ASR Blog

Surfing out of X Games

It was announced yesterday that after five years, surfing won’t be a part of this summer’s X Games. According to X Games surfing organizer Brad Gerlach, “They were having a hard time finding sponsorship because it’s the only part of the X Games that’s not live… They wanted to pull back and take a fresh look at it all for next year.” It’s too bad—surfing has always been fighting to enter the Olympics as a sport, so being an event at the X Games was the closest thing it had. Originally, surfing was held at Huntington Beach and ran in conjunction with the X Games, but, the waves never panned out and were usually crap. As a result, it was held in Mexico the past couple years, and ran in a time period where swell was supposed to hit. Since it wasn’t live, it was a bit anti-climatic to watch it on TV, because you usually knew who won. Thus, it gets pulled from the roster.

These are all the same reasons why surfing isn’t part of the Olympics—there are too many elements to the sport that we must count on to make it a viewable event. Maybe a wave pool is the answer?

On the Extreme 365 website, 60% of the users say it’s no big deal that surfing was pulled—how do you feel?

Hang Ten in Kohl's

There seems to be a trend of iconic surf brands moving into discount retail chains. First we were shocked by Shaun White cutting his sponsorship with Volcom and announcing a soon-to-be line of clothes by Target. Next we find out that Wal-Mart will be the exclusive supplier of OP.  After that we learn that Kmart will be producing their own surf branded clothing (is that an oxymoron or what?). And what about the Laird Hamilton line in Steve & Barry’s? So maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised to learn that Kohl’s has obtained the right to license the legendary Hang Ten brand and will be offering it in 240 of its stores. And, I shouldn’t be surprised to read that Quiksilver will be designing it. But, I am. I guess that they’ve had such great results with their Tony Hawk partnership that Kohl’s would like them to design the Hang Ten apparel as well. I don’t know, to me it just seems . . . weird. Everything is crossing over, it seems as if all brands are now incestuous, which doesn’t seem right to me.

Nike 6.0 on the scene

Back in April, I had written about Nike 6.0 sponsoring the WQS surf contest, the Lower’s Pro, formerly known as the Body Glove Surfabout. Only one of three contests that are held at Lower Trestles each year, I was surprised that a endemic brand wouldn’t want to get their hands on the title sponsorship—with the marketing that comes with it—for one of the best surf breaks in the United States.

Well, it looks like Nike 6.0 isn’t going to let go—it was announced earlier this week that they have signed on as an associate sponsor for the AST Dew Tour and AST Winter Dew Tour. I’ve never been to a Dew Tour event, but from reading the press it gets, and seeing the television coverage, it seems to be the next big thing after the X-Games. If Nike now has a hold of that, what are they going to go for next? A new WCT contest in some exotic location? It’ll be interesting to watch and see.

Nudity Banned

For some of you, the news of the nude beach closing may be a welcome relief, or a serious bummer. The beach just south of Trail 6, at San Onofre has been welcoming nudists for decades, but the State Parks just announced that after this coming September 1, they will not be welcome any longer. Why? There’s been an increase of beach goers to Trail 6 which are offended by the nudists as well as State Park workers becoming more and more disgruntled at the garbage (condoms, sex toys, porn) that they have to pick up as well as witnessing the occasional sex act. There’s also been more and more reports of lewd acts. An article on SignonSanDiego states that, “In the past five years, 82 citations have been issued for lewd behavior to people engaged in sexual acts at the state beach. During the same period, an additional 35 citations were issued for indecent exposure designed to attract the attention of strangers.”

I do have to admit, I’m happy about the enforcement. This where the family and I usually go to the beach on the weekends (the north part of course) and there does seem to be an increase of nudists. Not a bad thing, but on a sunny, crowded day they tend to come more and more north and before you know it, there’s a naked surfer on the wave in front of you. (Still don’t understand how you can surf naked, it just has to hurt.) Not so bad when you have a toddler, but when your kids start getting older and understand what’s going on, its not something you want them to see.

The State of the Tradeshow

Seems like the story about Sole Technologies, Circa and Podium pulling out of ASR is pretty big news for the Industry—there is a lot of talk on the message boards, and the commenter’s are all over the place on their opinions. Some think ASR is dead, while others say that there’s no way the buyers want it to go away. A lot of people are pointing to PacSun not selling closed toe shoes as part of the culprit, while others think it’s our changing climate and this wonderful recession the country is in. On Silverfish Longboarding, a commentator says that he will no longer support those companies who pulled out. On the other hand, “Mile_High_Mark” says, “Dealers will still buy those brands, and skaters will, too. Having hot-sh*t riders and models (shoes, not skaters) will do more for sales than a trade show”.

The most varied comments, however, are found on the Transworld Business site. “Jason Bergman” complains that ASR has turned into a regional show and its dead, while “Warren” says, “I think it is very arrogant of the companies to think that they can simply do more regional shows. It may work out for the shops form SoCal - but some of us travel a great distance to see all of the products in one place. That IS the idea of a trade show - right? The companies have done it to them selves - moving deadlines earlier and earlier every season.” Another user, “Big Picture”, agrees, stating that, “Tradeshows roll like the stock market and those that pull out when the going gets a little tough usually lose the most money. In a world of vertical retailers taking larger portions of the market I think these companies are better served standing united with the industry. An Island can be a lonely place.” However, the commentator goes on to say that, “ASR needs to change with the times and spice up the shows like the old days.”

So, what I want to know is what you think. If you’re on this site, I assume you attend ASR, or are looking to attend. What’s your opinion of tradeshows in general?

HIC Sunscreen

I don’t usually use this blog to endorse products, but I have to let you know about HIC’s sunscreen—I was given a bottle at the Holiday Show and was told, “Try it, you’ll love it”, and I have to say that I really do.

Like a good product tester, I read the literature on the sunscreen, as well as watched the DVD. There were several endorsements—from skin cancer survivors Randy Rarick and Jodie Young to HIC’s team, which includes Jamie Sterling and Dane Gudauskas. Developed by Nic Martens, who used to work for Johnson & Johnson, HIC’s sunscreen is great because it not only protects you from UVB rays (the ones that cause a sunburn) but UVB rays as well—these are the ones that penetrate the deeper layer of skin and causes long term skin damage.

The other great thing is that you can use it on the kids, and as any beach going parent knows, the less stuff you have to bring, the better, and that includes separate sunscreen for kids and adults. The product rubs in really well, very dry, unlike some other brands that I’ve been testing out which are really greasy. Because it’s so dry, you can use it on your face—it goes on really smoothly. The materials say it doesn’t sting the eyes, and they’re right—neither the kid nor I complained about it running in the eyes. Best of all, it lasted a long time with no resulting sunburn.

The information pamphlet says 90% of skin cancer is caused from sun exposure. So, if you’re reading this blog, I imagine you spend a lot of time in the sun. Make sure to do your own research and grab a sunblock you like.

For more information on HIC’s, check out the site at hicsuncare.com.

So Sad

This morning, as I was performing my 5:30 AM routine (yes, the kid gets up that early) of drinking my coffee and reading a magazine, I stopped short on a new OP ad. Featured in the June 2008 issue of Real Simple, the spread featured two girls using a skateboard on the left, with the right half saying, “Low prices on OP styles. The perfect outdoor wear, no matter if they’re surfing “ocean” or “asphalt”.” But the real kicker is in the fine print at the bottom, to the left of the bag and bikini, “Whether it’s the Midwest or the West Coast, they’ll love all the different choices of Op wear and you’ll love the really low prices.”

It got me so sad—here is this iconic brand who is now touting that the best thing about it is how cheap the clothes are. And it’s featured in Real Simple—a magazine that’s aimed at the middle aged woman—I guess the same woman who buys the teens on the left side her clothes. Again, so sad.

A marketing calendar for you

Making a marketing calendar can be daunting—trust me. What may seem like a simple task adds up to an enormous mission, one where you don’t know what size of a calendar you should get (wall, desk, month by month) and then how in the world are you going to fit everything on there so people can actually read and use it? Enter the new ASR calendar. It’s a brand new feature up on the homepage of the ASR site. Although at first, it may seem like an Xcel spreadsheet on crack, take a closer look and you’ll see that it’s easy to follow. Presto! Now you don’t need your intern to create that marketing calendar for you—just refer your fellow coworkers to ASR—we’ve done the job for you.

By the way, while you’re on there, make sure to check out the new article by Kimball Taylor on a tiny store with big aspirations, The Pod Room.

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.