Danish Sportswear Major 'hummel' Forays Into Indian Online Market

Danish Sports & lifestyle major Hummel has entered the Indian market via online route. Currently available in India on Jabong and Myntra, Hummel is a Danish footwear and sportswear brand with deep roots in football and handball.

The 95-year-old sportswear brand has made their foray into the e-commerce space in India even before the potential market of China which is preferred over India for its huge market base. Hummel parent company Thornico says he would visit India often and has seen it grow before his very eyes. Getting to know the Indian market and its audience first hand, Stadil decided that India need to be more than just a production hub and it had to be long term.  hummel has its own history of invention and was established in 1923. It has a long history of creating sportswear for football teams such as Real Madrid. Hummel operates on the motto to “Change the world through sport”.

Owner of the Thornico group & hummel International Christian Stadil said, “India is a broad prospect for us to explore into the diverse culture and ethos which is part of the Karma that we so believe in at Thornico.  India's progress excites us a lot. The GDP growth of India as compared to other markets is highly impressive. Most importantly, there is a huge potential for alternate sports brand with a different offering than the existing mainstream sports brand.”

At his last tryst as Head, Brand Marketing at Jabong, Som has been awarded ‘Most influential Martech Leaders’ by the World Marketing Congress and Top 50 most influential e-commerce professionals in India’ at the 14th edition of the Asia Retail Congress (CMO Asia).

Overcoming boundaries and parameters set by communities and the audience, hummel overcomes and has broken all stereotypes where other brands fail. This is majorly reflected in their sponsorships for the National Amputee team of Sierra Leone (Hummel has given people the power to hope even through wars and lost limbs) and also by designing the first ever hijab jersey to encourage the women of Afghanistan to play football and again bring hope where it seems bleak. The Afghanistan Women’s football team has won some and lost some matches, but they are making a much larger impact in the world.

Svenning says, “We are excited about the Indian market and are looking to invest in becoming one of the major players in the sports and lifestyle category in coming years. As a brand, we believe in changing the world through sports and we see many wonderful collaboration opportunities in India.”

CEO Allan Vad Nielsen said that, “India is one of the topmost focus markets for the brand, hummel”. He added, “We will create branded content & products for the Indian market because we are here to stay."