Manager, Sports Marketing SEA

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:

adidas partners some of the biggest athletes, teams, events and cultural influencers around the world. The Sports & Culture Marketing (Brand Partnerships) team is at the heart of these partnerships, helping shape an industry leading portfolio that delivers adidas's voice to the global audience.

As adidas looks to expand it's brand Partnerships footprint in South East Asia, the team is looking for an experienced Sports & Culture Marketing professional to shape and execute the Regional Strategy that is informed by deep industry knowledge across key sports & cultural pillars that resonate with SEA consumers.

Reporting into the Senior Manager, SEA, this individual will be responsible for shaping a market leading and diverse portfolio of partners, athletes, clubs and federations that support brand and category growth. Identifying and utilizing partners at key moments to tell product and brand stories that position adidas as the top-of-mind brand in the market.

To ensure positive development of adidas brand image through a diverse partner portfolio and drive best in class activation of our SEA Brand Partner portfolio.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Planning & Strategy

• Support the development and execution of SEA Brand Partner strategy in alignment with Global/Emerging Market Brand & Category objectives.
• Assist SEA countries to identify, assess, secure and maintain industry best portfolio of talent that reflects our Brand positioning.
• Support contract negotiations & strategies to secure partners across SEA.

Partner Activation

• Deliver industry leading partner activations to drive awareness of our partnerships and brand/product heat.
• Work with SEA countries to create & deliver partner activation calendars supporting key brand moments, leveraging our brand partners to deliver brand & product storytelling.
• Manage SEA partner seeding program to deliver optimal outcomes for our brand across SEA. This includes seasonal product ordering, creation of seeding lists, prioritisation of partners, timely delivery of data, tracking and reporting.

• Manage the amplification of our brand partners through campaign activity including the facilitation of Partner publishing briefs to markets.
• Review the effectiveness of our brand partner activity via Partner publishing tracking, analysis & reporting for campaign activations.
• Track entitlement utilisation to ensure we are maximising benefits and driving ROI through our partnerships.

• Support global events and partner visits in case of being host market.

Relationships & Servicing

• Deliver industry best service to our partners.
• Maintain necessary contact with key industry personnel to achieve the objectives of the Brand.
• Act as liaison between brand partners and adidas internal departments, including brand activation, omni-channel PR/newsroom and sales.

Operations

• Ensure all Sports Marketing contract negotiations and operations comply with the Global Sports Marketing Policy and are in line with local budget guidelines.
• Deliver all brand partner reporting OTIF.
• Assist in the management of the SEA Brand Partner budget.

KPIs:

• Execution of the SEA Brand Strategy aligned to business & category objectives
• Portfolio depth and brand alignment
• Utilisation of partner rights
• Partner seeding & activations
• MaEx accuracy
• Internal compliance adherence

Key Relationships:

• SEA Brand & Category Management
• SEA Country Managers & Brand Activation/SpoMa & CM leads
• EM Hub Brand partners and Brand Activation
• Legal SEA
• Finance SEA
• External Agencies
• Athletes, Influencers, federations, and clubs

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Manager with strong interpersonal, influencing skills and deep sports marketing knowledge.
• Sports Marketing experience with strong industry knowledge and established industry contacts.
• Proven methodological skills (e.g. Business planning, strategic development).
• High degree of commercial and business acumen knowledge related to sports marketing.
• Strong negotiation skills and contract negotiating experience.

Required Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors in related field
• Minimum 7 years equivalent professional experience, ideally in Sports Marketing and Influencer Marketing
• Advanced user of MS Office suite of products
• Fluent in written and spoken English is a must.