Sweet Protection-Snow Helmets 2024/25 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Snow Helmets FW24/25 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: sweet protection
Interviewee: Atle Enberget, Global Sales Manager & Pascal Herrmann, Global Marketing Manager

What are the main customers’ demands when buying a snowboarding helmet?
We’re seeing an ever increasing demand for protection performance. In addition, comfort, user friendliness and aestethics/style will always be in high demand. We believe as well being able to provide the best goggle integration in the business through our “Adapted Fit” is key.

Do you target specific customers / rider types?
We target all riders for all terrain, and create specialiced products and concepts that will cater to each customers’ specific need.

What were your biggest sellers in 2023/24 and why?
Glad to say that our premium Helmets are leading the way. Our key products are Trooper 2Vi Mips, Igniter 2Vi Mips and the Swicther Mips helmets. This is without mentioning our Alpine Ski Racing Helmets, in the all-new Volata 2Vi Helmets.

In which type of helmet do you expect the biggest growth?
For the keen skiers and snowboarders product matter. We see that our most advanced helmets with the strongest safety stories continue to grow. This is very nice to see!

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What are the design and material highlights of your 2024/25 collection?
We’re continuously evolving our honest treatment of materials, with some very sophisticated finishes. You’ll se a lot of of carbon fibre in our most premium models.

What colours and designs are you featuring in your 2024/25 collection?
Any standout collaborations? We’re introducing a lot of new colors and finishes, either in sophisticated toned down finishes, or in really poppy seasonl colors for people who wants to stand out on the mountain. One of the highlights would be our Candy Pink collection with complementary colors in our eyewear collection.

Are you implementing sustainability in your products and production processes?
We have established ambitious sustainability goals, with a commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our entire value chain by no later than 2050. Additionally, we are targeting a 60% reduction in GHG emissions per product by 2030. To realise these objectives, we are actively collaborating with our manufacturing partners to enhance our production processes. This involves a transition to cleaner energy sources, as well as evaluations of raw materials to identify options with lower environmental impacts. Furthermore, our product design principles focus longevity and durability. By adhering to high-quality standards in the design and manufacturing phases, we aim to create products that endure over time.

Do you offer accessories to your helmets?
Yes, we offer audio solutions in cooperation with Outdoortech as well as a wide range of spare parts.

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What are your marketing stories for 2023/24?
We will focus on getting closer to the consumers and create the right mix of brand awareness campaigns and product focus themes to drive demand and help our retail partners to sell through.
More concrete focus will be on our Brand Campaign: Live To Play Another Day.
When it comes to concrete products, you will see a push for our goggle category via our latest product innovation Connor RIG® Reflect;
for helmets we have two themes lined up to support our freeride market and the launch of our new All-Mountain helmet Adapter.

How are you supporting retailers to sell this category?
We will provide the right mix of brand awareness campaigns, leveraging digital, OOH, PR and our strong athlete and influencer force. As closer you get to the Point of Purchase, tools for great in-store presentation (on- & offline), clinics, seeding along on-product communication should enable retailers for a great sell-through.

What is your situation regarding stock and deliveries?
We have already started to deliver winter 23/24 products since several weeks. Very happy to say that we are according to our timelines and promised delivery weeks. When it comes to stock we are in a fairly good state when it comes to Hardware. That said, let’s hope for a solid winter – we all need it!

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We’re launching our new Adapter Mips helmet, especially designed for all-mountain use. Comfort is key, and this light weight helmet features adjustable ventilation in a super clean package. The helmet features a three piece shell in-mould construction for optimized strength, as well as a multi density shock absorbing structure. The Adapter comes with Mips safety system as standard. Mips reduces rotational motion to the brain in the event of a crash. Finally, the Adapeter helmet features a Fidlock magnetic buckle for ease of use, and our renowned occigrip fit system to dial in that perfect fit on the fly.