The French creator of high-end sports accessories and design Hercule Studio is partnering with Trust-Place, leader in Digital Property, to promote the authenticity of its exercise mats and share the story of their French creation. Through this unique collaboration, Hercule Studio reinforces the exclusivity of its offer and the uniqueness of its positioning. Trust-Place, for its part, confirms its growing presence in the well-being and luxury sectors.
Hercule Studio is a French designer of high-end and original sports items. Founded in 2022 by Joy Lucas and Jérémy Arbibe, between Paris and Nice, the French start-up is a new player in the landscape of premium sports accessories. In the pre-launch campaign from December 2022, the brand has chosen the famous national crowdfunding platform, Ulule, to unveil its first collection. Supported by BPI France for its innovative character and by Who's Next for its positioning in the lifestyle and design sectors, Hercule Studio was born from a simple observation.
“With Jeremy, we are former top athletes. Even if the high level is now behind us, we remain very active” says Joy. “First confinement, the sports halls are closing. Like many, we are looking to buy sports accessories online to build a home gym. Passionate about design and rather receptive to brands with a real universe, we are looking for aesthetic material that we would not have to hide, desirable equipment, a favorite brand and a little experience in this so pragmatic universe. But we find nothing. »
After several months of market research, a consumer study with around a hundred people, a design, R&D and then prototyping phase, Hercule Studio set off with a mission: to re-enchant sports practice thanks to designer sports objects, loaded with meaning and inspiration, which position themselves as stimulating, energizing, motivating and beautiful training companions!
"To dust off the sports accessories market, we had to rethink each of the related axes; the product itself, but also the brand identity, its universe, the experience, the service, the distribution... Always with the same objective, to build a desirable and unique offer that resonates with the expectations of our audience and in line with our philosophy, Beauty to do good” continues Joy. “Our definition of Beauty is not only aesthetic, we include it in a more global commitment: to create beautiful products, of course, but also to manufacture them properly, with, for example, French partners with historical know-how. Also offering a sought-after creative brand universe, transparent storytelling, being attentive as much as possible to creating a unique experience specific to the brand...
Coupled with this search for uniqueness, meaning and transparency, the issue of second-hand in the premium sports accessory sector has gradually germinated for Hercule Studio. “During the consumer study, several people told us that they did not know what to do with their sports equipment when they wanted to part with it to buy new equipment". It is by dint of analysis and by cross-checking the different elements that make up the identity of Hercule Studio that the opportunity of the Digital Certification offered by Trust-Place appeared as an added value.
“We wondered; between the desirability of our products and their French manufacture, the singularity of our history and our values of transparency, our strong positioning and the strategic opportunity of a future development axis on the second-hand for our sporting objects, the service of Digital Certification offered by Trust-Place was ideal » Joy Lucas
Hercule Studio's first collection unveils three objects available in several versions; an exercise mat, a comfort pad and a maintenance spray. The "Archy" exercise mat, the brand's iconic product and recognizable thanks to its singular arched shape, is the first to be provided with Digital Certificates of Ownership. Thanks to this unique service for this type of product, Hercule Studio allows each Archy rug to be unique, authenticated and tamper-proof. It guarantees the authenticity and traceability of each piece, and promotes its durability and protects its value in the event of resale. It is also a way for owners to maintain a privileged link with the brand and to know everything about the history of the product and its manufacture.
“The collaboration with Trust-Place came about naturally because we share the same values and the same vision of the market. The human aspect is also very important to us, the understanding with our partners has been essential since the first day of the project. And this is obviously the case with Trust-Place” says Joy.
The goal of the start-up is to expand its product range in the short term by involving its community in this growth. In the medium term, the objective is to reintegrate certain products already on the market on a second-hand platform to democratize access to the Hercule Studio offer while maintaining a controlled brand image and flawless product traceability.
“We are really very happy to support a young innovative brand like Hercule Studio,” says Didier Mattalia, co-founder and CEO of Trust-Place. “Trust-Place already offers digital property solutions to many players in increasingly varied business sectors. Of course, we work with established brands in the field of fashion and luxury, but our desire is also to make our platform available to young designers in the making. Indeed, we believe that they too, like the big brands, have the right to have tools at the cutting edge of digital technology allowing them to develop, mainly around 4 key axes: authenticity, transparency, visibility and hyper-personalization...”.
Concretely, each article and accessory is equipped with a unique QR-Code giving it an identity from its creation. At the time of purchase, this product identifier is digitally associated with the encoded information of the purchaser to generate a "Digital Certificate of Ownership". Thus, each owner is able to prove the authenticity and ownership of his property at any time and anywhere.
“The certificates meet many current challenges, both for brands and consumers,” continues Didier Mattalia. “Brands first of all are now able to know all the owners of their products, regardless of the acquisition channel (indirect sales through distributors, resale on the second-hand market or still products offered as gifts). Exclusive and targeted communication is then put in place, in order to promote and strengthen the Brand community, and develop new exclusive associated services. For customers, the certificates allow them to preserve and protect the value of their goods over time, thus maximizing their resale value, while offering new buyers a unique and exclusive link with the Brand”.
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