From a sports company to fashion, Reebok has walked a long way and the company’s marketing director reveals to Angshuman Paul the secret strategies of this journey….
Sajid Shamim Director
– Sales and Marketing, Reebok India
As we sauntered into the third floor of Signature Tower – the office of Sajid Shamim, Director, Sales & Marketing of Reebok India – we were delighted to see a group of buoyant, dynamic people in casual track-suits. A look at this energetic and vibrant team made us wonder how valuable they were for Sajid and Reebok. And the protagonist answered, “It’s the team that knows the pulse of brand Reebok. All our marketing strategies, which make Reebok the biggest apparel brand in India, are a cumulative effort of this team. I individually am a nobody.” A believer of autonomous corporate set-up and empowerment of his team, Sajid is a leader who provides directions, hence allowing ample scope to his team for creativity, innovation and experimentation.
Sajid’s professional life is a classic example of how destiny drives one’s life irrespective of various plans. While pursuing his MBA at XLRI Jamshedpur, Sajid was bent on joining the field of sales – and that too in the area of sports marketing. However, post MBA, he joined Coca Cola, something totally away from his earlier objectives. But it worked. He shares, “Working in Coca Cola was surely very interesting and it was the initial part of my career. Most importantly, it was during my two and half years with Coca Cola that I actually learned the practical aspect of marketing strategies.” Bucked up with valuable experience, he moved on to achieve his pre-decided goal and joined Reebok, which according to him was a very unique industry at that point of time, and required the type of challenges that he was looking for.
Reebok’s India venture, now a subsidiary of Adidas, happens to be the ‘single nation’ success for the global sportswear conglomerate. And that has happened as a result of smart game plans woven by two adroit leaders who, surprisingly, came from very different backgrounds. While Sajid came from an FMCG background, Subhinder Singh Prem, MD, Reebok India joined Reebok after a stint with pharmaceutical major Ranbaxy. However, lack of experience in the sports retailing space didn’t stop the duo from adding the requisite glitz to Reebok. Through innovations, careful go-to-market strategies and various strategic tie-ups (examples of which include the likes of Shiamak Bollywood Workout for Reebok, getting Manish Arora into their branding et al) within a time period of around a decade, these two have successfully helped Reebok occupy a unique space as a sporty yet fashionable brand in the minds of Indian consumers. Shares Sajid, “The challenge with us was to blend sports with fashion and we felt it was necessary to bring together sports and Bollywood. So, I came out with Bipasha-Dhoni campaign along with launch of radical women’s products.”
Sajid Shamim Director
– Sales and Marketing, Reebok India As we sauntered into the third floor of Signature Tower – the office of Sajid Shamim, Director, Sales & Marketing of Reebok India – we were delighted to see a group of buoyant, dynamic people in casual track-suits. A look at this energetic and vibrant team made us wonder how valuable they were for Sajid and Reebok. And the protagonist answered, “It’s the team that knows the pulse of brand Reebok. All our marketing strategies, which make Reebok the biggest apparel brand in India, are a cumulative effort of this team. I individually am a nobody.” A believer of autonomous corporate set-up and empowerment of his team, Sajid is a leader who provides directions, hence allowing ample scope to his team for creativity, innovation and experimentation.
Sajid’s professional life is a classic example of how destiny drives one’s life irrespective of various plans. While pursuing his MBA at XLRI Jamshedpur, Sajid was bent on joining the field of sales – and that too in the area of sports marketing. However, post MBA, he joined Coca Cola, something totally away from his earlier objectives. But it worked. He shares, “Working in Coca Cola was surely very interesting and it was the initial part of my career. Most importantly, it was during my two and half years with Coca Cola that I actually learned the practical aspect of marketing strategies.” Bucked up with valuable experience, he moved on to achieve his pre-decided goal and joined Reebok, which according to him was a very unique industry at that point of time, and required the type of challenges that he was looking for.
Reebok’s India venture, now a subsidiary of Adidas, happens to be the ‘single nation’ success for the global sportswear conglomerate. And that has happened as a result of smart game plans woven by two adroit leaders who, surprisingly, came from very different backgrounds. While Sajid came from an FMCG background, Subhinder Singh Prem, MD, Reebok India joined Reebok after a stint with pharmaceutical major Ranbaxy. However, lack of experience in the sports retailing space didn’t stop the duo from adding the requisite glitz to Reebok. Through innovations, careful go-to-market strategies and various strategic tie-ups (examples of which include the likes of Shiamak Bollywood Workout for Reebok, getting Manish Arora into their branding et al) within a time period of around a decade, these two have successfully helped Reebok occupy a unique space as a sporty yet fashionable brand in the minds of Indian consumers. Shares Sajid, “The challenge with us was to blend sports with fashion and we felt it was necessary to bring together sports and Bollywood. So, I came out with Bipasha-Dhoni campaign along with launch of radical women’s products.”
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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