Staff Reporters
Aug 17, 2022

Asia-Pacific Power List 2022: Mits Minowa, Allbirds

The former Red Bull and Nike marketer is leading a sustainable brand out of its D2C origins and onto the global stage by launching new campaigns and entering new categories.

Asia-Pacific Power List 2022: Mits Minowa, Allbirds
SEE THE FULL 2022 POWER LIST
Asia-Pacific’s 50 most influential and purposeful marketers
#LeadersForGood
 

Mits Minowa

Marketing director
Allbirds
Japan
New member  

In the space of six years, Allbirds has gone from being a startup with bold ambitions, listing on the NASDAQ—and seeing its valuation pop to $4 billion—to a 50% crash in stock price and being questioned over its true-green credentials. The sneaker and accessories brand has sought to carve a distinct niche for itself in the competitive market as a brand selling products that by its own words are about “looking good, feeling good and doing good.”

Steering the company through this roller coaster is Mits Minowa, the firm’s marketing director based in Japan. The former Red Bull, Uniqlo and Nike marketer has been instrumental in taking the brand global—and launching in Japan was a key step. Allbirds began as a direct-to-consumer brand but has since expanded into offline and online retail to keep pace with growth.

Historically, Allbirds has been an active investor in marketing and PR, spending a fifth of its revenue in these segments. The brand has also sought to burnish its sustainable values by increasing the price of its products—albeit by a dollar—during frenetic sale periods to deter mindless buying. It has also waded into the topic of climate change by collaborating with activists and influencers to amplify its stance.

To support the brand, Allbirds has kept to the brand’s quirky credo and signed up Kiwi indie agency Wrestler as its creative shop of record. The brand has also embarked on a series of collaborations worldwide (including one with Adidas to ‘reimagine’ the running shoe), launched several initiatives to add muscle to its green credentials (a recommerce offering and a cheeky campaign called keeptheamazonprime.com targeted at spendthrift online shoppers), and launched a performance apparel range.

SEE THE FULL 2022 POWER LIST
Asia-Pacific’s 50 most influential and purposeful marketers
#LeadersForGood
 

 

Related Articles

Just Published

1 day ago

Cannes Lions Creative Strategy jury president eyes ...

CANNES LIONS JURY PRESIDENT Q&A: Campaign speaks with Publicis Groupe's SEA CEO Amrita Randhawa to understand what brands and agencies should be aware of in their entries.

1 day ago

Women to Watch Greater China 2023: Shuang Xu, BCW

From delivering growth to winning awards to transforming the business and creating new tools and capabilities while nurturing teams, Xu has basically done it all, leading by example.

1 day ago

The grades are in: Agency Report Cards debut Monday

We assessed 30 APAC agency networks—in great detail. The in-depth report cards on their 2022 performance in growth, innovation, creativity and effectiveness, DEI and sustainability, and overall management quality, will be revealed on Monday.

1 day ago

TikTok isn’t a saint, but it shouldn’t be seen as ...

Campaign's tech and media editor shares his thoughts on TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew's more than five-hour-long testimony in front of the US Congress.