Bata names head of marketing for Malaysia and APAC

Bata has appointed Iftekhar Mallick as head of marketing for Malaysia and Asia Pacific. He reports to Malaysia country manager Vaibhav Manrao with dotted reporting lines to CMO Isabelle Sakai and APAC president Rajeev Gopalakrishnan.

Mallick (pictured) told A+M that he leads the entire marketing department and activities including omnichannel brand marketing, CRM, digital, media, campaigns, and visual merchandising in Malaysia. He is also responsible for coordinating all marketing activities in the Asia Pacific region and overseeing the local marketing heads in Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Mallick also provides the strategic marketing orientations for the region and organises marketing activities from ideation to execution and measurement.

He succeeds former Malaysia head of marketing, Diana Wong, who left to join adidas. Mallick was previously head of marketing at Bata Bangladesh for three years and also worked as head of marketing, Yellow at BEXIMCO.

"At Bata, we are investing in improving product quality and innovation, modernising our technical infrastructure to support our digital acceleration, and selectively upgrading while right sizing our retail store experience," he said. Hence, his overall goal is to establish Bata as the footwear of choice for everyone in the family.

Bata Malaysia launched an eCommerce website last year to offer an enhanced digital shopping experience for better customer engagement and increased value for both modern and traditional channels. Customers now have the option to click and collect at a preferred Bata store and drop off their products in-store for returns.

Meanwhile, on the sustainability front, Bata gave back to the community last year through its "Sponsor A Tree" programme with BRDB Rotary Children's residence, a multi-racial care home for abandoned and at-risk children. Through this programme, the children in the home were given the opportunity to learn and explore gardening.

Related articles:
Bata Malaysia gives back with sponsor a tree programme
Bata Malaysia steps forward with new eCommerce website
Bata Malaysia's marketing chief Diana Wong departs
Malaysia's Olympic win leads to spike in social and web traffic for Bata's Power shoes