Overview of Rapid Response: On's 16-year overnight success: Zendaya, Federer, and outrunning competition
In this episode, Bob Safian interviews David Allemann, co-founder and co-CEO of On, about how the Swiss athletic brand grew from a scrappy idea into a nearly $4 billion global company. The conversation centers on On’s strategy to become the most premium sports brand rather than the biggest, its focus on innovation and design, and how it is using celebrity partnerships, retail expansion, and sustainability to compete with legacy giants like Nike and Adidas.
Key Themes and Takeaways
On’s brand identity: premium, innovative, and movement-driven
- On sees itself as a premium global sports brand, not a luxury brand.
- Allemann emphasizes that On is built on innovation first, with design and consumer experience reinforcing that innovation.
- The company’s broader vision is tied to a cultural shift from a “leisure class” focused on consumption to a “movement class” focused on vitality, longevity, and experience.
- A core belief: “Health is the new wealth.”
Why On believes it has an edge
- The company was founded around a radical idea: CloudTec, which reengineered the feel of running rather than simply adding cushioning.
- On’s differentiation comes from engineering the experience of movement, not just selling shoes.
- Allemann argues that sports have moved to the center of society, creating space for brands that reflect this new lifestyle.
Celebrity partnerships that grew organically
- On’s relationship with Roger Federer began after he organically wore the brand publicly and later challenged the company to innovate for tennis as well as running.
- Instead of a traditional endorsement deal, Federer reportedly took equity—a move that fits On’s unconventional approach.
- Zendaya also became connected through the cultural overlap between her film Challengers and tennis, reinforcing On’s positioning at the intersection of sport, style, and pop culture.
Founder-led leadership and the recent co-CEO shift
- Allemann describes On’s leadership as a partnership model, with founders splitting responsibilities across operations and growth.
- The recent move to a more hands-on co-CEO structure reflects a need to stay close to both execution and future innovation.
- He frames On’s rise as a “16-year overnight success”, with many of its major initiatives taking years to mature.
Retail, Technology, and Expansion
Physical stores as brand-building and business-building
- On opened its first New York store on Lafayette Street during COVID in 2021.
- Stores serve two main purposes:
- To plant the brand in the center of society
- To give apparel and the full “toe-to-head” brand expression more room than a shoe wall in a wholesale store
- Retail has become a real growth engine, with 80+ stores now open.
Innovation in manufacturing
- A standout example is On’s LightSpray technology:
- Inspired by a YouTube video of a hot glue gun spraying a Halloween net
- Uses a robotic arm to spray a shoe upper directly onto the outsole
- Collapses roughly 200 manufacturing steps into one
- Can produce a shoe in about three minutes
- The company has a structured innovation pipeline and reviews many ideas before moving them forward.
Sustainability as a core principle
- On treats sustainability as a serious brand and engineering priority, not a side project.
- Examples include:
- LightSpray reducing the CO2 footprint by more than 75%
- Clean Cloud foam made from captured carbon emissions
- Allemann says preserving the natural environment matters deeply, especially given Switzerland’s outdoor culture.
What’s Next for On
The next decade is the real test
- Allemann says the company has planted many seeds that are now beginning to grow.
- Key growth areas include:
- Apparel, growing more than 50% year over year
- Digital channels
- Global expansion
- On sees itself as:
- One of the fastest-growing scaled sports brands
- The most premium brand in terms of margins
- The ambition is not to beat Nike and Adidas on size alone, but to become the premium sports brand of the future.
Notable Quote / Idea
“Crazy is good because the night is always the darkest before dawn.”
This captures On’s willingness to take risks, invest in long-term innovation, and keep pushing into new categories before the market fully catches up.