Reebok Taps Global Marketing Chief

BOSTON Reebok said today it has appointed Uli Becker director of global marketing efforts for its core namesake brand.

In this newly structured role, Becker will oversee worldwide product, sports and brand marketing, as well as public relations, reporting to Paul Harrington, Reebok brand president and CEO. He starts his new role July 17.

Currently, Becker heads up global brand marketing at Adidas and serves as managing director of Adidas International in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Reebok, a unit of Adidas, spends about $100 million annually on global marketing, per sources, and approximately $50 million in U.S. measured media, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Becker, a 16-year Adidas veteran, will relocate to Reebok’s headquarters in Canton, Mass.

Becker succeeds Dennis Baldwin, who is leaving Reebok to pursue new professional interests, the company said in a statement. Since October 2005, Becker and Baldwin co-led the marketing team in the Adidas-Reebok integration process.

“We are excited about welcoming Uli into our senior management team. Under his global brand marketing leadership, Adidas has become one of the most coveted global brands with industry-leading products and award-winning communications,” said Harrington in the statement.

Adidas earlier this month consolidated its estimated $200 million global media business at Aegis Group’s Carat following a review [Adweek Online, May 4]. The search was launched in February, just one month after Adidas-Salomon acquired Reebok for $3.8 billion.

Four contenders had been vying for combined media chores. They were: Carat (the lead media agency for Adidas); the Omnicom Group team of OMD and PHD (both Reebok shops); Publicis Groupe’s Starcom; and WPP Group’s MediaCom, according to sources.