Salomon has launched Shaping New Futures, its latest global brand campaign, marking a strategic inflection point as the French brand leverages its premium partnership with Milano Cortina 2026 to reconcile technical heritage with lifestyle positioning.
The campaign, developed with BBDO Paris, follows a three-year brand trajectory that began with Welcome Back to Earth in 2024, which reaffirmed Salomon’s connection to nature and outdoor culture, before Invented. ReInvented. extended that vision to urban environments in 2025. This year’s iteration makes innovation itself the narrative driver – positioning the brand’s 80-year history of technical development as an ongoing cultural force rather than a heritage story.
Guillaume Meyzenq, CEO of Salomon, framed the moment as transitional, stating the brand is “moving from a modern mountain sport equipment brand into a modern mountain sports culture – creating a future where performance and responsibility go hand in hand.”
The hero film marks a departure in production approach. French studio Unveil combined live action with generative AI to produce what Alexander Kalchev, CEO and chief creative officer at BBDO Paris, called a portrait of “what happens in the creative mind.” Rather than obscure the technology’s involvement, Salomon and the agency made its use explicit – framing AI as integral to the innovation narrative.
Olympic partnership as authenticity anchor
The campaign’s timing aligns with Salomon’s role as a premium partner for Milano Cortina 2026 – a positioning the brand sees as essential to maintaining technical credibility whilst its business model shifts decisively towards fashion, with sneakers and apparel now accounting for approximately 85 percent of revenue compared to just 15 percent from winter sports equipment.
Scott Mellin, who will depart as global chief brand officer on April 1 after three years, told Reuters the Olympic partnership serves as a strategic counterweight to the brand’s aggressive fashion expansion. “It’s a way for us to cement our authenticity in sport… as we’ve aggressively moved into fashion,” Mellin said.
The brand, acquired by Amer Sports in 2005, has achieved sustained growth despite broader struggles at competitors like Nike and Adidas, though it remains a small player in the global sneaker market.
Salomon’s Olympic activation includes supplying apparel for more than 18,000 volunteers alongside staff and torchbearers – a visibility strategy Mellin characterized as brand awareness–driven. The investment was described as “well north of what most snow-sport companies spend on marketing for a whole year,” though specific figures were not disclosed.
The campaign unfolds through key visuals and activations across retail environments, digital platforms, social media, out-of-home advertising, and film. It launched last week on digital channels, with TV broadcast beginning on 5 February.
