Change The World Through Sport

Helle Holm, Manager, Brand Management & Company Karma, hummel

UK based Proper Magazine once stated that ‘hummel is to sport what Patagonia is to outdoor’. This is linked to hummel’s love of the game and the urge to bring karma into it. Hummel believes there are important fights to be fought outside the pitch too. They support the anti-heroes and challenge conventions. They fight for inclusive communities, empowerment, and game changing perspectives. In short, they seek to Change The World Through Sport. One game at a time. The most resent game they where involved in was the Sponsorship of Copenhagen 2021 – a happy marriage between WorldPride and Eurogame held in August 2021.

A quarter of the world’s population believes that being LGBTI+ should be a crime. And in 68 countries, people with this belief actually make the laws and have labeled same-sex love a felony. But intolerance also rears its ugly head in the West.

For instance, within sports, where one out of five LGBTI+ individuals have experienced homophobia or transphobia. And that’s why hummel partnered up with COPENHAGEN 2021.

But knowing most about sport and much less about the LGBTI+ community how do you authentically involve in and execute a project like this? Can you avoid rainbowwashing? Are haters always gonna hate? Can you do it alone? Is it even possible to change the world through a project like this? And finally, is there a price for being true to your brand values which contrast the more traditional consumers?

Meet Helle Holm, Manager at the Danish Sportswear brand hummel in their Brand Management & Company Karma team. Helle holds a Master of Arts degree in Media Studies and has for the past 15 years worked with marketing and communications for brands like WPP, Dentsu and Lego. Today she heads up hummels global brand and strategic projects and has been with hummel for more than 5 years.