Adidas appointed Arthur Hoeld as managing director for Western Europe, according to a report on ISPO.com. Alain Pourcelot, who was previously responsible for the Western European business, has moved to the management of the training unit.
Hoeld was formerly head of Adidas Originals from 2011 to 2017. In February 2017, he became senior vice president global brands and business development.
Guillaume de Montplanet has also been promoted to senior vice president of Western Europe.
The changes come as Western Europe has seen a slowdown with flat currency-neutral growth in the second quarter. The flat sales also came on top of growth of 15 percent on compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the last three years in Adidas’ most-mature market.
On the second quarter conference call with analysts, Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said the erosion was “more pronounced” than anticipated as some product storytelling and consumer activation “did not execute as well as in the past.” He said changes have been made to Europe’s management structure, but Adidas expects to see similar softness in the second half in the region as the company takes a “disciplined approach” to rebuilding sustainable growth in the region.
