The culture of Sport is expanding at a thrilling rate. New positivity, optimism and energy is being felt across sporting disciplines, from the everyday athlete right up to elite levels.
As culture moves forwards it brings new ways of thinking, talking and doing. The needs and preferences of a new generation of athletes are challenging Sports Brands to keep pace or risk getting lost in translation.
Functional, bounded and binary conceptions of Sport are no longer enough on their own. Younger athletes are creating new definitions and approaches, moulding their sports to better fit their needs.
They’re not ripping up the rulebook, but building upon its foundations to reach new heights. We’ve isolated some of these evolutions across key areas of sporting culture (Success, Development & Performance) to better understand how to show up in a new world of Sport.
We’ll show these evolutions through their original forms in culture, what’s being added to them and what this means for brands. To aid our exploration we can learn from one discipline that’s literally streaking ahead – Running. Three examples will show our expanding world of Sport at work.
SUCCESS: Needs to be felt every day, not just achieved end of season
Historically, success was defined by pinnacle victories over others, an end destination reached over time. Now, new generations driven by immediacy are looking to feel their successes beyond competition in smaller but more regular forms.
Brands are broadening their definitions of success beyond championships to embrace the everyday wins, the joy of getting that little bit better with every step.
ASICS’ Celebration of Sport collection is a range of performance running shoes designed not just for chasing podiums, but for celebrating the everyday act of movement. These trainers reframe success as the emotional high of simply getting out there — with optimistic colourways and technical design built to uplift.
DEVELOPMENT: From Hard Yards to Whole Lives
Progress in Sport was previously reached through sacrifice - forgoing your individual needs for the good of the team. Now a more considered focus on the individual, and how and when they work at their best can help them to flourish. Rest and recovery are now taking an equal footing to strength and cardio work; routines are explored throughout the day, week and month to get the most from the athlete.
In response, brands are broadening their scope - looking beyond the pitch, track, or gym to support athletes throughout every hour of the day. Development plans are becoming more tailored, and products are being designed to move in sync with this more balanced approach to performance.
LoveTrails is ‘the original running, adventure and music festival - powered by Garmin.’ It expands running beyond the hard yards to build the sport as a lifestyle - seeing athletes as both runners and revellers.
PERFORMANCE – Discovering your true capabilities above and beyond the numbers
Performance used to live only in the high-octane world of sweat, aggression and stats. That world is still very real, people still love a challenge - but Sport is also thought of as the opportunity to truly discover yourself and your capabilities.
Brands are realising that thinking of Sport as a form of creativity, self-expression and personal agency unlocks vibrant new areas to play within.
On Running have made the drive to dream bigger and better through performance a core part of their positioning, making their brand mission ‘To ignite the human spirit through movement.’
Whether elite performance, everyday training or wider fashion, new cultural ideas of Sport are expanding its core definitions.
Brands are getting behind this evolution and supporting a newly positive future for the industry, but we mustn’t lose momentum.
These ideas are currently being put to work largely in messaging and advertising, but real step change will be achieved when leading brands tie a red thread from how they talk, to how they activate, to how they design sporting products themselves.
If the culture is changing, we need to make sure our fundamental definitions of sport keep pace.
Understanding brands within culture, consumer association and category position will be crucial for both sporting innovation and longevity.