A Sound Sporting Choice

Inside the ASICS Asia Office.

Japanese footwear brand ASICS is always spelled out in capitals because it’s an acronym for Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, Latin for 'a sound mind in a sound body'.

A favourite of many local runners and Team Singapore athletes, the brand established a regional office in Singapore back in 2013, buoyed by the Economic Development Board’s push and incentives to develop the emerging sporting goods industry in Singapore.

We managed to speak to the Managing Director of ASICS Asia, Yogesh Gandhi, and Regional Marketing Director Gabriel Yap, who gave us an inside look at the workings of brand here.

WHAT DOES ASICS ASIA PTE LTD. PRIMARILY MANAGE?

Yogesh Gandhi: We have a team of more than 90 employees in our regional office in Singapore and 150 employees in the region working across key functions like retail, sales, marketing, finance, and human resources. In the last five years, we have built our presence through sales channels like multi-brand sporting goods stores and also opened 60 mono brand stores, owned & partnered, across key cities of Southeast Asia and South Asia. Our first owned store in the region was opened at Suntec City Mall, Singapore, in April 2015.

The ASICS Asia office in Singapore serves as a regional HQ and distribution centre of Southeast Asia and South Asia that helps bolster business activities in the region. Our emphasis has been to penetrate in big sporting goods markets like Singapore as well as high growth markets like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India by establishing direct sales operations in these countries.