As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, just last week, the world’s leading event brand, the American Spartan Race® concluded an investment in the Croatian Highlander brand, thus forming a global strategic partnership. The goal of this partnership is to support the growth of the Croatian Highlander brand, whose mountaineering events are held across a total of thirteen countries around the world, and at the same time expand the “tough fitness” portfolio of Spartan Race to hiking.
“Spartan Race’s mission is to create challenging, life-changing experiences for the better,” said Spartan Race founder and CEO Joe De Sena. ”Investing in a partnership with the Croatian Highlander brand allows us to encourage even more people around the world to participate in physically demanding activities that they think are beyond their reach. We are excited to be able to work with Highlander and to increase their global reach, and we’re also excited by the fact that we’ll be able to offer our Spartan community even more opportunities to step outside of their comfort zones.”
The compatibility of the goals of Spartan Race and the Croatian Highlander brand naturally gravitated towards the aforementioned global strategic partnership. The vision, mission and core values of these two brands form the same core: a strong state of mental and physical well-being that encourages positive lifestyle changes. Within the partnership, the Croatian Highlander brand will have the opportunity to present its concept to a much wider audience and pursue its core objectives.
“We want to encourage people to rise from their established routines and embark on the path of discovering a better version of themselves, all while contributing to a better world,” said Highlander CEO Jurica Barac. ”Highlander offers a fantastic adventure that takes place in some of the most impressive locations around the world. That’s why we’re very proud to be able to work with Spartan Race – together we’re going to change the lives of people around the world.”
The strategic partnership will result in the Croatian Highlander brand’s real breakthrough into the world’s largest markets in the event industry such as the USA, the UK, China and Australia. The conceptual simplicity of the event itself, as well as the fact that hiking has become one of the most desirable forms of physical activity worldwide, greatly contribute to the desire of the brand’s founders to allow hiking enthusiasts to attend their events on every continent.
Spartan Race, which began organising hurdle racing (OCR) events back in 2010, then expanding its business to as many as 45 countries, has become a world leader in endurance sports, creating a new “Tough Fitness” category. Over more recent years, Spartan Race has expanded its business initially to trail running with the launch of the Spartan Trail World Championship®, followed by mountain biking with strategic partner La Rute, the world’s first multistage mountain bike race in Costa Rica, which has since expanded to Spain.
In addition, Spartan Race has acquired former OCR rival Tough Mudder, launched the functional fitness brand DEKA®, launched a digital app and training platform. In total, more than one million participants participate in all events within the Spartan Race portfolio each year.
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