Fall - InsideOutdoor Magazine

How familiar are you with the following fabric brands?
Gore-Tex Lycra CORDURA CoolMax Kevlar Teflon Re-Dura
I have never heard of this brand 1.02% 2.04% 4.08% 1.02% 2.04% 1.02% 44.90%
I have heard of the name but don’t know anything about it 0.00% 4.08% 4.08% 5.10% 3.06% 3.06% 30.61%
I have heard the name and know a little about it 7.14% 18.37% 19.39% 24.49% 31.63% 36.73% 14.29%
I have heard the name and am very familiar with it 91.84% 75.51% 72.45% 69.39% 63.27% 59.18% 10.20%
Source: CORDURA; Inside Outdoor
and integrity that provides the customer
with some basis for making a judgment.
This makes things more comfortable for
both customer and retailer.
Today’s customers, however, search
and seek out. They have all sorts of
social and testimonial information at
their fingertips, and usage rates suggest
they’re digesting it. In many cases,
consumers walk into a store with more
powerful information tools in the palms
of their hands than many stores have
on the entire showroom floor. In turn,
marketers of end-use products and their
retailers have an ever-growing number
of ways to spread their buzz and build
credibility. Few today can afford to wait
until the customer is in the store.
As Kurt Gray of Simply Gray Designs
recently wrote in Textile Insights
magazine, “Social media, customer
reviews and the ubiquitous star review
system mean more to today’s consumer
than science does.”
It’s a bet that Columbia Sportswear
apparently is willing to make. When
the company announced its purchase of
waterproof/breathable brand OutDry in
August of 2010 – part of its strategy to
differentiate through in-house proprietary
technology rather than relying
on third-party innovation – Columbia
How important is it that the packs you carry in your store are made
from branded components?
Very Important 10.20%
Somewhat Important 37.76%
Neither Important nor Unimportant 39.80%
Somewhat Unimportant 7.14%
Very Unimportant 5.10%
How important is it that the packs you carry in your store are made from
a recognized brand?
Very Important 35.71%
Somewhat Important 44.90%
Neither Important nor Unimportant 11.22%
Somewhat Unimportant 5.10%
Very Unimportant 3.06%
Source: CORDURA; Inside Outdoor
cited extensive research that suggested
outdoor consumers preferred simplicity
over technical data when making
apparel decisions. In the end, outdoor
consumers simply want their gear to
work, regardless of what’s in it, and if
an apparel company can deliver on that
promise, it didn’t matter so much what
was in the details.
So while users recreating in
more extreme conditions likely will
continue to require the assurance of
extensive lab testing and the sciencebased
backgrounds of fabrication
specialists, more mainstream users
might be satisfied with the reputation
of a product manufacturer or retailer
with whom they have established
some relationship.
“Everyone wants benefits and reputations,
not number and graphs,”
Gray continues.
Likewise, marketers of all types of
technology must come to grips with
changes in the way technology itself is
perceived. To those of us who were born
prior to the recent age of rapid consumer
technological advancement, technology is
seen as nothing short of a game changer.
It has simplified tasks and obsoleted business
models. To younger folks, it’s just
always been there; in any product or service
that must “perform,” the existence of
science and technology is assumed.
Think of it this way: to Millennials
and those younger, developments such
as automation, touch-screens, IP and
mobility are no more seen as “technology”
as radio and TV is seen as technology
by Generation X. Technology, in and
of itself, is not so impressive any more,
and it’s possible that friends, fans and
experiential recommendations could
become more influential than the science
behind a familiar, branded component.
Columbia Sportswear’s sourcing
strategy, however, also has lots to do
with its ongoing global conquest. To a
company such as Columbia, for which
sales growth in Europe and Asia is
dwarfing domestic growth and product
is manufactured, warehoused and sold
on multiple continents, eliminating
third-party components helps to streamline
logistics and manage cost structures.
Few vendors in the outdoor industry
have the market share and capital to internally
control textiles and treatments, but
Columbia is not the only company that
has re-considered component branding.
A few years back, GE made a 180-degree
turn with regard to the marketing
of its eVent brand of breathable waterproof
performance fabrics. Replacing
the bright orange trade show booths and
GE’s massive brand equity was a new
focus away from the fabric as an ingredient
brand. GE announced that it was going
to allow partners to re-brand eVent
as their own and utilize it in a variety of
applications and price-points.
Initially launched as a stand-alone,
consumer-facing brand, eVent’s new
focus was better aligned with the GE
master brand strategy, said the company,
and allowed it to direct more spending
on research and innovation. Some industry
observers, however, suggested
the move was an admitted defeat to
Gore’s dominance or possibly was a
workaround for vendors that were
16 | InsideOutdoor | Fall 2011