Decathlon flips branding in sustainable fashion initiative

Sports retail giant Decathlon has launched a temporary new branding update, in order to promote its reverse selling service. 

A new way of marketing sustainability - Decathlon’s branding initiative

In order to parallel its reverse selling service, Decathlon has, quite literally, reversed its own brand. 

Its new logo - which sees Decathlon change its name to ‘Nohltaced’ (Decathlon spelt backwards) - will be displayed in a number of its stores, located in the three Belgian cities of Evere, Namur and Ghent. It will also feature across Decathlon’s social media channels and its website. 

The new logo will be up for one month, to promote its “reverse selling” service. 

Decathlon will allow its customers to resell their second-hand sporting goods back to the store, so that they can either be repaired to their original condition for re-sale, or resold under a warranty.

“The goal is to reuse as much equipment as possible to reduce the impact on our environment and avoid waste. Decathlon's second-hand product range will also allow less fortunate consumers to buy quality sports equipment at a lower price,” commented Nohltaced Belgium in a press release.

“To continue to develop our activities in a sustainable way, we rely heavily on our buy-back service, our offer of second-hand items, our rental service and our repairs,” added Arnaurd De Coster, Director of Second Life Nohltaced Belgium. 

“At first glance, this name change might look like a mere marketing initiative, but our goal is primarily to make our buy-back service known to as many people as possible.”

The reverse selling scheme covers sporting goods from all brands (excluding underwear, swimwear, socks and helmets), which customers can sell in exchange for store vouchers. 

According to Decathlon, it has already collected 26,000 items in Belgium this year, which represents a voucher value of over €593,000.