• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 27, 2024

Columbia Sportswear has tapped Adam&EveDDB as its new ad agency and has also announced that it has hired Matthew J. Sutton as senior vice president and head of marketing. Sutton steps into the leadership role to replace chief marketing officer Pri Shumate, who left in October of 2023. He had been chief marketing officer of FreshDirect.

The Portland, Oregon-based company previewed the brand repositioning for employees this week.

“The past year we’ve been retooling and reshaping our business to scale new heights,” said Joe Boyle, executive vice president, in the announcement. “In the year ahead, you’ll see the Columbia brand roll out a product strategy that is deeply intertwined with marketing, allowing us to reach consumers in new, surprising ways to reintroduce our iconic brand.”

Adam&EveDDB London will lead the global account in close partnership with its New York and San Francisco offices, he said.

Sutton will help lead the strategic integration of global marketing, including developing omnichannel marketing strategies. “His arrival brings significant momentum as we unlock our brand’s opportunity,” said Boyle.

The company is scheduled to report quarterly earnings next week. In its last results, released in July, Columbia reported an 8% drop in second-quarter sales, falling to $570.2 million. It posted a loss of $23.8 million from operations.

Those results were generally in line with Wall Street's expectations. “We are working to maximize sales in a challenging U.S. marketplace,” said Tim Boyle, chairman, president and chief executive officer, in the statement. “We have made meaningful progress on our top priorities, including inventory reduction, rationalizing expenses through our profit improvement program, and developing actionable strategies to reinvigorate long-term profitable growth.”

In a recent report on the company, Jonathan Komp, an analyst who follows Baird Securities, writes that he lowered its estimates based on “signs of challenging market conditions and overall consumer spending trends into the fall. We believe the outerwear category, in particular, remains challenged given warmer fall-to-date conditions.”

He also notes competition from key private brands and retailers, including Patagonia, REI, and Orvis, still-elevated promotional expenses, and his “limited confidence in product and marketing initiatives.”