Louis Garneau Sports has announced it will be working with Cossette to help revamp its communications and the way it approaches its business, both in Canada and internationally.

Based in Quebec, Louis Garneau Sports is best known for Garneau, a performance cycling brand and maker of apparel and bicycles. Last week, the company announced that it had acquired the Sugoi and Sombrio brands, both founded in Vancouver, from Dorel Industries. Sugoi is a performance apparel brand for cyclists, while Sombrio makes apparel specifically focused on mountain biking.

Cossette’s mandate includes marketing and positioning the brand’s communications platform, but also a broader focus on business transformation.

LGS will work with Cossette to revamp its business model to better respond to the needs of its consumers and retail partners in an industry that has seen a great deal of change since it was founded 35 years ago as a manufacturer of shorts and jerseys. William Garneau, general manager of Louis Garneau Sports, says that will involve switching from the mindset of a manufacturer that’s focused purely on making quality products, to one that enables experiences around its brand and what it makes.

“Businesses today are more than its products,” Garneau says. “It’s about the people that support the business, whether that’s our employees or the customers that believe in us. We have a foothold in the bike industry, but we also want to have one in peoples’ lives.”

On the marketing and communications front, Garneau says the company is looking to do more work around telling the company’s story. Research conducted by Garneau with Cossette found that while consumers were familiar with the brand and the quality of its products, awareness about the company’s history and its brand values was very low.

LGS products are already sold in over 50 countries globally, and part of the assignment is focused on helping the company grow further on the international stage.

“People are getting into cycling in a different way than in the past,” Garneau says. “It’s not just people who watch the Tour de France. People see cycling as a lifestyle, and that’s happening all over the world, not just in Quebec.”

Part of the change is also being driven by the next generation of the company’s leadership that’s beginning to take shape. Garneau, the son of company founder Louis Garneau, became general manager of the company in December. His brother Eduoard Garneau is sales director at the company, while his sister Victoria will be joining the company in an unspecified role following the completion of her post-secondary studies.