Marker, Dalbello and Völkl  are rolling out MDV Sports, a new shared group brand to underscore their mutual ties and collaboration. The MDV Sports brand boasts over 200 years of skiing history between the three companies and reflects their increasingly tight cooperation in the areas of R&D, production, sales and marketing.

Of course these are the same snowsports brands that have been put on the market by their new owner, Newell brands -something ommitted from the press release delivering this news. By pulling the three brands together Newell has a single entity covering three ‘European’ collections which will be a much easier sell and as important don’t compete with each other.

Pulling the Volkl, Marker and Dal Bello together leaves Newell with a selection of other brands that remain on the block.

The 5150, Morrow and Ride snowboards brands make a neat sale package as do the assorted snowshoe brands perhaps with Masdhus as a niche nordic sale.

K2 and Full Tilt boots may have some synergies but despite their boot offerings having different designs they are both very much in the big mountain, under the ropes space. Line and K2 skis occupy different markets, save for park and pipe which is the only space occupied by Line.

Jason Levinthal, founder of Line skis made enquiries of Newell regarding buying Line and Full Tilt. In a blog post he said “I’ve talked to Newell directly this past week inquiring about the potential to buy Line and FT and they confirmed it will only be sold all as a whole, no option for someone to buy a single brand/brands, this includes the Euro division as well.”

It’s hard to make predictions at this stage, but it’s hard to see K2 failing to sell. If that sale includes Line and Full Tilt then that leaves the new owner selling products which compete with each other; an interesting long term proposition.

The new MDV Sports brand is an alliance between three major winter sports brands. Each is considered among the most influential and successful companies in their respective industries worldwide. Together they develop, produce and market innovative ski hardware considered among the world’s finest.

By enhancing their cooperation and synergies, the companies strive to produce even better products and improve their respective positions on the market. The Gripwalk system is one of the first trailblazing innovations to emerge from the MDV Sports labs and will play a central role in the group’s joint PR efforts at the ISPO 2017.

Jonathan Wiant, President Marker Dalbello Voelkl Brands, says of the new initiative: “Each of our three brands has its own history and identity. That will remain unchanged. What unites them is a shared spirit: the never-ending drive for innovative solutions that deliver better on-snow experience. The new corporate branding illustrates these shared values in a consistent manner for both an internal and external audience, highlighting the potential benefits for all stakeholders.”

The central pillar of the MDV Sports philosophy is reflected in its shared mission statement: “Together we are one spirit.” It serves as a positive affirmation of their shared goal, without watering down the profile of the individual brands. Going forward, Marker, Dalbello and Völkl will be meeting with customers and partners and presenting at events and fairs like the ISPO under the MDV Sports name, reflecting the companies’ shared strategic and design orientation.

The MDV Sports brand will be promoted in internal communications as well, such as through a groupwide newsletter. The highest-profile sign of the group’s presence is the new group logo and the revised logos for the individual brands. After all, each of the three brands will retain its own individual presence on the market alongside the group’s corporate identity, and will function on the market independently. The concise and uniform branding will be implemented across all three brands’ entire product palettes. The public premiere will take place at the ISPO 2017.

The clearly delineated logos are intended to promote easier recognition. The entire rebranding process will be completed with the relaunch of the websites for the three individual brands in spring 2017.

From SnowIndustryNews