Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization

Inspired by our heritage, adidas is rooted in sport and the culture born from it. This role is responsible for leading the Lifestyle category across EM South, operating at the intersection of sport and culture to translate global strategies into locally relevant narratives, partnerships and activations. The role is accountable for building adidas' cultural relevance across the market, driving brand heat and consumer connection through best-in-class brand building initiatives that deliver against both brand equity and commercial growth objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the localization and execution of the EM South Lifestyle Brand Activation strategy across Originals, Sportswear, Statement, PR and EIM.
• Own and drive the Lifestyle Brand Activation calendar, leading campaign planning and execution to deliver against key business and brand priorities.
• Leverage consumer, cultural and market insights to inform strategy, identify opportunities and guide decision making.
• Develop locally relevant communications and activations that resonate with consumers and strengthen adidas' cultural relevance.
• Guide the conceptualization, development and scaling of experiential marketing initiatives and events, including Originals Studio.
• Act as the custodian of Lifestyle's intersection with the broader sport categories, creating cross-functional synergies that leverage the brands ecosystem, partners and assets to enhance brand credibility.
• Manage strategic relationships with agencies, creators, contracted partners and other external stakeholders, in close collaboration with Sports Marketing.
• Own the Lifestyle marketing budget, ensuring effective investment allocation, measurable ROI and optimisation of spend across key moments and initiatives.
• Lead and develop a team of direct and indirect reports, setting a clear vision, fostering collaboration and driving high performance.

KPI’s:

• Category Net Sales and Margin
• Market Share of categories
• Full Price Sell Through
• Brand Sentiment & health metrics
• Media and PR performance KPI’s

Key Relationships:

• Marketing team
• EM Brand Activation team (Global team: project dependent)
• Channels EM South
• External Agencies
• Contracted partners

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Extensive experience across the brand communications mix, including media, PR, events, sponsorships, retail and experiential marketing, preferably within a global brand environment.
• Deep understanding of local sport, fashion, music, art and creative communities.
• Proven ability to localize global campaigns and strategies to drive meaningful consumer impact.
• Strong written, verbal and presentation communication skills.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing highly collaborative teams.
• Strong stakeholder management capabilities across internal and external partners, including agencies and EIM partners.
• Experience managing marketing budgets and performance tracking.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office.
• Experience working within both market and above-market organisational structures preferred.

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• University degree in Business/ Marketing
• Minimum of 10 years professional experience specifically in Marketing

• Fluent in English