The people behind La Passione and their mission with this digitally native cycling brand
Sponsored by
Giuliano Ragazzi is a dedicated rider, with a feel for what La Passione customers want(Image credit: La Passione)
Digitisation has massively influenced cycling. Strava. Instagram. Power meters. We could not imagine a contemporary riding routine without these.
For Yurika Marchetti and Giuliano Ragazzi, it created an opportunity to deliver their vision of a digitally native apparel brand, for riders. As a keen cyclist Ragazzi knew the value of that impromptu coffee stop, or roadside snack, on a long weekend outride.
Sensing the closer customer engagement that could be possible with a native digital clothing brand, Marchetti and Ragazzi founded La Passione. A name not chosen for its resonance, but its sense of purpose.
During a particularly challenging evening of market research, whilst establishing the brand, Marchetti asked Ragazzi why they were being so in-depth. His answer was simple: “for passion.” This design philosophy has guided La Passione.
Yurika Marchetti and Giuliano Ragazzi (Image credit: La Passione)
The company’s mission statement is simple: to deliver the best cycling garments at a better price. After deep analysis, Marchetti and Ragazzi identified the absence of a digitally native brand in the cycling apparel market.
Realising they could access the best fabrics and shape them to desirable designs, the key differentiator for La Passione’s founders was remaining true to their digital commitment. By keeping to their vision of building La Passione into a purely digital brand, Marchetti and Ragazzi have brought premium cycling gear to riders, at below retail prices.
The expense of providing retail margins to dealers is all reinvested in La Passione’s designs, fabric quality and lower pricing.
Marchetti and Ragazzi are not only proud of what their digitally native brand can bring to other cyclists regarding the value, but what they can learn from La Passione’s customers. With all sales and customer suggestions going through La Passione’s online store and digital presence, it has full control of the feedback loop.
To know the customer, is to deal with riders
Without the barrier of distributors and retailers, La Passione can trace accurate data and insights from their customers. Suggestions on product and style, flow directly to La Passione, instead of being diluted through a traditional retail value chain.
By founding La Passione, Marchetti and Ragazzi wanted to get closer to their customers than any traditional retail model could allow. The stream of data served through La Passione’s digital assets proves invaluable for guiding product design and strategic trend decisions.
La Passione can trace and analyse the number of return customers, allowing it to build an idea of what customers see as intrinsic La Passione design.
Customer satisfaction and the uptake of newly launched garments, assist in directing future product planning and expansion. With the browning and transactional data, La Passione can explore customer preferences for colour and design. An example of this, is La Passione’s iconic blue bib shorts.
Yurika Marchetti understands that customers are people (Image credit: La Passione)
Where other brands need to use focus groups or their retailers when conducting customer research, La Passione is right on the pulse of its audience. All of the time.
Yurika Marchetti and Giuliano Ragazzi had a dream. They saw a better future. A more authentic way of discovering what their customers wanted.
By embracing the digital realm, they built a business that delivers the comfort and enjoyment of premium cycling apparel, directly to passionate riders.
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Lance Branquinho is a Namibian born media professional, with 15-years of experience in technology and engineering journalism covering anything with wheels. Being from Namibia, he knows a good gravel road when he sees one, and he has raced some of Africa’s best-known mountain bike stage races, such as Wines2Wales and Berg&Bush.
