Joachim Harbich, a German executive from the music industry, joined Pelé Sports last month as global marketing director, which is a new position. The Swiss-based football brand launched at the World Cup last year already had a global marketing manager, Zoe Geary. She joined in March from IMG, the master licensee of the Pelé brand, and is now reporting to Harbich. The new director is meant to come up with wide-ranging marketing projects for the Pelé Sports brand, focusing on point-of-sale support and social media. The team is working on such investments as audio branding and events combining informal football with music. The company is also gearing up for a grass-roots program ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Harbich's previous employers include Universal, Capitol Music and EMI Germany, where he was managing director. The recruitment comes as Pelé Sports continues to expand, with the opening of a subsidiary for the Benelux countries. Roy Beumer, former distributor of Lotto in the Netherlands, previously operated as a distributor for Pelé Sports, but last month his entire team turned into a Pelé Sports office. Bo Zanichelli, the brand's distributor for all of Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, has added Ukraine to his territory.

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