Q&A with Swiss-Ski’s Director of Marketing

For the 2018-19 season, Swiss-Ski wants to lead the association’s marketing into new dimensions.

“Modern competitive sport is a product that brings enormous social and economic value,” said Philippe Sproll, director of marketing at Swiss-Ski, who has been in the role since the summer of 2017.

In this Q&A, he talks about the commercialization of the Swiss-Ski brand, new markets in Asia, and about a future winter sports offensive.

Philippe Sproll, how was your start at Swiss-Ski?
I found a very solid base at Swiss-Ski. In addition to the world-class athletes, the very professional infrastructure, and supervision of competitive and recreational sports, the sponsors and partners of Swiss-Ski are the most important element of the association’s success. Without them there would be no success in competitive sports and without the results of our well-trained athletes, there would be no sponsors and therefore no funding of the association’s activities. That’s why their commitment to snowsports and, above all, their loyalty and generosity over the past few decades has been one of the greatest resources of Swiss-Ski. I am convinced that the cooperation between Swiss-Ski and the sponsors and partners in marketing offers a lot of untapped potential.

Why should Swiss-Ski be marketed even better in the future?
All the emotions that can be experienced in elite sports give rise to commercial opportunities that must be exploited. The largest sports clubs in Europe have recognized the potential of their brand in recent decades and have introduced an active commercialization of the brand. As a result, the financing risk, which is directly related to the sport benefits, can be mitigated. For example, Manchester United finances more than half of its revenues from the commercialization of its own brand.

Why do you think Swiss-Ski has the potential to commercialize the brand?
In our view, we even have a disproportionately large potential due to the Swissness in our brand. We carry “Swiss” in the name and every person in the world, as I know from my previous activities in tourism, identifies winter and snowsports with Switzerland – and not with Austria or France. We are considered the pioneers of snowsports; that is anchored in the minds and it is increasingly important to use. Any skier or snowsports enthusiast with an emotional commitment to skiing could be a potential customer to us. For me, this knowledge is the basis. We have “Swiss” and “Ski” in our name, and this is the best possible combination to give a clear message right away.

Does the association already have some experience?
Yes, Descente has shown that there is potential in the textile market with the sale of the “Inspired Range,” i.e. high quality products with Swiss-Ski branding in South Korea and Japan. In recent years, they have made the breakthrough and the product line has now become a status symbol….Mr. and Mrs. Swiss like to buy Swiss-Ski branded products as the annual T-shirt campaign shows for our members. Within seven years, nearly 10,000 Swiss-Ski garments were sold. Due to the great demand, several post-productions had to be commissioned. Another example is the Swiss-Ski Bags, which were offered in a limited edition primarily to our ski clubs. One-hundred and twenty of the total of 150 pieces were sold within a week.

What is important is that the Swiss-Ski brand will not only be accessible to racing fans, but will be appreciated by all skiing enthusiasts.

Which products could be offered in the future?
Mainly clothes. The existing “Swiss-Ski Team Collection” from Descente could be expanded. These may be replicas of existing athlete equipment without sponsor brands. A possible product line also includes lifestyle products such as pullovers, bags and watches. They are intended for people who feel proud to wear the Swiss-Ski brand. We want to first offer a selection of Swiss Ski products in Switzerland as a market test and in a further step, if the return is positive, expand the collection and then – possibly before Beijing 2022 – bring China on the market. In addition, if the first measures take effect, we want to produce and sell merchandising items especially for the Swiss fan community at the home World Cup races. These include primarily T-shirts, caps, or glasses. But overall, we will step in with the necessary caution in these areas of business so as not to have to take unnecessary risks.

The Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang and those in Beijing in 2022 triggered a state-run ski boom in China. The government wants to develop a larger branch of the ski industry. The aim is to inspire 300 million Chinese for winter sports until the games. How can Swiss-Ski benefit from this boom?
Similar to Korea, there is also a fascination for Switzerland and Swiss-made products in China, as shown by the example of the watch industry. If we can continue building our brand awareness in the Asian market, thanks to the wave of enthusiasm for the upcoming Olympic Games and the expansion of the snowsports industry, we are confident that we have great potential. The words “Swiss” and “Ski” are easy to understand and already established in the Asian market.

According to a Baspo 2014 study, skiing was the second most popular sport behind hiking in 2008. Today it is in fourth place. Where do you see the reasons for the decline?
The main reason is the cultural change of today’s generation. Everything used to ski. Today, many people live in Switzerland, which have no relation to snowsports. The financial effort for skiing seems to be too high for many and the competition of new leisure activities is booming. Of course, as an association, we do not like the decline in snowsports development. Although we are not primarily active in the promotion of snowsports, our first mission is sporting success. However, there will never be any top athletes in the offspring without skiers. That’s why Swiss-Ski also wants to play an active role in promoting snow sports.

What could this role look like?
We want to launch a snow sport offensive that includes an upgrade of today’s Swiss-Ski membership. It should offer a unique and unmistakable added value and be the reference product for skiers in Switzerland. The center should provide specific snowsports offers for the destinations of our event partners. These can be on the one hand, unbeatable tourist offers of cable cars, hotels, ski schools or sports shops and on the other hand, exclusive experiences around the competition sport. They are to be supplemented by additional snowsports-oriented special products by sponsors and partners of Swiss-Ski. At the heart of the membership is an electronic application, where the most current offers are always visible and which provides the member an interactive communication with snowsport information and tips. That’s how we want to build a community. The big goal is to double the membership of today!

That’s athletic. How do you want to tackle that?
We would like to encourage our sponsors and partners to actively offer the new, upgraded Swiss-Ski membership to their customers. If they support us and support us with their incredible power in this project, we can achieve great results. At the same time, this campaign is intended to promote snowsports in Switzerland as well as to provide sponsors and partners with added value for their customer loyalty.

What is your ultimate goal on your path?
What is important is that the Swiss-Ski brand will not only be accessible to racing fans, but will be appreciated by all skiing enthusiasts. So far, on the one hand, we have addressed the fan who follows our races without; on the other hand, consider the skier who likes to ski himself, but who is not interested in the pros. It is now time to unite the two under the Swiss-Ski brand. We want to build an online and offline Swiss-Ski community. In addition to the aforementioned membership community, we also want to unite the digital snowsports fans under the Swiss-Ski brand. For this, we supply this new young target group with exciting and exclusive digital content about our athletes in the form of videos, clips and pictures.

Release courtesy of the Swiss-Ski Federation