Just watched David Allemann’s Stanford eCorner talk (May 2024) on building On Running, and it’s a masterclass in competing against giants through brand differentiation.
The David vs Goliath Story
On Running is a Swiss sports brand competing against Nike, Adidas, and other established giants in a SATURATED market.
Yet they’ve become one of the fastest-growing global sports brands and went public on NASDAQ. How?
Built on Exploration, Innovation, and Positivity
David emphasized they built the brand on three pillars:
- Exploration: Constantly trying new approaches (like their LightSpray shoe tech)
- Innovation: Not just incremental, but breakthrough (CloudTec running technology)
- Positivity: The brand feeling matters as much as product performance
This isn’t just marketing speak. These values drove product decisions, partnerships (Roger Federer!), and market strategy.
Go Global from Day One
Key insight from the talk: “Through digital channels, you can reach consumers anywhere.”
Even though On is headquartered in Switzerland, they had a global mindset from day one. Result: Two-thirds of their business comes from the U.S.
They didn’t do “launch in Switzerland, then expand.” They launched globally because digital distribution allowed it.
Competing on Culture, Not Just Product
In athletic footwear, you’re competing on:
- Performance (everyone claims this)
- Price (race to bottom)
- Distribution (hard against Nike’s scale)
On competed on: Brand culture and community
Athletes don’t just buy On shoes. They join the On movement - exploration, positivity, innovation.
That emotional connection is defensible in ways product features aren’t.
Question for the Community
For those building in saturated markets: How are you differentiating beyond product features?
On’s lesson: You can compete against incumbents if your brand stands for something meaningful.