PROSPECTIVE AND MARKETING STRATEGY AGENCY FOR TOURIST DESTINATIONS AND OUTDOOR SPORTS BRANDS
Welcome!
Leaders have to be comfortable
making others uncomfortable
Manifeste
They call us meticulous and maniacs. And nothing has ever made us happier. Because we have been roaming the world to discover the future of consumers' behaviors, we have been creating marketing strategies and designing smart communication campaigns since 2008. We guaranty the satisfaction of our clients and our quality standards at all levels while striving to protect our planet. Even at the cost of putting a bit too much work, passion and obsession in all our creations.
Leadership is about pursuing a vision, something you’ve never seen, that’s somewhere you’ve never been.
We are used to saying that you should not waste a crisis because now is the best time to reinvent yourself.
As creatures of habit, change is uncomfortable for humans. But for the people and partners of SWiTCH, a culture of leadership and innovation is at the core of who we are and reflected in everything we do. We’ve grown comfortable making ourselves and others uncomfortable for over a decade and we plan to continue for the foreseeable future... It’s what leaders do, and how we know we are on the right path!
ENDLESS WINTER...
Because travel shapes youth!
From 2005 to 2008, we undertook a world tour of mountain resorts in the context of Riders Around The World® (lien url). This was an opportunity for us to conduct a qualitative, quantitative, technical and benchmark study in 280 resorts in 27 countries on 5 continents. We interviewed over 580 resort managers (CEO’s, General Managers, Marketing & Sales VP’s, Press Relations Managers, Mountain Hosts, elected officials, tourist office directors, marketing & communication managers, managers of mechanical lift operator companies, activity providers etc.), we collected more than 100 kg of documents and we created a unique database with 64 closed criteria and 17 open thematics. On our return, we were determined to share our skills and our observations of best practices worldwide with stakeholders in tourism, sport and leisure.
«ALL COMPANIES WERE SMALL ONCE »
Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet, Founder of PriceMinister
January 2nd 2008
Creation of the SWiTCH consulting firm for ski resorts and outdoor sports brands.
«BRANDS BECOME PEOPLE
AND PEOPLE BECOME BRANDS»
Pierre Bellanger, CEO of Skyrock & Founder of Skyblog
December 5th 2009
Defense of a professional thesis (ESCP Business School ) on “The rise of fun in our society: how can sports brands and tourist destinations market themselves using social media?” This seems obvious today, but at the time the concept of influence was in its infancy!
DOUBLE RAINBOW IN THE SKY!
Paul Vasquez To see more
January 11th 2010
We start spreading the word for tourism professionals and we carry out our first digital marketing projects. We organize our 1st cycle of three lectures about online influence. Three more are to follow over a two-year period along with many other lectures at a number of digital marketing events.
2021
LCRI Meeting Days #3 – Juin 2021 :
Ecotourisme, Résilience, relance et réinvention dans la région de Marrakech-Safi (Webinar, Maroc)
Mountain Next & Digital Mountain – Juin 2021 :
Les tendances en digital marketing d’ici à 2030 pour le secteur du tourisme (Chambéry, France)
Cycle de conférences 2021 sur le concept “d’enchantement” en marketing et communication pour les destinations touristiques et les marques de sports outdoor (en préparation)
2020
Club de la Presse des Pays de Savoie – Février 2020 :
Températures record et fin de l’or blanc, quel avenir pour la montagne ? (Chambéry, France)
Outdoor Sports Valley Insight #2 – Mai 2020 :
Le tourisme dans le monde post crise du covid-19 (Webinar, France)
Comité Régional du Tourisme Occitanie – Juin 2020 :
Le tourisme dans le monde post crise du covid-19 (Webinar, France)
FEAST, Université Savoie Mont-Blanc – Juin 2020 :
Le Tourisme en montagne en France post crise du covid-19 (Webinar, France)
TEDxUSMB – Décembre 2020 :
Comment le tourisme va sauver le monde ? (Français & Anglais)
2019
Les Rencontres du Tourisme de Bretagne - Avril 2019 :
Les tendances du tourisme d’ici à 2035 et les tendances en digital marketing d’ici à 2025 (Fouesnant-les Glénan, France)
Mountain Next & Digital Mountain – Avril 2019 :
Top 3 des tendances en digital marketing d’ici à 2025 (Chambéry, France)
Digital Life e-Tourisme – Juin 2019 :
Top 3 des tendances en digital marketing d’ici à 2025 (Paris, France)
Club Euro Alpin – Novembre 2019 :
Business Models des stations de montagne dans le monde & Bonnes pratiques en matière de gouvernance (Grenoble, France)
2018
LMountain Planet – Avril 2018 :
Top 3 des tendances du tourisme en 2035 & tendances « digital marketing » d’ici à 2025 (Grenoble, France)
Les Entretiens Internationaux du Tourisme du Futur – Septembre 2018 :
Face aux aléas climatiques, aux transformations de la société, aux évolutions des modèles de stations et aux mutations technologiques, à quoi ressembleront les stations de montagne en 2050 ? (Vixouze, France)
Digital x Outdoor – Novembre 2018 :
Tendances digital marketing d’ici à 2025 (Archamps, France)
Rencontres Euroises du Tourisme - Décembre 2018 :
Top 3 des tendances du tourisme en 2035 & tendances « digital marketing » d’ici à 2025 (Louviers, France)
2017
Club du marketing emotionnel – Février 2017 :
“Personal branding des sportifs & animation de communautés des marques de sport” (Paris, France)
Digital Montagne & Assises Nationales de la Transformation Digitale des Stations de Ski et du Tourisme en Montagne – Avril 2017 :
“Stratégie Réseaux sociaux : pour servir quels objectifs ? Quelle audience ? Quel ROI ?”
Les Entretiens de Vixouze, 2ème Rencontres Mondiales sur le Futur du Tourisme – Septembre 2017 :
Futur du tourisme: les tendances en 2035 (Vixouze, France)
Digital Week – Septembre 2017 :
Les tendances digital marketing dans le secteur du tourisme d’ici à 2020” (Saint-Nazaire, France)
Digital x Outdoor – Novembre 2017 :
Le glossaire francophone du numérique (Archamps, France)
2016
Les Sommets du Digital – Février 2016 :
“Les tendances digital marketing en 2016” (La Clusaz, France)
Soirée thématique Outdoor Sports Valley – Février 2016 :
“Tendance 2016 : le vidéo marketing” (Annecy, France)
Mountain Planet – Avril 2016 :
“Les Tendances digitales d’ici à 2020” (Grenoble, France)
Les Académies du Tourisme Numérique – Juin 2016 :
“Les tendances digital marketing d’ici à 2020” (Aix-les-Bains, France)
2015
Innovation Summit – janvier 2015 :
“How French companies specialized in mountain planning develop their business through the Cluster Montagne?” (Juneau, Alaska, USA)
Design Summer Camp – septembre 2015 :
“Les 6 ingrédients pour créer un produit, un service, une marque ou une expérience WOW !” (Annecy, France)
2014
ISPO – février 2014 :
“Social media R.O.I: how to measure it to drive your strategy?” (Münich, Allemagne)
Mountain Planet – avril 2014 :
« New digital territories & landscapes: what are the impacts on ski marketing?” (Grenoble, FR)
2013
ISPO - février 2013 :
“How mountain resorts and outdoor sports brands can use social media to engage with their customers?” (Münich, Allemagne)
Web in Alps #9 – novembre 2013 :
“Six ingrédients pour engager ses fans” (Grenoble, France)
2012
National Ski Area Association Annual Convention – mai 2012 :
“Social Geolocation: Why it matters to your business?” (San Antonio, Texas, USA)
EMICT Forum – novembre 2012 :
“Pourquoi et comment transformer les visiteurs en partenaires de la construction du récit touristique ?” (Seynod, France)
2011
International Tourism Symposium – septembre 2011 :
« The contributions of social geolocation in tourism » (Zermatt, Suisse)
Cycle de conférences sur « les nouveaux mécanismes de l’influence et les média sociaux » - 2010 et 2011, 7 conférences : Club Euro Alpin, Grenoble Ecole de Management, Université Pierre Mendès-France –
Grenoble II, Pépinière d’entreprises Galileo à Annecy, Baya Access à Annecy (France)
«WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, TURN THE WINDMILL.»
French proverb
January 2nd 2011
First pivot of the company which becomes the first digital communication agency specializing in the tourism and outdoor sports brands sectors.
«HEY, HOW YOU DOIN’?»
Joey Tribbiani, Friends
March 2012
Creation of SWiTCH Inc. in Los Angeles to meet the first demands of clients in North America.
THE AMERICAN DREAM...
May 5th 2012
Invitation for Armelle Solelhac, CEO of SWiTCH, to speak at the prestigious National Ski Areas Association Annual Convention in San Antonio, TX. The first clients are convinced and the American entrepreneurial adventure takes off!
«ALL MANKIND IS DIVIDED INTO THREE CLASSES: THOSE THAT ARE IMMOVABLE, THOSE THAT ARE MOVABLE, AND THOSE THAT MOVE.»
Benjamin Franklin abolitionist and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America
July 2016
2nd pivot of the company which becomes a prospective and marketing strategy agency specializing in the tourism and outdoor sports brands sectors.
«WE WANT SOME SPACE IN THE SUN - THIS IS NORMAL BOY; THEN MAKE SUN INSTEAD OF TRYING TO MAKE SPACE.»
Jean Giono,
Le bonheur fou
October 2016 – August 2017
We immerse ourselves in Into The Blue, our second world tour. We visit 100 seaside destinations in 14 countries on 4 continents. We meet and interview more than 250 tourism professionals (Board Members, directors of tourist offices, hotel groups managers, marketing & communication managers, restaurants owners, representatives of consular chambers, activity providers, etc.), as well as a few French Ambassadors on site.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR PRESIDENT!
Marilyn Monroe
«HERE'S TO THE RISK TAKERS THE STORYTELLERS AND THE AUDIENCES WHO SETTLE FOR NOTHING LESS THAN THE BOLDEST NEW WORKS.»
Robert Redford,
Director and Founder of Sundance Mountain Resort (Utah, USA)
October 19th 2019
Publication of the book MANAGEMENT & MARKETING FOR MOUNTAIN RESORTS (Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group) in French.
Very well received by tourism professionals, the book is updated and published in English in April 2021 (Ed. Routeledge).
DON'T WASTE A CRISIS, THIS IS THE BEST TIME TO REINVENT YOURSELF!
April 20th 2020
In the middle of the lockdown, publication of two studies on the future of post-Covid-19 tourism. They were downloaded over 20,000 times.
THE FUTURE OF TOURISM IN 18 MINUTES CHRONO!
December 10th 2020
Armelle Solelhac, CEO of SWiTCH, is a TEDx Speaker and presents the future of tourism in less than 18 minutes!
«THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO SEE THE POSSIBILITIES BEFORE THEY BECOME OBVIOUS.»
John Sculley, CEO of Pespi-Cola & Apple
Expertises
Detecting little signals, analyzing trends to help you understand how patterns of consumption evolve. Presenting possible futures and proposing concrete solutions to address them boldly and effectively. We are passionate about this!
Together, we will build effective and meaningful strategies. We will support you in creating or redesigning your brand, defining the culture of your company or organization, devising your marketing & communication plans, and implementing your action plan.
STRATEGY
to define your positioning, your customer-base segmentation, your brand platform, your brand architecture, your marketing & communication action plan, your brand name, your brand signature etc.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)
to develop a motivating and unifying culture in your company or organization, around a meaningful project essential for the ecological transition of your business model.
MARKET RESEARCH
to assess your brand/product/service, understand your customers’ patterns of behavior and their expectations, or to establish you on new markets in France and abroad.
INTELLIGENCE & PLANNING
to stay ahead of the curve and to understand how your customers will behave over the next twenty years.
«OUR PURPOSE IS TO INSPIRE YOU AND MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. »
Mission
Our mission is to HELP brands and destinations tell their story effectively and create EXCITING EXPERIENCES TO CONNECT WITH THEIR TRIBES in meaningful ways. We could tell you we have worked for the best companies – and it’s true! – bla bla bla, but that’s what everybody does! So we prefer to tell you what drives us to want to work with YOU.
Our purpose is to inspire you and to MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. We take initiative, trust our gut and try to create revolution in our work.
We don’t want to work with you because of your money. Even if it would be nice to be paid… We want to work with you because you have AWESOME PROJECTS and we’d love to contribute to making your brand have a positive impact on the world. Because YOUR BRAND IS AMAZING and the world needs to know that.
We have been CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO since 2008. Our purpose is to INSPIRE you and to make the WORLD A BETTER PLACE.
«TRUST IS THE SHORTEST PATH TO HAPPINESS.»
Aline de Pétigny, Children's literature author & illustrator
Clients
They trusted us and we had the pleasure of working with them:
«THE STARS ARE SET ALIGHT IN HEAVEN SO THAT ONE DAY EACH ONE OF US MAY FIND HIS OWN AGAIN...»
Le Petit Prince,
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Awards
Some of our success stories:
SWiTCH won 5th prize at the Communication Trophies 2023, in the category: Best Sound Communication Action.
SWiTCH won 3rd prize at the Communication Trophies 2020, in the category: Best Professional Training and Education Website.
SWiTCH won the golden award in the category “Best Website” at the 2016 Communication Trophies.
SWiTCH won the 2nd place at the Communication Awards 2015 for Best Communication Campaign for a public organization.
SWiTCH won the 5th place at the Communication Awards 2014 for Best Communication Campaign for a public organization.
SWITCH won the 2006 Youth Challenge Award (category “Creation of economic activity”) created by the french Ministry of Health, Youth, Sports and Community life.
SWiTCH was nominated for the 2016 Cluster Montagne Trophy, in the « Performance Mountain » category.
Study case
« INDIVIDUALLY, WE ARE A DROP OF WATER. TOGETHER WE ARE AN OCEAN. »
Ryunosuke Satoro,
Japanese poet
Networks
Networks and mobility are one of the keys to SUCCESS in our changing world. That’s why we are active in the following professional networks:
GLOCAL!* WTF?
*Penser GLOBAL, agir LOCAL.
COMMITMENTS & CSR
In the context of its social responsibility, SWiTCH has been a member of 1% For the Planet (OPCFTP) since the company was created in 2008 and has incorporated this action in its CSR policy for the years to come. This non-profit association, founded in 2002, brings together businesses from across the globe which recognize the intrinsic connection between commerce and ecology. OPCFTP is thus a philanthropic movement which brings together businesses, consumers and non-profit organizations. Member businesses undertake to pay, every year, at least 1% of their pre-tax turnover to charitable environmental organizations approved by OPCFTP. For more information: click here.
SWiTCH therefore supports the Surfrider Foundation and Mountain Riders association. It has also introduced a skills sponsorship for the latter: creation of a website, community management, personnel training in the challenges of social media and e-reputation, production of video clips, support in the marketing & communication strategy, etc.
SWiTCH has adopted a strict buying policy for its suppliers:
- Wherever possible, we buy from French businesses, as close to us as possible, to support our local economy. So our IT consultant is less than 2 km away, and our lawyers and accountants less than 5 km away.
- We source our office supplies mainly from Ecoburo. This company, based in Nantes, specializes in ecological office supplies made from recycled raw materials. For example, our envelopes are made from old IGN maps.
In 2021, the business is continuing its effort by signing up to the B Corp certification process and producing a code of professional ethics.
And last but not least, the environmental footprint of this website is measured and we are endeavoring to improve it bit by bit every year. Today, it contains 696 ko of datas et emits 0.32g de CO2 per visits.
«WHOEVER CONTROLS THE MEDIA, CONTROLS THE MIND.»
Jim Morrison
Presse
We are regularly invited by major media:
«THE FUCKING HUMAN FACTOR.*»
Hubert Reeves, astrophysicist
* “This is what prevents us from going from what we know to what it implies.” To find out more about the FHF.
To find out more about the FHF
Carrière
“What makes or breaks a business, it’s its team.” We would bet that you’ve heard it so much that it has become unbearable! We are not proud of it, but we must tell the truth: we completely agree with that statement… and not only in speech, in fact too!
SWiTCH is an agency with real people in it: guys, girls, hyper rigorous consultants, fun creators, and even geeks (but no nerds), short, tall, smiling, and grumpy in the morning (but they get better as the day goes on). Basically people with varied qualifications and life courses.
All different, yes, but with some common features: a boundless enthusiasm and advanced skills in their profession to serve our clients. One small detail by the way; we are all mountain biking, canyoning, climbing and especially skiing, snowboarding and telemark (but snowblades don’t even think about it!) fanatics!
You want to join us? Don’t be afraid! We’ve never bitten anyone and we answer within a reasonable time by email only. Send us your resume (in PDF format, video or even flash code) and your cover letter!
Do you want to increase your chances of success? Here are some tips:
Do not put your cover letter in the body of your email but in a separate PDF document;
Do not contact us by phone, as no information will be transmitted to you and you'll be out of the running!
Do not follow up with us either by email or by phone, but be patient... because everything arrives at the right time to those who know how to wait!
Currently we are looking for:
Permanent position:
There are no more vacancies at the moment. But watch our blog carefully, because our announcements are published there as a priority.
Internships:
There are no more vacancies at the moment. But keep an eye on our blog carefully, because our announcements are published there as a priority.
SALUT ! HELLO ! HI ! CIAO ! HALLO ! HEJ ! GUTEN TAG ! MIRËDITA ! SALAM ! KAIXO ! SALUD ! HOLA ! ZDRAVEI ! ZDRAVO ! JEJE ! ANNYÔNG ! SALUTU ! TERE ! HYLO ! HEI ! SHALOM ! YASOU ! SANNU ! OSSU ! SAWUBONA ! MOLO ! PRYVIT ! WATDI ! NAMASTE !
Contact
A project? A question? Want to say "Hi!" and meet our creative team? Need an organic herbal tea from the French Alps? We’ll be happy to welcome and show you around!
info@switch.ski
Tel : + 33 (0) 675 705 859
Warning! Due to too many canvassing calls, this number is exclusively reserved for clients and prospects.
If you are a student looking for an internship or if you are looking for a job, please consult the Careers section and follow our recruitment procedure.
Europe
5 Route de Pringy
74940 Annecy-le-Vieux
France
Amérique du nord
1060 Tiger Tail Dr
Riverside, CA 92506
USA