Interview: Thomas Mercier, co-founder of “Sport à l’ Affiche”

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Launched by two brothers in 2020, the company “Sports on display” offers sports fans the opportunity to satisfy their passion through design posters.

After 3 years of existence, Sport à l’ Affiche works with many sports organizations and in particular offers posters under license.

To find out more about this young company, we asked a few questions to Thomas Mercier, co-founder of Sport à l’ Affiche.

Sport Buzz Business: Can you tell us about Sport à l’ Affiche?

Thomas Mercier: Sport à l’ Affiche is the decoration & gift shop for sports fans. We create designer sports posters so that all sports fans can display their passion with pride. We launched this concept in April 2020, in full containment.

SBB: Who is hiding behind Sport à l’ Affiche?

TM : Sport à l’ Affiche is above all a family story since we launched this project between brothers. Léonard, 30, was a graphic designer in special effects then an independent director before launching Sport à l’ Affiche. He is the artist behind all of our designs. For my part, Thomas, 34 years old, I worked in various internet & ecommerce startups after business school. I therefore take care more of the e-commerce and business part of the project.

“Some even go so far as to copy our concepts, but we have several differentiating elements”

SBB: What is the starting point for this creation, the observation, the motivations?

TM : We are both big sports enthusiasts and nothing reflected that at home. It’s true that few “classic” derivative products are suitable for showing off at home. We therefore wanted to create a decorative object on the theme of sport so that we could finally proudly display, and with style, our passion for a sport, a club or an athlete – who wouldn’t want a Roger Federer poster at him !

SBB: How do you manage to set yourself apart from the competition in the sports posters business sector?

TM : At the time of launch, competition in this market did not exist because there was no brand that offered this on the French market. There were a few posters here and there but from poster brands with a universal catalog. We were therefore the first brand of design sports posters with the desire to deal with all sports. Today, there are many designers who are surfing on the idea, some even go so far as to copy our concepts, but we have several differentiating elements: the quality of our designs, the quality of our products, our licensee status official with the biggest French brands and the experience offered to our customers which is always at the top.

SBB: Who does the visual creations today?

TM : In the beginning, it was Léonard, co-founder of Sport à l’ Affiche, who created all of our creations. With the growing demand, we have created a small team of hand-picked graphic designers to support us, but it is always Léonard who keeps control of the final validation so that each poster is at the expected level of quality and with the Sport touch to the Poster.

“The objective is to reach one million euros in turnover as quickly as possible! »

SBB: What is the business model of Sport à l’ Affiche?

TM : We are above all an e-commerce brand, therefore a rather classic business model. We manage all the steps from A to Z (creation, printing, packaging, sending orders, etc.) and we generate income via different channels: BtoC via our shop sportalaffiche.com and BtoB via our partners (official stores) and our distribution networks (concept store, decoration store, etc.).

SBB: What turnover do you expect in 3-5 years?

TM : The objective is to reach one million euros in turnover as quickly as possible!

SBB: What was the first official license launched and/or the first poster sold?

TM : I think the first collection of officially licensed posters was Rugby Club Toulonnais and then France Rugby and Paris-Saint Germain which soon followed.

SBB: How many organisations/athletes do you work with today? What is the mode of operation?

TM : We work with different types of actors. Federations (France Rugby, FFBB, FFC), clubs (PSG, OM, Stade Toulousain, Limoges CSP, etc.), events (Marathon Paris, Courchevel Meribel 2023, Rugby World Cup 2023, etc.), sports teams (Alpine F1 Team) or athletes (Alaphilippe, Alain Bernard, etc.). In all, we must have more than fifty active collaborations. Each partnership has its specificities but the basic principle is royalties on sales.

“We are seriously starting to think about the idea of ​​teaming up with new partners to move forward faster”

SBB: What will be the next clubs, events, sports to offer Sport Poster creations?

TM : We have released many collections in 2022 of which we are quite proud. This year we will be offering posters for the Rugby World Cup in France and we are working on several other projects with clubs or federations that I cannot reveal yet.

SBB: Are you looking for funds, partners, future collaborators? How many are you today?

TM : Today we are 6-7 collaborators. We have grown completely organically until today, but given the projects we want to carry out to make Sport à l’ Affiche the reference gift for sports fans, we are seriously starting to think about the idea of ​​us associate with new partners to move forward faster.

SBB: What are your main difficulties encountered at the moment in this entrepreneurial project?

TM : The main difficulties are linked to the recent increase in costs (production and marketing) and the decline in French purchasing power. This combo forces us to reinvent ourselves in order to capitalize on what already exists and optimize all of our processes.

SBB: How do you use your past experiences in this project?

TM : We’ve been using them every day since the beginning! The combination of our skills allowed us to create a brand, products, an e-commerce site and to launch marketing campaigns to bring back the first sales without any outside help!

SBB: With these first years, what are the advantages and/or disadvantages of working with his brother?

TM : We are very often questioned on the subject so I imagine that it seems complicated but I find that on the contrary it is an advantage. Even if we are very different, we know each other perfectly and that allows us to know how to react, behave and move forward together.

SBB: Any advice for young entrepreneurs in the world of sport?

TM : If you have a project in mind, think about how you could launch a basic version in 10 days and do it! This will allow you to test the market, get initial feedback and adapt your offer/service. It’s the best way for me to get started in entrepreneurship and validate a concept!

SBB: If you had to reassemble a box, what would you do?

TM : Very good question ! At the moment I’m 100% focused on Sport à l’ Affiche so I’m putting aside that part of me that always wants to launch new projects. On the other hand, with our idea of ​​making Sport on the Poster, the gift shop for sports fansI feel like starting a new project.

To discover the posters, go to the website sportalaffiche.com

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