This year, things got off to a flying start once again. Many exciting new products were submitted in Q1 to qualify for an ISPO Award. This time, the jury team came together in Munich at the trade fair grounds to evaluate the submissions and set themselves up for the new year - because the ISPO Award will offer even more orientation and added value in sports going forward.
Once again, the sports and outdoor industry showed an impressive variety, ranging from clothing and winter sports equipment to camping products. Each submission is assessed several times in the judging process. The product clears the first hurdle in the pre-selection stage. Here, the expert jury decides whether the product has what it takes to win an ISPO Award based on the application material submitted by the individual brands. If the product passes the pre-selection, it is sent in and evaluated individually by the six jurors according to various criteria at the official jury meeting.
The winning products benefit from a comprehensive communication package. Each brand can decide for itself when exactly to start communicating about the award win - depending on whether it wants to focus its communication on the sell-in, the sell-out or another date. All winners are published on the desired date and then presented here. They will also be exhibited together with the other winners in a special area at the international sports business trade shows OutDoor by ISPO and ISPO Munich.
Since the ISPO Award was redesigned two years ago, the jury has consisted of a total of six experts: Three industry experts are complemented by three knowledgeable consumer experts from the ISPO Collaborators Club. In this way, different perspectives are reflected equally in the judging process, making the award an important trend barometer for the sports industry.
Outdoor journalist, Professor of Sports Journalism & Digitalization in Sports and Editor at Large of ISPO.com, Martina Wengenmeir, magazine maker and snowboarding veteran Andi Spies as well as textile expert and long-time trade journalist Regina Henkel were once again present. Jens Häußler (sports economist, multi-sport athlete and former MTB pro), Sina Übelacker (enthusiastic snowboarder and experienced sports event manager) and Anne-Marie Keglmaier (multi-sport athlete, trail runner and digital marketing specialist) supported the jury from the ranks of the ISPO Collaborators Club.
The sports enthusiasts in the Collaborators Club are selected each time from a pool of applicants for the jury meeting and thus have the unique opportunity to examine many new highlight products before they are launched on the market.
The expert jury will also be complemented by journalist Ralf Kerkeling, who will moderate the jury meeting, and recognised textile expert Louisa Smith, who leads the jury of the ISPO Textrends Award. Her task is to support the jury members in assessing the increasingly complex topic of sustainability and to avoid greenwashing.
The next jury meeting will take place from May 2 to 3, 2024 - next stop: OutDoor by ISPO (June 3 to 5), where some of the winners will be exhibiting their products and services. Applications are possible at any time, application deadline for Q2 is April 13, 2024.
But the ISPO Award is not standing still: there will be a few innovations for the next round. After two years of experience with the new ISPO Award concept, the team has taken stock and also gathered feedback from the brands. This much can already be revealed: The ISPO Award will be even better and more valuable, both for consumers and for the brands!
The ISPO Award puts products through their paces - in reality, however, not quite as rigorously as our Award Angel demonstrates.
