Valérie Grenier at FIS Ski World Cup 2023 at Mont-Tremblant Ski Resort in Quebec.
This past weekend for the first time since 1983, when Laurie Graham became the first Canadian to win a World Cup downhill on home soil, Mont-Tremblant’s ski resort welcomed 15,000 skiing fans from across the globe for the women’s alpine ski World Cup. This year, with 67 of the world’s best skiers representing 18 countries, the crowd cheered with excitement and filled the air with the sounds of cow bells.
And the athletes, pumped with support, did not disappoint. In Quebec’s picturesque Laurentian mountainous region and under the province’s snow fall, Italian Frederica Brignone won first place. And while that is true, for the Canadians, Quebecor Valérie Grenier, who learned to ski on Mont-Tremblant as a child and came in 6th, was a beloved presence.
But, of course, the world of sports couldn’t survive without the consistent support of brands and their marketers. Mackenzie Investments, for one, has made an ongoing commitment to support women’s ski, which brought the firm on-site at the event. Partnering once again with Alpine Canada, Alpine Ontario Alpin and Ski Quebec, a number of marketing activations by the brand could be found at this year’s event.
“This is a sport that many of our clients and many of our employees enjoy. We love the community aspect of it – meeting Canadians on the hill. It brings people together. Ski is a big part of our heritage as Canadians but also at Mackenzie,” explains Fate Saghir, head of sustainability and marketing at Mackenzie Investments.
While the firm has supported other sports in the past like golf (PGA Canada), ski feels like it carries a special meaning in this country. “Because of the cold winters, I would say, probably in the same way as curling or hockey, there’s a community feel to ski. People of all ages can show up on the hills and enjoy the sport and it brings families together.”
Historically speaking, Mackenzie Investments has sponsored the sport at various levels for almost 30 years and in many different forms.
“We support ski both at the provincial level and at the national level, and we’ve done a lot of activations on hills engaging with communities throughout the country,” adds Melanie Smith, Mackenzie’s brand and sponsorship lead. An example of how the brand keeps up with the changes of current events, is through its Top Peak program – launched in 2020 during the pandemic as a way to bring skiers together in a safe fashion. This program, to put is simply, is a national competition for ski communities to show how invested they are in their hills. (Participating involves collecting nominations and completing social media challenges to earn points to make it to the top 10 after which a jury selects the top three winning communities.)
“It’s a great way again to amplify Mackenzie’s values,” Smith goes on. “This year, starting in January, we’re asking communities to tell us what they would do to ‘green’ their hill. We’ll be awarding $100,000 to a winner as usual, but we’re trying to support sustainable initiatives this time. Maybe they’ll get rid of single use plastics in their canteen. Maybe they’ll be looking at upgrading their chairlift so it uses less energy. This way we’re not only helping ski communities but also the planet.”
When it comes to what’s new under the Mackenzie sponsorship label at the Tremblant World Cup, the investment management firm, whose support has been specifically geared at women, and its partners launched She Skis. The mentorship program is designed to offer the next generation of women skiers the chance to experience a day in the life of a Canadian national skier.
“The biggest change this year was the creation of She Skis, developed to support young female ski racers. We know that girls between the ages of 13 to 17 often drop out of competitive sport for a variety of reasons. They face barriers that their male counterparts do not face. And we wanted to do something about that. So we created this day of mentorship, bringing together experts from Alpine Canada and Ski Quebec to help inspire young girls,” shares Smith.
On Friday, the programming included a day of nutrition and training (nutritionists educating young skiers on healthy meal plans for training days and coaches putting together training programs), coaching (offering insight on how to become a certified coach) and mindfulness (mentor athletes discussing goal setting and stress management). The day ended with a fireside chat that gave the 37 participants – mostly from Quebec, but some from Ontario – access to athletes and a conversation moderated by Marie-Hélène Thibeault, alumni of the Canadian Alpine Ski team. Early feedback, the marketing and sponsorship team at Mackenzie has heard, is positive and the energy of those who participated reflected that.
In addition, the brand had a presence throughout the weekend with a Fan Zone Activation that offered free coffee, hot chocolate, branded toques and neck warmer giveaways. And anyone at the event couldn’t help but notice the bobbing heads kept warm by the Mackenzie brand colours.
But what Smith is particularly proud of was giving the opportunity to newcomers to join and experience the all-Canadian sport through its sponsorship of La Maison d’Haiti – a community and cultural organization dedicated to welcoming and integrating immigrants of all origins, as well as creating close ties with Quebec society. The 150 newcomers were given tickets to attend the races and provided with transportation in order to ensure any potential commuting obstacles were taken care of.
And, going forward, Saghir explains that the brand will continue to do more initiatives that support women, newcomers and sustainability. “We’re leaning into finding more partnerships and sponsorships going into next year that can help to better reflect and tell our story. We’re looking to see how else do we take a sport that we know is such a big part of our history and ensure that it’s reflecting our values.”
