Fusalp's blueprint for success: crafting a new market presence with influencer alliances

About Fusalp

For 70 years, luxury ski fashion brand Fusalp has been creating garments for the slopes that combine technicity, functionality and elegance. From its revolutionary skin tight ‘fuseau’ stirrup pants of the 1960s, to its contemporary designer collaborations with Emilio Pucci or Swarovski, Fusalp garments offer a unique sports chic silhouette that celebrate the art of movement and French elegance — on and off the slopes. In recent years, Fusalp has sought to expand the reach of its signature style from its home in the European Alps to the most prestigious ski resorts around the world. Here’s how they’re using Influencer Marketing powered by Kolsquare to help them do it.

Targeting the US: how Fusalp plans to double sales in three years

In 2022, Fusalp opened three flagship stores in the US: one in New York, and two in the luxury ski resorts of Vail and Aspen. To support the openings, Fusalp has ramped up its presence on social media with its own accounts and by partnering with digital talents targeting specific audiences.

Nestled in the spectacular Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Aspen ski resort has been delighting visitors with its world-class pistes, fine-dining and high-end cultural attractions for decades. Its status as one of the world’s most iconic ski resorts made it an obvious choice for Fusalp when searching for a suitable venue to open a flagship boutique. 

The Campaign: Associate Fusalp with US skiing prestige to reach new audiences in North America

To support the Aspen Fusalp boutique, grow the brand’s awareness in the US and anchor its luxury positioning in the market, Fusalp decided to host a three-day PR event in Aspen in January, 2024, to which the brand invited actors, journalists, social media personalities, and a DJ.

“Aspen is the iconic ski station in the US, so it seemed obvious to us to host an event there to support the boutique and to show off our presence in the US,” comments Fusalp Head of PR and Social Media Justine Provent. “This event needed to clearly target awareness amongst a US audience.”

With the key objectives defined, the guest list for the Aspen campaign needed to fulfill several criteria. Guests should have an affinity for skiing while also delivering a variety of creative profiles, including content creators, actors, models, and a DJ. 

Provent also wanted to find profiles which had not previously collaborated extensively with other brands, and whose content creation style was in keeping with the distinctive Fusalp aesthetic.  

“Our US press agency, BPCM, sent us a list of potential profiles which we verified in Kolsquare. Primarily we were looking at audience credibility and engagement rates. With tools like Kolsquare, we're really able to measure the quality of the people we work with. We’re looking for people who are authentic, genuinely caring and optimistic too,” comments Provent.

“We also looked carefully at the location of the audiences, given the aim of the campaign was to specifically reach people in the US.”

In total, Fusalp selected 14 KOLs with a combined audience of 5.29M — with 43% based in the US — to accompany journalists to its Aspen Ski Party event. 

Let’s Party! How the right mix of profiles makes for a good time online and offline

Careful selection and qualification of content creator profiles paid hefty dividends on the Aspen campaign for Fusalp. 

Excited by the prospect of a luxury weekend on the slopes dressed in an iconic European ski brand, attendees like content creator @katee.bartlett and fashion designers @young_emperors, began posting content prior to the event itself, from choosing their outfits in-store, to in-transit travel shots. 

Throughout the three days of the event, Reels, Posts, Stories, and TikToks tagged #FusalpSkiClub came flooding in. Posting organically, influencers and content creators took full advantage of the stunning scenery, chic attire and party atmosphere to create beautiful content that complemented and set off the Fusalp brand. 

“The way we organized the casting of having a variety of different profiles really gave the weekend a lift. Everyone really got into it, both on social media and in terms of the energy they brought to the event IRL,” comments Provent.

Why staying true to brand values and sustainability commitments delivers results

Of the 14 KOLs invited to join Fusalp for its Aspen Ski Party, most commanded audiences of between 50K to 500K followers on Instagram. 

Only some of them were under contract to post content. They were, however, gifted Fusalp ready-to-wear items and accessories, and the ski outerwear in some cases.

“We want our clothes to be loved and worn again and again. When we can tell our guests really love the item and will keep wearing it, we gift it with pleasure. But we always offer them the choice, and if they feel they won’t wear it again, we prefer to lend rather than gift,” explains Provent. 

As luxury brands like Fusalp increasingly prioritize the development of long-term relationships with KOLs, having honest conversations around issues such as brand values and gifting are essential to building trust between partners, says Provent. 

It’s a strategy pillar that clearly pays off: The Fusalp Aspen campaign produced an impressive 237 pieces of content and generated €416K in EMV.

“It was super interesting to see how the influencers contributed organically, I think they just had a really good time. They posted a huge amount of all types of content. And they also commented a lot on what we were posting in our channels. It was really great, we will definitely do it again,” comments Provent.

Thanks to Kolsquare, Provent and her team were able to monitor KPIs and ascertain the success of the Aspen Ski Party in real time as creators lived it up and broadcast the event on social media. 

“It’s really interesting to be able to see metrics like the location of the audience reached, because our objective was really the US market,” comments Provent. “We love Kolsquare, it makes overseeing and evaluating multinational campaigns like the Aspen event really seamless.” 

Want to find out how Kolsquare can help grow your brand internationally like Fusalp? Click here for a demo with one of our influence experts.