Bollé bolsters senior team following SPY Optic acquisition
Bollé has brought in two senior execs for its global team as well as growing its French wing.
Six months on from its acquisition of SPY Optic – Southern Californian sunglasses, goggles, helmets and prescription eyewear brand – Bollé’s latest recruits have been brought in to reinforce its position in the sports and optical industries.
Damien Hars has joined as Digital Director, Alexandre Israel has been appointed Global Marketing Manager, while Nicolas Berges has joined the company as Sales Director France.
Hars joined Bollé Brands as Digital Director with strong digital experience from the Rossignol Group. In the last seven years he defined and implemented the Rossignol Group’s Digital strategy, including its first B2C platform and associated Digital Marketing. In this new Group role he will take responsibility for the development of Bollé Brands B to C and B to B platforms for all brands, and will also take over the development of the group’s new RX platform. Ultimately, his mission will be the launch of Bollé Brands Digital commerce platforms worldwide.
As Global Marketing Manager, Alexandre Israel will lead the future development and the expansion of Bollé. With 10 years experience at Babolat, he started in the field as Marketing Representative in the US from 2010 to 2015 before returning to France to become, in succession, Activation Programs Manager, Marketing Manager Services and New Business, and more recently Global Marketing Manager for the Babolat brand.
On the Sales side, Nicolas Berges joined the company as Sales Director France and is responsible for all sales activities for Bollé/Cébé/Serengeti/Spy products in the French market. He comes with strong experience in building a qualitative distribution network, and he has excellent knowledge of the sport industry, the optical channels and luxury brands thanks to his experience at Oakley (since 2008) and Luxottica.
“EPIC (Excellence in Product Innovation & Creativity), the design and development lab of the group, will allow us to take a step forward in creating outstanding and innovative products”, explained Peter Smith, Bollé Brands CEO. With its Customer First programme in mind, the group has digitalisation as a primary focus. “The aim of the Customer First program is to deliver premium service and systems to all our retailers. We strive to provide them with optimal conditions so they can offer our end consumers the best possible experience, says Smith. That is why we have invested massively in a new ERP system. The next natural step was to find a digital expert to monitor our B to B and B to C platforms.”
Photo credit stefcande.com