All The Angles Padel Business Podcast S2 E1: Focus on Decathlon

We start Season 2 with a sleeping giant.

Some will have preconceptions of Decathlon. Some will think they already know what Decathlon does vis-a-vis padel.

I genuinely believe that most of our listeners will not be aware of the full range of angles from which Decathlon approaches and supports this sport.

Decathlon impacts padel across markets, products, technology, partnerships with global players, local coaches and pro events, court and club relationships and more.

Thank you to Frederic Oudeville and Federico Fraguela as they give us a virtual tour of all the ways Decathlon propels the sport forward. And thank you to Mark Hewlett of Soul Padel, one of the clubs that resides on Decathlon premises, who gives us the perspective of an outsider collaborator.

Hope you enjoy the episode and the new Season! Welcome back!

Transcript

Introduction

Alex 0:05

Ladies and gentlemen, damas y caballeros, thank you, for joining us for another episode of all the angles, the business of padel podcast worldwide, powered by the hexagon cup. This week our objective is to give you our audience, a unique insight into decathlon and to understand the strategy and reasoning as well as the execution and prioritization of the company's padel focus internationally as well as regionally. I'm joined this episode by three people who are intimately aware of how that strategy is looking, how it was formed and where it's heading. So to start off we have frederick Oudeville who is the global racket sports director at decathlon He's basically a decathlon lifer. He's been there for 27 years across various parts of the business from markets such as france; Departments such as commercial; and sports such as walking and now obviously padel. Also joining is Federico Fragola Ferro, who is also been in decathlon for a number of years since 2009. He's currently the UK commercial leader across racket sports. So both of those gentlemen-insiders from decathlon. And then joining as well, the third person is Mark Hewlett, who will probably be familiar to a few people on social media. He is the CEO and founder of Soul padel, the padel club that currently is focused more on the northern part of the uk, but i'm sure has aspirations to become national if not international His background is he rose through Lidl, aldi, Woolworths kind of big retailers. Then moved into health and personal care space for government agencies and private enterprises. Before launching soul padel a few years back. Uh soul padel have a relationship with decathlon which gives us the perfect opportunity to talk about how decathlon reaches out with third parties in the padel space. So all three of you, thank you for joining us Before we get started, if you enjoy this episode or have benefited from previous ones, please like, share, subscribe. It really does help. So without further ado, let's get stuck in and I think Let's talk about Decathlon generally before we really drill down into the padel piece of the puzzle. I'd I'd really like to understand the Decathlon brand more generally. So when you guys at Decathlon think about the company, think about the brand, what is the proposition of the company and its offering? And I guess what are the values and the USP that sets it aside from anything else in the market?

Frederic Oudeville 2:36

Decathlon is a global multi specialist uh, sport brand. Uh, it serves everyone, from beginners to, elite athletes, uh, with, uh, innovative, uh, sporting goods for all skills levels. We also have, uh, a selection covering 80 sports. I don't think, another company has, the same offer in the world. It makes us quite unique. And, actually we have, uh, more than, uh, 100,000, uh, teammates across, the world. With, uh, more than, uh, almost uh, 2000, stores. And, uh, decar has been driving a a shared, uh, purpose, uh, since, uh, 1976. So it's been, almost uh, 50 years now. It's moved people through the wonders of sports. And Decathlon is also, at the forefront of integrating a dynamic circular economy model across, uh, its, uh, operations. Voila, to make a summary.

Alex 3:38

As a retailer, it really seems to be flourishing probably more than most people in specific markets may appreciate. I mean, it has a truly global footprint. Last time I checked, I think you had about 2000 stores in across 80 countries. That may have changed since I last checked. But it's it's a truly global colossus. Why do you think it is that your proposition really resonates so well with consumers, especially across all of these different and varied global markets?

Misconceptions about Quality

Frederic Oudeville 4:05

Actually, Decathlon's consumer value proposition, uh, is deeply rooted in its founder, michel Leclerc's business philosophy, which emphasized democratizing uh, sports and making them accessible to all. With a clear purpose to inspire movement through the wonders of sports, Decathlon embodies inclusivity, offering a wide range of equipment and gear for all levels and people, regardless of experience or background. This approach aligns with the founder's vision of providing high quality products at affordable prices, and showing that the joy of sports is within everyone's reach, by making sports more accessible and embracing a sustainable practice. Decathlon remains committed to fostering a healthier, more active society, while, minimizing its environmental impact. As I say, before, which is really important for us.

Alex 5:06

And Mark, I've, I've got my own perceptions of the Decathlon brand, and if I'm honest, I think when I think about Decathlon, I remember first walking into a decathlon, in the kind of Surrey Keys, Canada Waters area. I think there was one of the first ones that I ever came across because I used to play volleyball there many, many years ago when I was in my mid twenties. So we're talking about 20 years ago now. And I just remember it was like this huge monster floor space. And it felt to me like this is where you go to kind of start your journey. Like you want to pick up a sport, whether it's badminton, whether it's hiking, and you want your first piece of equipment. And it felt to me like entry level products into specific sports. Because in my experience you look at a lot of high street sports Retailers those kind of specialist shops that sold cricket bats and badminton rackets. They've disappeared, right? It's all JD sports. It's all fashion athleisure you know that kind of stuff and it became really difficult to actually find equipment. And decaf felt to me like whatever you, wherever you want to start into a specific sport or sporting activity, this is where we've got your entry level equipment. I have to be honest, I never thought of it as: once you've done it for about a year, you're going to come back to Decathlon. It felt to me like you might graduate to the more specialist brands in those specialist areas. But if you're starting, you don't know where to go. You need that first badminton racket, that first set of hiking boots, that first tent, that first cricket bat. This is where we've got you covered. I don't know, Mark, is that your experience of the brand as an outsider, at least initially?

Mark Hewlett 6:48

Kind of yes and no. I think it's really interesting to look at the psychology of shopping in the UK versus continental Europe and elsewhere in the world. And I think As a nation, we're very brand conscious. So I think you would look at Decathlon and perceive, um, Yes, it is a big shop. Yes, it has enormous variety. Not all of the brands are instantly recognizable. So albeit the price might be entry level, the Quality. and the technological engineering that Decathlon invest in their products means that you getting a Fantastic. quality at an entry level Price now. They have changed a fair bit in recent times. And yes, there are more Recognizable. sports brands in Decathlon than there were 10, 20 years ago. But their own branded products, Things like Van Ryssel with a tour de France team, are, I think where Decathlon as a retailer, but as as a concept is going. So, it has definitely changed in 20 years, there's no doubt about it. And it has advanced, it has innovated. But it's still at its heart. I think is, How do we get as many people playing sport, affordably, with quality products, equipment, and apparel? Um, I don't think much has changed in that philosophy from what I can see.

Decathlon & Padel: the Beginning of the Journey

Alex 8:01

I Think that kind of surprised me because when I, I went to my local padel center, Stratford padel center, and, I was talking to some of the coaches and I was just, I can't remember where it came up, but they were talking about the Kuikma brand, which is obviously decathlon's own padel brand. And we'll come to Kuikma I'm sure In a few minutes to really drill into that pillar. But they were saying, this is a top quality piece of equipment. Like this, this stacks up against adidas or Babalat or Bull padel or whoever else you may feel is your go to specialist brand that is perceived to be, the cutting edge of engineering in that space because it's so dedicated. They say, I'll take a Kuikma racket over any of those any day of the week. It performs, it has the control, it has the power, it feels comfortable. It's a great piece of kit. And that really was what kind of surprised me because that was also why I was surprised when I saw some of the professional players playing with the Kuikma equipment. It didn't fit with my perception of Granted dated, but my dated perception of what decathlon and decathlon's brands and products mean. So I think what you're talking about mark what you touch on is probably a really interesting thing in the way that decathlon Brand has evolved over recent times and I know that the stores generally globally have had a big rebrand as well: the layout, the look and feel of the experience to make it feel like This isn't just almost like halfway a warehouse. This is like a proper shopping,.Experience if you're discerning, this is still the destination for you. But let's now go into the padel piece. Now we touched on the broader, focus of the business. So padel, think Decathlon in my mind is perceived as a French brand. I think it's still where it's home is and it's HQ is. And France is obviously not the last adopter of padel, but it's certainly not the first. So how did the sport first come onto Decathlon's radar? Was it a person, an individual, or a shop, or a market? Where did it start becoming something that the brand started to take notice of?

Frederic Oudeville 10:07

Yes, you're right. it's a French brand. So the roots are still in France, but, uh, to be honest, it's a company that, now is really global and international today. And Spain has always been a key market for Decathlon. The way we work is uh, Decathlon listens closely to, its uh, customers and try to adapt it's, uh, offer accordingly to the needs. With padel being, uh, so popular in Spain, decathlon started, to offer, and to develop products for padel, uh, before 2000. So it's been like more than 20 years now, that, we have, a specific, Decathlon offer for padel.

Alex 10:56

Okay, it goes a lot further than I

Deciding on here to go after Spain and the Bottom Up Approach

Frederic Oudeville 10:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's true that all the people are really surprised about that, but it's been a very long time. But the thing is, Until a few years ago, these products, you could, almost, only find them in Spain. That's why

Alex 11:13

That was going to be my next question, which was, so even if Decathlon realized that there was an opportunity to provide products and services to the Spanish market because it was such a vibrant local national market. At what point did Decathlon HQ go, you know what, I think there's a market for these products outside of Spain?

Frederic Oudeville 11:33

Uh, actually, we let the decision to the country, because in every country we have a commercial team, uh, Federico is a perfect example in the UK, and this, commercial team is the best team to, know their market and uh, to take the right decision to write a commercial policy and to take the right decision to open or not a sport, to commercialize a sport in its country. So, that's it, step by step, you know, padel is expanding in many countries. So we saw, countries opening the offer, year after year. And, uh, now I think we have like 70 different, countries open, uh, for Pader. And it's just a start. I'm quite sure we will have many more in the future.

federico-fraguela_1_12-13-2024_100716 12:24

If I can add to that, uh, Alexander, for sure, this is our responsibility locally, you know, to actually put the products out there for the needs of the market. And in fact, with padel, we started online, of course. And then, luckily we've got all of these touch points in our physical stores. And thanks to our teammates, I would say that is the ones that provide us feedback. The ones that they are in contact every day with the actual padel players and other sport players. And they were the ones like requesting, uh, Fede, there is a need. People is asking me for a padel racket. Eh, I need a padel balls. I need more range. And I think that this is how we manage to, pretty much today.

Alex 13:07

So it's a bottom down approach where you are listening to the consumers rather than a top down. We are imposing our vision or our views onto a market from a, central point or hQ.

Frederic Oudeville 13:18

Exactly, exactly. This is the way We work. we listen to the countries. So we organize every year, like a survey, a study of all the local needs. We make a compilation. We take decisions to build a catalog. And then we communicate this catalog to the different countries. And each country selects the offer they want, or they think it's, appropriate. Compared to the local needs. That's the way we work.

What Aspects are Top Down?

Alex 13:50

And, and so we'll go into the pillars of the, of the strategy and the pillars of the offering that Decathlon has because it's incredibly varied and incredibly creative in many ways. but As you mentioned, there's that bottom up approach, which is, we respond to what we're hearing on the ground, on the shop floor from our cashiers, you know, who are hearing the conversations and the needs of the consumers. To what extent does any of the strategy come from the top down? Because the strategy, as I said, we'll get into it is so varied and so It just feels like lots of puzzle pieces that are kind of fitting in together to each other. Surely there must be a master plan, a master strategy, a decathlon global padel strategy. And if so, like, how is that put together? How do you decide, you know, which athletes to go with, whether to use athletes, how you want the padel offering to all fit together?

Frederic Oudeville 14:43

First, there is a global strategy, uh, at Decathlon level. Then after we have to adapt it per, per sport. We have to take it in account and also take in account the strategy of the company, but also take in account the, specificities of the sport. And then we write. Uh, sports strategy. Uh, we make it validated to make sure that we are well aligned with the company. And what you mentioned, like, sponsoring, a partnership is a part of these strategies that we try to, be, well aligned, to reach, our goal. for the sport.

Decathlon Values and Padel Values

Alex 15:26

And let's take a step back about values, right? Decathlon, I think everyone here has talked about the values that stand behind the Decathlon brand. What is it about padels ingredients and values that seem to blend so well with Decathlon's own brands and values and USPs? How do those objectives and values come together so neatly?

Frederic Oudeville 15:51

The first one is accessibility. So,, it's totally right. it's matches very well with the value of padel, which is quite a accessible sport. So padel you can have, even for a beginner, you can have a fun the first time you play. Even if you start playing when you are in the thirties or forties, which is not really the case of tennis, actually. Tennis, it's better if you start when you are more than 10 years old. It makes it easier. And, it's also a sport which is, uh, fun. And it's social. So, these three values, I think it matches very well with,, Decathlon values.

Alex 16:37

Mark, what's your take on that? Because I know that with Soul padel, you clearly have a very, crisp and clear sense of objectives and values that you are promoting with your brand and your project. And obviously you will go into in a minute, but you've obviously tied yourself quite closely, at least initially with the Decathlon brand and the Decathlon infrastructure. Can you talk a little bit about how Soul padel's values and Decathlon's values have chimed quite well together in what you're trying to build?

Decathlon & Soul Padel: Beyond Footfall

Mark Hewlett 17:07

Yeah, look, Fred's basically articulated a very similar strategy to what we have. I mean, Our vision is to welcome everyone to the court. Our three values are meet, play and connect. and We feel that those values very much reflect what Fred has just described: how padel is so social, so communal. But I think if you look at the accessibility side of what we've done, we've turned 500 square meters of tarmac next to a decathlon store into a thriving little padel hub with 2000 members. We have, a 60 40 split male female participation, which is very high for UK sport. We've got a 70 30, ethnic diversity split, white and nonwhite participants, which again is very high. Um, so, we've basically opened ourselves up to the decathlon shopper, um, but also the wider community around the decathlon stores. And if you sit and observe a decathlon store on a Saturday, people come for a day out. they spend a lot of time in store, they bring their children, they come with their families. So it perfectly reflects what we want to achieve with our padel clubs. So being next door, was an absolute no brainer for us. I mean, the first stage, as you guys know, Is very much a project trial concept. And we, as two organizations, have innovated On rackets, on balls, on time of day, day of week analysis, and we've shared data across that as to how each other is helping. But the fundamental aspect of this, when we first started the conversations was: how do we get more people playing padel. Fundamentally. When Fede and I first met, we looked at the range that was in store at Stockport, and that now is as good as you'll see anywhere else. I mean, there's choice of rackets from 30 quid entry level rackets, all the way through to the higher end, higher price ticket. But that has been stimulated by this openness, this accessibility, and this ambition that Decathlon and we have, is to get as many people playing this sport as we possibly can.

Alex 19:03

And I'm guessing it's more than footfall right? This is more than just sharing footfall where Soul padel hopes that Decathlon people will stumble across their courts, be curious and sign up for their first Session. And I guess also Decathlon is hoping to It's more than just some sole padel players will go. I might as well pop into the shop while I'm here. So for you, it's more than just a footfall collaboration.

Mark Hewlett 19:25

Yeah, it's got to be deeper and more meaningful than that. And what I like about companies, and I worked for 14 years for two German businesses that are privately owned and family orientated: the philosophy and the mentality is there from the founders all the way through. Is that they don't need to waiver on that vision. There's no shareholder pressure. There's no public market pressure on them. They are relentlessly focused on their mission to get as many people playing sport as moving and create a happy, healthy and sustainable community around sport. And we've adopted some of the things we've seen Decathlon do: recycling stuff that we would normally have not done. We've watched and observed, And taking advice from the team as to how we can make our business more sustainable by learning and working with Decathlon. So that relationship is more than just tenant landlord, it's a deeper, more meaningful commercial relationship. But it's more philosophical, we believe the same things fundamentally.

Alex 20:23

And just one thing I wanted to ask Mark. So I know that decathlon has similar setups In different countries. For example, I played at Viva padel in Lisbon, which is a similar setup. It's on the top of a car park rather than ground floor, but it's effectively the same concept. Which is we have a lot of real estate that we would use for car parks. It's a little bit dead. We don't maybe need all that space. Let's put in some courts if we can and bring that area to life. And obviously all the knock on benefits. Do you Mark get the opportunity to actually almost workshop with these different locations about what they're doing, what's working well for them? Like, is there almost like a decathlon car park, padel, collective where, you know, I'm exaggerating a bit, but Decaflon partner padel facilities who, because they are all tied to the brand and satellites of the brand, they can come together and start sharing best practice and learnings and things like that.

Mark Hewlett 21:21

In short. Yeah. But we're taking it one step at a time. We're working on two permanent locations here in the UK first. They're very much, our focus over the next six to 12 months. But we are simultaneously in conversations with decathlon in Australia because we have a registered entity down there. and It makes sense to see if that partnership can work in other territories and locations. But if I go back to something you touched on there, the decathlon store we're next to in Stockport, um, has probably been there 20 years, guys, correct me if I'm wrong. Back in the day when those big box stores were built, there was no online shopping and planners dictated that, You have to have a certain amount of Retail space, commensurate to how many car parking spaces you need, and times have changed. Cities are much more accessible, and people shop differently. So, is a strategy of ours to look at those types of locations and say, Hey, there's 40 spaces here that never get used. And We monitor the car park and we assess that. Why wouldn't You want a neighbor that is also a leisure and sports operator, because it's better than being next to a fast food joint, quite frankly. So, I think, I hope I'm speaking on behalf of the guys here, but I'm hoping it works both ways.

Frederic Oudeville 22:31

I think I fully agree with Marc, uh,

federico-fraguela_1_12-13-2024_100716 22:33

Of course, for me, to be honest, for sure. Running a padel club isn't part of our core business model. But we always open to consider any partnership opportunities when they come and more taking into consideration probably the padel. We can say there is a new sport in the UK. But we all know it's social, family friendly, so really aligned with the decathlon values we discussed earlier. So I think that when this opportunity along, with Mark, when we met up in Stockport, so we were really happy to explore how we could, let's say, support and grow alongside Soul padel, uh, this, I would say, exciting sport. And I think I can probably say that we have get to many people that hopefully we help them to discover padel.

Padel in other Decathlon Markets: Pressure or Inspriation?

Frederic Oudeville 23:25

Also I think, there is another, point which is important, is human aspect. Which is really important for us When we select a partner,, it's important that, on the human side, values are not only shared between padel and Decathlon, But also with our partner and values of Decathlon, the spirit of Decathlon. And, I have the feeling that, when I'm, listening to, mark that, uh, it's, totally the case. Which is really good.

Alex 23:53

Reassuring. Fede, I'm sure you guys must receive, this is what's working in, Spain, or, this is what's working in Italy, or whatever it may be, or France. Could you please do the same in the UK, because, we'd love to see the same size, we'd love to see the same, growth. Do you feel like because Decathlon is such a global brand, that it's a blessing that you get to see what's happening in other markets? Or do you feel pressure from what's happening in other markets to try and match or replicate what's happening in other countries?

federico-fraguela_1_12-13-2024_100716 24:42

Take some ideas, uh, good practices from other countries, no matter if they might be like a mature country like Spain. I can probably say that I think that, They have probably taken as well our idea of the partnership with Solpadel to probably implement or to to accelerate in maybe a more mature country. So sometimes go both ways. And that's the beauty as well of Decathlon that we are able to connect between all of the teammates working in the padel perimeter and we can share all of the different practices that we implement.

Soul Padel's Reflections on Decathlon

Frederic Oudeville 25:17

Three years ago, Fede sent me a message, saying, look, uh, definitely now Padel is starting. We strongly believe in it in the UK. Could you come and visit us, a couple of days, so we can visit, so that's exactly what I did. I went to London. So we visited some Decathlon stores, some clubs, together. And, trying to understand, the local needs,, what could be specific to the UK, uh, how we could help, Decathlon UK to try to push the sport. And, yeah, the collaboration is, uh, working, quite well, actually.

Mark Hewlett 25:53

Alex, can I just reflect on that as well? Because I think it's important People see big business often think, you know, dictatorial culture, hierarchy, layers after layers. I think what the guys are describing here is, is a business with a really embracing and listening culture. It's team in the UK do have an awful lot of autonomy. I think they feel listened to when I've been around the senior team. There's no intimidation factor. The guys are quite casual and relaxed. But, they're driven by this relentless pursuit of everything that Fred said at the start. And I've seen in Fede. It is, and I'm not just saying this cause I work with them as a partner. But, I spent 23 years in business and government. Um, it's rare you see an organization of this size with a culture like Decathlons. And the fact that It's still privately owned, I think speaks volumes for, the, longevity of the business. But if you look at how long these two gentlemen have been working for Decathlon and others that I've met, it's very often someone's been there 10, 15, 20 years. That says a lot about an organization in my view.

The Pillars of the Strategy: Kuikma

Alex 27:04

Yeah. 100%. I was thinking the same thing when I was looking through their CVs to write their intros. These guys have been here for a while and that tends to be a positive. It means they're not looking elsewhere. Um, we said we were going to look at the pillars of the strategy. Because as we've obviously stressed a lot, there's a lot of autonomy, there's a lot of tweaking, there's a lot of, Personalization of the strategy as it comes to each market. But let's talk about the centralized Pillars, so let's first talk about decathlon's own padel brand Kuikma so The idea of decathlon creating its own brand within a sport. Is that a tried and tested strategy across decathlon? Does it do that in other sports and why do it and how do you know if it's working or not?

The Kuikma Name

Frederic Oudeville 27:53

It's a global strategy. We try to have some, dedicated, team, specialist team, managing every sport. And uh, so for every sport, or group of sport, we have a specific brand. okay? We had, almost one brand for every sport, for each racket sport. So we had, one brand for tennis, one brand for badminton, and one brand for padel, for instance. And, we also realized that, it was good, to be, specialized. But for the customer, it was maybe a little bit, too, complicated to understand. And also,, it was complicated also for us to capitalize, with our notoriety and image. So we decided, to keep the same strategy, to keep having a dedicate, brand for group of sport and not for each sport. So we will have one brand for racket sport and it has been decided that it would be, Quikma for all racket sport Including badminton and tennis for instance and not only padel.

Alex 29:02

And can you tell me where did the name come from? Where did Kwikma come from?

Frederic Oudeville 29:07

Actually you know that padel was invented in Mexico. So it was in 1976, which is also a common point with Decathlon because both are born the same year. And so when we thought about creating a new name, we didnt ask ask an agency. Uh, we didn't work this way. We worked in internal. So we launched a competition, internal competition to invent, the new name of the brand. And, it was invented uh, by, someone working for Decathlon in the financial, team, in Decathlon Spain. And, so the name means to have fun together, but in the Aztec Language, which is special, signature. with the, the origin of the sport. Okay, so it's the values of the sport with, a combination with the origin of the sport.

Alex 30:05

That makes a lot more sense now. Okay, because it felt like someone had dropped some scrabble tiles on the floor

Frederic Oudeville 30:11

no, no, no. no. We had like, almost 200 answers. People were really motivated, enthusiastic about uh, trying to find a new name, et cetera. And then after, you need to make a selection. And, so, it's the selection actually is not only the name you prefer, So, it's also what you can do, in the, because, uh, for the juridic, part, I can tell you that, it's not always, uh, easy because, we are so, worldwide present that,, you have to find a name that can be available and register in all the countries. Which makes it, quite, complicated, to be honest.

Alex 30:50

And, kwikma wasn't taken already

federico-fraguela_1_12-13-2024_100716 30:52

to be

Kuikma Partnerships

Frederic Oudeville 30:53

no, no, no. surprisingly. Nobody Nobody had, the idea before, to make this combination from Azteca and, these values. And we liked the name also because, uh, it's a short name. The pronunciation is quite almost the same in every language. And, uh, it's a dynamic name. You have quick in it. so, that's what we loved it. And, fortunately, the name was available worldwide. So we, we went for it.

Alex 31:23

And so Kwikma, I may not have seen all The players, but i've seen Lucia Sanz who's the one of the top female players. and Maxi Sanchez a legend of the male professional tour among some of the ambassadors playing with kwekma. How does that sponsorship piece fit into the mix? And how do you select which players use your equipment?

Kuikma Exposure with Grassroots Influencers

Frederic Oudeville 31:45

When we launched,, Quickma, the idea was to,, positioning, our brand, a little bit, more technical. we really wanted to, to take the opportunity to address, Top players needs. And, first, the first priority, to be honest, when we launched the brand in 2019, was to have a very, very good products, very technical products. So it was our first priority, and, uh, it was the basis of the strategy. So we, first, before Maxi and Lucia, uh, we worked with Horacio Alvarez Clementi. We used to be also number one in the world with a very well known coach. He helped us a lot to develop our products and to make sure that we have very good products. And then, when we were sure that we were ready, we decided to make this second step, to have some top players To, uh, demonstrate that our products were at the top level. And, if,, someone like Maxi or Lucia, they have been, both of them, number one in the world, can play with our products, everybody can play with our products. That's for sure. and they help us a lot, with their knowledge, because they are really demanding. I have An anecdote with Maxi. At the start, he liked the first racket we had developed a lot. So he said, OK, let's go together, etc. But after a while, he was missing some power with his racket. So he decided to play with a hybrid, shape. And, so he, he switched again to a diamond shape, which give you more power, uh, a little bit less reliability than the hybrid, but, more power. So he switched to that, shape, but he was still, demanding with us. He wanted to have, a better combination, And it's the racket we developed, with him, I mean, he told us that, now we got it. And, now, definitely, I'm really happy with the product. And also he told us that it was the best racket he had ever played with. So, First, it's a compliment because he was not 100 percent satisfied with the product we had before, at the launch of the product. It didn't match exactly with its needs. So, we knew that it was a real compliment. And especially coming from, someone like Maxi Sanchez, someone who has been number one in the world, still, top, 20. So it's, uh, something that, gave us a lot of, energy and, we knew that, all the job, all the studies, the work we did with him, you know, on the court, to listen to him, to modify the product, et cetera, because there was a lot of, round trip, between our factory, us, modifying the product. Uh, yeah, we definitely, we, got it. we always have some, improvement points, always. But, uh, definitely we were sure that, uh, we were at the level, we wanted to. reach.

Alex 34:52

So those are the kind of the highest level of Ambassadors and advocates for the brand, but am I right that actually there's also a strategy of sponsoring coaches And other people on a much more localized level to try and give visibility and credibility to the brand market by market, maybe even club by club basis. Is that true?

Frederic Oudeville 35:14

It is totally true but maybe I can give, uh, Fedez, comment the second part: the coach one. Actually, as a brand in our international headquarters, we manage the international Sponsoring strategy who has an international impact. So, players like Lucia or Maxi, they have an international impact I mean, in every country, they travel, they play in every tournament worldwide, so it's our responsibility. But locally, in countries, yes, they have some strategies to work with some coach and maybe Fede can maybe comment it.

federico-fraguela_1_12-13-2024_100716 35:57

Yeah, of course. In fact, Alex, you were talking about Stratford club. Here I am based in London, actually, so I always had a good relation with this club because it was one of the, let's say, first one, the biggest one that could allow people to practice the sport. And in fact, what we did is, our aim, it is always Let people to try our, our product, and, this is how we want to convince them or by others, we prefer others speak about our products and not us. So I really like when Mark talk about how our products, our values, et cetera, and the same with the coaches. So I still remember having a meeting, uh, with Javi was one of the co founders of the Stratford club. And I just handed over a few rackets, the Maxi and Lucia racket the pro, Quigma rackets. And I said, but listen, guys, just take them with you, let your team test them, the coaches, and a few weeks after they reach out. It's like, oh, there is few coaches that they are really in love with these ones. And so they wanted to explore more opportunities. So with this, Sometimes it's just coming again another opportunity, to really work with them, to let them try, to get feedback, and it helps not only, obviously, the visibility of the brand, but it helps also Fred and all of the team in Madrid, the product engineer, to keep improving, uh, our product.

Mark Hewlett 37:23

I'll speak as a customer of the product, if that's okay, but when, Fede and I, first started talking about the concept that, Glasgow and stockport, I think you handed us 30 rackets in total, and those rackets have been used, relentlessly now since the 1st of June. So we've been, at 80 percent utilization for quite a while. And The strategy we had there was to not charge anybody for racket hire. So all rackets, have been free to use. so far, only three rackets have been broken. And they've been broken through negligence rather than just continual use. So the design is not just fancy looking, and performance at a high level, it's built to last. And this is where I think we've all seen a number of brands move into this space and developing rackets and re skinning what is. Just a component that comes out of the factory. I think what Fred and Feday have articulated is that it's more than just a brand. There isn't a deep and meaningful design engineer concept that's gone into these rackets. And once you get them in the hands of players who have used, you know, bull padel, Babalat, Adidas head Wilson. There is a noticeable difference at at the club level. and We've converted people to quick Mars as a consequence. And going into the future, with fedEx,, colleagues in the UK, we're basically all in with quick Mar as a business. and those rackets will be used in our clubs wherever we go, not just next door to Decathlon, but in all of our sites, because that longevity is important to an operator, but the high performance quality is equally as important to our customers.

Other Aspects of the Shared Locations

Alex 39:03

I just wanted to go back to the, because we obviously did a lot of exploring of, the strategy of location, right? of, having clubs on location at Decathlon stores. I guess the one thing I wanted to explore a little bit further on that is, how does that relationship come to life beyond just the physical presence? What kind of marketing or initiatives cross the car park as it were, where Soul Padel do something within the store, or decathlon do something at the courts or the sharing of data or the sharing of, marketing and customer based information to really helped the synergy come to life. Can you, Mark, can you touch on a little bit about those extra layers of that relationship?

Decathlon and India

Mark Hewlett 39:48

Yeah, look, on data transparency and within the boundaries of GDPR and sharing people's information. We work very closely. And we are collaborating on constantly improving what we do, but also providing feedback to the team on range and price and how many people have actually gone in and purchased. I think the broader relationship at a commercial level, Fede doesn't know this, but I'm going to talk to his colleagues next week is we're moving into the education sector. Um, I think Decathlon has got a big role to play in getting lots and lots of kids to play this sport. So, we're launching free courts for schools on January the 8th, every Wednesday for two hours, every school in Stockport can book courts. That for me is tailor made for decathlon to get involved with. And when that is then moved into the university space, likewise. There's a generation coming through now that are, let's say, 12 to 25, who will be playing this sport for 20, 30, 40 years. And I think, having seen and been with the guys in Decathlon for long enough now, that longevity, is everything that these guys are about. So, there's the commercial data, there's the, cross pollination of customers when we're next to each other. But when we're not next to Decathlon, we will still be a partner of Decathlon. So there'll be a terminal in store where people can order stuff, from the Decathlon online shop. There'll be a range of shoes, balls, rackets and apparel. We're even in conversations around, what do our team wear? How can Decathlon help with that? So, this is something that we're setting up for the long term. It isn't just a transactional, one off relationship. because, I, firmly believe that these guys, are the right partner for us.

Alex 41:34

And let's go right across the other side of the planet, India. I saw recently some announcements around India where decathlon is again, trying to acquirea position of being synonymous with the growth of the sport there as well. I feel like I know the answer to this already, but I'm assuming it's not an identical strategy to Spain or UK. I don't know whether you can talk a little bit about that market and why you're excited and what specifically you want to focus on in that market.

Frederic Oudeville 42:05

Yes, it's a little bit different because, India is not at the same stage of development, compared to, Spain or UK, even UK, it's, really at the first stage. So, Decathlon India identified that, padel was a very nice sport to push for all the values we talked about. And they decided to build a couple of, padel courts, the parking of the store. But the concept. It's true. It's, really different Because it's not a club. So, when you build only a court, obviously, you can't do the same, things. But the objective, in this case, it's really to make the sport known, to, push the values of the sport, and to participate to its growth. So that's, the goal. In the UK, or in Portugal. You talked about Portugal we have a club next door, to, a department store. yeah, it's a strategy, much more, I would say, complete.

federico-fraguela_1_12-13-2024_100716 43:05

Maybe if I can add, Alex, I think it's important as well to mention that obviously our strategies, differ by country, no? We always adapt to the local market dynamics for sure, but also to the local regulations, in different sports. But not only that, I would say also to the type of players, to different skill levels, for sure, it varies across the globe and also, really important for us, the average purchasing power. So I think that if there is one thing which is going to be constant, across all countries, no matter where, it will be our Quigmax positioning, which it will always align with the Catalan's commitment to value for money. We speak a lot about that, but for sure our purpose will always be to promote the growth of the sport, no matter where.

Alex 43:57

I'll be honest, like we've touched on a few pillars. We've talked about quick move, talked about the sponsorship. We've talked about the locations on site or neighboring to the decaf from stores. We've talked about new markets. I still feel like I'm only scratching the surface of the strategy and that I'm missing the full spectrum of initiatives and activation. So let me give a little open season. What am I missing? What is the markets or the initiatives or the pillars of strategy that I haven't even touched on that really needs a little bit of attention from your point of view. What have I missed?

Frederic Oudeville 44:31

Now, what we could, mention is, uh, is true that, in countries where padel is experiencing, significant growth, we are also working to position Decathlon as a specialist brand in the sport. So, we made a decision, for Decathlon to be an official sponsor of a major international tournament., like, a premier battle. So, it's important for Decathlon because, it provides, Visibility on the court. You know, that, this kind of tournaments as, uh, international broadcast. And also, it allows us to, present through a stand. Because, we have some stand in each tournament. That we have an offer. of specialist to the public. And we know that the public, which is, coming was coming to this kind of tournament is an advanced, player, population, in each country, so it's really a way, to touch them and, also to make, this step we want, to make, as I mentioned, before, uh, to touch the expert player.

Alex 45:36

Yep, I should have, remembered that. I apologize. i'd seen I think was it milan or some other tournament I

Frederic Oudeville 45:41

We, have many tournaments. So we have, last week it was in Milan, you are totally right. But, just before it was in Mexico. So they were the official sponsor of the tournament. And, just before we had, all the Spanish tournaments are sponsored by Decathlon. And also in Holland, uh, the Rotterdam tournament is sponsored by Decathlon. And in France, in Bordeaux, so we have a few, a few tournaments.

Alex 46:06

Excellent, okay, so we're coming towards the end of the episode. I guess I want to understand the future. What's the future of the strategy? Is it a case of more of the same or do you hope to iterate and change and evolve the strategy to add new bits and, bolt on different pieces to it? What's the strategy going to look like over the next few years?

Soul Padel & Decathlon's Future

Frederic Oudeville 46:29

I think, to be honest, the strategy will, remain with the same, direction, the same guideline, and, it doesn't mean that, we will not, adapt ourselves, but, the way we work, will still be the same. I mean, listening to countries, it will allow us we need to have a global picture of all the global, all the worldwide needs. And to be able to adapt our catalog, our offer, and to have a very well, the best adapted catalog possible. And I think this way of working we will keep the same way. Then after, we will adapt ourselves. And, I'm quite sure we talked about india, maybe to push more of the sport. We can talk about, Spain, uh, to compete, with the best, competitors in the mature market. So, we will have some different strategies, but, always trying to have this compilation and to try to take into account every local needs.

Alex 47:31

And Mark, from your point of view, the relationship between Decathlon and Soul padel, what's the future of that? You talked a little bit about the fact that it will remain in situ in some shape or form no matter what sites pop up, but can you elaborate a little bit more about what you know that you will do and maybe what you hope you will do with Decathlon in the future?

Decathlon's Vision for Padel's Future

Mark Hewlett 47:51

I think, beyond wanting to put a padel club on top of the surrey Key store, which I've already been told I can't, the, um, yeah, we're working on that, aren't we? Fede? Um, it's multifaceted. I mean, if I could just mention, the chief exec of Decathlon International, Barbara, is really worth following on social media because the amount of things that Decathlon does beyond being a retailer is really worth, learning about. And these guys are being very modest. in What they've shared today. But the whole concept of the relationship for us is completely multifaceted. In the future, we're going to be launching our own kind of loyalty program, which will be very much, aligned with what Decathlon are doing. It will be part of a giving back program. So the sustainability, the Community focus, the commercial and the landlord relationship are all part of what we'll be working on. Here in the UK and hopefully also in Australia. I think to mention what we're up to in Stockport and up in Glasgow, it's pioneering a new type of padel club, we're not going to be the affluent, expensive, targeting those parts of the UK. We're going to be for everyone. And that is part and parcel of our relationship with, with these guys. is that Our courts will always be accessible, affordable. There will always be an element of what we do, giving back to the community. And I know that we're working hand in hand, with decathlon on that. It's so exciting, Alex, I could go on and on and talk about an awful lot more, but I think it's an underestimated business in the UK. I think people don't actually understand just what this business does and how far it reaches into different parts of society, from schools and community groups all the way through. So, we are just scratching the surface, but I can't wait for the next phase of the relationship.

Alex 49:43

And last question, let's zoom out a little bit. What are your hopes for the sport generally in the next 10 years and decathlon's place in that sport? Maybe I'll start with you, Fede.

federico-fraguela_1_12-13-2024_100716 49:58

So yeah, I think that in 10 years it will depend again per countries. But I would say that my hope is that, the UK can probably be a not far along. I would say maybe less, maybe I would give it a three to four years, five max to be what Decathlon has achieved in Padel as of today or the last few years, which definitely has been I would say that padel is a bit more practice than tennis and I would say, correct me if I'm wrong Fred, but I think it's the second sport more practiced after football in Spain. So I think that my vision and my hope is that Decathlon will continue to be here in the UK alongside other partners like Sol padel, for instance. We know it's working well, one of the good practices and hopefully we can be there for all these people who want to try the sport. Or even those who want to keep developing their skills.

Alex 50:52

about you, Mark? What's your vision for the sport in the UK and and decathlon's place in it?

Mark Hewlett 50:59

It's a very broad question. I think for the UK, I've talked about this elsewhere and written about this, but I think the sport has huge potential, at grassroots to be a mass participation. sport. And I think we can produce some elite athletes who can compete with the best of Spain. I think to do that, it needs the oxygen to grow. It needs the freedom. It needs the support. It needs the funding, but it also needs partners. Any great sport has very strong commercial partners that understand the game and are willing to step in and support as you can see decathlon are doing. So I think the next 10 years are extraordinarily exciting for padel in this country. And I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

Alex 51:39

And Fred, what's your take on where we're going to be over the next 10 years and Decaflon's piece of that puzzle?

Outro

Frederic Oudeville 51:49

Our goal, is definitely to be, a key player. And we think that with the expansion of the sport worldwide, Decathlon's presence worldwide, it will, definitely, helps us. But, I think, maybe the most important is, we will have to play, a role. So we talk a lot about, accessibility, but, also, I think in the 10 years, I would, dream that the Catlan could, play a lot with, sustainability and durability. Because, there are many things, to do, in pedal concerning, this aspect. It's a priority for Decathlon and, definitely I think we have to pay, a big role in it.

Alex 52:29

Well, thank you. That about wraps up our episode. Again, please like, share and subscribe if the content was thought provoking. Please comment on LinkedIn or Twitter if you have recommendations around our format, topics we should devote an episode to. Questions we should ask, speakers we simply need to bring on. We want you all those driving the next phase of this industry's future to tell us what you want to hear about and who from thank you, Fred, Federico and Mark for joining us today, we will keep doing our best to cover all the angles of the business around padel episode after episode until the next one. Thank you.