Embedding Digital into Traditional Sales Force with Olivier Gianina
Olivier Gianina and his team was able to embed digital into traditional sales force, driving a culture and business model shift, to create the conditions to win online.
Olivier has been developing an interesting career with adidas through Sales, SCM, Tech and Business Development in Germany, France and last 6 years in Latin America. Olivier is passionate about exploring new business models and shaping high performing teams on the back of a strong collective culture.
He brings that passion to his current role as VP Sales for adidas Latin America.
-
LAUREN:
– Olivier, thank you for joining me today to really discuss how Adidas has been able to embed digital into a traditional sales force. But before we jump into that, I’d love to hear a bit of background on yourself first.
OLIVIER:
– Yeah, so first of all, thank you for inviting me to this podcast. I’m really glad to join. Yeah, so, I joined Adidas 17 years ago in the global headquarters in Germany and then spent 10 years in France, leading different position in sales, supply chain and tech. And then six years ago, I had a chance to realize my dream, which was to work one day in Latin America. I did different roles in Latin America, from leading tech team, to leading business development, which is basically strategy and project management. And finally going back to first love, which is to lead sales for the past two years and a half.
LAUREN:
– Okay. And you’ve been working across all of Latin America, correct? Or specific countries?
OLIVIER:
– Yeah, so, I’m based out of Panama where we have the regional bureau original office, but we also have a country offices in Mexico and Brazil and Argentina, in seven countries at the end of the day. So I’m traveling. I was traveling before COVID let’s say two weeks out of four, or two to three weeks out of four. So yeah, traveling a lot and my life changed drastically, so for the happiness of my girls, but yeah, different lifestyle.
LAUREN:
– Did you get at least a chance to travel a lot around Latin America beforehand?
OLIVIER:
– Yeah, a lot. I mean the first four years I was traveling all the time, professionally and personally.
LAUREN:
– Okay.
OLIVIER:
– It was fantastic to embrace a different culture. You don’t work the same way in Chile, in Argentina, and Brazil, same when you deal with Colombia. So yeah, I had a chance to travel a lot to the countries, I enjoyed a lot. It was part of the excitement of joining so I was pleased that I could do it quite a bit and also on the personal side which was fantastic.
LAUREN:
– Yeah, well, that’s good, you had some years, because I know some people that started roles during COVID. They never had the chance to travel or meet the markets or know the people personally so that’s good.
OLIVIER:
– Yeah. We’re gonna speak about sales and digital teams. And the last part of my digital team actually never came to the office.
LAUREN:
– Okay.
OLIVIER:
– Because a big part of that team joined us 18 months ago.
LAUREN:
– Okay.
OLIVIER:
– And they never met their boss in person, they never embrace our culture that you feel very strong in the office. So it’s interesting.
LAUREN:
– Sure. So yeah, can you share some insights on the sporting goods’ industry transformation?
OLIVIER:
– Yeah, so I won’t disclose any confidential numbers obviously but what I can tell you is what’s very interesting is two years ago, let’s say 2/3 of our business was all sales, right?
LAUREN:
– Okay.
OLIVIER:
– So selling to sporting good retailers. And 1/3 was as I call it direct to consumer, which is for us D2C. It’s composed of e-comm, franchise, and our own retail.
LAUREN:
– Okay.
OLIVIER:
– And so for the part of wholesale that I’m managing, 90% of that business was brick and mortar, right? So traditional retail and only 10% was online. Obviously, like in every industry, this was transformed radically over 18 months ago. And I like to say that I see the company change more in 18 months than in 18 years. And that’s really something we’ve experienced. And what I want to call out here is that I see there are two main dimensions of impact for the sales function, right? One is really consumer facing, right? So it’s, so it’s to acknowledge that by 2025, approximately 45% of all sales with all retailers will be made online.
LAUREN:
– Okay.
OLIVIER:
– But that’s with 10% I just mentioned before so it’s a radical shift and we see it happening not only online but across the world And not only Adidas, but also in the industry overall.
LAUREN:
– Yeah.
OLIVIER:
– And for the other part, which is also impacting the sales function, it’s also drastically changing the way we sell, right? So for more than 70 years at Adidas, we are used to welcoming customers in showroom every season. And there we invite one customer after the other, and we have long sessions showing hundreds of samples and from one day to the other or from one season to the other we moved into full digital. So it’s really applied a lot of changes, as you can imagine, for the teams on the way we sell but also for our customers on the way we buy.
LAUREN:
– Sure.
OLIVIER:
– So those have been the big areas of change.
LAUREN:
– Okay. And what were some of your key learnings through this journey?
OLIVIER:
– Yeah. So there’s been many, many learnings. I think one of the main learning is the criticality to engage on the why. So we know we speak often around that, we read often around that, but as you see digital in particular, there’s been such a radical change on the way we operate that there was a need and starting from the top management to really debate a lot on what is changing, what does it mean for the company, what does it mean for the channel, and what are the choices we are willing to take? And again, let’s not take it for granted. It could be that Olivier has a certain point of view, but the brand lead coming from a total different background has a different one and that your other managing director also has a different one. So, and imagine the country general managers. And so, you really need to have those debates.
OLIVIER:
– Yeah. Because it has lots of implications and once you have that you can- And you need in our learnings to generate similar platforms with the broader organization to make sure you really understand well and deeply the context, the implication, and the choices we take to remain relevant, the choices we take to win, and rapidly after that to try and generate a buy in that this is the right thing to do both for the company and for the individual development, right?
LAUREN:
– Sure
OLIVIER:
– And at some point, you feel a movement from resistance, to a progressive buy in and then the beauty of what we’re living today, the full organization, embracing the movement. And that’s where we moved to closer to a digital culture. I’m not saying we’re there, but you can sense that already you have the large majority of the teams excited, engaged, and feeling part of that, but it doesn’t come overnight, right?
LAUREN:
– Yeah
OLIVIER:
– And while the change is happening, while the culture is progressively, you know, gaining people’s heart and mind, we as leaders need also to engage, let’s say, the second layer of management to start preparing the proof section, right? What is going to change concretely in the way we go to market? What are the evolution in terms of operating rhythm that we need to consider, because now we want to please digital at the center. So again, I’m going back to winning online on the retailer side or driving sales digitally, so there’s a few things that need to happen in parallel. And one of the last learning I want to share at this point there is, let’s say a bias for action that we all are, that who want to go into the structure. We want to change the structure. And I see as the main watch out that I would give, to the people who are watching this podcast. I think it’s really starts to do the clarity on the why, clarity on the process change. And once you have that well defined, you can move into the structure. It’s not around creating a new org chart with lots of digital fancy title. You need to first make sure that the way you want to drive it is aligned and clear across function and across geography.
LAUREN:
– Yeah. And how did you go about, like, getting that clarity or yeah, what were those implications in the end?
OLIVIER:
– You mean the implication on the way we address the business?
LAUREN:
– Yeah.
OLIVIER:
– Yeah. So, again, we had plenty of deep conversation. As I said, first on a management level, then with the team to really understand what is changing and if you prepare selling digitally, what does it imply in terms of digital solution, but also in digital content trendiness? What is it that we expect from the, let’s say, global organization to bring? What is that we still need the local to bring? What is more of a sales role or what is becoming maybe a brand or marketing role?
LAUREN:
– Yeah.
OLIVIER:
– So there’s a number of friction that you need to accept, but again, as long as you have a consensus on the top, the team feel comfortable on the debate. What’s wrong, and where you have an issue is that on the top, there is an average buy in, then of course, below it’s a mess, right? So, I think that’s the critical point is of course, a strategic element on the top on what is it that we’re trying to achieve, yeah?.
LAUREN:
– And in the end, what were the implications on your team and your structure?
OLIVIER:
– Yeah, so of course. Once we have the culture progressively in place, when we have the process better defined, we are in a better position to, to of course, craft or reshape or refine our design. There is some implication for sales. It cannot be sales alone, so you probably need brand to also evolve. You also need a CM to evolve. You need HR to also reflect on the casting, but also the up scaling programs. So you need to make sure it’s happening at the same pace, right? So this is something we did, because we flag from the very top management digital is priority, yeah? So, so that helped a lot. And then you had a lot of deep dive on a future role of brand sales, future role of headquarters versus countries. We envisioned synergies between our own e-com and, lets say, our digital space. So, how do we play with analytics? So I’m not saying we have all the answers, but this is the kind of topic we are, we have been, and we are discussing a lot obviously in the company. And this is true, in Latin America, and in the rest of the world. Of course, you obviously have a big people focus, right?
LAUREN:
– Sure.
OLIVIER:
– So one aspect is the blueprint, the other one is the profiles, and yeah, our learning is to try and look for the best match, right? Between the best balance, between attracting unique skill sets from outside that you might not have in the company, but also robust up scaling programs for your existing team. But I think the sweet spot is both of them, because if you bring digital experts that don’t get the culture, that don’t get the industry, they probably can’t impact as much as they could, if they are working very closely with, let’s say, people who are much more industry and channel expert, right? So we are trying to find that sweet spot, right? One experience I would like to share which for us has been a really cool success story, and even maybe a game-changer to break the silos across functions and to break the silos across cultures has been a very simple decision to start the week, every week with a virtual digital store check, basically. Right?
LAUREN:
– Okay.
OLIVIER:
– So we can’t travel. We are stuck. You are stuck in Argentina. I’m stuck in Brazil. The beauty is that we are all close together now. You’re not closer to your boss in the country, We are all close together virtually. So if we say, we want to win the consumer, why not we start the week with the consumer, right?
LAUREN:
– Yeah
OLIVIER:
– So every week we start with disaster check, no PowerPoint, optional participation, anybody can dial in and you have the team in charge of the account, just running this crew, the platform, running us through the consumer journey. And then we have conversations, we have debates, we challenge the way we are. We challenged the way we look and collectively you see people for different countries, different function, raising your point of view, participating and progressively elevating the baseline and progressively living the same reality. And for us, I think it’s the best reward when you wake up on the Monday morning, you dial in, and you see 30, 40, 50 people dialing in spontaneously just to, yeah. Just to learn and just to be a part. So I think it’s, it was fantastic. And this is the sense of community that we’re trying to build.
LAUREN:
– Okay. So anything else you’d like to share or is that it?
OLIVIER:
– Yeah, we could close here, but maybe a final word, just to reinforce the point of leadership. Leadership, of course, has been and will play a critical role as ambassadors of that change. People are looking after us to really represent that belief and to the power of digital. So it starts with us, up-skilling ourselves, participating actively in digital initiative and projects, voicing loud and clear the role of digital. And again, as I said, just before with the store check example, I think there’s not a better area in digital to show the dedication of leadership around the consumer centricity around the seam of consumer obsession. That’s the way you can really bring it to life, right? So of course it’s only sustainable if you’re coherent, right?
LAUREN:
– Yeah
OLIVIER:
– So there are lots of considerations for leadership around is my structure reflecting the importance of digital? Are the gradings reflecting the importance of digital? Are the reward mechanism, boost to our team and to our customers who train investments, reflecting the importance of digital marketing investment. So you have plenty of topic to make sure that, yeah, that, that all those efforts are driven in a consistent and impactful manner, right? Again, I think it’s extraordinarily demanding, but it’s also, there’s not a better reward than digital in the sense that you grow teams, you grow the business. So, I think for us as leaders, it’s a no-brainer that this is where you want to put your focus and energy.
LAUREN:
– Sure. Yeah. I mean, probably you’ve seen as well, that one thing that I’ve noticed as well, recruiting for many different companies, across many different types of digital roles, and there are new roles being invented every day, I would say.
– Yeah So I think from our side as an executive search company, you know, we need to ask a lot more questions to the hiring manager than maybe we would for a traditional key account director role.
OLIVIER:
– Yeah
LAUREN:
– But at the same time candidates as well are realizing that they need to ask a lot of questions. So I think the usual kind of, okay, I know the culture of that company, I know their strategy and what you could see is very different when you start working in digital. Because as you said, there can be coherence amongst leaders, but there can not be. So I think the questions from candidates as well are becoming more and more challenging through that process when they realize, you know, how coherent the leaders need to be, what digital means for that business and, like, how they fit into that.
OLIVIER:
– Yeah.
LAUREN:
– Because they could fit, they could think they fit very well and they could have the skills and it sounds amazing, but when they get inside, maybe there’s something different that they find.
OLIVIER:
– Yeah. And I will use the last second to maybe make the promotion of my employer. I think Adidas is a fantastic place to work also for that, meaning you have the sports culture, then non-hierarchical relationships. So, when I expressed it with the digital store check, its anyone from, let’s say a VP or even SVP, to the very first position in the company, in the same meeting and can speak up, right?
LAUREN:
– Yeah
OLIVIER:
– So I think it’s a great demonstration that you need that openness in digital.
LAUREN:
– Yep.
OLIVIER:
– One of the main learning I have is that same thing that we often use, that digital is a team sport. You can’t win on on your own. You need the power of the team, cross-functionally you need your customers to be with you on where we want to go. And that’s what we try with humbleness to execute here. But to your point, yeah, there is endless development in the area of digital, so it’s an area where we need to learn, unlearn, relearn, but not only at the expert level, also in management, because if not, you could lose ground, you could lose sense of reality, and maybe, yeah, lose relevance in your strategy decisions because you have a partial understanding. So it’s a, it’s tricky. You need to create that healthy friction between different profile that you need, right?
LAUREN:
– Yeah. Well, Olivier, thank you for joining us today. I really appreciate you being here.
OLIVIER:
– No, It was a great pleasure. I mean, it’s a topic I love and the conversation was very, very interesting. Thank you.
