More change is coming to Adidas.
“We regret to inform you that Rupert Campbell, president Adidas North America, has decided to leave Adidas to pursue other opportunities,” the company said in an internal announcement, which was obtained by WWD on Monday.
That’s another big shift for Adidas, which was already in the midst of major transformation.
The company is still settling in under chief executive officer Bjørn Gulden, who took the helm at the start of this year and is rebuilding from the implosion last year of the Yeezy partnership and the split from rapper-cum-designer Ye amid his his antisemitic rants.
Campbell has had a long run at Adidas, taking posts of increasing responsibility, starting as retail director in the company’s Market North unit in 2012, according to his LinkedIn profile. After a three-year stretch leading the Lucozade Powerleague football league in Glasgow, he returned to Adidas in 2018 to become managing director Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, where the company said he “successfully led the business and recorded double-digit sales growth.”
He became president of North America in January 2022, right before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The North American business at the time had been struggling with complaints that Black employees faced discrimination at the company. In June 2020, a group of 100 of the division’s employees delivered management a 32-page deck titled “Our State of Emergency.”
Working to heal those wounds — while strengthening the business — was a priority when Campbell, a British national, came to North America.
“As a people-first leader, whose values are based around inclusion and diversity, Rupert, together with his team, has established strong relationships with partners and stakeholders and built a dynamic North America Game Plan for how to win in this very important, but also very challenging marketplace,” said the internal announcement, signed by Arthur Hoeld, executive board member, and Eveline Noya, senior vice president of human resources, who both work in the company’s global sales function.
“Throughout his tenure, Rupert has remained focused on building a foundation for quality and sustainable growth that is centered on amplifying sport and culture,” they said. “Rupert has played an integral role in early successes of the Game Plan such as the resigning and strengthening of our Major League Soccer partnership, the historic Name Image and Likeness agreements with female collegiate athletes and cementing our spot as the pioneering sport to culture brand with Run-D.M.C. and Hip Hop 50.”
Campbell’s last day will be Oct. 27 and Hoeld will take direct oversight of the North American business until a full-time successor is found.
A spokesperson for Adidas confirmed the departure.
