I landed here thanks to Cole Townsend. Both of us envious of your golden ticket to The Ranch.
In 2018, I was lucky enough to attend a similar event put on Dæhlie Sportswear. Beautiful food, training with pro athletes, and staying in incredible traditional Norwegian housing. This was the first time I've seen something similar. lululemon prior to Covid-19 also put on an incredible event for it's athletes and ambassadors in Wolgan valley.
I'm curious about your take on the content that came out on socials? I felt like the storytelling and photography missed the mark. I didn't feel the narrative was as strong as Satisfy's previous output/work - perhaps, lacking their renowned edge, or otherwise missing some kind of depth.
Great insight. Loved the point - "Satisfy is small, but its impact is much bigger than its current revenues."
Look forward to reading your take on running Solo TSP next year.
Thanks so much for sharing! The Norwegian trip sounds fun and I’ll look up the Lululemon one; I went to LA on the Further trip they did, which was amazing. The different camps (press, influencers, athletes) were kept quite separate.
Interesting take on the photography. What’s been released so far were just the digital images of each day; there’s lots more to come!! Shot on film. Curious as to your thoughts when those are released. With this trip, I guess they were testing a newer, more instantaneous format, which lives separately to campaign imagery — it’s probably a trial and error for any brand to figure out the best ways to execute both? I really enjoyed everything Brice was instagramming on his personal account during the week. It was all very atmospheric and scene setting.
Haha don’t tempt me further. I wonder whether TSP is too obvious now though. Thoughts on any others, lmk.
Thanks for writing this and I’m excited for my future grandchildren to see your embroidered shirt on antiques roadshow one day. To an outsider it might not seem like as much of a power move as this event actually was. The way you wrote about other brands/ groups of friends shows the impact this brand has on the market. They seem to nail the feeling we all get out and chase. I look forward to seeing how the team keeps its core audience engaged as they continue to grow.
I love the framing of this as a power move — you’re right, it really was. And at an important inflection point where- post-investment -everything could snowball for them beyond this sort of intimacy found on the ranch, both in sales and company size. An exciting time for sure.
Also, antiques roadshow is a blast from the past! If that programme is still on tv 30 years from now, remind me and I’ll take my shirt!!
Loved this Grace! So sick to get the perspective from behind the scenes. Fascinating to watch the rise of Satisfy and how it seems to be shaping things right now. Glad you had so much fun!
Fascinating BTS! But loathe as I am to give Nike credit, they definitely did some similar style running retreats on Montauk in the 2010s. And Tracksmith has been bringing athletes away for multi-day training camps that are also for photo shoots from Day 1.
Will look up the Nike one! And yes, you are quite right about Tracksmith!
I think Satisfy’s cuts through more to the normal consumer because the clothes are so wearable, whereas maybe Nike and Tracksmith are very much within the running/athletics realm, both in USP and visually.
Sports vs lifestyle aspiration. What do you think?
True, though Nike is definitely trying to crack the lifestyle nut. Tracksmith always straddled both worlds a little, obviously the stories and ethos are rooted in heritage running but the idea was always to make running clothes that melded seamlessly into Matt Taylor’s classic, understated wardrobe. Perhaps, it’s just a case of French je ne sais quoi - tbh the western inflection Satisfy sometimes explores doesn’t always work for me as an American but I may be an outlier!
For sure, I love the TS cotton sweatshirts! I wear mine a lot.
I guess Satisfy is unique in that it’s sold at so many luxury menswear boutiques — ones that don’t otherwise stock sportswear, and it’s bought and worn and appeals to people well beyond the sport realm, which is what I think gives it this unique visibility and relevance. Guys who don’t run own pieces of Satisfy, whereas I think most other brands upsell their lifestyle pieces to customers who go specifically for the kit. A different strategy and customer base.
I hear you on the Americana refs being too close to home… another reason I love TS is the preppy, New England aesthetic that we don’t have!
Americans love Italy… and Europeans love any sort of Americana iconography, basically!!
I landed here thanks to Cole Townsend. Both of us envious of your golden ticket to The Ranch.
In 2018, I was lucky enough to attend a similar event put on Dæhlie Sportswear. Beautiful food, training with pro athletes, and staying in incredible traditional Norwegian housing. This was the first time I've seen something similar. lululemon prior to Covid-19 also put on an incredible event for it's athletes and ambassadors in Wolgan valley.
I'm curious about your take on the content that came out on socials? I felt like the storytelling and photography missed the mark. I didn't feel the narrative was as strong as Satisfy's previous output/work - perhaps, lacking their renowned edge, or otherwise missing some kind of depth.
Great insight. Loved the point - "Satisfy is small, but its impact is much bigger than its current revenues."
Look forward to reading your take on running Solo TSP next year.
Thanks so much for sharing! The Norwegian trip sounds fun and I’ll look up the Lululemon one; I went to LA on the Further trip they did, which was amazing. The different camps (press, influencers, athletes) were kept quite separate.
Interesting take on the photography. What’s been released so far were just the digital images of each day; there’s lots more to come!! Shot on film. Curious as to your thoughts when those are released. With this trip, I guess they were testing a newer, more instantaneous format, which lives separately to campaign imagery — it’s probably a trial and error for any brand to figure out the best ways to execute both? I really enjoyed everything Brice was instagramming on his personal account during the week. It was all very atmospheric and scene setting.
Haha don’t tempt me further. I wonder whether TSP is too obvious now though. Thoughts on any others, lmk.
Thanks for writing this and I’m excited for my future grandchildren to see your embroidered shirt on antiques roadshow one day. To an outsider it might not seem like as much of a power move as this event actually was. The way you wrote about other brands/ groups of friends shows the impact this brand has on the market. They seem to nail the feeling we all get out and chase. I look forward to seeing how the team keeps its core audience engaged as they continue to grow.
I love the framing of this as a power move — you’re right, it really was. And at an important inflection point where- post-investment -everything could snowball for them beyond this sort of intimacy found on the ranch, both in sales and company size. An exciting time for sure.
Also, antiques roadshow is a blast from the past! If that programme is still on tv 30 years from now, remind me and I’ll take my shirt!!
Loved this Grace! So sick to get the perspective from behind the scenes. Fascinating to watch the rise of Satisfy and how it seems to be shaping things right now. Glad you had so much fun!
Awesome read. Such a cool brand to follow, thanks for sharing!
Fascinating BTS! But loathe as I am to give Nike credit, they definitely did some similar style running retreats on Montauk in the 2010s. And Tracksmith has been bringing athletes away for multi-day training camps that are also for photo shoots from Day 1.
Will look up the Nike one! And yes, you are quite right about Tracksmith!
I think Satisfy’s cuts through more to the normal consumer because the clothes are so wearable, whereas maybe Nike and Tracksmith are very much within the running/athletics realm, both in USP and visually.
Sports vs lifestyle aspiration. What do you think?
True, though Nike is definitely trying to crack the lifestyle nut. Tracksmith always straddled both worlds a little, obviously the stories and ethos are rooted in heritage running but the idea was always to make running clothes that melded seamlessly into Matt Taylor’s classic, understated wardrobe. Perhaps, it’s just a case of French je ne sais quoi - tbh the western inflection Satisfy sometimes explores doesn’t always work for me as an American but I may be an outlier!
For sure, I love the TS cotton sweatshirts! I wear mine a lot.
I guess Satisfy is unique in that it’s sold at so many luxury menswear boutiques — ones that don’t otherwise stock sportswear, and it’s bought and worn and appeals to people well beyond the sport realm, which is what I think gives it this unique visibility and relevance. Guys who don’t run own pieces of Satisfy, whereas I think most other brands upsell their lifestyle pieces to customers who go specifically for the kit. A different strategy and customer base.
I hear you on the Americana refs being too close to home… another reason I love TS is the preppy, New England aesthetic that we don’t have!
Americans love Italy… and Europeans love any sort of Americana iconography, basically!!
Yes! That luxury element is definitely unique (and one I am less well versed in for sure.)