On

Thought Leader Award Winner

The formidable sportswear brand’s groundbreaking personalization program has transformed its business and customer journey through an expansive use of cross-site product recommendations, dynamic content, and A/B testing, which its multidisciplinary team has optimized via server-side implementation, unlocking seamless and hyper-tailored experiences via API. Work which On has openly advocated about on its mission to drive the larger personalization industry forward. 

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We give the Thought Leadership Award to those who not only demonstrate exceptional overall expertise in the implementation of experimentation and personalization but also elevate others through sharing knowledge and insights that push the rest of the industry forward.

On has helped more than 7 million athletes from over 60 countries feel like they’re running on clouds, more recently expanding its catalog to encompass apparel, accessories, and kids products as well as those within new verticals like tennis, outdoor, and movement. On’s story of growth is intertwined with the evolution of its technology adoption, with the team embracing cutting-edge personalization solutions such as APIs and deep learning recommendation algorithms to fulfill the ever-evolving needs of its customers with unmatched precision and finesse. With the ability to fully customize and personalize its content, On has witnessed substantial boosts in engagement, conversions, and overall customer satisfaction, with recommendations alone generating nearly X390+ in ROI.

How On Does It

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Recommends products on nearly every page-type imaginable, from the homepage all the way through checkout, ensuring every touchpoint is tailored to individual users. Boosting engagement and significantly contributing to On’s bottom line, the team has trailblazed even further by maximizing recommendations performance on product listing pages (PLPs) with deep learning algorithms.

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Segments audiences by demographics, behaviors, and preferences to cater to its diverse user base, layering in the power of real-time data to dynamically tailor content such as newsletter sign-up prompts, back-in-stock notifications, banners, tickers, overlays, and more. The goal is to captivate with personalization, while A/B testing is used to perfect and refine each strategy and campaign.

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Fosters collaboration between business and technical stakeholders in customer experience work, creating an exceptionally skilled and unified team that enabled the implementation of personalization on the server-side, putting its team at the forefront of innovation and unlocking new possibilities for A/B testing and experience optimization, particularly on the homepage.

What it looks like

Deep learning
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Deep learning

A deep learning recommendation strategy used on product list pages extrapolates intent to showcase items predicted to result in engagement, achieving 20% higher performance.

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An A/B test on the homepage top banner, which tested a single item against a PLP with the item ranked high, led to a 6% boost in click-through rate to the featured item.

What’s next?

Following a massive relaunch of its website, with success driven by innovative UX upgrades and its full transformation to the server-side, On plans to keep pushing the boundaries of personalization. The team plans to do this by deepening its focus on localization across On’s priority markets, collecting more audience insights from various data sources to better understand its many communities, developing a personalized membership program to foster brand loyalty, and aiding the discovery process through a product finder and completely individualized “just for you” page. Finally, a brand new On app is coming, which the team will bake personalization at the core of to ensure the channel delivers an exceptionally relevant experience.

The team behind the experiences

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Lena HauckDigital Personalization Specialist

With over 6 years of experience, Lena's passion lies in delivering tailored and engaging user experiences. Through technical, analytical, and business expertise paired with hands-on knowledge of realizing recommendation campaigns, setting up complex A/B tests, delivering customer-centric content, and conducting in-depth analysis to optimize results, Lena brings On's personalization program to a new level.

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Owen MorleyMerchandising & Optimization Lead

Joining On in late 2019, Owen Morley leads a team responsible for content production, site merchandising, and personalization efforts. The team’s mission is to serve a best-in-class experience with a premium look and feel, and content relevance for the user at the core.

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Lucas MailletConversion Rate Optimizer

Lucas joined On in December of 2020 as a Digital Personalization Specialist before transitioning into the role of Conversion Rate Optimizer. He is dedicated to improving On’s new website, maximizing conversion rates, and delivering best-in-class online experiences for users.

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Pierre-Michel BrownSoftware Engineer

Pierre-Michel is a skilled software engineer who has been contributing to On's success since 2017. By spearheading the full integration of Dynamic Yield, he has enhanced recommendations, A/B tests, and substantially improve user targeting. Pierre-Michel's innovative mindset drive him to deliver solutions that elevate user experiences.

Read more about On & its strategic
approach to personalization

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From 0 to 100 With Personalization – A Story of Hypergrowth with On Running

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CX1 Masterclass: Ensuring a Positive Customer Experience with Great Agility and Speed

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