A cross-country skiing star as a likeable advertising medium

As part of Helvetia's launch of a protection forest project in Visp, Dario Cologna also actively helped to plant trees.Dario Cologna is a phenomenon. For several years now, the top Swiss athlete has been shaking up the cross-country skiing scene and repeatedly causing a sensation with his excellent performances. Growing up in Val Müstair in the canton of Graubünden, Cologna took up alpine skiing at the age of five. The high school graduate first really attracted attention with a bronze medal at the 2006 Nordic Junior World Championships in Kranj. Cologna's final breakthrough came in the 2008/2009 season, when he won the overall World Cup and the Tour de Ski.The ambitious Graubünden native became known around the world for his performances at the Olympic Games. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he won the gold medal in the "15 kilometer freestyle". This triumph was historic: Cologna was the first Swiss cross-country skier to stand at the top of the podium at the Olympic Games. Four years later at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Cologna did it again - and how! This time he won two gold medals, in the 15-kilometer freestyle and in the skiathlon. With this, Cologna had finally climbed to the top of the sporting Olympics and made himself immortal.Sponsors as an important source of incomeThese outstanding performances, coupled with his likeable demeanor, also made the down-to-earth Graubünden native attractive to numerous sponsors. Since the 2006/2007 season, the Swiss insurance company Helvetia has been Dario Cologna's main sponsor. The other partners are Odlo, Hublot, Davos Klosters, Isostar, Asics, Garmin, AGVS/UPSA, Ray Just Energy and Dipan. In addition, there are the equipment suppliers Fischer, One Way and Casco, as well as the association sponsors Swisscom, Alpiq, Raiffeisen and Audi.For a top athlete, sponsorship money is an important source of income in most sports. "Only the very best athletes could live on prize money alone; in cross-country skiing, you can count them on one hand," says Dario Cologna. Cologna is only involved to a limited extent in the search for sponsors. This runs through his manager Marc Biver of the sports marketing agency Tridem Sports. "When the decision is made, I then join in and discuss with my management whether it fits or not," explains Cologna. "I have to be able to identify with the company, and of course the market value has to be paid. That's why I prefer fewer partners, but ones that fit." As part of the sponsorships, for example, the cross-country skiing star is present in advertising campaigns, makes appearances at sponsors' customers, and takes part in panel discussions and autograph sessions.Helvetia bets on Cologna earlyHelvetia Insurance recognized Dario Cologna's marketing potential early on. They have been working with the man from Graubünden since the 2006/2007 season. "Helvetia is a long-standing partner of Swiss-Ski and very committed to Nordic skiing. They supported me very early on and bet on me," says Dario Cologna. "Meanwhile, we have built up a mutual relationship of trust that both sides appreciate very much. Helvetia is a trustworthy Swiss company that is enthusiastic about my sport. Helvetia's sponsorship strategy generally focuses strongly on individual sponsorship and supports athletes from the disciplines of alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, biathlon, ski cross and telemark, such as ski jumping star Simon Ammann. Helvetia is also the official event sponsor of the FIS Alpine World Cup, the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup and the premium sponsor of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup. Finally, Helvetia also sponsors the Swiss Ski Association, the umbrella organization of Swiss snow sports. The insurer is also active in the area of young talent and supports the "Helvetia Nordic Trophy", the largest junior series in the Nordic disciplines. In popular sports, Helvetia is the presenting sponsor of the Engadin Skimarathon.Cologna plants treesDario Cologna is integrated into various activities and advertising campaigns at Helvetia. One example is the commitment to protection forests. The insurer is committed to reforesting protection forests in various regions of Switzerland. With this commitment, Helvetia aims to secure people, objects, cross-country ski trails, hiking and traffic routes and protect them from natural hazards. Targeted plantings protect against four main types of damage: rockfall, landslide, debris flow and avalanches. In 2011, for example, 10,000 trees were planted in the St. Moritz area in collaboration with the Graubünden Cantonal Forestry Office. Since then, protection forests have been reforested in the Bernese Oberland, Upper Valais, around the Rigi, in the Jura, Glarus South and Obwalden. Dario Cologna acts as an ambassador for these protection forest projects and, for example, actively helps with the planting.The Swiss Olympic champion also features in Helvetia's TV commercials. Since December 2014, the latest TV campaign has featured eleven spots showing how the top athletes in the alpine disciplines prepare mentally for an upcoming race. Dario Cologna and Co. follow the mentally sketched course of the curve with the utmost concentration in search of the ideal line. The recording "Together on the ideal line" illustrates the advantages of planning with Helvetia. The spots were broadcast alternately every other day on SRF, RTS and RSI as the last spot before the daily news. The athletes involved, besides Dario Cologna for example Sandro Viletta and Laurien van der Graaff, are all sponsored by Helvetia.Swiss-Ski needs successful athletesThe Swiss Ski Association Swiss-Ski also benefits from the charisma of Dario Cologna. Sponsorship is an important source of income for the association. More than two-thirds of Swiss-Ski's income is generated through marketing rights. Compared to other countries such as Germany, France or Italy, the federation receives only minimal support from the public purse. "Successful athletes and the associated media presence is very important in acquisition," says Stefan Brütsch, Director of Marketing at Swiss-Ski. "It is imperative to have this media impact in order to market successfully." The federation's main sponsor is Swisscom. Dario Cologna wears clothing with the logos of the federation sponsors at all training sessions and competitions. They also have certain image rights to use the athlete for their own advertising purposes. In order to avoid conflicts between the private sponsors, the industries of the federation sponsors (telecommunications, banking, insurance, energy and car) are not available for the athletes to use. "The cooperation with the athletes' various managements is close and very good," says Brütsch. "Very often our federation sponsors are also involved in individual sponsoring and support the athletes directly with a so-called individual or third-party sponsoring." This is also the case with Dario Cologna. His main sponsor Helvetia is also a sponsor of the federation.Social media increasingly in focusSponsors are also increasingly focusing on the presence of top athletes on social media. Dario Cologna is active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. He already has over 100,000 fans on Facebook, more than 27,000 followers on Twitter and almost 19,000 subscribers on Instagram. On these platforms, the Grisons native posts pictures and videos of his competitions and private activities. Sponsors are also regularly mentioned. On Facebook, for example, Dario Cologna posted a photo of himself holding an energy drink on November 13, 2014, and wrote: "My new partner Ray Just Energy is the perfect drink to recharge your batteries in quiet moments." The message generated nearly 1500 likes. "In recent years, sponsors have also become aware of the new possibilities offered by social media platforms," explains Cologna. "Social media is becoming more and more important in sponsoring every year, and the requests are constantly increasing. "In the meantime, the cross-country skiing season is history, and Dario Cologna can once again look back on a successful time - with a silver medal at the Nordic World Ski Championships in the skiathlon. However, there is not much time to rest. In the extremely demanding sport of cross-country skiing, the foundation is laid with tough conditioning training sessions in the summer. Of course, Cologna's sponsors are not the only ones hoping for further exploits from the exceptional athlete in the future.Author: Simon Wolanin