Issue 52: A Bulletin for Big Ideas and Better Business

OPINION/ BRANDS

Field goal: high time for a Great British sports brand

💬 Sir John Hegarty

The World Sports Rankings is a scientific index that evaluates how each country performs in elite games. Each year, it publishes a leader board where the US generally comes top, with the UK shortly behind it (France won the number two spot in 2024, clearly enjoying an Olympic boost). Britain punches above its weight where sport is concerned. An implausibly high proportion of competitions originated here, including curling, bobsledding and baseball.*

The UK has a supreme creative legacy where inventing games is concerned. But we’re less hot when it comes to building big sports brands. By revenue, the league table is dominated by America and Germany. These two boast Nike, Under Armour and Lululemon, and Adidas and Puma, respectively. Our defining contribution was Reebok, but this was bought by Adidas in the noughties, and then sold to Authentic Brands Group later on. Where is the British giant?

UK sport brands have been under-achieving, but a new era approaches with formidable companies and their fervent bases.

If entrepreneurs here have been under-achieving in recent decades, there’s evidence that a new era is approaching. Apparel brand Gymshark is valued at $1.45 billion, and its ascent shows little sign of slowing. Then there’s Adanola, a women’s clothing success story that has, according to Drapers, grown at 202% annually for the last three years. Another stand-out is Manchester-born Castore, which is backed by Sir Andy Murray. Heritage names are rediscovering their form too. Notably Umbro, which is communicating around the intersection of football and streetwear culture.

These brands should learn by previous mistakes. For instance, cycling brand Rapha was a formidable company with a fervent base. But a post-pandemic crunch has seen it encounter seven consecutive years of losses. Perhaps if it had branched out into other sports, it might have grown into the missing behemoth. Either way, it’s high time for a new British personal best.

*We also invented darts, tennis, golf, and football. Not to mention caber tossing, bog snorkelling, cheese rolling and conkers. But who’s counting?

THE AGENDA

✏️ Pencil it in: your agenda for the coming week

1.
Paris Fashion Week starts today, with apparel brands showing their Men’s collections for Fall/Winter 2025/26. One trend in the ascendancy is co-ed shows. Both Lanvin and designer Willy Chavarria’s collections are expected to be gender neutral, according to Vogue Business.
21st – 26th January

2.
What’s the most-watched television event of this week? No, it won’t be the Trump inauguration. China’s Spring Festival Gala – Chunwan – attracts around 700 million viewers each (Chinese New) year. This instalment marks the Year of the Snake.
28th January – 4th February

3.
The 36th annual London Art Fair, the largest contemporary art fair in Britain, takes place at the Business Design Centre in Upper Street.
22nd – 26th January

4.
Cuba has a rich musical heritage. The Havana International Jazz Festival will show off the country’s substantial contribution to the genre. This week, its capital will be the place to be-bop.
26th January – 3rd February

5.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists are running out of time. The Doomsday Clock that symbolises the approach of man-made catastrophe edges closer to the apocalyptic ‘midnight’ point each year. We’re currently at 90 minutes. Concerning stuff (on the face of it).
28th January

DAVOS / BUSINESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Davos
Contributor: WEF / UPI / Alamy Stock Photo

WEF summit in shadow of Trump

The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos offers a glimpse into what’s playing on the minds of high-ranking executives and political figures. Each year, summit organisers spring forth with a conference theme expansive enough to mean everything – and nothing – at once. This time, it’s ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age’. With Donald Trump restored to the White House, the global agenda is shifting towards dealmaking and how European markets might withstand a new round of tariffs. And today, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission will give a special address. While it’s likely to contain the usual word-salad (look out for terms like ‘de-risking’) hopefully it will also include some fresh ideas of how the bloc can become less reliant on America, and employ a deft approach in managing the US president. On the global stage, collaboration and intelligence is forever in contest with division and stupidity.

ON CREATIVITY /

Contributor: Clo’e Floirat

SAN JOSE / TECHNOLOGY

Samsung hologram OOH in Shoreditch, London
Contributor: Samsung Newsroom

Samsung teases hologram interface

If CES in Las Vegas is the first – and biggest – tech show in the calendar, the second event of consequence happens tomorrow, with Samsung Unpacked. While it’s often the preserve of journalists and smartphone geeks, this occasion promises more for creatives to chew on. To build anticipation for the launch, Samsung staged hologram installations around London, these included the line: ‘A true AI companion is coming’. Separately, a teaser trailer depicts a woman reeling off a list of tricky tasks to a tablet – “Hey, I’m off to the next meeting but I need to find an Italian restaurant, outdoor seating, pet friendly of course. Can you send that to Luca? Oh, and can you put it in my calendar?” – then she pivots on her chair and we see a blue beam emanating from her device. Holograms could create a new epoch in visual media, and offer a new way to deliver creative work.

LONDON / ARTS

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…
Contributor: Sens Critique

Treading the bored

In the drudgery of the pandemic, two out of work actors, Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen developed a fondness for Grand Theft Auto Online – the ultra-violent action game. While roaming the streets and outlying areas of Los Santos (the fictional city which serves as the title’s backdrop), the two happened upon Vinewood Bowl, a disused amphitheatre. Thus began a journey of Shakespearian ambition. Crane and Oosterveen resolved to stage a production of Hamlet within the game. Grand Theft Hamlet is a documentary that follows their progress as they audition actors in avatar form and attempt to stay out of the crossfire of other marauding online gamers. Their efforts resulted in a live production that attracted an audience of a few hundred other players. All the (open) world’s a stage.

The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.

/Leonardo da Vinci