Partnership ETF X Keyena
collaboration | KEYENA
CONTEXT
There are few companies in the track and field industry. But since the beginning, we have been building relationships with companies that support each other and have the same vision: to make athletics evolve. These include Stadion, the media company that covers athletics news, Springart, the supplier of personalized clothing for athletes, and Elite Track and Field, the athlete support agency, all of which are truly passionate about athletics.
ELITE TRACK AND FIELD, WHAT IS IT?
Elite Track and Field is the specialized athletic department of Elite Athletes Agency. This company accompanies high-level athletes to American universities and/or to the professional level. The department was born from the merger between USA-Project, a company created by Martin Casse and Elite Athletes Agency founded by Edouard Lacroix and Jerome Meary. The strong points of this company are the personalized accompaniment by experts and enthusiasts of athletics and the US university system, the follow-up and the proximity with the athletes and the coaches. They place the athletes at the heart of their strategy and everything they do. Their ambition is to accompany the athletes at 360° and to offer many services around athletics, such as trips and sports events. Thus, every year since 2017, several athletes fly to study in the United States thanks to Elite Track and Field, which connects them with American universities, eager to strengthen their sports teams, by paying all or part of the tuition fees.
THE ASSOCIATION ETF X KEYENA
A first collaboration in 2021 begins with the launch of the Track and Show program hosted by Maryse Ewanjé-Epée, which takes place at the same time as Keyena. Maxime, a sprint/jump advisor in the placement of young athletes in the USA at ETF, having made a selection for the French team with Coralie, suggested to the Elite Track team that they invite Coralie on the set to present the KEY ONE on the big screen. This was the beginning of a relationship between ETF and Keyena. With ETF we study the possibility of equipping the Elite athletes with KEY ONE.
At the end of 2021, we finally receive the stock of KEY ONE and we can deliver our customers. At the same time, the project to equip Elite athletes who have left for the US is taking shape, a special Elite collection is being created and student athletes will receive their personalized protective insoles at the beginning of 2022.
To illustrate this partnership, both parties are using a communication posted on social networks with a promotional video, photos and videos of Elite athletes with the KEY ONE on their feet and a video interview with Martin and Coralie.
THE MEETING
“ Everything started thanks to Maxime with whom I made a selection for the French team. As he knew me, and saw the launch of my innovation, he talked about it with Martin and they invited me on the set of Track & Show. So I went to Toulouse to film the show and I met the whole team in real life, it was a great moment! I think that during the shooting we all had an adrenaline rush and then a descent, we almost thought we were in a competition! I was also very happy to participate in this show and to meet the Elite team because I regret not having done a double project in the United States… The show marked the beginning of our collaboration and since then, we have been working on our project to equip the Elite athletes who go to the US with KEY ONE. “
THE COLLABORATION
“ We know that the United States is a big market for Keyena and I thought it was relevant to propose my innovation to athletes who are not afraid of embarking on an adventure like the United States. Not knowing the culture and the way the country works, this is where ETF comes into play because they have the serenity and the knowledge of the market. Elite and its team are truly key partners with whom we are building a long-term collaboration. Beyond the US, there is this synergy, our common desire to put the athletes in the best conditions by bringing them serenity on their course, their future but also in their practice. “
“ Between ETF and Keyena, there is a common passion for athletics, to serve athletes, to offer them something innovative and to help them perform, to reach their goals. And I said to myself that through all our contacts in the US and all the athletes who can play the role of ambassador today, we can start to test the American market and if it works well, then flood the country with KEY ONE! The athletes have been fans directly, their feedback has confirmed that the product will work. You have to know that in the US they are fans of innovation, and cross-country and track and field are the most popular sports in high school and college, so if they see Elite athletes wearing the KEY ONE, they will want to buy it too.”
THE BEST EXAMPLE OF THE USE OF THE KEY ONE
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Personally, when I see the KEY ONE, I think directly of the French Championships in Albi with the long corridor between the locker rooms and the track where you are asked to put on your spikes and then you walk on your heels like an idiot. I was missing this innovation to be more serene.
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Albi is incredible because it’s my best example! And also during training when you have 2 minutes to recover before your next 300 and you have to go to the bathroom
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THE PERSPECTIVES
” I saw myself in Coralie, a few years earlier as an entrepreneur: full of benevolence, the desire to accompany athletes, to offer them something new. I hope that together we will flood the American market and then the whole world. May we meet again at Oregon 2022 and Paris 2024 with our athletes equipped with the KEY ONE representing France at these major championships. ” Martin
” Little by little I am sure that it will open up a lot of perspectives, there are no limits! We have time to think about it but I’m already convinced that we’ll do great things together. I wouldn’t mind a Grant Holloway or a Tara Davis as brand ambassadors! Martin, I wish you to be able to send as many athletes as possible to the US in the best conditions, helping them to build great careers both in sports and in school and that why not, they all leave equipped with a pair of KEY ONE. ” Coralie
THE FINAL WORD
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And Coralie, did you ever say to yourself: KE YEN A PLUS, IL Y EN ENCORE?
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