Pro athletes have rarely been experts at marketing. While some standouts exist in the history of sport (Dennis Rodman, Muhammad Ali, Glen Plake), most talented sportsmen are about as media savvy as Luddites. Traditionally, professional skiers are no different. However, Swedish superstar Jon Olsson is the rare exception. Not only is the Monaco-based playboy still on top of the game at age 27 (rare in this teenage occupation) but he manages to stay on top of the heap financially as well. While other skiers scrape by on menial ski industry contracts, Olsson buys and sells luxury cars with money made from non-endemics and Euro-ski money. For those that don’t know, Euro-ski money is worth about 7 times that of North American-ski money.
So how does Jon Olsson demand more? It’s simple. One, he’s an innovator. But he’s not the only innovator in the sport. The critical difference is, he takes that innovation and presents it in a way that gets attention. Sponsors love attention.
Check the above video for example. Olsson has created and debuted a new “Tornado” double flip in the video, something he has done before with the Kangaroo flip (both have ridiculous names). Many athletes are debuting new doubles right now – they are about as common as powder in Utah. But whereas most new double flips will leak via Newschoolers posts or Freeskier Twitter feeds, Jon Olsson saves his announcements for his sponsors like Red Bull. He films them, puts together an edit with slick production values, adds a note of suspense and then leaks them through his sponsor’s website. In the same spirit of taking a few months to practice and perfect his famous Kangaroo flip far from probing cameras in Australia, Olsson understands that it’s not only the trick that gets attention, but the manner in which it is presented. That’s why he drives a Lamborghini and the rest of the pro skiers are bragging about their new sneakers. Marketing wise, no one touches the industry veteran. – MB
