Jack Wolfskin to Sponsor FIS Alpine Ski World Cup

The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup has gained a new apparel sponsor in the shape of clothing brand Jack Wolfskin in a four-year deal.

The contract, site  starting from the 2012/13 season, will provide the brand with high levels of worldwide media exposure across Canada, Finland, France, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway. The deal was brokered by marketing sports group Infront Sports & Media.

Jack Wolfskin’s commitment will be based on a well-structured marketing concept over the majority of Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup events – offering a clearly perceived communication platform and extensive sponsorship opportunities that create exposure in major target markets around the world. Particularly, Jack Wolfskin will benefit from strong brand visibility in camera view across 42 significant races.

The comprehensive marketing package consists of branding at the start and finish areas of the races, logos on athletes’ bibs, flags along the course and logo presence on advertising boards along the ski run as well as on the leader board. With the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup standing out as one of the most popular winter sports series worldwide, extensive television coverage reaching up to 3.1 billion cumulative viewers is expected for all the competitions and around 2 billion for the events represented by Infront (based on IFM evaluation 2010/11). With the commitment to the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Jack Wolfskin will reinforce its international expansion in Europe and beyond.

Based in Germany, Jack Wolfskin is one of Europe’s leading outdoor product brands producing outdoor footwear, apparel and equipment. Sports sponsorship is an integral part of the company’s brand communication strategy and besides its strong commitment to football. Jack Wolfskin has also become a renowned player in the world of winter sports. Along with specific Alpine skiing events, the brand has been heavily involved with the prestigious Vierschanzentournee (also an Infront-marketed property) for a number of years. This involvement has been highly beneficial providing tremendous exposure based on two sponsorship packages.

Marcus Pieker, Manager Sponsoring & Events at Jack Wolfskin, said: “The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup provides a great opportunity for us to extend our presence in winter sports and to clearly communicate and target our brand messages to ski and outdoor fans. We are particularly happy to present Jack Wolfskin as a brand with highly functional and technical products to an international audience. Furthermore, the events offer us an exclusive marketing platform and continuous exposure across the entire winter sports season from November to March.”

Bruno Marty, Infront’s Executive Director Winter Sports, added: “Jack Wolfskin’s passion lays in the great outdoors, making it a perfect fit with the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup which is one of the most prestigious series in winter sports. This new sponsorship commitment compliments Jack Wolfskin’s existing sponsorship activities and it is great that the reliability of our partnership has been extended into other properties. The comprehensive package of 42 races will guarantee Jack Wolfskin consistent exposure throughout the entire season, whilst the long-term four year involvement will make the association between the brand and the events even stronger as time goes on.”