ASR Blog

It's Kmart's Turn

Have you heard about this? Transworld Business is reporting that in an effort to compete with Target’s Shaun White line and OP selling at Wal-Mart, Kmart is going to be offering its own clothing line this June. The brand, called Boarding, is being designed by Orange Clothing, who is based in Florida and works with big box as well as department stores. Not only is the title unoriginal—so is the logo. Check it out—it’s a cross between Rip Curl and O’Neill’s wave with the Quiksilver script thrown in. And, to dig that knife a little deeper into the industry, Scott Deutsch, president of Orange Clothing, was quoted describing the brand as “trend right, but affordable. Our focus is to offer the same quality and look as a Quiksilver or Volcom, but be half the price.” OUCH.

*photo taken from the Transworld Business site

Volcom does it right

This past weekend, the family and I found ourselves up in Newport Beach so we decided to check out Volcom Stone’s Totally Crustaceous Surfing Championships. It was the first time that I had been to one of these Volcom contests, and I was blown away by how they go all out for it. I’ve been to my share of contests, but I have never seen anything like this; just like their tradeshow booths, the contest had a theme—in this case it was Muscle Beach—and no detail was spared. All those working the contest were dressed up either in “muscle suits” or some similar looking workout gear. There was a workout area, a la Venice Beach, complete with bodybuilders—males and females. You could squat, lift, even compete in a strong man contest to see if you could ring the bell. And there were the little details as well—lockers for competitors, seats for the crowd to watch, games, live announcing, etc. Nothing was overlooked. And, the coolest thing—all Volcom staff, not just the lowly marketing people come to support the event. The likes of Richard Woolcott, Troy Eckert, Brad Dougherty and Dave Post could all be seen, dressed up, and talking with the masses. Once again, Volcom just does it right.

To check out pictures from the event, click here.

Surfboard Technology

Have you had a chance to read the latest issue (April ‘08) of TW Business? Focusing on the state of hardgoods in the surf industry, it was filled with tech information on boards and fins, interviews with some of the world’s top shapers, and what is selling in the shops. At first, when seeing all the tech articles, I thought the issue would be dry, but instead, I was fascinated. I’m still shocked by how interesting I found all the material to be. One of the coolest things was reading about how innovative surfboard materials have become since the closure of Clark Foam. It’s pretty amazing to learn about all the different ways that boards are now made, and what shapers are experimenting with.

One of the recurring themes throughout the issue was that shapers feel that with, “so many new products being introduced to the market, the consumer has never had so many choices,” which results in the consumer being confused when making a purchasing decision. TW talks with different shop owners to see if the new technology sells, and one brand that keeps coming up is Aviso. I didn’t know too much about them, except that the shop owners state again and again that although it’s a good board, it’s hard to sell with the price point—a price point of over $1300! I had to find out more, so I log on to the site and learn that the boards are made with the same technology and engineering as the aerospace and defense industries. As a result, the boards are light and tough as nails. Under the “Value” section, Aviso explains that although the price is high, it’s not when you consider the board will last you for years with no cracks, delaminating, or pressure dings. The argument makes sense, but for a kid in high school working at McDonald’s, would he rather get instant gratification and spend $400 (much easier to save) for his new board or keep waiting for months until he gets the $1300?

Quik in legal battles again

The courtroom battles continue on for Quiksilver. They just resolved the Roxy argument, only to be sued by the X-Games for a trademark dispute over the letter X. Quik uses the letter X on some of their product—I searched their site and found the tees that are pictured below. X-Games doesn’t like it, says that it confuses the consumer, and wants it to stop. It seems to me that they’ve used this same X logo before (can anyone confirm that?), so it’s not a new thing. And besides, as “Bruce” points out on the TW Business site, “Since when can you trademark letters in the alphabet? What next, the number “1”?” Great point Bruce—it’ll be interesting to see what comes of this.

How much wave forecasting do we need?

Yesterday, I posted a press release about Wasserman Media acquiring Wetsand.com. I thought it was interesting—three big wave forecasting sites are now owned by big multi-media firms. Wavewatch was created by the ASG (the magazine group which includes Surfer, Surfing, Snowboarder and Skateboarder and is owned by Source Interlink) and Surfline is now part of the Airborne Media group which owns Water and Foam magazine. Wasserman is part of a huge conglomerate which includes, among other things, 411 Video Skate Magazine and VAS Entertainment. My point? Why the big investments in these wave forecasting sites? It seems as if the market is saturated with them, which would result in them not bringing millions of dollars in to the parent company. And, each one gets better and better technology, so it doesn’t seem as if one is really better than the other. I asked two friends who are regular users of wave forecasting systems—one said that he has no preference for one site; he thinks they’re all about the same. Another friend says she uses Surfline for daily reports (her opinion is that Wetsand exaggerates the dailies), but for long term, or weekend forecastings, she turns to Wetsand—she finds they’re more accurate in that arena than Surfline.

Stand-Up Paddle Surfing--do you do it?

It seems as if more and more people I know are trying out stand-up paddle surfing (SUP). What first seemed like a kooky sport has infiltrated our surf society. Many of those that I know who have tried it become obsessed—they find themselves participating in SUP more than regular surfing. On the other side of the coin are those that hate it and get upset when SUP surfers come into the lineup, saying they poach all the waves. (An interesting side note to this is that SUP surfers aren’t allowed in the Trestles line-up. If you are a SUP surfer, you can only surf on the very southern end of San Onofre—I’ve heard stories that if they take off on a wave at Trestles, the lifeguards actually do clear them from the water.)

 So, I’m wondering how many people participate in the sport. It’s a bit like kite surfing—it costs a lot of start-up money to get going (the boards are in the four figure range) and you’re not always appreciated for doing it. In the April issue of TW Business, retailers are saying that the boards aren’t selling too fast, and they seem to be selling on the West coast more than the East coast. Interesting, considering that the East coast has smaller waves; one would think they would want to participate in a variety of water sports when the swell is down. There seems to be more people doing it in Cardiff than in Huntington Beach—another interesting thought—why are there so many participants in one area, and hardly any in another?

*Book cover taken from Amazon.

Santa Monica Beaches

I was up in Santa Monica today, and the thing that always strikes me while I’m there is how the people love their beaches. If you stroll along the boardwalk, you can see that the city has built parks all along it—there are playgrounds for kids, obstacle courses for adults, rings, bars, etc for exercise, even a giant chess set. And it’s always being used—the place is crowded with locals and tourists alike. Impromptu soccer games are being played on the grass; roller hockey is going on in the parking lots. Bikers and runners stream along the paths, and the beaches are crowded with swimmers and sun lovers. I think it’s so cool to have facilities like this, and even cooler that everyone takes advantage of it. It’s something that’s not too common down in South Orange County or San Diego. Sure, you have the boardwalks in some cities, but that’s about the extent of it. I wish we had more—it really gives a sense of community.

Nike 6.0 Lower's Pro Wildcard Carissa Moore

So you gotta hand it to Carissa Moore for trying--the phenom from Oahu was the first girl to have entered in the WQS Lower’s Pro contest. At fifteen years old, she was the wildcard for the contest and her heat included veteran, and Lower’s local Shane Beschen, as well as ASP World Tour stalwart Adriano de Souza (BRA) and Australian upstart James Woods (Lennox Head, AUS). The girl fought hard, but in the end, Shane came up the winner. He is quoted as saying, "There was a lot of hype surrounding the heat with Carissa (Moore) in it because she was the first girl to surf the event, but I just went out and tried to surf it like any other heat.  I think everyone was looking at it the same way - we all just went out there and surfed." Glad to see that they treated her as any other competitor. Good job Carissa—you’ll get them next year!

OP's New Campaign

As I was thumbing through the latest celebrity gossip magazine (can’t remember which one it was, but you know, they’re all the same) I came across an article on the new OP campaign which hit Wal-Mart. As you may know, it features a slew of B-Rated celebrities, including Kristin Cavallari from The Real OC, Laguna Beach as well as Wilmer Valderrama from That 70’s Show. OP is definitely taking a turn for the different with the new campaign—it’s a far cry from the Holly Beck and Rusty Long ads from the past. Intrigued, I decided to go in to our local Wal-Mart and check out the POP’s for myself. None of them featured celebrities, but they were still trying to work the beach vibe, as you can see from these photos I took. If you want to see more of the campaign, including a trailer for a commercial, click here.

Shark Attack Month?

What is it with the shark attack stories that have been headlining the newspapers this past week? First there was the attack which resulted in a fatality in Solana Beach, CA. Yesterday I read about a teen who was bit by a shark while surfing in Florida—luckily, he escaped with only the bite mark to talk about. Now today I read that a surfer in Troncones, Mexico was bitten, and then died as a result of blood loss. What’s doubly tragic about this attack is that the surfer could have probably lived had he received adequate medical care. And, he had just gotten to Mexico for a vacation—not the way you want to start your surf trip. It’s also surprising to hear about an attack in Mexico—I’ve been to Troncones a couple of times, and the thought of a shark coming up and getting me was the last thing on my mind. You’re more worried about a sting ray or jellyfish sting, which are minor in comparison when you think of the alternative. It’s weird, isn’t it, how things come in three? Hopefully, we won’t hear of another shark story for some time to come.