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Can a Brand Resurrect in Action Sports
There was a post on the ASR Blog about Alpine Stars firing their sales reps and going the ever so trendy route of the boutique street wear promotion method. I’m not saying Alpine Stars is dead but they are obviously trying to re brand themselves through new store fronts and audiences. This post from ASR along with recent ads I have seen in Surfing Mags for Maui and Sons, got me thinking. Can an action sports brand resurrect itself? Could AIRWALK pick itself up and leave the shelves of the Payless toddlers section and get prime play in a Zumiez or local boutique?
I think it depends on your definition of dead, and where your threshold is for core, some people would say Fox Racing is too mainstream and that it has lost it’s core, while others are just finding out about them (if they are just finding out about them they were probably wearing a No Fear shirt at the time 
. Can Maui & Sons, No Fear, AIRWALK and others make a true comeback? Im not talking bottom line, because most of these companies lost their core because they were too concerned about their bottom line and pushed assembly line products through mainstream outlets like, Mervyns, Millers Outpost and pretty much any other place that sells Stussy (I have been dying for an excuse to mention Stussy in a blog post).
I think once you are dead you are dead in action sports. The demo is way too opinionated and treats their brands as a way of life. RCVA got hot because anyone outside of a core consumer thought it was a sub brand for RCA Records with really strange designs of chicks in neck braces and guys in owl suits. The action sports demo thrives off of this, they don’t want people to know what they are wearing, and they certainly don’t want people to buy it. I don’t wear RVCA half as much as I used to because I see it all over the place now, I just wear my old designs that no one else has, I don’t really buy new ones. But I digress.
Can a dead company make it back? I am talking dead as in no more sales, lost riders, shops dropping them, etc… If they did, it would take a lot of money, some seriously good riders, and a memory erasing machine. The recent success of Nike SB could be somewhat of a sign for the good. Nike was obviously nowhere close to being dead as an overall company, but I don’t think anyone including them could have expected the tremendous success of the Skate crossover. They honestly tore that up, they marketed it correctly, they got really good riders, and they are killing the designs on those shoes. They came in and took over. Could AIRWALK do the same thing? No Fear, Maui & Sons and AIRWALK are all hitting ads in the mags, but I am not seeing anything innovative as far as design, products, and riders.
What do you think it would take for a Dead company to make a come back in action sports?
Posted by Chris on Friday, September 7th, 2007 in Brands.
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September 7th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Great post! First of all I agree with a lot of what you said. I think it would take a lot for a “dead company” to make a comeback in the action sports space. I do think it’s possible, but the stars would have to align and it would have to be at least 20 years from the point that the company went dead so that all those kids who were bummed out on the company are all grown up, old, and don’t care about brands anymore. So ya, it’s pretty much impossible. Is it just me or has Matix done an outstanding job of staying core and doing a great job with their retail accounts? Not to get off-subject but to companies who are on the verge of becoming dead, maybe do some research on Matix and how they have developed a great brand with out losing their spark.
p.s. thanks for mentioning stussy.
September 7th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Brandon,
Thanks. I totally agree Matix is on it. They have ton a super good job of healthy and rapid growth while staying core. On of my buddies knows them really well and I will pick his brain as to why he thinks they have pulled it off.
September 11th, 2007 at 6:08 am
Speaking of which, say your goodbyes to OP:
“Iconix Brand Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ICON) today announced that it has signed an exclusive direct-to-retail license agreement with Wal-Mart for its Ocean Pacific and OP brands for distribution of a broad range of apparel and accessories in the United States. The agreement also grants Wal-Mart rights to use the brands in Brazil, China and India, and provides for the possible addition of license rights for other international territories in the future. The targeted launch date for the U.S. is Spring/Summer 2008.”
September 12th, 2007 at 7:08 am
Man talk about selling out. But what other choice did OP have with massive declining sales? Do you blame them? As far as I know, Wal-mart has been looking for a surf/skate/snow style brand for the last 5-10 years and finally they have got one in OP.
I just hope OP realizes they are out of the game and they don’t try to advertise in surf/skate mags anymore. Nobody wants to see magazines support a wal-mart brand.
October 5th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Ironic that I come across this post the day after I read about the relaunch of Sims Snowboards yesterday in Transworld Biz. That’s an interesting discussion of brand resurrection – on one hand, you have those Airwalk brands that reached their peak very quickly, therefore selling out pretty fast, too. But there are also companies who go back into the game with a different approach and vision, and I think if there’s a change in business models, the entire business has an opportunity to rebuild its image (though, dealing with the lame rumors might be a pain in the ass…). I think you guys are on point – the core image is what holds the brand together.
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I wouldn’t call our brand dead by any means. With Vision, Airwalk, Sims Snowboards and more, we have been seeing a steady increase in brand relevance and notoriety (btw, we are in many more places than the toddlers shelves of payless, check our dealer locator). The key for us has been authenticity. You can’t really resurrect an actionsports brand if you are a bunch of suit wearing number crunchers who have never been on a board. In our case, everyone here actually skates, surfs, boards, etc and essentially live the lifestyle. The individuals who designs our products do as well, and that is IMMENSELY important. Most people who would be looking for product like ours are all about individuality, authenticity, and brands that actually reflect these ideals. We are only 12 people, including product designers, working airwalk, vision street wear, etc. We didn’t get into the brands because we thought we could make a quick buck off of turning them. It’s not about selling in mass-quantities, if it were, we would have all of our brands and products in juggernauts like Payless, TSA, etc. We only put our brands in places that make sense. Payless makes sense for Airwalk as the fundamental principal for Airwalk now is to create shoes of a quality just as high as some of the major competitors without bankrupting our consumers to do so. You can buy a good and tested skate shoe for $20 – $30 and the quality will rival that of a shoe they pay $100 – $150 for. The problem with this method is that although it may be more in line with what these individuals would like to associate with, we don’t spend the millions of dollars to market that fact, and if we did they would not cost $20 – $30 a pair. So it is a vicious circle, but not insurmountable as the gains are definitely there, just slow going. Anyways, I have much to say on the topic, but just wanted to throw in my two cents.
-Airwalk
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