Deckers Outdoor Corp. appointed Jake Brandman as the Sanuk brand president, effective September 1. Brandman joins the Sanuk team after serving as the vice president of North American sales for another Deckers brand, Teva. Jeff Kelley, founder of the brand, will assume the creative director role and continue to drive the vision and the ethos of Sanuk as he has since its founding in 1997.
On July 1, Deckers acquired Sanuk, a surf-inspired casual footwear brand.
Brandman will be responsible for Sanukï's global strategy and leading the
integration of the recently acquired brand into the day-to-day
operations of the corporation.
“In Jake, we have a leader for the Sanuk brand who brings sales,
operations and marketing experience to the job,” said Angel Martinez,
President and CEO of Deckers Outdoor in making the announcement. “He's
got ideal action sports industry experience which will help him to
retain Sanuk's vibrant and creative culture while driving the brand's
growth.”
All told, he
brings 15 years of management experience from the action sports, outdoor
and footwear industries. Brandman joined Deckers in October 2008 where
his leadership was instrumental in reinvigorating Teva's brand position
and creating significant sales growth.
Prior to Deckers, Brandman was the director of operations at Ahnu Footwear from August 2006 to September 2008; director of sales for Keen Footwear from July 2004 through March 2006; director of sales at Vans from April 2002 to June 2004; and national sales manager at Pro-tec from April 1999 to March 2002.
Brandman graduated from UCLA with an Economics degree and received his MBA from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.
Brandman will assume his role on September 1st, 2011 and will operate from Sanuk's headquarters located in Irvine, CA.
Deckers Outdoor's portfolio of brands include: Sanuk, Teva, Simple Shoes, UGG Australia, Tsubo, Ahnu and MOZO.
