Quiksilver
Among surfers, Quiksilver is a hallowed brand. Started by surfers for surfers, the company’s grassroots association with the actions sports it produces apparel for has won it the respect of a hard to impress 12- to-25-year-old target group. No easy feat. Get labelled a sell out by these guys and you can kiss your business good-bye.
All of which makes the Quiksilver journey from backyard Australian surf shop to the world’s dominant surf, snow, skate and active lifestyles label all the more impressive. Quiksilver presently operates more than 600 stand-alone stores worldwide and their products are also sold in many other outlets around the world. Over the past 10 years the company has racked up enviable growth of around 27 percent per year. The rapid expansion follows a major change in focus at Quiksilver, with the company deciding at the turn of the millennium to shift from being a highly respected surf wear firm to position itself as the world’s pre-eminent active lifestyle brand.
Success has required a delicate balancing act. Quiksilver is a brand started by surfers for surfers. It all began in 1969 when two surfers, Alan Green and John Law discovered a means to live their passion by inventing boardshorts. During the mid 70’s, Quiksilver boardshorts had taken a lead on all of the Australian brands due to their design and functionality. Its street credibility and innovative range of products is the cornerstone of its success. Therein lies the key challenge: keeping the company true to its roots and retaining credibility among a sceptical and hard to impress 12 to 25-year-old key demographic while becoming a real mass market company.
We sat down with Quiksilver’s European marketing director Nicolas Foulet to see how the company is managing the evolution.
Broadening the base
A key element in the drive to grow the Quiksilver brand was to expand its presence in Europe. While the company had a loyal following in Australia and America (California) – countries with a particularly strong surf and outdoors lifestyle culture – Quiksilver’s entrance into Europe had been limited. New, more relevant forums for getting the brand across were needed. Founded by surfing lovers, Quiksilver has known how to keep alive the passion that has been driving it on since it began. The brand’s pioneering character can be seen in every one of the group’s initiatives; be it in the development of its portfolio of international brands, its strategic acquisitions, the construction of an own distribution network, its creative and innovative marketing or in the creation of its products designed for and by boardsports lovers.
The latest solution to expand and be relevant in front of the 12 to 20 year old target was to focus on the music scene. “Music is a huge part of our target audience’s, culture,” Nicolas explains.
No water sucks
Quiksession, a series of underground concerts organised in towns across Europe, was born. The concerts focus on giving young talent the chance to play their music live. They also resulted in a Quiksession CD which was given away free to customers when they purchased a pair of jeans from Quiksilver stores. While larger name bands are sometimes invited to play, the focus has remained on showcasing small up-and-coming bands, a move which creates respect and loyalty between Quiksilver and its core target group. “It is important for us that it remains underground,” Nicolas says. “We have to be careful, now that we are big, to keep true to the original idea. We don’t want to make profit with music. We make profit with T-shirts. These actions just underline our brand positioning.”
In 2007, Quiksilver Europe launched a new partnership with Microsoft. The Quiksilver-Microsoft site promotes interactivity between consumers and the company via blogs and online forums, allowing Quiksilver sponsored athletes to interact directly with their fans “It’s also a way to spread our content easily, such as movies and pictures,” Nicolas adds. “We have so much to share and the web is allowing us to do so.” The company is also presently setting up a MyQuik social network, inspired by the success of MySpace. “It’s about allowing people to give us their own content as well and participate in the Quiksilver world. The end goal is to create a global Quiksilver community.”
No water sucks
Keeping it real
Throughout all this, the company has always been acutely aware of the need not to alienate its core base. In order to stay true to its origins, Quiksilver remains heavily involved in the sports – surfing, skating and skiing – which put it on the map. Today, Quiksilver sponsors around 500 amateur and professional surfers, snowboarders, skiers, and skateboarders. Among them are surfer Kelly Slater and skateboarder Tony Hawk. They also have the naming rights to the Quiksilver Pro surfing tournament for men and Roxy Pro tournament for women held in Australia and France.
The company’s sponsorship of up-and-coming amateur athletes is of crucial importance to its brand identity. The company doesn’t want to be mistaken for a corporate money machine swooping in and buying up these sports just to boost sales, a major turn-off for its key demographic. Rather, it works to be an active partner in developing young talent and boosting the profile of the numerous non-traditional sports it is associated with. “A very important fact about Quiksilver is that the company is not buying the best guys in those scenes,” Nicolas explains. “We are there early on, putting them in front of the scene, coaching and supporting them all the way. The brand attitude is of being a real family and this is a major point of difference from many of the company’s competitors.” As an example of this attitude, Nicolas cites world champion surfer Kelly Slater who has been with the brand since he was 17 and fellow surfer Jérémy Florès, the youngest surfer to ever qualify for the professional surf division, who has been supported by Quiksilver since he was 9.
The future
Not only is Quiksilver’s annual turnover five times what it was in 2001, it has also increased its appeal; brand ambassadors these days include French football player Bixente Lizarazu and French tennisman Guy Forget. New product lines include the first range of Quiksilver brand women’s clothing and a new range of eco-friendly ware. While product ranges will change, Quiksilver’s core brand values – creativity, confidence, adventure and progression – will always remain the same.
Based on an interview with Nicolas Foulet, European Marketing Director Quiksilver
By Maarten Schäfer and Anouk Pappers
Founders CoolBrands
Maarten Schafer and Anouk Pappers for CoolBrands exploring the world in search for cool stories
Based on an interview with Nicolas Foulet, European Marketing Director Quiksilver
By Maarten Schäfer and Anouk Pappers
Founders CoolBrands