Dr Martens hires new brand chief in top team rebuild

Footwear brand Dr Martens is continuing to beef up its senior team with the appointment of a new chief brand officer to drive the company’s global product, strategy, marketing, and sustainability divisions.

Carla Murphy joins the company from Adidas AG, where she served as global senior vice president/general manager for Adidas Outdoor. She will sit on the global leadership team and succeeds Ije Nwokorie, who has been promoted to CEO.

Murphy’s prior roles include global chief brand and product officer for Icebreaker (part of VF Corporation) and senior brand and product positions within the Amer Sports group including Nikita, Salomon, Atomic, and Arc’teryx.

Her appointment follows the implementation of a new platform to support Dr Martens’ global data and marketing operations strategy.

Provided by AI-powered customer data specialist Amperity, the platform is aimed at enabling the firm to recognise and engage customers consistently across all channels, driving significant performance improvements.

The bootmaker recently said it was making “good progress” on its turnaround efforts, reporting a 3% rise in group sales on a constant currency basis to £267m in the 13 weeks to December 29, up from £260m.

Dr Martens has recently been on a major recruitment drive, with new hires including Neil Cummings as creative director for Global Brand Studio, Emma Howarth as category director, Adam Owen as global design director, and Paul Bowyer as global brand marketing director.

CEO Nwokorie said: “Our brand is our most important asset, and I’m thrilled that Carla is joining to lead the brand organisation. Carla is an exceptional leader with a proven track record for using bold storytelling and fearless creativity to drive growth for world-renowned brands, and she will do amazing work with our immensely talented brand and creative teams.”

Murphy added: “The ambition and energy is high, and there is a tremendous opportunity in this next chapter to break new ground and connect with an even wider audience in a truly meaningful and culturally relevant way. I can’t wait to get started.”