The Challenge

To connect with younger consumers in more urban environments and symbolically “come down from the mountaintops,” Salomon’s brand leadership team—which I was a member of—decided to orchestrate a global brand relaunch in 2022. As Salomon scaled globally across new categories, channels and regional teams, the brand had begun to sound like several different companies depending on who was speaking. Retail, CRM, social, PR, and regional marketing teams each had their own voice. The result was inconsistency that diluted the brand each time a consumer encountered it.

The Opportunity

Rather than write another style guide nobody would use, I saw the chance to create one editorial philosophy that could guide every consumer touchpoint — a shared point of view that regional teams and agencies around the world could apply on their own, without losing what made each channel unique and effective.

My Role

• Owned the global Tone of Voice initiative as part of Salomon's brand relaunch

• Led the messaging of a new brand anthem, partnering with global creative agency DDB Paris to shape creative concepts, messaging and narrative direction

• Led interviews and workshops across regional and functional teams for every consumer touchpoint of the brand

• Directed rollout across agencies, CRM, retail, social and PR in 12+ international markets

My Approach

Tone of Voice isn't a writing exercise; it's a leadership exercise. I spent time interviewing teams across the business, understanding their audiences and identifying where and when the brand voice might be breaking down or veering from its intended tone. Rather than hand down a list of rules, I built a set of principles—complete with examples and DOs and DON’Ts—flexible enough to travel across markets and channels while still being unmistakably Salomon. The goal wasn't to make every channel sound identical. It was to ensure every interaction felt unmistakably Salomon.

Execution

• Authored Salomon's global Tone of Voice guide in advance of the global brand relaunch

• Rolled it out across CRM, retail, social, PR and athlete communications

• Embedded it into Salomon’s editorial approach

• Trained agencies and regional marketing teams on how to apply it in practice

• Used it as the connective thread across the broader global brand relaunch

Results & Impact

• Aligned agencies and regional marketing teams across 12+ international markets around one editorial philosophy

• Brand awareness grew by 20+ points in four key countries

• Average age of consumer dropped from 41 to 35 years old

• Improved consistency and premium nature of the brand voice across markets and channels

• Consumer awareness rose 20% in key markets during this period, alongside Salomon's Instagram following growing from 700K to 1.3M

• Sharpened Salomon's brand identity at every consumer touchpoint