Puma announced new appointments within its North American headquarters. Philippe Gautier, who joined Puma in 2009 as chief financial officer, has been appointed chief operation officer of Puma North America. Tara McRae, former vice president of marketing, will transition to a newly appointed role of vice president of strategic planning & brand management. Theo Keetell will advance to the senior director of marketing for the North American team.
Philippe Gautier joined PUMA North America in 2009 as chief financial officer, after a five year career at PPR in its online business and a background in the automotive industry in multiple international positions. In his new role as chief operations officer, Gautier will continue to lead the CFO duties within the organization and now take on a greater responsibility over the company’s operational functions across all phases of the business and drive the overall day to day performance of the company and the achievement of its’ strategic targets. During his first three years at Puma, Gautier was pivotal in the completion of Puma North America’s two joint ventures with Janed/United Legwear and Puma Wheat Accessories, aligning with the company’s goal to seek new and relevant opportunities for growth and expansion. Both joint ventures will report directly to Gautier. Gautier will continue to report directly to Jay Piccola, president and general manager for Puma North America.
In Tara McRae’s new role as vice president of strategic planning & brand management, she will oversee North American consumer insights and research as well as managing cross-functional strategic initiatives and the management of key brand programs. As part of this move, Puma North America formed the new Brand Management division within the regional team, to complement the brand’s global team and to assist with the regional management of licensee and joint venture partners, asset strategy and plans and overall brand alignment across all internal functions, and external partners. McRae joined the company in 2006 as the media/advertising manager and quickly emerged as a leader and advanced to the director of sport parketing and her last role as vice president of marketing. Puma will tap into McCrae's diverse background of corporate and agency experience in fashion, sports and consumer electronics to help shape and grow the Puma brand and business in the North American market place. McRae will continue to report directly to Jay Piccola, president and general manager for Puma North America.
Theo Keetell has been a long standing member of Puma’s marketing department since 2003 and has extensive experience in all aspects of the marketing mix across fashion, sport, publishing, music and retail. Coming to Puma as the lifestyle marketing manager, he was responsible for building the brand’s lifestyle brand initiatives and implemented memorable and creative programs in the U.S. marketplace; Keetell also had been an integral part in the launch of many Puma Stores across the U.S., which continues to serve as a key place for Puma to showcase the brand’s point of view. His impact as the lifestyle marketing manager helped grow and nurture the brand which led to the appointment of director of lifestyle & retail marketing, where he continued to oversee and implement creative lifestyle programs but also created synergies and alignment between Puma’s wholesale and vertical retail channels. Today, as the senior director of marketing, Keetell will continue to bring his keen consumer insight and creative thinking to the Puma brand and lead the marketing department to reach the company’s goals. He will continue to report to McRae, VP of brand management & strategic planning.
