Patrik Nilsson, who did a splendid job in raising Adidas’ market share in the Scandinavian markets since he became managing director of Area Nordic in November 2003 (see also Northern European market research report), will move to Portland to take charge of Adidas America. Reporting directly to Erich Stamminger, president and chief executive of the Adidas brand, the Swedish executive succeeds Rob Langstaff, who has decided to leave the group for personal reasons.
Ronald Auschel, head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, will take on Nilsson’s current role on an interim basis. Nilsson began his career at Adidas in 1991 as head of sales and marketing in Sweden. Three years later he joined the company’s global marketing organization, scoring major successes. Adidas says it regained leadership in the tennis category after Nilsson became business unit manager for tennis. In 2000 he began to run Adidas’ Sport Heritage division, whose sales doubled under his tenure.
Meanwhile Reebok is looking for a new manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa following the resignation of David Singleton, who has been with the brand for more than two decades. Michael Rupp, the 18-year veteran of Adidas who is supervising the integration of Reebok, will take over his place on a day-to-day basis next to his role as chief operating officer for the Reebok brand.
