Autorin: Yvonne Heinen-Foudeh
Enhancing joy of play through product innovation & meaningful connections Swiss sportswear brand On announced its entry into football by gaining French soccer super star Kylian Mbappé as brand ambassador mid of September. A strategic step, marking the beginning of the brand’s journey into the world’s biggest sport. Mbappé has therefore terminated his existing sponsorship contract with Nike “to support On in the development of footwear and clothing using its in-house LightSpray manufacturing technology.”
In parallel Thierry Henry, who has been working behind the scenes with the brand on every aspect of its entry and product approach since late 2025, has been announced as Director of Football.
Since launching in 2010, On has been observed as a new challenger in running into one of the world’s leading sportswear brands by rethinking performance, applying Swiss engineering. Product concepts such as LightSpray™ and CloudTec® stand for athlete insight and distinctive design in the sportswear market.
With the announcement of the strategic rmove the Swiss brand aims to bring a fresh perspective to soccer – „football“ sport as for the terminology in the R.O.W. – expressing that „the game is more beautiful when you can focus on the simple joy of play, enhanced through product innovation and meaningful connections with communities around the world“.
With the appointment of the 27-year-old striker with Spain‘s Real Madrid Foot Ball Club and World Cup record goal scorer as a global brand ambassador and partner for product development marks the Swiss sportswear manufacturer’s official entry into the global football market: now applying their product development success formula to soccer: working closely with a highly selective line-up of elite players to rethink product for the demands of the game while bringing a new energy to the culture that surrounds it. Shares in On Holding AG, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ON ON), immediately rose by 5.6 per cent in pre-market trading, On’s strategic move can surely be seen as a direct challenge to the long-standing dominance of Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) and Adidas AG (OTC:ADDYY).