No one can accuse Darren Chan of not walking the talk. In between circling the globe at a punishing pace on business, the 32-year-old runs, hikes, golfs and shoots hoops.
As a marketer for adidas - the one-time sportswear Goliath relegated to challenger status by Nike's relentless marketing machinery - the lanky Chan clearly needs the stamina a regular workout brings.
And it's more the case now. Early this month, adidas promoted Chan to regional head of brand communications and retail on top of his advertising and media role.
His canvas excludes Japan but stretches from India down to New Zealand.
That's plenty of frequent flier miles for the Hong Kong-based father of two.
Competitive by nature, Chan caught adidas' attention when he went after its regional advertising business for FCB in the late '90s. "I was pretty aggressive going after the business regionally, but the marketing director wasn't going to give us the business, recounts the Australian-born marketer, who cut his teeth at Mojo Australia in 1989 and arrived at FCB Hong Kong just months after the region was engulfed by a financial crisis. Instead, in late 2000, adidas offered him a regional advertising and media role.
At the time the venerable German brand was starting to expand beyond its pure sports roots, refashioning its products to encompass a broader lifestyle positioning.
But it was more than just a product refashioning that helped pull the company back from the brink of disaster in the early '90s. A corporate overhaul after several missteps, bigger budgets and a rising tide of retro appeal have made the three stripes as famous as the swoosh.
The usual tribulations of the slump aside, Chan recognises that adidas is in a sweet spot today. And he talks animatedly about taking the rejuvenated brand further in a region, which has consistently delivered growth. Last year, Asia revenues rose 15 per cent to US$876 million.
This year, the estimated US$90 million adidas spent backing the 2002 World Cup is kicking in. By the end of June, its backlog of orders was up 11 per cent, representing the biggest hike in 15 quarters, and higher than Nike's seven per cent. It's a sweet victory at a time when sources say the market share gap between the rivals is closing fast in Asia.
Even so, Nike remains a fearsome rival with an enviable portfolio of celebrity athletes to sell its story to Asian youth.
Chan isn't daunted. "We present something that's different from what Nike presents to the market, he insists. "They're a formidable competitor, but we're doing some innovative and creative things and I'm not just talking about communications to our consumer. One area of differentiation is with the athletes adidas has signed up. "There's a huge aspirational quality to adidas' international athletes, particularly David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane."
That quality is also evident in its choice of athletes in Asia. Among them are giant-killer Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, who beat Andre Agassi in their meeting at this year's Wimbledon; and Chinese women football players Sun Wen and Pu Wei. Another key difference is on the product front. This year, Chan helped launch Alphazeta, Clima Cool and A3 sports shoe lines, the latter two offering new ventilation and performance technology respectively.
Chan is also looking for innovation in adidas' marketing and is pushing his agencies hard to deliver imaginative integrated solutions. Chan cites a TV segment organised by its media shop Carat on Channel V to teach hip-hop dance steps and thus demonstrate the ventilation benefits of Clima Cool. This is the type of communication idea - creative and innovative but also strategically relevant to the brand - Chan believes will make the difference between winners and losers in the marketing race. And it's clear which of those he plans to be.
CHAN: ON THE RECORD
Recession blues: If you look at my career path, it's gone recession when I started in Australia to a financial crisis in Asia. I haven't hit boom time yet, but a recession helps build character.
Agency partner: We're in a very early stage with (globally-aligned agency) TBWA. They have some people in the region who are truly passionate about sports and the adidas brand.
Media buzz: We're looking to be creative and innovative in the context of being a sports brand. We're trying to drive programme content with pan-regional broadcasters that push the hot buttons (sports/fashion/music) of youth across Asia.
The World Cup: Korea and Japan went deep into the tournament and that was a very positive sign for sports in Asia as a whole.
Brand values: We will never lose sight of who we are as a brand; sports will always be the core of our brand.
Asian differences: Although participation in sports across Asia is lower compared to the US, we're seeing significant growth in kids getting much more involved in sports.
