Curious about the entrepreneurial adventure behind inspiring brands, Brand and Strategic Professional Martijn Arets decided to quit his job, hand in his lease car, ignore all uncertainties and follow his dream. For five months, he travelled more than 15,000 kilometres across Europe in a one-of-a-kind 1971 Volkswagen T2 camper van, meeting with the founders, CEOs and brand managers of 20 authentic European brands in what was to prove a unique trip: Brand Expedition. On popular demand, he has bundled the lessons and stories behind 20 appealing European brands such as Lego, Mini, Skype, The Body Shop and Adidas to create Brand Expedition, the book. More information? Check www.brand-expedition.com or send Martijn a Tweet: @martijnarets.

1. READ OUT LOUD
THE STORY BEHIND
- VICTORINOX-
SHARPENING THE KNIVES AFTER 9/11

2. BEFORE YOU START….
please look into your camera and tell
us slowly your name, city and
country… Then you can start reading
this paragraph out loud… Have fun!

3. Just like Coca Cola, this brand’s product
has a brand name recognition of more
than 90% in the United States. It is also
to be found in the standard equip-ment
of the NASA space shuttles. After 125
years, one man’s dream is still priority

4. number one: creating and maintaining
employment in a then -poor area.
Welcome to the world of Victorinox.
Right in the middle of the beautiful
swiss mountain landscape
Nearby Schwyz lays Ibach, home to

5. Victorinox for more than 125 years.
With the snowcapped mountains of the
Alps in the background, I talk to Carl
Elsener, CEO of the family company.
Victorinox’s story started two centuries
ago, when Carl’s great-grandfather,
Karl Elsener, founded his own knife

6. factory. Shortly thereafter, he heard
that the Swiss army was looking for a
supplier of ‘Schweizer Soldatenmesser’
(Swiss soldier knives), the standard
pocket knife of the Swiss army.

7. - END OF RECORDING-