Why Salomon wants its advertising to be more than just ‘sports action porn’

Mellin refers to Salomon’s previous advertising as “sports action porn” that either spotlights the technology of its products or shows athletes doing sports that no normal person could do.

A recent major audience segmentation analysis uncovered gaps in its targeting, however, with Mellin explaining: “Salomon speaks mostly to what we call the purist, the person that lives for the outdoors and everything they do is driven by achievement, whether that is a personal best or a first summit – that is who Salomon has been talking to since 1947.”

But now, Salomon has discovered the “untapped potential” of people who want to be outside more and whose reasons for doing sport are about health, wellness and the community. “That is a consumer we haven’t spoken to before.”

In its bid to capture new audiences, Salomon’s latest brand campaign, ‘Welcome Back to Earth,’ tells the story of a runner in the city who breaks through to run in the mountains.

DDB Paris is behind the campaign, which was created to show “life on a screen and in the city, the noise and the tension that creates, and to then juxtapose that with the beauty of the mountains, the quiet and the fresh air.” Shoot locations included Ljubljana and Triglav in Slovenia, as well as Cortina d’Ampezzo and Monte Lagazuoi in the Italian Dolomites.

“It couldn’t come across to our core customers as fake or phony, but at the same time, it needed to offer an invitation to hundreds of millions of new consumers who don’t know Salomon.”

Salomon’s average customer is 38, but its target is 25 to 29. It also skews more male, which the business is also trying to address in its latest marketing efforts. “I want to shift the brand towards a more balanced approach of gender, but I don’t believe in a women’s campaign or shrinking or pinking.” That is why a female was chosen to be the main face of the campaign, visible not only in the hero film but across social and in-store windows.

Mellin is hoping that Salomon’s creative is enough to help win over new customers rather than having to resort to using search targeting tactics.

‘Tomorrow is Yours’ was the last major brand campaign from Salomon back in 2022. The ad was high-octane and packed full of different sports – a very different tone to ‘Welcome Back To Earth.’ “We did a nice job of talking to our core consumer with ‘Tomorrow is Yours,’ but we didn’t create an invitation to a new consumer. This new platform allows us to still speak to our core audience but provides a broader aperture for people to understand the brand.”

Salomon has put some serious media money behind the ad with bookings during the Super Bowl, Paris Olympics and Thanksgiving NFL. Along with the brand campaign, Salomon is to release eight more spots that profile different sports, such as climbing and skiing, that will be distributed to channels relevant to the sport. It will do this primarily through its 10-month-long Eurosport deal.

The campaign will also be spread on Salomon’s 25 owned social channels and its long-form Salomon TV channel. There is also significant search engine marketing to drive people to salomon.com, where the films are presented on the homepage.

“This whole ecosystem of content rolls out through the next 12 months and it’s seasonally driven.” For example, trail running in March, hiking in May and then back to winter sports in August. “That’s a way for us to touch the consumer when they’re starting this journey towards selecting gear selecting their vacations. We get to showcase our full portfolio of sports products through that mechanism.”

Catering (or not) to Salomon’s streetwear audience

Like a lot of athletic brands, Salomon has gained a huge streetwear following without really putting in much effort. In 2015, French retailer The Broken Arm approached Salomon after French kids started wearing its old running shoes. Salomon then decided to re-color and re-release shoes from its archives. The partnership propelled Salomon into sneaker culture. Rhianna also has a major role to play, donning a pair of Salomons at her iconic Super Bowl half-time performance.

“The street culture adopted Salomon; there wasn’t a conscious moment where we said, ‘Hey, let’s take all these archival products and create a credit market for them.’” Salomon dedicates just 2% of its global marketing budget to streetwear, relying nearly exclusively on PR and brand collaborations.

“It creates its own heat. It is publications like Highsnobiety and Hypebeast, through PR, that create velocity for that collection or style; it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of marketing investment.” Salomon has also collaborated with the likes of Palace, Dover Street Market and Hidden NY.

“From a business point of view, we get to tap into a consumer that has adopted us. The incremental revenue that comes out of this opportunity helps us fuel the innovation for tomorrow’s performance shoes, which then creates this circular loop. And that will be fuelling the athletes to perform better, faster, higher, and so becomes this kind of virtuous loop.”