Interview: Anthony Dulieu, Kiprun brand leader “We want to have medals at the 2028 Olympics! »

2024-04-22 13:23:41

Kiprun model “KD900x LD”. Credit: Sport Buzz Business

On the occasion of the London Marathon held on Sunday, Kiprun, Decathlon’s running brand, revealed some ambitions during a meeting organized with the press.

This is the first time in its young history that Kiprun has held a press conference elsewhere than in France. And for this, the English capital was obvious “London is a multicultural city where a marathon takes place, it’s a bit of a symbol of Kiprun’s ambition” we explain from the side of the Decathlon brand. Kiprun wants to become a brand “close to runners, close to its community” to understand them. “ If runners are Batman, we want to be their Alfred » schematizes Anthony Dulieu, leader of the Kiprun brand.

Almost a year ago to the day, shortly before the 2023 Paris marathon, Kiprun explained to us that he wanted to join the TOP 5 running brands in the world. 365 days and a few hours later, the objective is still the same for the Decathlon brand, but it is much closer than last year.

Kiprun goes to English time

« Depending on the territories where Decathlon is present, we will have varying fortunes » admits Anthony Dulieu. “ In the United States, we are almost not present, we have very few stores… In Europe, and in particular Europe, we have rather good awareness. We don’t have all the market data, but we will position ourselves between 4th, 5th place, but when we calculate on a global scale, we go down in the ranking. Overall, it’s difficult to know, but we’re in 10th place quite easily. »

Running test on the banks of the Thames with the “KD900x LD”. Credit: Sport Buzz Business.

The words “awareness” and “credibility” have been repeated enough times for us to understand that they are Kiprun’s objectives for the years to come. For that, the brand has expanded its product range with new products or new versions of shoes including the “KD900x LD”, this is the model that we were able to test on the streets of London. The carbon plate in the sole offers a fairly impressive and very effective rebound effect, the shoe weighs only 206 grams and is totally worth its price of €180.

Innovations are not just textiles

Kiprun is also present at the various marathons, including those in Paris, Rome and therefore London. Its stand at the ExCel Show, the equivalent of the running show at the Parc des Expositions at Porte de Versailles in Paris, is always full on its opening day, Wednesday April 17. “ We are easily the stand that attracts the most people in this sector » says a young Kiprun salesman.

Credit : Sport Buzz Business

Textiles, along with shoes and clothing, is not the only area where Kiprun has decided to innovate. The brand also launched a application 100% gratuite « Kiprun pacer » which offers personalized and adaptable training according to the level and objectives of the runner. Through a very clear and very effective demonstration, you just have to fill in several pieces of information for the application to offer a training schedule which will also adapt after a debrief of the races concerning the feeling, the difficulty or others.

« It is also almost the ultimate expression of support for the runner. Being close to the user means being with them during their training, during their phases of doubt, their phases of success and that can be done with products, but even more so with an application. No need to wear our products to already start experiencing the “mindset” and singularity of Kiprun » explains the brand leader.

“Kiprun pacer” offers more than 200 workouts and is already available in France and the United Kingdom. And all these workouts can be exported to a Garmin or Coros watch, runners’ favorite accessory. The application is working on compatibility with Apple Watches and other running watches in the years to come. If this type of application usually costs money, here you won’t have to pay anything to get it. “Kiprun pacer” is available on Android and IOS.

A significant investment for Decathlon

Kiprun news is busy since the brand has also become the Official namer of the Valencia 10k race for the next three editions (2025, 2026 and 2027). The race is now called “10K Valencia Ibercaja by Kiprun”.

Decathlon, which validated a record turnover of 15.6 billion euros in 2023, wants the success of its running brand and for that, it invests heavily in it. As proof, it was with pride that the Kiprun team took us to Piccadilly Circus square in London where an advertisement was showing on the giant screens promoting the “KD900x LD” model.

« We are not talking about a quantified investment, but it is a fairly global investment. » continues Anthony Dulieu. “ Both media, marketing, activation, athlete, so on one side, the marketing and communication part and on the other side, design, research, innovation and development. I like to say that when I have a 100 dollar bill, I put 50% into marketing and 50% into innovation! ».

Symbol of this commitment, Kiprun also developed “The 42 House”. A true “training camp”, this Kiprun house is located in Iten, or Kenyan welcomes the brand’s athletes so that they can train in the best conditions.

Objective LA2028

A team of athletes that is growing and becoming more and more global. There are French people there, obviously, including Méline Rollinwho broke the French women’s marathon record in Seville last February in 2h24’12”, but also the American Paul Chelimothe Kenyan Nelvin Jepkemboithe British triathlon specialist Max Stapley or the American Liam Murphy.

America is also one of Kiprun’s targets, firstly, because the brand is only very poorly established there and secondly, because the 2028 Los Angles Games are of great interest to Kirpun. « We want to have medals at the 2028 Olympics! » says Anthony Dulieu.

« The United States is a market in which Decathlon has focused a lot. We went there many years ago, we came back a few years ago… There is a strategy that is based on the United States and the desire will be to work with resellers to sell our products. However, we have to come up with a story, with storytelling, which is what we are doing here. First, build the brand’s storytelling, the uniqueness of the brand, the “brand identity” that we will be able to offer to our resellers in the United States and then the idea is to accelerate. »

But the United States is not the only country targeted by Kiprun. “ We have defined priority areas, Asia with China, where we are well established, then we have what we call old Europe, where we have rather lost market share recently, we have to leave to the recovery of the runner. In Europe, there are 2 very interesting markets: the United Kingdom and Germany! All of this is our priority countries that we have targeted. »