Columbia Sportswear names new marketing chief

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Mar 10, 2022

Outdoorwear company Columbia Sportswear announced on Wednesday the appointment of Pri Shumate as chief marketing officer for its Columbia brand.

Pri will report to Joe Boyle, executive vice president and president of the Columbia brand, effective March 14.

“Pri is a consumer-obsessed marketing leader with global experience in demand creation,” said  Boyle. “I feel certain that her background and dynamism will help drive continued growth for the company.”

A sporting industry veteran, Shumate joins Columbia from Airbnb, where she served as head of marketing experiences and olympics. Prior to Airbnb, she spent approximately one year as chief marketing officer at the World Surf League and Hurley, respectively, after 14 years at Nike across several different branding and marketing manager roles, according to her LinkedIn profile.

​“I am really excited about growing the Columbia brand and the business by diversifying and expanding our consumer base,” said Shumate.

“I hope to educate people on the quality of our products and the values of our brand, and to harness our team's creativity to inspire people to go outside, fulfilling Columbia’s mission to unlock the outdoors for everyone.”

In its most recent trading update in early February, Columbia Sportswear said net sales for the full-year 2021 increased 25 percent to a record $3.13 billion, a record year for the U.S. firm, after a stellar fourth quarter where sales leapt by double-digits.