OBJECTIVE
A deep dive into the Elan brand world to set up the Elan Design Strategy, and develop a long-term and consistent brand design language, that focuses on brand uniqueness, consistency, and usability.
People should not be portrayed alone, but rather in a group of friends and/or family.
Elan is one of the leading manufacturers of skis and a beloved winter sports brand with 75 years of tradition. Their skis are 100% handcrafted in the Alps, and are designed to provide the absolute best sporting experience to recreational and professional athletes. After years of slow transformation, Elan’s leadership decided to make the long-term informal company motto ‘Always good times’ official. We helped them bring the mantra from a strategy to the slopes.
We live and work in Slovenian Alps, and we’re proud of it.
The pursuit of quality is not an expense, but an investment.
The CEO is always ready to listen. However, he expects you to think about the issue carefully and to be able to formulate it eloquently.
A global understanding of common values
With divisions across Europe and North America, the global leadership team needed to come together and check if everyone is still on track. We organised a DNA decoding workshop in a remote mountain hut. The two-day session uncovered unknown unknowns within the leadership. We guided the team to define, not only what the new vision was, but what it means to each branch of a global company. Together, we defined a common language the leaders would use in translating the strategy to employees and partners.
We worked with Elan’s brand managers to define its unique corporate DNA and make their values tangible. In-depth interviews, workshops with domain specialists, company visits, and evaluation of existing assets were conducted to define and design Elan’s manifestations - its past and future guiding principles. “Handmade in the Slovenian Alps,” “The CEO’s doors are always open,” and “The experience begins long before hitting the slopes” are some of the manifestations Elan has committed to pursuing. The manifestations are extra important for sales reps around the world. “Explain the demo” and “Inform, don’t sell” are the two most important instructions in this domain.
Emotions have to be pristine and are more important than technical perfection. Models have to have natural expressions.
Combine several images that depict the same experience – moments worth remembering.
The refreshed brand identity guidelines reflect two new positions of the company: Elan wants skiers to have a good time and wants to bring a superb skiing experience to everyone, from complete beginners to knowledgeable pros. Visual manifestations in art direction, spatial design for Elan workplaces and fairs, product design, packaging, product graphics and digital assets all follow the new values. Because skiing is a social activity, every day on the slopes is a memory worth keeping. The real heroes are friends and family, who took over from the lone wolves in Elan’s new world.
To ensure skiers have a good time using Elan skis, we strived for maximum ease of use in product design. The clearly recognisable functionality of the product is the most important aspect of the design. The graphics were designed to highlight all the technological features of the product. We set a clear information hierarchy that is easy to read and doesn’t mislead the user. The same information appears in the same places for different product groups. Every ski contains Elan’s “fifth element” - the diagonal, which can manifest itself in different ways.
The most important aspect of the design is the clearly recognisable functionality of the product. The graphics must be designed to highlight all the technological features of the product.
The diagonal is Elan distinctive feature and must be eminently incorporated or in detail on every product.
Our collaboration has already garnered an array of international awards, with the Red Dot: Best of the Best being Elan’s 10th Red Dot accolade. The foldable Voyager ski developed by Elan and adorned with our graphics was also named Gold Winner at the ISPO Awards, and we received the Plus X Award – some of the highest recognitions for product design in the sports sector.
We unveil new opportunities for product innovations only by focusing on all aspects of skiing.
Provide clear and easy-to-understand product instructions and highlight important details with Elan’s distinctive green accent.
Use of comfortable, bright, and open spaces for colabs and to stimulate cooperation. We use special tools and genuine natural materials to convey our values and heritage. Office visuals convey our brand message. We turn the daily grind into a dynamic workspace.
Elan skis have been 100% handcrafted in the Alps for more than 75 years, and show their dedication to innovation that makes the skiing experience better for everyone. Elan employees live the skiing lifestyle and like to challenge themselves by building better skis. The team has always been connected by their love of snow.
Our people live for skiing and embrace the good times philosophy in all aspects of their daily life. Because they love what they do, they work proactively.
Clear values have many benefits for Elan. They make it easy for professionals like the skiing legend Ingemar Stenmark to stay connected to the company. Skiing pros also collaborate in product development. They help simplify tough decisions in the work/life balance. Members of the Elan family spend some of their free time together – on the slopes, testing new skis.
Business Genome has combined a strategic view of the brand and operational execution on a daily basis.
Melanja Korošec
Global Brand Director
Elan Sports
“In the world of business, there are rare times when managers and decision-makers are given the opportunity for a new framework for thinking.”
Matjaž Meglič
Global Sales Director
Elan Sports
