Dacia, McDonald's, Martini: does sports sponsoring have to make sense?
A car sponsoring a trail race, a burger on a jersey, an aperitif in F1: why brands with no connection to sport sponsor it anyway.
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What happens behind the trails: brands, communication, events, territories, photography, the environment, and the people who make this world what it is. Six angles, one thread: understanding what makes a community gather around a trail, and how far the outdoors can grow without losing what makes it worth caring about.
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Brands
Brands
At Decathlon, they don't sign athletes anymore. They sign experts.
Griezmann, Alex Sarr, Mathieu Blanchard: how Decathlon is building its new image, one word and one co-designed product at a time.
Brands
Brands
What community management could learn from trail running
Live moments, raw emotion, storytelling, community: trail race organizers master levers many brands are still trying to understand.
Brands
Brands
Does a brand need a link to the sport it sponsors?
OnlyFans offered Marion Haerty the biggest contract of her career. She said no. What this story reveals about sports sponsoring, from both the brand's and the athlete's side.
Brands
Brands
Why are some outdoor brands everywhere without ever looking like advertising?
Patagonia, COROS, Salomon, Nnormal: why some outdoor brands never seem to advertise, backed by research.
Environment
Environment
Is ecology in trail running really a binary question?
A documentary on Blandine L'Hirondel, official UTMB and 2026 World Cup figures: why ecology in trail running isn't a yes-or-no question.
People
People
Volunteers: the UX of a sporting event?
Course markings, aid stations, timing: we think hard about the participant experience. What if volunteers were its most decisive part?
Environment
Environment
What if some outdoor brands disappeared because of climate change?
Adaptation, maladaptation, robustness: what an Outdoor Sports Valley x UTMB Group talk reveals about the future of outdoor brands.
Brands
Brands
Sports sponsoring: buying a logo or buying a story?
Backed by research, why visibility is no longer enough, and what outdoor brands have to gain by telling a story rather than just displaying a logo.
Brands
Brands
At major sporting events, brands shouldn't only look at the podium
The elite makes you dream, but most practitioners aren't competing for the win. What that means for outdoor brands' communication.
Brands
Brands
Who will be the biggest winner of UTMB 2026?
HOKA, Salomon, Suunto, Dacia: just hours before the start, every brand has already picked its strategy. A deep dive into the marketing battle playing out around Mont-Blanc.
Territories
Territories
Why tourist destinations are chasing trail runners
Mountain resorts, tourist boards, economic spin-offs: how trail running became a real lever for territorial attractiveness, and what it costs the landscapes it crosses.
Events
Events
Should the UTMB keep growing?
Three mayors, three countries, three readings of the same success around the UTMB's growth.
People
People
You don't need to run an ultra to love running
A case for the Sunday outing, against the ultra-performance image that dominates social feeds.
People
People
Job hunting is a lot like hunting for a race bib
Points, lotteries, personal storytelling: what the race for a UTMB bib reveals about today's hiring game.
Events
Events
Organizing a race means doing marketing before doing sport
Positioning, audience, story: the three decisions that determine a race's success, made long before the starting gun.
Photo
Photo
Race photography: an underrated marketing tool
A race produces thousands of images. How many brands actually know how to use them? A photographer's take on sports imagery.
Brands
Brands
The marketing brief hidden behind every bib
A race bib is a product. Picking it up is a customer experience. Here's what race organization reveals about the user journey.
Brands
Brands
Why the UTMB became a global marketing machine
The UTMB is no longer just a trail race. It's a media platform, a global brand, and an economic model. Here's the breakdown.