Fusion Associates talks to Caspar Coppetti, Co-founder at On, about his own background, how they have dealt with the Covid crisis, sustainability, and the challenges and opportunities going forward.

Q&A with Grishma Jashapara, Managing Partner at Fusion Associates.

On was born in the Swiss alps with one goal: to revolutionize the sensation of running. It’s all based on one radical idea. Soft landings followed by explosive take-offs. Or, as they call it, running on clouds.  From small beginnings in Zürich, Switzerland, On set out in 2010 with a big ambition: to change the world of running. In the ten years since, On has been embraced into the hearts, and onto the feet, of more than seven million runners in over 50 countries. And there's no sign of slowing down….

Caspar Coppetti, co-founder On, shares his insights with Fusion Associates.

Tell us a little about yourself and how you went from a doctorate in Economics to co-founder of one of the most exciting award winning performance shoe brands.

Well, you’d think that my doctorate is absolutely useless for my current career as a shoe salesman (laughs). In fact, the two unifying themes of my life are sports and intellectualism. I grew up in a small town in the alps which were the perfect playground for all sorts of sports. When I was not doing sports, I read ferociously, as my mom was a librarian. My first job right after high school was as a sports journalist, and that’s how I met my now business partner Olivier Bernhard. He was one of Europe’s best triathletes and in need of an agent. We hit it off and we ended up working together and traveling the world together during my university years.

After graduating, I spent a couple of years at McKinsey & Co. and Young & Rubicam, where I learned the ropes of branding and also met the third co-founder, David Allemann. When Olivier reached out to me with a prototype of what would become the first On running shoe, I merely connected the dots and together we make a very strong team now.

Tell us about On’s journey this past year of COVID. What have been your biggest challenges and how have you addressed them?

Just like everybody else, we didn’t know how the situation would affect us. Luckily from a business perspective, running, being outside, hiking is more important than ever. Our main concern was with our dealers who supported us from the very early days on. With many doors being closed we adapted our preorder and payment strategies and all dealers who didn’t have an own digital space were able to continue to sell On shoes at full margin via our webshop. At the same time we wanted to stay in close contact with our communities around the globe and switched many physical events and activities to digital or solo ones that have been appreciated a lot. 

With offices across the world, how have you coordinated the response to COVID from a staff safety perspective? What policies, processes and structures have been put in place and have they been universally implemented, or on a per country basis depending on that region’s restrictions and regulations?

The priority for us as a team, is to ensure our people are safe when it comes to their health and wellbeing. We also communicated very early on that all people’s jobs are safe and we did everything we can and still are doing everything to support our team’s wellbeing. Examples could be giving people tools to switch off introducing a ‘breathpod’ practice every Thursday. We also introduced activities to keep the team connected in these challenging times. The team also organized virtual HIIT, yoga and workout sessions with employees from all around the world dialing in at the same time and doing a workout together. 

Some industries have been impacted more than others by COVID. The sport and outdoor industry has proved relatively resilient as people have re-focused their lifestyles to increased outdoor activities in order to adapt to new safety parameters. Adidas for example has recently announced that they have had a strong recovery in Q3 although they have warned of a sales decline as Covid-19 makes a resurgence. How has On been affected in terms of sales and revenue, have you seen variations in different markets, and how do you foresee Q1 and Q2 of next year?

On has performed strongly before the pandemic and has continued to do so during it. Of course, the running boom that has evolved during the lockdown has played into our hands. On has always been a word-of-mouth brand, and a lot of people who hadn’t been running in a long time have taken it up. Month over month we have seen more than double traffic and sales through our website.  Of course, we noticed a difference in the markets with China being the first one going into lockdown. But all markets have quickly recovered and came out stronger out of it than before. We are convinced the running trend will continue into the next year. 

Has Covid resulted in a change of strategy in aspects of the business such as supply chain, offshore and nearshore sourcing, digital, etc? If so which areas in particular are requiring a re-think and why?   

As a young, digital and global brand we haven’t faced many of the challenges other companies have in these times. But I appreciated being forced to look into certain aspects of the business in more detail and to diversify the supply chain where necessary.

Where does On stand with respect to integrating sustainability into the business model and have you taken specific steps toward making your product, process and supply chain more sustainable?

Growing up in the Swiss Alps surrounded by nature, sustainability is automatically at the top of your mind. We have put a lot of effort into this in the past years and we have come a far way. More than 50% of our upper material in shoes is made of recycled material and we’re constantly pushing for more – with the ambition of being fully circular by the middle of the decade. Just recently we launched Cyclon, an industry-first subscription-based service where runners can get the best performance shoe, run it, then return it so it can be recycled and put into new gear. The service is only available through a monthly subscription service. On’s young team shows up every day at work wanting to have an impact.

What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities for the business going forward?

We have an amazing team no matter if it’s in the Headquarter in Switzerland, in the US, in Japan, China, Melbourne, Vietnam or Brazil. When you grow as fast as On does the biggest challenge is probably to keep our entrepreneurial spirit and brand culture. One of the core values is the Explorer Spirit, which constantly pushes us to venture into the unknown and find new ways of running our business. This can be quite a shock to new recruits who are coming from more corporate environments, but they quickly start appreciating the freedoms of it.  

What exciting things are in the pipeline for On?

In our labs and together with the innovation team we are constantly working on the next generation of On products. I can’t wait for some of the things we have in the pipeline currently to come to the market – stay tuned!

About Fusion Associates

Since 1998, Fusion Associates has been placing experienced professionals across the globe within consumer markets including consumer goods, fashion, sporting goods, healthy living and luxury.

Environmental, humanitarian, social and political concerns are close to the Partners both in and out of the business. We pride ourselves in partnering with industry leaders who wish to contribute to a better, more sustainable future. Working with global companies that are at the forefront of innovating and integrating sustainability into the heart of their business, we have helped build purpose-led teams from leadership to subject experts in biodiversity and animal welfare.