La Sportiva Promotional Events

A modern firm's marketing is projected towards the future and is destined to concentrate its energies on the quality of its communication. La Sportiva has always taken maximum care of its brand image, offering a set of varied and differing initiatives, which together make a valid contribution to support the quality of the Val di Fiemme's shoe-manufacturing brand, well known world-wide.
Oscar Durbiano

Creative marketing
Sponsoring climbing competitions and events, mountain running competitions, ice-climbing events, technical formation courses for qualified retailers, presence at commercial exhibitions, promotional evenings with representative athletes: this is what La Sportiva's marketing is all about. As well as market analysis, the study of market trends, definition of new products, advertising, catalogues organizing commercial meetings and following numerous athletes, there is still more. During the years spent experimenting in the La Sportiva field we have developed an awareness that the perception of a brand is not directly proportional to the quality of its products, but in certain cases, and La Sportiva is one of these, it is also about what is behind a product. We are referring to the daily work of public relations spread over the territory, strictly correlated to the specific needs of indirect communication, a very important aspect which is positively received by those practising outdoor pursuits.
These kinds of operations are fundamental in giving added value to the brand's credibility. It is important to make these people perceive that the La Sportiva firm redistributes a part of its resources, which comes from its product's success, to support a series of initiatives aimed at promoting outdoor activities over 360 degrees, and to do so impartially, trying to cover the interested territories in the best possible way.
Obviously this is not simple. To support events, exhibitions and promotional initiatives is not easy for a number of reasons. The budget is limited and clearly not sufficient to satisfy the requests ever increasingly coming from the general headquarters of Ziano di Fiano. Planned choices need to be made, taking into account the demands on time and territory. We are trying to take a geographical approach to the selected programmes in order to support emerging and geographically different events. Ad hoc events are organised for special occasions, such as the presentation of new climbing shoes, or mountaineering boots. Great importance is given to how positive the event is and to the type of message to be transmitted. Experience has taught us that the quality of each intervention varies according to its objective. For example, an international ice meeting (Daone 2005) becomes an opportunity to introduce to the best retailers and the press the latest creation of the Research and Development office of La Sportiva, the Neap Evo boot, and to try it out together on the ice falls together with the alpine guides. The same meeting will be repeated a few months later in Chamonix, meeting retailers and specialised French press at the foot of Monte Bianco and then accompanying them on a test on the ground of the Aiguille du Midi. Same plan for the presentation, this time to consumers, of the new climbing shoes Venom and Barracuda, which took place during the Melloblocco event, the international bouldering meeting in the Val di Mello. The audio-visual evenings also had a great success with the presence of La Sportiva, usually organised in collaboration with the shops concerned with a specific commercial area. These are the great successes with both public and press had by Manolo, Bubu and Simone Moro more or less everywhere on the Italian peninsula and more. In other words, an alternative type of marketing, a different way of supporting the La Sportiva image for the public of passionate enthusiasts, through a series of operations which together contribute to strengthening the credibility of a company which believes in the quality of its own work and in the value of its ideas.
Oscar Durbiano

Seasonal events 2005/2006

16-17 July 2005, Marathon & Baby Block Levi Molinari Hut (To), bouldering event

21-24 July 2005, Outdoor Friedrichshafen 05, commercial exhibition

26 July 2005, La Sportiva evening /Manolo, Barzanò (Lc)

28 luglio 2005, serata La Sportiva/Simone Moro, Barzanò (Lc)

30-31 July 2005, Devero Mountain Contest, Alpe Devero (Vb), bouldering event

4-7 August 2005, Tous a Bloc, l‚Argentiëre La Bèssèe (Francia), bouldering event

19-21 agosto, trofeo Kima, Val di Mello (So), evento mountain running

2-4 September 2005, Rock Master di Arco (Tn), climbing event

7-9 October 2005, Alta Quota Sport, fiera di Bergamo, commercial exhibition

26 November 2005, La Sportiva evening/Simone Moro, festa della Montagna, Chiesa di Valmalenco (So)

1 December 2005, La Sportiva evening/Manolo, Parma

4-8 January 2006, Ice 2006,International ice-climbing meeting, l‚Argentiëre La Bèssèe (Francia)

14 January 2006, La Sportiva evening/Simone Moro, Fermo

20-22 January 2006, Ice Master World Cup Daone 2006, ice-climbing International meeting, Val di Daone (Tn)

5-28 February 2006, Climbing Challenge Bardonecchia, Olympic Winter Games Torino 2006

20 April 2006, promotional La Sportiva evening/Mauro Bole, Torino

26 May 2006, promotional La Sportiva evening/Manolo, Torino

23 July 2006, Dolomites Skyrace, mountain running event