ASICS Europe ramps up senior marketing team
Sportswear brand ASICS has made two new appointments within its central EMEA marketing team.
Robin Karakash has been hired as ASICS Europe’s director of integrated marketing communication EMEA. In this newly created position, he will report to Björn Hamacher, vice president of marketing ASICS EMEA, and will head up an integrated marketing communication team.
ASICS said the new division will be tasked with delivering consistent brand messaging across traditional and digital marketing channels as the company looks to provide a seamless brand experience across all touch points for the ASICS lifestyle and performance brands. Areas to be covered will include digital content creation, social media, media planning, PR, community management, entertainment management and digital services.
Prior to joining ASICS, Karakash was managing director of the international creative agency VCCP Berlin where he worked with ASICS on the release of numerous lifestyle collections. He also managed the brand solutions and insights creative unit at VIACOM. Before that, he spent seven years at Coca-Cola.
In a second appointment, Olivier Mignon has joined ASICS Europe as director of sports marketing ASICS EMEA. Also reporting to Hamacher, he will be responsible for developing ASICS’ major sports marketing assets and reinforcing the brand’s leadership position in key performance categories such as running, tennis, athletics and indoor.
Mignon’s overall objective will be to support ASICS’ global sports marketing plans in the ‘Road to Tokyo 2020’, for which ASICS is a Gold Level Sponsor, as well as for other key sporting events. He will also drive the ambassador strategy of ASICS’ individual players and athletes including Gaël Monfils, Johanna Konta, Christophe Lemaitre and Anouk Vetter.
With a track record in various business units at ASICS, Mignon’s most recent role was business performance manager at ASICS Region South West. Prior to that, he was senior marketing manager and sports marketing manager for ASICS France.
Hamacher said: “We are extremely excited about the appointment of Robin and Olivier, both being well-experienced marketeers with strong track-records. Our ambitions are high for the new EMEA marketing division and the addition of Robin and Olivier is only the beginning of our journey to connect in a more meaningful way with our ASICS target audience and provide them with content and experiences, which truly matter to them.”
