re still a dreaming and innovation company at heart,” Rebecca Cai, general manager for APAC at On, told Inside Retail. “I think it goes back to the vision that we have at On: We want to build the most premium global sportswear brand,” she added. Expanding On After years of being stocked by Australian retailers, On is now ready to share its mission to ignite the human spirit through movement with its own flagship store in Emporium Melbourne.  “The energy, the passion, the excitement for sports, is so prevalent in Australia that we think it’s a market that we can really grow and speak to consumers in and then in terms of the kind of the presence and the product full portfolio that we have as a brand,” said Cai. “In terms of momentum of the brand, right now we’re seeing quite a strong momentum in Australia – we want to offer the fans for the brand, that place that they can come to to be part of our community,” she added. The store will offer a wide range of products across running, training, lifestyle, trail, kids and bags – something that On’s retail partnerships haven’t been able to afford its loyal customer. Running On “As a global sports hub, Melbourne is home to a passionate community of runners and athletes, and our store aims to be a dynamic space for connection and engagement,” said Cai. As part of On’s commitment to building community, it’s inviting consumers to join the “On Run Club” – a weekly gathering for runners and walkers that departs from the Emporium flagship store every Thursday at 6 pm. “We’re really excited about having a weekly run club and just getting to know the consumers that are in the market and building that connection with them,” shared Cai. “That will be another area of focus for us. It is really how we resonate and speak with local consumers in the market,” she elaborated. Run clubs have become a popular marketing tool amongst retailers, including Nike and Lululemon, as a way to build community and champion the local athlete. But as a lot of heritage athletic brands have fallen out of favour with consumers, they have begun looking towards emerging athletic brands that have a more inclusive approach to exercise. Dreaming On While On has professional athletes as ambassadors, such as Federer and fellow tennis champ Iga Świątek, it has also begun to bring on cultural figures such as performer FKA Twigs and actress Zendaya. “That’s the journey that we want [consumers] to have, to come into the brand and to be inspired by FKA Twigs – she’s an ambassador that we just signed, she has her own interpretation of movement and training in song and dance and that can speak to one type of individual,” Cai explained. Zendaya signed a multi-year deal with On that will span product development, global promotion and creative campaigns. To launch the partnership in June, Zendaya starred in a creative campaign short film entitled Dream Together. The broadening of On’s roster of ambassadors was deliberately designed to foster a customer base that loves movement regardless of skill level. “At the end of the day, we’re selling that feeling, that’s where cloud tech came from… that running sensation of soft landings, explosive takeoffs, that’s where we started,” stated Cai. “We want to inspire more and more people to move however they best want to move,” she concluded.