As part of its new campaign, SPORT 2000 will be presenting a uniform brand identity in all SPORT 2000 countries for the first time in its history. The goal is to emotionalize the brand and achieve a sustained increase in brand awareness. Margit Gosau, CEO of SPORT 2000 International and SPORT 2000 GmbH, and Mike Kerbage, Head of Marketing at SPORT 2000 International, talk about the background and give insights into the new campaign.
Margit Gosau: CEO of SPORT 2000 International
“Welcome Home” is SPORT 2000’s first international campaign. What are its goals?
Margit Gosau: The campaign is part of the branding work we began three years ago. For the first time in our history, we are positioning SPORT 2000 in all the countries where our sports retail group is active by creating a uniform brand identity using the campaign “Welcome Home” and launching the new brand claim: “Home of Experts”. This will strengthen SPORT 2000’s position internationally while increasing brand visibility in numerous countries. The campaign shows what we at SPORT 2000 stand for: passion for sport, real expertise, advice from experts, innovation and a human touch.
SPORT 2000 is the “Home Of Experts”. How do people experience this promise?
Margit Gosau: We want to inspire people to experience the energy and emotion of sports and to engage with athletes of all levels of experience. This is precisely what the campaign’s expressive visual language focusing on the brand core “With a Human Touch” brings home to the customer.
“Home” is the focus of the new campaign. Where did this come from, and what does SPORT 2000 associate with “home”?
Margit Gosau: The challenge was to develop an international campaign with which every SPORT 2000 country could identify. We found the perfect common denominator in the meaning of the word “home”. As SPORT 2000 International, we associate “home” with our unique position in the sports retail industry. Together with the world’s biggest sporting brands, we are the home of sport and everyone who loves sport. Our dealers, all of whom are experts in their area, are at home in our group, and everyone who comes into one of our shops feels this.
Mike Kerbage: Head of Marketing
Particularly with an international brand campaign, it is important that the message is properly understood in every country. How do you make sure of this?
Mike Kerbage: The campaign has been adapted to specific countries to make sure that our message gets across in every one of them. The tagline “Welcome Home” and the brand slogan “Home Of Experts” will be translated into the national language of each country. In Austria, for example, it will be “Wo Profis zuhause sind” (“where pros are at home”). This also supports our claim that despite our strong bonds, we can act individually as a SPORT 2000 country.
A soft launch has already taken place in selected SPORT 2000 countries. What kind of feedback have you received so far?
Mike Kerbage: We started a soft launch in Bulgaria, Greece and the Netherlands back in the autumn of 2021. Both our retailers and our partners have given us great feedback on the new campaign. Our retailers found they were able to identify with the campaign message. The same applies to our brand partners, who will enthusiastically incorporate our communication guidelines into their own international campaigns. We are looking to seeing how all the other SPORT 2000 countries will join the international campaign over the course of the year.
