cooling technology explicitly designed for what the company calls “a hotter world.” This isn’t just marketing spin; it’s a direct acknowledgment of climate change’s impact on athletes and a promise to engineer solutions for it. Perhaps most intriguing is the debut of its first neuroscience-based footwear. This new line is designed to help athletes feel calm and focused, utilizing texture, cushioning, and fit to measurably impact the wearer’s mental state. It’s the ultimate expression of “mind-body” athleticism, moving Nike from a gear provider to a genuine performance partner. This tech-forward push is balanced by an equally sophisticated cultural strategy. Nike’s collaborations have become more artistic and ambitious. Partnerships with designers like Martine Rose and KNWLS, or the creative collective Palace, are less about slapping two logos on a shoe and more about creating entirely new aesthetics. The recent launch of the Manor Place community hub in London with Palace shows a deep investment in the grassroots culture that fuels the brand, providing a physical space for sport and creativity. Even its branding is undergoing a legacy-defining evolution. In a move that feels both timely and long overdue, Nike announced in October 2025 that it was renaming its World Headquarters in Oregon to honor co-founder Philip H. Knight. It’s a powerful symbolic gesture, cementing the legacy of its visionary founder just as the company embarks on its next chapter of innovation. From signing the next generation of college superstars through NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals to redefining what a performance product even is, Nike is operating with a renewed sense of purpose. The company is telling the world that while others follow trends, it is, and always will be, the one that sets the pace.