Award-winning brand marketing and strategy leader Mike Ferris has joined human performance solutions innovator PLAE as chief brand officer. With 20 years of experience – and named a 2023 Forbes Top 50 Entrepreneurial CMO – he will direct overall brand strategy and marketing, product innovation and direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales.

“We are beyond excited to have one of the world’s top brand strategists accelerate our vision and sports science principles and solutions to inspire human performance globally and help people live a higher quality of life,” said Brett Waits, founder and CEO of PLAE. “This isn’t about selling more products; it’s about creating a brand strategy based on our vision, mission and values.”

Ferris aims to expand the brand community by crafting the company’s five-year global brand strategy, growing PLAE’s product innovation pipeline, building the brand’s ambassador & partner network and developing a consumer marketing and commerce strategy. 

“PLAE is on a mission to change the world, and I look forward to helping the brand amplify and bring its vision to inspire human performance more broadly to the masses,” Ferris said. “I have spent my career working with athletes and building solutions that not only solve for athletes’ needs, but also can be adopted by a wider base of consumers. I am excited to continue this career journey as part of the PLAE team.”

Splitting his time between his home base in Denver and the company’s Canton, Georgia global headquarters, Ferris earned an MBA from Duke University and a B.A. in economics & government from the University of Virginia.

A Veteran Strategy and Marketing Expert

Ferris spent more than a decade at The North Face, a VF company, most recently as vice president of brand management for the $4 billion global outdoor lifestyle brand. There he also served as senior director of brand marketing, senior director of global brand strategy & business planning and senior manager of brand & marketing strategy.

Among the multiple awards the company earned during his leadership:

• 2023 Time magazine Most Influential Brands
• 2022 Fast Company Brands that Matter
• 2020 Fast Company Most Innovative Brands

“PLAE is a purpose-driven company that will have a tremendous influence on our industry and customers into the future, thanks to Mike’s leadership,” Waits added.