Ditaji Kambundji ran her first races at the UBS Kids Cup. A kid with a bib number at a local sports ground, one of thousands that summer. Now she competes at the very top of the sport, and she runs for On.

That's the whole partnership in one story.

Not every post in this series is a teardown. This one's here because two of the biggest Swiss brands in the world did something most big brands forget to do. They came home.

The deal

UBS has been the main partner of the UBS Kids Cup since 2011. It's the biggest youth track and field series in Switzerland, and one of the biggest youth sport programmes in the country, full stop.

In April 2026, On joined as official outfitter on a multi-year deal. It kits out the kids at the cantonal and Swiss finals, and it's taken over the youth development programme, now called the On Talent Club.

So you've got a global bank and a global sportswear brand, both with the budgets to put their name on anything, sharing one project built around Swiss kids aged 7 to 15. UBS brings the platform. On brings the pathway.

Worth looking at because it goes against almost everything else happening in partnerships right now.

What's working

They went home. Both brands could spend this money on another global headline. Instead they're backing the kids in their own country. That's not thinking small. It's big names choosing to invest where their roots are.

They're playing the long game. Most partnerships are built for a fast return. Announce it, activate it, measure it, move on. This one works on a completely different clock. UBS has been here for fifteen years, and the payoff isn't this season. It's in ten or twenty years' time.

The roles don't clash. When two brands share one property, they usually end up fighting over the same space. Here, each one has its own job. UBS owns the community, the thing that happens in every canton every year. On owns the route from a first sprint to a pro career. Two brands, one story, no elbowing.

Each brand is doing what it's actually about. UBS heads its own Kids Cup page with "Here from the start." A bank's whole promise is being there for the long run, and there's no longer run than backing someone from the age of seven. On talks about dreams starting with the first step. The Kids Cup is, quite literally, the first step. Neither brand has to stretch to make this fit.

Three audiences, three stories

This works because it lands for everyone at once.

The athletes. Here, the athletes are the kids. They get a proper competition, a shot at a stadium final, and now the same kit their heroes wear. For the ones who want to go further, the On Talent Club gives them real guidance. And the route is visible. Ditaji and Mujinga Kambundji are standing at the end of it. When you're eleven, seeing that someone from your races made it changes what you think is possible.

The fans. At a kids' event, the fans are the families. Parents, grandparents, siblings, the volunteers raking the long jump pit. They're the ones driving to the finals and filming every sprint on their phones. UBS talks to them directly too, with a family newsletter and a bib number competition where the prize is a family weekend at Europa Park. The brand isn't sitting on the side of their weekend. It's part of it.

The partner's customers. This is the clever bit. For UBS, the parents are the customer today, and kids' accounts and financial education sit right next to the Kids Cup on its family site. For On, the parents buying trainers are the customer today. And for both, the kids are the customer tomorrow. The ones on the start line this summer will be opening their first proper bank account and buying their first serious running shoes in ten or fifteen years. They'll remember who was there.

Why it lands

None of this is flashy. There's no big launch stunt, no celebrity moment, no viral clip. And that's exactly why it works.

It's built on showing up. Every year, in every canton, for the same families. That kind of trust can't be bought in one campaign. It gets earned slowly, then it sticks.

It's compound interest, but for brand loyalty. And a bank should know better than anyone how that works.

Where this points

The industry is obsessed with big money and fast turnaround. The biggest deal, the biggest reach, the quickest return.

UBS and On are a good reminder that there's another way. Go home. Start early. Be there for the people who'll become your customers long before they know they're your customers.

It doesn't have to be big and flashy to reach people. It just has to be real, and it has to last.

That's the long game. This is what it looks like when someone plays it properly.

— Jana