Since 2011, the Haute Route Cycling Series, which is owned and organised by OC Sport, has been ‘dedicated to providing amateur cyclists from around the world with an unparalleled experience on and off the bike.’
Now comprised of 11 events spread across the globe, Haute Route has grown from strength to strength off the back of its flagship first event in the Alps. Originally sold as ‘the highest and toughest cyclosportive in the world’, unsurprisingly Haute Route has attracted some highly dedicated amateur riders as well as professionals over the years. Yet, the brand is evolving its position going forwards.
“Nine-years after we originally launched the Haute Route, we’re in a position where we recognised an evolution of our positioning was required in line with our growth and to set us up for the future,” said Philippe Jullien, Global Marketing, Partnerships & Sales Director – Haute Route at OC Sport.
“If I can sum up everything we are doing in one sentence, it would be that we’re moving from an event-centric company to a customer-centric brand with a cohesive vision and mission at the centre.”
He continued, “Prior to that we were making some assumptions – all be it informed assumptions – about our riders’ motivation. For example, we thought the events were potentially too hard to allow us to really increase our client base.
“Thanks to a market survey, we realised that wasn’t the case and it wasn’t a matter of fitness, but more about preparation. We could continue to position ourselves as the highest and toughest multiday cycling event in the world – that is our spirit – but we needed more differentiation between our events. And we needed to help riders meet their own personal goals. That is where the concept of ‘Reach New Heights’ came from.”
To help support its new positioning and an opening of registration for all 2020 events, Haute Route has unveiled a new website. The ‘Reach New Heights’ tagline is displayed prominently, and the site guides athletes through the experiences they can expect in their Haute Route journey.
