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Reebok's Muktesh Pant quits to start yoga business
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 20:30 IST
SEATTLE: Athletic shoe and clothing maker Reebok International Ltd. said on Monday that its chief marketing officer Muktesh "Micky" Pant had resigned in order to start a yoga-related business in India and the United States .
Pant, 49, had steered Reebok's marketing since November 2001, during a period when the company launched a hit line of sneakers endorsed by hip-hop star Jay-Z and waged a high-profile ad campaign against industry leader Nike Inc.
Pant will be replaced by Dennis Baldwin, 35, the Canton, Massachusetts-based company's senior vice president of global footwear who joined Reebok in 1995, the company said.
While most corporate press releases cite personal or other vague reasons for the departure of an executive, Reebok went a step further in detailing Pant's decision to leave.
The company said Pant had decided "to pursue his life-long dream of establishing a business that connects him to his roots in India , a country where wellness of the mind, body and spirit is held in high regard and serves as the very essence of the Indian culture."
Pant told Reuters that he would return to India to start his new venture, which would be built around yoga.
"Because of the growth of e-mail and voicemail and instant communications, there's a lot of growth in stress," Pant said, "Deadlines have shortened. People are moving faster in a direction that they don't pause to think about."
"I always wanted to start a concept where you could package and teach yoga," he said.
Pant signed on Jay-Z, originally known as Shawn Carter, in 2002 to pitch the S. Carter sneaker line, and clinched an endorsement deal with star basketball center Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets last October.
During his tenure, Reebok also returned as a Super Bowl sponsor in 2003 with an instantly popular ad featuring a fictional "Office Linebacker," given to delivering punishing body tackles in the workplace.
In a follow-up ad that aired last February, the Reebok linebacker was seen smacking down a streaker figure that had served as a popular pitchman for Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike.
Reebok said that it would continue to work with the Arnerll Group on its global brand marketing as it has since 2001.
Shares in Reebok, which had $3.5 billion in sales in 2003, have climbed 27.5 percent in the last 12 months. The shares closed slightly lower at $38.05 on Monday.