Up and coming run shoe brand On has appointed Richard Burney as its UK Sales Director. The Swiss running shoe company On has gone from strength to strength in the UK market, with the number of retailers stocking the brand reportedly doubling in the last year. With increased demand for the On brand, the Swiss-based company saw the need for a dedicated UK-based team.
Richard Burney comes with a wealth of experience in the running industry and is seen to be well placed to drive the brand forward in the UK. His previous roles include, specialist retail store management, technical representative and specialist account manager at Adidas – where he delivered year-on-year growth in the specialist running retail base, before moving on to establishing Adidas’ new-to-market cycle range in 2013.
Prior to his tenure with Adidas he worked for Sweatshop, managing stores, ‘experiencing things from the coalface of retail’.
Richard will work closely with European Head of Sales, Christian Bahr and UK Tech Rep, Tierney Maude, who have been instrumental in the UK growth thus far. This is seen as the first step towards establishing a first-class team in the UK to push the brand further and support retailers through dedicated training, sales and event support. On is actively looking to expand its sales team with additional Sales and Tech Reps in 2014.
European Head of Sales, Christian Bahr said “When On first entered the UK market, it did so using distributor, Fit Brands, who positioned the brand well within specialist running stores. With clear demand for the shoes, we decided that setting up a UK-based sales team would benefit the brand and our partners.
“This model already works well in Switzerland, Germany and the USA. Our goal is to work directly with all our partners, providing a first-class service and to set up a powerful selective distribution.”
Christian continued, “Our goal for the next three years is to set up a strong UK team. We want to position On as one of the top five premium performance running brands in the UK and Richard – with his wealth of experience – is key to this.”
On is following a strategy of selective distribution, which has positioned the brand well with specialist retailers and as a premium brand. Retailers are reportedly seeing the commercial benefits of this strategy and consumers ‘are enjoying a completely unique and fun running experience.’
On’s goal is to provide retailers with the best service possible and a partnership to help increase sales for retailers. As the company points out, ‘It is customer focused and offers an attentive, proactive and agile partnership at all levels, be it Sales and Tech, our Customer Service Team, or our marketing personnel.’
On also notes that this approach to distribution ‘is set against a backdrop of the many efficiency driven brands who are increasingly distancing themselves from their customers.’
Richard said “I am excited to be working with such an innovative and different brand. Its unique approach and compelling story around founder Olivier Bernhard and the technology makes a great story and specialist retailers can enjoy retelling this to their customers.
“It is only brands with stories like these that can create a buzz around the product, and also for the stores of our retail partners. Consumers don’t only get a specialist service from the retailer, but also a specialist product offering not otherwise available in more general sports retail.”
He continued “The Cloud Technology is a hugely important point of difference both visually and functionally. The market has lots of great brands with great shoes but which are widely available in all retail channels, and are mostly all offering a variation on the same theme. On shoes not only bring a retailer’s shoe wall to life with a truly unique design and construction, but also provide a running experience unlike any other out there in the market.”
The 2014 On Collection further extends to the Cloudster (for fun running), the Cloudrunner for endurance and mountain running and the Cloudracer for competitive events. A completely new shoe is due to be launched in the next month in the UK.
Ons are available at over 1000 specialist running stores around the world and are worn by 5 world champions such as the current Ironman World Champion, Frederik Van Lierde and London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist in triathlon, Nicola Spirig.
