Nike appoints new China marketing director

Chow moves from the same role in Japan and took up his new role earlier this month, according to sources. He has been with Nike for six years, starting as a special projects director before becoming marketing director first in Korea then Japan, where he headed a 70-strong team.

The shift is not thought to affect Nike’s brand connections director in the market, Kerri Hoyt-Pack.

The move comes as Nike reassesses many of its key marketing relationships in Asia-Pacific. It has recently shifted creative assignments in Korea and Japan, and is tipped to appoint Ogilvy & Mather to duties in Southeast Asia.

China is now Nike’s second-largest market after the US. In the wake of the Olympics key rival adidas claimed market leadership after sales surged 60 per cent in the first half of 2008. Nike disputed this claim, after leading the market for at least three years.

Nike recently unveiled a regional basketball-themed campaign involving virtual radio station W.N.I.K.E.