News

British-Canadian, born and raised in Toronto, father of a baby girl and a football-lover. That’s Matt Davidson, Senior Director of Global Brand Communications Football at adidas - arguably the biggest soccer brand in the world. Matt has been working in sports for a long time. “I began my career in sport working in marketing and operations at Tennis Canada before I moved over to BMW Group Canada, where I worked in event marketing, activating BMW and Mini event sponsorship in golf, motorsports, skiing and the arts”, he recalls. In 2006 he joined the 7th edition of the International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport – a.k.a. the FIFA Master. After graduation, in July 2007, he was selected to enter adidas’s Traineeship Programme, and at the end of that joined the Global Brand Marketing division. He’s been with the brand of the “three stripes” ever since – and have escalated a number of positions at a very fast pace. He comments: “After completing the FIFA Master I joined adidas where I have been working in Global Brand Marketing, being responsible for developing global campaigns and activations for football across products and sports marketing partnerships“.When asked what led him to apply to a course like the FIFA Master, Matt explains that he wanted to develop further as sports business professional, and had ambitions of an international career. “The experiences from the FIFA Master prepared me for working in an international organisation and I can see similarities between the nature of studying the Master and working in a company like adidas”, he says. Matt says that his fondest memories of the FIFA Master are the barbeques by lake Neuchatel, going to see matches at the San Siro stadium, in Milan, and the football matches his class played against other schools and sports companies during the year. “Our team remained undefeated the whole year”, he claims.

 In this interview, Matt Davidson talks more about his career in the sport business and his life as a FIFA Master student – and as alumnus.

 FMA Quarterly: What is it that you love about your job?

 Matt Davidson: Adidas, as a brand and organisation, believes that through sport we have the power to change lives. I feel fortunate to work for an organisation which is driven by that because it means I can work on initiatives, projects and programmes that may serve a meaningful purpose in people’s lives - and I get to do that through football! I also appreciate that I have the opportunity to work with people who all share a passion for sport from all across the world. It’s also pretty cool working on campaigns with the likes of Messi, Pogba and Zidane.

 FMAQ: What would you say was your biggest achievement so far?

MD: Definitely the birth of my daughter! Professionally, I would say it is a draw between developing the “#therewillbehaters” campaign in 2015 and creating our grass roots football activation program called #TangoLeague, which offers young footballers the chanceto become football influencers through the power of our brand.

FMAQ: What is the biggest challenge when you are the Global Director for Brand Communications of a company like adidas?

MD: Global implementation of concepts, strategies and campaigns is quite challenging. The success of our Global initiatives relies heavily on how well our global network of local market subsidiaries can implement the strategies, which requires a lot of collaboration with a broad stakeholder group. 

FMAQ: How important was the FIFA Master for your career?

MD: It was important because it opened my mind and broadened my horizons, personally and professionally, so I was better prepared for working in a challenging and diverse international sports organisation. The Curriculum is important, but what sets the FIFA Master apart is the personal and social development realised through the people you meet and engage with.

FMAQ: Are you still in touch with classmates or other alumni?

MD: Definitely! The alumni network is important because the people are important to me. Furthermore, we are all part of the sports business and will always cross paths in our professional lives, and this is apparent both inside adidas and with partners - from clubs to FIFA and UEFA - where I meet and work with classmates and fellow alumni regularly.

SHORT PROFILE

Matthew Davidson, Canadian and British

Sr Director Global Brand Communications Football at Adidas

FIFA Master Class: 2007 

Favourite sport: Football/Soccer

Favourite team: Toronto FC and Tottenham Hotspurs

Favourite sport’s personality: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (active) and Paul Gascoigne (retired)

Favourite sport’s moment: That’s a tough one, sport gives us so many great moments. Sydney Crosby scoring that golden goal to win Olympic gold for Team Canada in Vancouver 2010 is high on the list.