• by Fern Siegel , October 28, 2024

Columbia Sportswear Company named adam&eveDDB its global AOR.

The agency will lead all creative efforts for the account, awarded after a competitive pitch. It will be led by adam&eveDDB London in close partnership with its New York and San Francisco offices.

First work is expected in 2025.

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

As part of the new creative push, Columbia hired Matthew J. Sutton to serve as senior vice president-head of marketing. He recently led retail and D2C brands The Black Tux and FreshDirect as Chief Marketing Officer. Before that, he handled global marketing for Facebook.

Miranda Hipwell, CEO of adam&eveDDB, touted the “unique marriage of irreverence, imagination and innovation embedded in the brand’s DNA. In a world full of purpose-led ambitions, Columbia is a rare example of the real deal.”

The adam&eveDDB client roster includes Amazon, CALM, PlayStation, International Paralympic Committee and Eurostar.

Columbia, the flagship brand of Portland, Oregon-based Columbia Sportswear Company, debuted in 1938 as a hat company, founded by Paul and Marie Lamfrom, who fled the Nazis a year earlier. It later expanded to sportwear, run by their daughter, Gert Boyle, and became a publicly traded company in 1998. Columbia products are sold in 100 countries.