Business news : Action Sports in the spotlight

Action Sports is a large and dynamic market driven by young people who skate, surf and snowboard, or who are inspired by these activities and by the lifestyle. This market became a strategic learning area for Amer Sports as it acquired Nikita at the end of 2011 and combined it together with Salomon Snowboards and Bonfire into a new business unit called A2.

Amer Sports’ new action sports business unit A2 is part of the Apparel and Gear category. The brands included are Bonfire Snowboarding, Salomon Snowboards and Nikita.

“A2 represents the next generation of consumers that Amer Sports is targeting and it’s an addition to other Amer Sports consumers: the people who are skiing and hiking, and doing all the other outdoor adventure activities as well,” says Brad Steward, Vice President, A2 Brands.

A2 benefits from various category expertise that exists already within the Amer Sports organization, in line with Amer Sports’ continuous consolidation of operations in the category-based model with important efficiencies in F&D, design, raw materials, sourcing and supply chain. “The A2 brands can leverage R&D and product development know-how from the different product categories,” adds Frank Aeschbacher, Vice President, A2.

Amer Sports knowledge of outdoor and alpine ski consumers is put to good use and its understanding of action sports and female consumers is added to it. So it’s less of a strategic or platform adjustment for Amer Sports, it’s actually a pure consumer focus move and going after a new consumer group.

“It is important to surround the consumers with every product they need. Whether it’s a hard good or a soft good, or any sort of activity or fashion that they’re into; A2 has a product for them. A2 provides products year round, from jackets to dresses and bags, and from snowboards to boots and bindings, so that every day it has something to offer for the action sports minded consumer. They are a large consumer group; young consumers are simply looking for what’s new and exciting,” Brad adds.

( Source amer sports ) 

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