Eco surf wax

I have started to see some new brands of surf wax that claims to be eco-friendly and realized that we as surfers must use a lot of those $1 bars.
.
Having one of the biggest brand near my backyard: Sticky Bumps located in Carlsbad, CA: I thought it could be useful for everyone to know that they produce around 20,000 bars a day. Sex wax is going head to head with Sticky so it is fair to say that in total there should be between 50- 60,000 surf wax produce every day.

The main ingredients in surf wax are synthetic rubbers with heavy alcohol agents, or tackifiers, for extra stickiness. Well that doesn't sound too friendly, isn't it?
What that means is that surf wax is a like a plastic bottle , it doesn't bio degrade and consequently it can be swallowed by fish,etc.. The ocean is given me so much and every time I am in the water, I feel in harmony with Nature. So I have taken the choice to pay $2 to get my wax and while it certainly doesn't make a big difference, it certainly show the way to other surfers.

Organic wax is 100 natural made of beeswax, tree resin,etc...So make sure to have a look at your closest surf shop and ask for an eco brand if they don't have any. It is time to change and every small steps count.

Cardboard Surfboard (Sheldrake)

You may have experienced price increase from gas to food and pretty much everything else that you need to buy on a weekly basis.

Summer is coming and my budget for buying a new surfboard is seriously shrinking, faster than a snowball on a South Florida beach.

And then...I found an article about a cardboard surfboard that would cost $100, in addition to be environmentally friendly.

It is currently at a prototyping stage but it does sound promising and when an bio alternative to epoxy gets widely available, I will be able to surf and be eco friendly at the same time.

Being green is hot and if that mean I will save money, it's even hotter.

Von Zipper + Skullcandy

Walking done the aisle at the ASR show in San Diego, I saw some pretty cool products, not to mention all the cute girls in bikini.
my friends have asked me what is the best product that will be coming up next season. My answer is simple the co-branding of Von Zipper + SkullCandy.
The graphics are amazing and I love listening musci while snowboarding but I hate having some regular headset so here is the perfect combo.

The three models will be the Dojo Skullcandy Ribbons & Gold, the Chakra Skullcandy Intersection, and the Feenom Skullcandy Replicator.

Smart car

Well I started to see those tiny cars in Europe in those big glass building next to the freeway almost 10 years ago, but I am starting to see those tiny car in downtown San Diego.

Living in the SUV capital of the world I always thought a Smart will not be safe for American road. While road rage is everywhere and French people can get pretty aggressive, we all have tiny cars so it is just fair game, but imagine having an Escalade changing lane, I am not sure if they will even feel crushing the Smart.

My wife and I have two cars but we mostly only use the same car to go surfing, grocery shopping
or going to Big Bear so I can see having a Smart to go to work or going out instead of having my Element.

It is not only because the gas mileage is much better than on my car, Mercedes use friendlier materials that pollute less during the manufacturing process and can be later recycled.

So my wife and I tested a Smart last weekend and I was actually pleasantly surprised: it is comfortable, fast and fun...I will certainly not drive 10 hours in it but this barely happen anyway.

I would highly recommend a test drive, it is fun and you will have certianly have a good conversion later that night on other ways to become more ecologicoly responsible.

Spy Optic: "Expect the best"

With So many sunglasses brands, It may be difficult to create a brand uniqueness.
Spy sunglasses are genuinely hand-crafted in Italy but most importantly they get inspiration from the legendary Southern California coast, where surfers are able to catch the best waves in the world.
The youth culture is permanently evolving and Spy is managing to stay true to its core customers and provide unique and stylish sunglasses.

Pigeons - Todd Francis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TInWHsW74I


Todd Francis has worked on graphics for skateboard companies since 1993, he did the illustration for Bam Margera and Jeremy Wray and helped define Skate companies such as Element, Stereo, Real Skateboards.

Well it is now possible to see his work on Oakley sunglasses, named the Eyepatch. Everyone knows about the excellent quality and performance of Oakley sunglasses but I really find interesting that a Eyewear manufacturer explores the fact of adding some original graphics that resonates with the Action sport subculture, so what better example than having Todd using some sick pigeons patterns for Oakley.

WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracy: WESC

WeSC-WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracy was founded by six skateboarders and snowboarders in 1999. they have their roots in a subculture that sets its own rules and follows its own trends.

The major difference with other brands is that they speak about "life after skateboarding", while many other skate brands have good clothes that would do just fine for fashion streetwear, WeSC has became synonymous of what it is cool to wear after a skateboard session, which quite frankly shows the power of a good marketing strategy: the Brand.

In addition they are reaching people in the art, music industry that has always shared some common roots with the action sport lifestyle.

to compete in today's market, one must be innovative

I grew snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing. Every month I get in the mail my favorites mags. I love to read cool articles about the lifestyles, trips,etc... but something that bother me is that half the mag are loaded with ads.

I think it just become a routine, I briefly look at the ad but frankly if you ask me later what ad I saw I may only remember an ad with Kelly, Taj, Parko or Bruce. Most surf brands think it is enough put the face of a pro surfer and a nice surf picture.

How am I going to believe that X sunglass print ad is going to help me in my surf. My two cent of advice is think outside the box: to compete in today's market, one must be innovative.

So my award for the only ad in mag that have sparked my interest is Insight, they are unique and creative which then make me think that there stuff is like their ads. Clearly it seems I am not the only one appreciating their work, because the result sparked a 50% increase in clothing clothes sales.

“We wanted to do something different,” says Insight Marketing Director Jesse Faen. “Most companies simply sponsor athletes or add their logos to action photos. Our company is not so much about an individual surfer as about a mentality. The response to our prop campaign has been incredible. We’ve had a lot of attention from international surf magazines. Across the world, our accounts were blown away by the originality. Most importantly, our customers have gained a deeper appreciation for what Insight represents.”

Cliche

Cliche started in 1997, and from what I remember they made some cool clothing line as well as skateboard. the whole skateboard was dominated by American companies so the fact the company promoted the brand as the "Old Europe", it grew in popularity.

In addition they have some pretty cool tour around Europe such as the "Deja VU", Gipsy tour.
If you happen to go to the old continent, make sure to check them out.

Burton at Costco!!!

The world is never black and white. Various shades of gray creep into all facets of our existence. Some aspects of these shades and hues keep life interesting, but on the retail landscape, gray markets cause untold headaches for both manufacturers and retailers. For brands, the size of the gray market is directly proportional to the demand for their products. There are currently nearly 80,000 Apple products on eBay, and the story behind that number is the brand’s strength. If you search for Burton on the online auctioneer you get 3,844 items. While this may pale in comparison to Apple, it seems a bit more noteworthy after searching for K2 Snowboards; which results in 61 items. Burton is a behemoth in our industry - the undisputed heavy weight, and defending that title is never easy. When you’re the 800-pound gorilla in the room, you’re in everyone’s sights, and they all want to take you down or make a buck. This is true of competitors, industry pundits, and consumers that believe large companies have sold out and lost their soul. It’s also true of the company’s dealers that want to improve their bottom line by riding on the strength of the brand.

Burton defines gray marketing as “when a Burton Authorized Dealer purchases goods from Burton with the sole intention to sell it via unauthorized distribution channels, including but not limited to mail-order catalogs, online retailers, wholesale retailers etc.” Gray marketing avenues are also, by definition, very gray. They take many shapes and sizes, and manufacturers in all industries have to keep on their toes to keep up with gray marketers wiley efforts. It’s like playing whack-a-mole on a five-acre board. In December of 2007, Burton implemented several new measures to prevent gray marketing throughout its distribution networks in North America, Europe and Japan to protect its brand integrity, and these policies were put to the test almost immediately when a slew of product showed up in Costcos around the West and on Overstock.com.

Transworld Business recently spent some time chatting with Clark Gundlach, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Burton Snowboards, HERE IS THE REST OF THE ARTICLE...enjoy

Driven to lead and inspired by action sport (Etnies)

I am going to be honest, they are a lot of good brands out there with sick design adn patterns.

I think Etnies is out there but why I like them goes beyond the shoes.

First of all it was created in 1986, just when I started skateoarding. Etnies is the only brand owned and created by a former world champion skateboarder.

In addition Etnies under the main company Sole Technology is looking at green materials and use green energy for the headquarter.

The owner also created a lab institute to study the impact of skateboarding on the human body. I got so many injuries while skateboarding that I am proud to say that those shoes are not only exclellent for style but also for great protection.

Kanabeach

Kanabeach was created in 1986 by three surfers from Brittany, France who decided to live their passion to the fullest.

In addition to have original logos, patterns, they often come up with original designs.
Most importantly, their brand spirit does an excellent job at communicating what surfing and action sports is all about: having a good time with friends.

Wearing Kanabeach reminds me of all those long walks through the forest to finally discover a secret surf spot on the west coast and set up a camp.

Active event for the kids

Active Ride shop was created by a father and son, and until last week, I never shopped in one of their stores before.

I found many sick brands such as DC, Burton, RVCA, Matix and many other trendsetting brands. I usually don't like big stores but Active is the exception, certainly because of its staff. they are super laid back, friendly and knowledgeable.

when I came back today they had a huge sale, 40% on clothes, shoes and accesories, it was packed of people. The staff was not overwhelmed, they kept the store organized and made sure of helping everyone.

Cory the event organizer for Active, set up an event outside the store for the local skater kids and had a BBQ ready for skaters and hungry shoppers. DC shoes even showed up to give away some DVD's and accesories.

It is nice to see that Active is keeping kids busy with fun activities to keep them out of trouble.
If you stop by at the store in San Diego, say hi to NIck or Bret, for sure they will be able to help you out finding what is right for you.

And for the locals, they are having a 50% sale tomorrow and 60% on Active clothes on friday, make sure to check it out.

Burton pushing the limit

Burton has came up with two huge innovations: ICS (Infinite Channel System) for the snowboard and the ETS (Extra Sensory Technology) for the bindings.
The two works in synergy in order to provide infinate adjustment and unbeatable comfort.

Snowbarders are looking for board feel, cushioning and stance adjustibility and those two make it possible.

On the snowboard you have a rail system where bindings can be adjusted from every angles, and because the screws are on the outside of the bindings, it allows to have a soft material on the baseplate (it's where you put your feet on) to provide supreme feel and comfort.

If you are looking more for technical details, go check it out on burton.com
But for sure you can bet that those toys are on my Xmas list.

Art on Surfboards (Channel Islands)

I usually buy my surfboards without any graphic mainly for two reasons: cheaper and easier to fix.

Channle Island has been working with HP to print directly on fiberglass which will reduce weight and cost.

For now, you can only get the graphics from Pros such as Kelly or Dane. But like Burton with snwoboarding, I think that in the near future you will be able to go on a website and download your own graphic and get it printed on your board.

Meanwhile you can still get one of Kelly's choice, not sure if your surf will get better though.

Lookin' good....feelin' good

So my dad was wearing those sick sunglasses when he was a badass in his day. While I was checking out which pair of sunglasses I could buy for this summer, I found the Fulton from Von Zipper.

I really like the combination of different colors which gives a classy yet original style that lends an additional flavor to the sunglasses made in the 1960's.

Summer 2008 is all about the neon colors of the 1980's, but if you are looking for something a bit more classy ... Von Zipper has the pair you need.

The Keating Hotel

http://www.youtube.com/v/Wjckvb09KWk&hl=en

During my creative advertising class at USCD, we were asked to compete in a competition that could offer a new marketing approach for the Keating Hotel in Gaslamp, San Diego. The Keating is a luxurious boutique hotel that initially began its marketing campaign as a “sexy” hotel.

While it attracts a scene of affluent partiers over the weekends, it does not market itself toward growing businesses. I made with the help of Leslie,a video that target businesses who are looking into team building or planning an event.

Marketing Plans

A lot of companies don't have a marketing plan.A product (or service) should be targeted to a specific target market, fill a need, something that is unique in the market place. But too often companies are producing a mere copy of innovative products, hoping to grab a piece of market share by doing "me too" products.

While market research and product development are certainly expensive for a company, reward can be big; see how the iPod saved Apple from bankruptcy.

Only few companies out there are true innovators and too many just want to do the same products, hoping that a different name brand will make a difference. While this mentality reduce your research costs, it reduces a company’s chances to capture high market share for a profitable product.

It’s surprising to see how many companies don't have any, or at least a good marketing plan. It should be written for a single product and specific to the life cycle it is aimed at.

First of all, it is a necessity to do an external audit. What are the competitors? What is the market share, revenue, locations, mission, and positioning?

Then S.W.O.T (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) analysis should be written. Too often it is about features and benefits. It is very narrow minded to think of consumers that way, emotional connection plays an important part in the buying habits and including critical success factors can better respond the psychological behaviors. Drawing from the Apple example, the brand delivers an emotional status and the location or support provides added value.

After doing a market segmentation and analyzing where is the potential for growth, the following should be done:

-Selection of one or two target market that the product is aimed to.

-Write a product positioning

-Write a plan for each of the 4 P's (Price, Product, Promotion, Place) in correlation with market cycle life, and the product cycle life to prevent inaccurate sales forecast.

Finally marketing strategies and tactics should be focused for the next three years. The vision of the market, budgets, advertising mix, additional features are key to success.

A well thought marketing plan helps the whole company. A big idea from R&D is only a successful product if it fills consumer needs; Sales need information on the life cycle of the market and product for accurate forecast; Advertising needs information on what the consumers are looking for as a Brand.

I see a marketing plan as the strategy that will make the positioning statement becoming a reality, unifying all departments within a company to move toward the same goal: consumer satisfaction through innovation,communication and teamwork.

How To Choose The Right Goggles For You

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7IjBTCPgYdk

Interviewed by my wife, Leslie, she and I discuss choosing the right goggles based on the criteria that can improve your snowboarding.

The Pursuit of Happyness: Sanuk

Sanuk is the thai name for Pursuit of Happyness, which could explain why employees are allowed to be late at work if they can be seen in the lineup from the office spotting a famous reef in Southern California.
The unusual choice of color and materials (like the green outdoor carpet) makes it a first choice to stand out from the crowd, express yourself and mostly importantly be comfortable.

For instance, the Donny is a cool, casual, canvas slip-on featuring a shoe upper and sandal bottom. The Donny offers protection of a shoe and the natural comfort of a sandal. Give your feet a little gift from heaven. Go on, pamper them.

Exclusivo Collection 2009: Smith Optics

Smith Optics is well known in the industry for quality and performance on products such as sunglasses, goggles and helmets.With a lifetime warranty, Smith stands behind those to provide the best to snowboarders who want to push themselves.

However I will have to admit while their goggles have great features, they have been conservative on the fashion style. But this is coming to an end.

With all those fashion fickle snowboarders, Smith is coming up next season with some sick styles. Partnering with Cappel (ride snowboard), they have designed the Exclusivo Collection to provide the best style on their high performance goggles.

Furthermore, there are all kind of lenses you can choose from and for those who only go once a year, it can be confusing what lenses to pick. As a result Smith has designed a website that will help you select the right lenses, so go check it out:

http://www.opticallydelicious.com/

A Happy life...

Is a happy wife. According to Leslie. She told me this funny quip over a year ago and I have to say that this phrase has become one of my personal mottos.

In this phrase is distilled decades - hell, thousands of years - of wisdom that stubborn men had so painfully learned. When she first quoted this phrase it was simple and easy to understand: keep her happy and so shall I be.

Now gentleman, I’m not saying to sacrifice your personality or your hobbies, I’m saying give her the things she needs and she’ll only reciprocate by giving you the things you need: you can use your imagination.

I’m getting married this Saturday, so I plan to use this wisdom quite often. If not for her happiness, but for my sanity. I’ll let you know how it goes... from inside or outside of the nut house.

Web Marketing: Nixon's website

As I discovered in my previous job, Interactive Agency can sometimes be misleading and it is important to know what need to be done for a good emarketing campaign and to make sure the image online is the same than on the street.

1. User Interface
A website needs to be intuitive in order to provide an happy path for the users, i.e get what they are looking for with the less click as possible.
Nixon’s website has Flash animation which makes it pleasant to look at, however several steps could be improved:

-AJAX could be used for the Drop-down function (good example is Apple’s website). This will allow a better interface without removing the Flash Video.

-Nixon’s website has a masculine feel; women are more detail-orientated, the goal would be to highlight the experience they would get if wearing a Nixon’s watch. Maybe the home page could be divided in two sections: male / female, each will redirect you to a more customized page (here at I took the burton example).



-Women are buying watches as accessories and imagine with what clothes they could go with...As an example the Ivy/ Joy Bryant picture evokes elegance, class, dressed parties, while the skyline or the Loft seems to go more with professional clothing who are looking for a creative/ art deco flair to stand out. More women pictures would help highlight the beauty of the watches and show them how they could stand out from the crowd.

-Nixon’s men watches used to classify their watches as Elite, Business, Sport,etc....However in the women watches page, it is not obvious for a first time user what the models stand for and why they are divided in 4 main columns with 7 columns total.


For more info on SEO, Buzz marketing, Email marketing, Web design, PPC campaign, you can contact me by email.

Apples, Orange & Me

After years of resistance, I finally bought an Apple Mac Mini even though I owned Apple stock long before I ever bought any of the company’s products!

It started with Leslie giving me an ipod. Convenient, sure, but I didn’t have much use for it. I have XM in my car. She can’t live without hers for listening to tunes in the car or in the house.

She’s had a Macbook for as long as I’ve known her. I see her click-clack away at it with glee making websites, recording podcasts, and sitting anywhere in the world that has free wi-fi.

Me, I had my million year old Dell. The thing is so old that it sounds like there’s a hamster running in a wheel inside it. It’s loud, a huge lug sitting under the desk, but after all, it’s been faithful.

After Leslie moved in, she complained for months - close to a year - about the faithful, but decrepit Dell.

“It’s too loud!” she’d exclaim, “Let’s buy something quieter; an Apple!”

I’m French. We don’t succumb to such aggressive orders.

When I started on the road to finding a new job, I spent hours on my Dell. The poor thing froze up more than the mammoths during the ice age. It made the office hotter than hell. And yes, the reverberating noise began to sink into my skull. It just couldn’t do what I needed it to anymore.

So, we bought a Mac mini last week. I’m learning how to use all of the new keyboard commands, the different setups and programs, but so far, so good. It’ll take some time to get used to, but I’m optimistic. I have to admit, I don’t miss the Chewbacca noise gurgling from the Dell.

U.S watch market / Nixon watches

Market Analysis
During my research, I have segmented the watch market into four classes.
-Mass market Watches(less than $50)
-Middle-Market Watches($50-$300): women’s watches are 56% of sales
-Upper Middle-Market Watches ($300-$1000): women’s watches are 33% of sales
-Luxury Watches ($1,000- Plus): women’s watches are 41% of sales

U.S watch sales at totaled approximately $7.6 billion in 2006
The sales of Middle-Market watches totaled approximately $3 billion.

How does Nixon stand in the market?
From January 27, 2006 to June 30th 2006, Nixon contributed revenues of AUS$21.6 million and net profit of AUS $5 million to the Group.
Global sales of Billabong were at AUS $1.02 billion in 2007 and Nixon contributes 5 to 6% of Billabong International group sales.

Women Market Analysis
Here are some quotes from top executives heading the world’s leading watch brands:

“Women are much more detail-orientated. They have a different set of eyes, they look at the aesthetic beauty of a watch, they look at the different metals, they think about the colored straps that will go with the watch...they really examine all the external details of a watch because they want it beautiful.” said Randi Shinske President of Maurice Lacroix

“Unlike men who collect watches for their complexity and want to conserve them, women collect watches for the occasions and they are wearing different watches for different events”said Poulit-Duquesne.


Empirical Research
I conducted one on one interviews as part of my research with female subjects between 20 and 27 years old, they were college educated, working professionals, sociable and outgoing. What they loved about Nixon was the wide selection of colors and the price point below $200. Their number one reasons were that they had more options for fashion coordination. The subjects also noted they bought Nixon watches as gifts for their significant others or male family members as Nixon watches serve as a status symbol of unique quality and distinct styling.


Brand Spirit
The spirit of Nixon was created by board sport community who desired quality with a graphical edge with functionality in the life of a surfer or board rider. The spirit now translates into more of a fashion forward, indie flaired design to appeal to others who do not necessarily relate to the lifestyle, but seek inspiration from the board riding culture’s distinctive style.

It could be said that Nixon’s namesake derived from the American president relates to the attitude of the sixties when the spirit boundless, love was free, and a blatant rebellion against conformity were the decade’s major themes.