Vol. 2 No. 1 Fall 2012

GREETINGS, RETAILERS AND SKATE COMPANIES!

To say that things have been busy these past several months would be an enormous understatement. AXSgear.com continues to make progress and is now hitting more than 10,000 look-ups per day. These are YOUR customers searching out your shop at our site. If you haven’t already got your shop listed, please take the time to do so. The site has also been adding a tremendous amount of content and we encourage you stop by to take a peek.

The worldwide demand for longboard product continues to grow. There is enormous interest in South America, and plans are under way to launch Concrete Wave in Brazil, along with a Spanish-language edition.

In July, Concrete Wave magazine completed a one-month tour of the Middle East that featured Israelis and Arabs longboarding together. This tour helped launch a new initiative called “Longboarding for Peace.” The next venture takes us to Vancouver Island and the community of Comox in beautiful British Columbia. The plan is to use longboards to bring First Nations and non-First Nations folks together.

Speaking of global excursions, exciting times are in store for those longboard shops and companies planning to attend ISPO in early February. The show takes place in Munich and features literally acres of product. However, this year brings something truly special: the first Longboard Embassy. Both AXS and Concrete Wave will be at the embassy to greet delegates and immerse them in a variety of longboard-specific product. Of course, this being Germany, ISPO is also a great opportunity to taste some excellent beer!

In speaking with shops about AXS Longboard Retailer, the one thing we kept hearing was how much information it contained. We decided to really swamp you this issue with a wide range of topics. Of special note are the features on “The $50 Marketing Budget” and “Figuring Out Facebook.”

Thanks for reading, and we wish you the very best for 2013!

Michael Brooke

Rick Tetz Publishers

Publishers/Editors

Michael Brooke | Rick Tetz

Art Director

Mark Tzerelshtein | markintoshdesign.com

Copy Editor

Jonathan Harms

Contributing Editors

Bud Stratford | Mark Brasier

David Allison | Mark Schmid | Joey Bidner

Address: 1136 Center Street, Suite 293 Thornhill, ONTARIO L4J 3M8, Canada Ph.: 905-738-0804

AXSGEAR.com

AXS Longboard Retailer Magazine is published as a joint venture between North of La Jolla Inc. and AXSgear.com.

Publisher’s permission is required before reproducing any part of this magazine. The views and opinions expressed in AXS Longboard Retailer Magazine are not necessarily those of the publishers.

Complimentary copies of this magazine are available to all longboard retailers in North America. Please email mbrooke@axslongboardretailer.com or rtetz@axslongboardretailer.com

Michael Brooke

Photo: Yair Hasidof

AXS West Coast staff (L-R): Juan Salvador Diaz, Graham X Peat, Aaron Heney, Austin Shelton and Rick Tetz.

Dave Anderson Shell Town Skate Shop San Diego, California

Photo: Michael Brooke

8 Greetings, Retailers!

We've been busy building this magazine for you.

12New Retail Trend

Could Diversity Be the Key to Success? S&J Sales' Steve Greenidge explains his product line.

14 New Ideas

Mission: Impossible?

The $50 Marketing Budget

We broke open the piggy bank and charged into the dollar store.

20 Marketing Insights

Funk Meets Destiny

How Alex Luxat and Leslie Huszti of Wefunk got their groove back.

24 AXS Tips

Skateboard Presentation 2.0

Industry guru Mark Schmid shares insights on how best to showcase your merchandise.

26 Think Different

A Matter of Sole With Brooklyn Workshop.

At last, the world's first longboard shoe!

28 Bud's Column

The So-and-So Syndrome

Dealing with haters and finding your bliss.

30 Shop Talk

Rewarding your best customers. What works, plus the importance of word of mouth.

32 AXS In Depth

We received more than 1,200 responses to the Concrete Wave Survey. We took a closer look and discovered some very useful information.

34 Industry Insights

Surviving the future means that you've got to get creative and smart. Here, our anonymous sales rep gives you some food for thought.

36 Web Guide

Engagement ratios? Number of "Likes" vs. "Talking About." Face it, Facebook can get bewildering at times. Time to find out what's really going on.

39 Industry Branding

We take you deep into the psychology of creating cult brands. Prepare that tattoo needle.

46 AXS Review

Spotfinder doesn't just help longboarders find places to skate – it actively builds a community. Joey Bidner explains it all and how it works.

50 Book Shelf

Three marketing books that will inspire, shock and empower you.

Visit us online at axsgear.com Daily updates!

Ian Astbury knows a thing or two about Cult branding!

Photo: Marian Mocanu/Dreamstime.com

Kim Anderson Photo: Brad Miller

By David Allison

MIXING THINGS UP Could Diverse Offerings Be the Key to Future Success for Skate Shops?

In our last issue we examined the $61 billion bike industry and tried to explain what longboarding could learn from some of its best practices. This time, we turn our sights to the book industry. Like many independent skate shops, local booksellers have had to deal with a number of issues in the past few years, including a decline in sales of physical books and the rise of amazon.com, which now accounts for more than 25% of the market. But major challenges are not just limited to the independent book shops. Borders and Waldenbooks have filed for bankruptcy. The once mighty Barnes & Noble has seen its share price drop by more than 60%. The chain has lost more than $100 million in the last two years. In response to this tumultuous change, book retailers are trying frantically to capture the imagination of customers and get them back into the shops and spending.

In Canada, the Chapters/Indigo chain decided a number of years ago to begin offering things like tableware, toys and candles in addition to books.

It makes for a curious mix. Some consumers seem to welcome the changes, while others are rather unsure about all the diverse mix of products. Despite the mixed reaction, one has to acknowledge that they are trying to do something. Diversity might be key, but it’s not without risk. Then again, doing nothing is even a riskier proposition.

As Indigo’s CEO, Heather Reisman, told the Globe and Mail newspaper back in August, “The only way to stay in the book business is to find the ability to marry our book offerings with other products that our customer would value. I think of that as affordable items with intrinsic value.”

Many skate retailers successfully offer products that aren’t decks, trucks and wheels but that fit in perfectly with their customers’ lives. But it can be tricky to learn the difference between what works and what winds up costing you money and precious resources. Geography, demographics and a real sense of what your customers want all play a part. What works in one shop could sit on the shelves in another.

Steve Greenidge of S&J Sales with some of their diverse products.

In Canada, Indigo book shops are carrying more than just books.

Certainly, the success of Skullcandy using skate and snowboard shops to build a following cannot be ignored. Of course, now that the brand is ubiquitous, with multiple doors, it can be a little disheartening for the core shops who helped to put Skullcandy on the map. The old adage of “dance with the one that brought you” seems to be forgotten once a brand reaches a certain stature. Meanwhile, there are always new opportunities.

One distributor that has been at the forefront of new ideas and innovative products is S&J Sales. They were the first distributor of Sector 9 back in 1996 and have constantly searched out up-andcoming longboard brands. We sat down with Steve Greenidge of S&J Sales to get his thoughts on the concept of diversity of product within skate shops.

At what point did you start to look at alternative types of product to distribute?

We have always looked at a wide array of opportunities when they present themselves. I’m not necessarily hunting for non-endemic products, but we certainly have always taken a serious look at a product category that we think our retail buyers may be interested in.

There is no doubt that kids and young adults are consuming a huge amount of music players and accessories.Where do you think the skate shop fits into the mix?

My personal belief is that we need to make sure that skate/surf/snow/LB shops are and remain Youth Culture shops. It’s important to have a retail environment that caters to your customer. Personal audio is a big part of youth culture, and there’s no reason that someone wouldn’t want to purchase their earbuds from their local skate shop versus going to the regional big box. I think it’s time for consumers to start to push back. Bigbox retail is chipping away at us in many ways.

Longboarding encompasses a number of age groups, both men and women, and has a different vibe than the traditional street skateboarding. What do you see as growth areas as it relates to lifestyle products?

Longboarding is definitely bringing new participants into skate shops. Of that there is no doubt. I feel that each shop must look at their changing

clientele and address their needs. The independent retailer has a big job as being an opinion leader as well as being sensitive to the local customers’ needs. It’s a fine balance between bringing brands in that the shop buyer believes in and promotes while remembering that there is a developing consumer demand in his or her local area. More now than ever before, shops must be connected to the customer so they can gauge customer needs, because it is infinitely easier and faster for a customer to learn about trends and new products online. The operative word is conversation. Shops need to be having conversations with the customer, not just trying to tell them what to buy.

What are your thoughts about skate shops becoming more “destination places” selling a variety of unique products? Evolve or die.

Do you a want to be Indigo or HMV? (Ed. note to those outside of Canada: The entertainment retailer HMV is pretty much dead in the Great White North.) That being said, we must make brand and category choices that make sense for the territory. This is just as much the responsibility of the brand owner/distributor as it is [of] the retail buyer. Surf shops have been selling a

very wide variety of related products for many years: sunglasses, boards, footwear, beach stuff, apparel, car racks, sun care, etc. There is a definite relevant evolution into things like audio products like House of Marley with its altruistic image and material story in the surf shop.

The whole discussion really comes back to “How can we make sure that the end consumer feels strongly that they see the independent shop as an equal or preferred place to learn about and purchase their product?” That battle must be supported by the brand owners as well as retail store owners. Consumers must know that they will pay a fair price and get excellent personal service and great quality at an independent retailer. No addon warranties, long lineups at the checkout and poorly trained staff. If we all do our jobs right, then a retailer can have a head-to-toe, cradle-tograve loyal customer. Everybody wins.

Any final thoughts?

The word “culture” is used heavily in business today: corporate culture, etc. Apple or Starbucks are examples. In retail, Indigo is looking to create a customer culture that allows them to branch out of their core commodity and basically secure more revenue from their customer — making the culture of an Indigo more suitable to a customer who wants more than just a book. This is the historic realm of the skate/surf/snow shop. You went to buy your first skateboard at Hogtown, as an example, because of the “cool factor” or culture of the store. Otherwise no one would ever ask, “Hey, where’d you get your board?”

It’s absolutely vital to respect and nurture the culture of our independents as we do with our brands. Otherwise we run the risk of creating commodities of our products. If they become commodities, then it doesn’t really matter where you buy them from, does it? AXS

“CONSUMERS MUST KNOW THAT THEY WILL PAY A FAIR PRICE AND GET EXCELLENT PERSONAL SERVICE AND GREAT QUALITY AT AN INDEPENDENT RETAILER.”

Book publishing is a $28 billion business in North America. Photo © Peter Spirer | Dreamstime.com

By Michael Brooke

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE?

THE $50 MARKETING BUDGET

your shop happens to be in an area where a pro lives, whip out that marker! Having a pro sign a number of his or her decks makes the items truly special. You just have to coordinate things and ensure you’ve got plenty of stock when the pro visits! Who wouldn’t be thrilled with a SIGNED deck?

Consultants and retail experts offer all kinds of advice when it comes to running your shop: “Make it an experience! Engage the customer! Offer something truly special.” We couldn’t agree more. But how do you best go about doing this? You can put tens of thousands of dollars into store displays. You can fill your shop with incredible amounts of product and spend a huge amount on consultants. You can create incredible signage. But what if right now you don’t have tens of thousands of dollars lying around? What if all you have for a marketing budget is $50.00?

We went out to our local dollar store with the intent of finding 10 items that would help increase traffic at your shop and provide customers with a unique shopping experience. The goal is to increase sales and build positive word of mouth. Was it an impossible mission? Hardly! We actually wound up finding 24 items that yielded 17 ideas. That works out to an unprecedented $2.94 per idea!

A few of these ideas might be completely obvious, and others might be a complete surprise. Whatever the case, we welcome your ideas and feedback. Are you ready to splurge?

Item #1: Dry-erase Board – $3.00

This is probably the most effective way to communicate daily offers or special promotions at your shop. If a team is coming or a skate event is taking place, this whiteboard can let folks know. It will start conversations. How about putting a trivia question of the day and offering a free sticker to whoever guesses correctly? Display the board prominently in your shop, keep it up to date – and be careful not to use a permanent marker. Cue the next item …

Item #2: Permanent Marker – $1.00

If you’ve got a skate team coming through, or if

Item #3: Acrylic Paint – $1.50

Item #4: Artist Brushes – $1.00

Item #5: Artist’s Frame – $1.25

These three items are a powerful way to build a unique environment in your shop. Many skaters are artistically inclined. Why not ask talented locals to create their masterpieces and then proudly display these works of art in your shop? This will attract a lot of interest, not only from locals but from tourists as well. Keep the art skate-related and make sure there is an opportunity for the artists to get their names out there. If things really take off, you can sponsor art nights and turn your skate shop into an art gallery! Who knows, maybe the next Picasso or Jim Phillips is living in your city!

Item #6: First Aid Kit – $1.25

Item #7: Ibuprofen – $2.00

Item #8: Plastic Bandages – $1.00

These three items go together beautifully. Many skaters who pass by your shop could probably use a first-aid kit. Throwing one in after they’ve

bought something is a very nice touch. If your shop has shop stickers, you can also place one on the box, which gives a nice, customized look. If your shop is located anywhere near a park, then I’m sure you’ve already had numerous requests for bandages and ibuprofen. Not sure of the legalities of giving out medication to folks under 18, so make sure you have that sorted before you do!

Item #9: Air Freshener – $1.50

I couldn’t find any grip tape air freshener, but I am sure one day someone will make one! In the meantime, I suggest you think about how your shop smells. Lorne Abony is the chief executive of Mood Media, a company that advises retailers on using their sense of smell to boost sales. “If a shop smells bad, a customer will walk out. It’s as simple as that,” he told the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper. The longer you can get a customer to stay in the store, the more likely they are to buy. If you let customers use your bathroom, make sure it is clean and doesn’t stink too! You could even buy these in bulk and sell them to anyone coming through on long road trips!

Item #12:

Jolly Rancher Candy – $2.00

This also ties in with Halloween or Valentine’s Day ideas, but I wanted to highlight it specifically. It’s amazing how many booths at trade shows you see with bowls of candy. There is a reason for this, and it’s not just to line dentists’ pockets. I am not suggesting you become a candy shop, but having some wrapped candy or gum can be a very powerful way to induce sales. This idea works on a deep psychological level. Providing a small gift to potential customers actually encourages them to purchase. The concept of reciprocity is at work: “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”

If you think I am making this up, I encourage you to read a report by Hershey Friedman entitled Gifts-Upon-Entry and Appreciatory Comments: Reciprocity Effects in Retailing Friedman’s study tested 300 people entering a restaurant with four different approaches:

•No greeting/no gift

•Yes greeting/no gift

•Yes greeting/sample of yogurt

•Yes greeting/keychain gift

Here’s just a small excerpt – I’ve bolded the key parts.

This study demonstrates that there is value in greeting customers who enter a store. Customers who are not greeted will spend considerably less, will rate the store lower on performance and will also be less likely to recommend the establishment. Providing a small gift upon entry into a store will have an impact on how much is spent, on the performance rating and on how strongly the establishment will be recommended.

dissatisfied and 2.6 times as much sales as customers who are somewhat satisfied (Whalley and Headon, 2001). If all it takes to improve attitudes of customers is an appreciatory comment and an occasional gift, then organizations should use this approach as part of their marketing communications strategies.

Item #13: Gift Wrap– $1.00

This one is a no-brainer. You have folks coming into your shop buying gifts, right? Well, why not offer a FREE gift-wrapping service? It’s a buck and a skate sticker to create instant happiness. I am not suggesting you turn your shop into Hallmark, I am merely stating the obvious. When a parent comes in and buys something for a birthday or graduation gift, you’ve solved a problem by handling the wrapping duties. Adding free gift wrap is just another nice way to enhance your shop’s reputation.

Item #14: Picture-Hanging Kit– $1.00

Your shops’ walls are crucial. It’s your opportunity to highlight the brands you carry. They act as a silent salesperson. Every time you’re on the phone with your reps, ensure they send out banners and Point of Purchase material. Don’t be afraid to switch things up and put the older banners and posters in a bin for kids to pick up. They’ll be stoked out of their minds. Don’t forget all those works of art you’ve put up, too (see item #5).

Item #15: Push Pins– $1.00

Item #10: Halloween Rat – $2.50

Item #11: Halloween Bowl – $1.25

You gotta hand it to the dollar stores. It seems like every freakin’ month of the year, they have cheap holiday/seasonal items you can pick up. It just so happened I was at the shop on September 4 – almost two months before Halloween. Yet the shop was already fully stocked with Halloween stuff. Every retailer has Christmas-themed sales, but I encourage you to think about having fun with all the other festivals and events. Just spending a couple of bucks on seasonal items will be a nice icebreaker for customers. Plus, who doesn’t love candy? Cue item #12 …

The main finding of this study is that retail establishments that do not greet customers upon entry can significantly hurt their sales. The difference between the No Greeting and No Gift and Yes Greeting and Yogurt Gift groups was $3.30 ($10.41 - $7.11), a difference of 46.4%. This is a very substantial difference. An establishment that greets customers can become very successful. Customers will spend more, rate it better and give it more positive recommendations. The type of gift given may not be an important consideration. The combination of a small gift with an appreciatory comment is what matters to customers.

The value of a satisfied customer to a business is immense. One study showed that customers who are totally satisfied contribute 17 times more sales to a firm than customers who are somewhat

These have a tremendous number of uses. Here are just two:

•Get yourself a map of the world, and whenever a customer comes in from a different country, put up a pin. (Note: I actually took this idea from Cheryl Johnson over at Maui and Sons in Venice, California.) It’s a great way to make out-oftown guests feel welcomed.

•When visiting pros or owners of companies come by your shop, ask for two business cards, and put one up behind the cash register. It’s a mini wall of fame with business cards!

By Michael Brooke

fortable asking questions; they feel overwhelmed. A well-placed and informative sticky note solves that problem and leads to more conversations, which in turn leads to more sales. A final note about these notes: Make sure whoever writes them has good penmanship. Spelling counts, too!

shop in Toronto that offers a free shot of alcohol with any major purchase. As long as you are over 19 (the legal drinking limit in Canada), you are allowed to do this – they even checked with the cops! Now, if you’re going to start giving shots of booze in your shop, well, that’s cool – why not offer them on the rocks, too? But maybe a soda with some ice is more to your taste. I actually was given Coca Cola in two skate shops when I visited Israel this past summer. Man, it would have been great to have ice. Just sayin’!

As for the ice pack, slap on a shop sticker and, voila! You’ve got yourself a customized giveaway – or if you prefer, sell them for $2.00 and make 100% profit! Everyone needs to keep things cool on a road trip, and this item is a great way for out-of-towners to solve a problem.

Item #20: Basketball Game– $2.00

Item #17: Sidewalk Crayons– $2.00

Who doesn’t love chalk? You can employ a budding artist to create a piece of art (perhaps a copy of a cover of Concrete Wave) right in front of your shop. This will attract passers-by who will be enchanted by the art. It might also attract bylaw officers and the police, so make sure you have permission to do this.

Perhaps your shop is a little bit hidden or is somewhat difficult to find. Why not draw feet on the sidewalk and have them wind up at the front of your shop? With people following the footsteps, you’ve helped to increase traffic in an amusing way. (Tip of the hat to our own Rick Tetz for this idea.)

Item #16: Sticky Notes– $0.50

If you sell longboards, you know that there is a huge amount of variety. Products for beginners are vastly different than products for experts. The easiest and most effective way to communicate what a product does and who it is aimed for is to provide information on sticky notes. Your staff can also add their comments. This concept works brilliantly at wine shops. Sometimes customers are not com-

Item #18: Ice Cube Tray– $1.00

Item #19: Freezer Packs– $1.00

Ice, Ice, Baby!

You can never have too much ice, assuming you’ve got a fridge (with a small freezer) in your shop. If a kid comes in with a swollen ankle, what a relief some ice would be! We’ve written about “So Hip it Hurts,” the

I know what you’re thinking: This was probably an impulse buy — what the hell was this guy thinking? I know it seems ridiculous, but this basketball toy actually was a hit at the last event I did. Everyone seems to love throwing balls into baskets. I can’t explain it. What do I suggest you do with this? I am not sure – but put it up in the store and see if people can win stickers after sinking baskets. I know some of you will think this is a ridiculous idea, and maybe it is … but it’s only a $2.00 investment!

Item #21: Storage Case– $1.25 Skaters always need nuts and bolts and other smaller items. Having this storage case in a hightraffic area in your shop can be a great way to increase customer loyalty. Some shops charge for an extra bolt or nut when a customer comes in. Some do not. Whatever the case, it’s important

to have easy access to these products. A storage case keeps things neat and professional. Again, if this idea really turns you on, buy in bulk, slap a shop sticker on the thing and merchandise it!

Item

Do you get skate celebrities coming into the shop? Do you visit shows or contests and meet pros? Make sure you get a photo and put it into the book. Kids will be stoked and you’ll have bragging rights for years!

Item

Item #24: Pens – $2.00

These two go hand in hand. If you really want to tap into the spirit of creativity that this article celebrates, then you’d better get busy with a notebook and writing instrument! Of course, you’re going to lose pens – everyone does. But now that you’ve got 10, you won’t have to worry! But the real meat of this idea is the notebook. Make notes to yourself whenever you come across a good idea. If you do this once a week, by the end of the month you’ll have four decent ideas, and even if you implement only one, that’s a dozen a year. Even if only six of those ideas are truly impactful, you’re still way ahead.

As you can see, we actually wound up almost $10 under budget. This leaves money for a few things:

•Six-pack of beer

•Large pizza

•Spare change for customers who are desperate to feed the parking meters outside your shop (tip of the hat to Lizzie Lee of Purple Skunk for this idea)

•Starbucks gift card for your best customer

•Donation to a charity

•Treat your staff to ice cream! AXS

#22: Photo Album– $2.00

#23: Notebook– $2.00

FUNK MEETS DESTINY

HOW ALEX LUXAT AND LESLIE HUSZTI FOUND THEIR GROOVE

Alex Luxat is a German-based longboard manufacturer who started his company, wefunk, almost a decade ago. wefunk (Luxat prefers the lowercase spelling) was one of the first companies to use very high-end composites to create downhill masterpieces. A few years ago, Luxat’s background in design and engineering led him to the world of Formula 1 racing, where he worked in Toyota’s F1 Division. Although Toyota didn’t win the first-place title, Luxat wound up learning a tremendous amount.

Leslie Huszti says he recalls skateboarding as a child, but like many, he gave it up to pursue other interests. Born legally blind, Leslie never let his disability get in the way of being active or pursuing his interests. He has a background in both finance and high tech.

“I spent 3 ½ years developing militarygrade GPS technology,” he says. “This was mostly asset tracking. Unfortunately, when it came to actually acquiring the technology, the deal fell through. I put the prototype in the

safe, knowing that one day something would come along.”

Shortly after shelving the concept, Huszti and his wife, Lisa, were involved in a horrific car accident that sidelined both of them for several months. “The accident left me directionless and my health became an issue,” he says. “I knew that I had to do more cardio, but wasn’t sure what to do.” In July 2011, Leslie got a phone call from a friend telling him to try longboarding. At that moment, everything changed.

Kim Anderson

Photo: Brad Miller

The experience was transformative. Huszti was not able to drive, but he could skate. “I stood on the board, grinning, and just really enjoyed myself,” he says. “My mind started to wander.”

He thought about people who might try to steal his longboard. He wondered about telemetry and tracking for a longboard. But when he spoke to fellow skaters about it, most felt it wasn’t such a hot idea. “After talking with folks, I realized asset tracking didn’t really make sense,” he says. “I realized a key component to longboarding was the drive to go faster. People are racing their buddies all over the world. I wondered about how cool it would be to have real-time data that compares skaters’ stats from different places.” As he pursued the idea, he came to believe it could provide a tremendous amount of insight – a sort of “Facebook of board sports.”

Huszti began his search for a board company that shared his vision. Sifting through the tremendous amount of info on the Web was difficult, but he kept at it. “I remember seeing this product, ‘Speedbone,’ coming up in a number of searches,” he says. “I thought it looked cool, but I never made the connection with Alex.”

After a rather frustrating experience with trying to work with a local manufacturer, Huszti again went online late one night. “I couldn’t sleep and kept searching and saying to myself,

‘There’s gotta be someone who could do this stuff,’” he says. Finally, at about 3:30 a.m. he found what he’d been looking for: “I ran across a blog that mentioned Alex and his F1 background and made the connection with Wefunk. It was then when I emailed him and explained my background.”

Within an hour, Luxat called, and soon both men realized they’d found a kindred spirit. “We have to do this! I’ll build the deck, you build the technology,” Luxat told Huszti.

Luxat is a self-proclaimed science fiction nerd. He envisioned a board that actually talks to the rider: “‘Approaching right-hand corner ... slow down.’ That kind ofthing," he says.

As mentioned previously, wefunk was one of the first longboard companies to create decks with a wide variety of composites. But being ahead of the curve doesn’t guarantee that you can capitalize on all of your ideas. So, although many skaters lusted after Luxat’s beautiful, high-tech creations, his decks were beyond the wallet of most. Financially, things became rather strained. Things came to a head after the birth of his child. So he applied for a position at Toyota Motorsports and was delighted to be asked to join Formula 1 team.

“I learned a tremendous amount,” Luxat says. “Unfortunately, they cut the program after two years and I had to make a decision. I realized that all my experience in the longboard world,

THE MACH 1 CARBON COMPOSITE from Stealth Division THE $8,000 COMPLETE (Deck only: $7,000)

So what exactly do you get with an $8,000 complete longboard? Well, for one thing, a tremendous amount of publicity. Besides hundreds of thousands of hits on the wefunk website, the board was featured on tech-related websites like gizmag.com and in American Express’s magazine for holders of its Black card.

The deck itself weighs only 1.3 kilos. That’s about 2.86 lbs. Unlike the production wefunk decks, Luxat makes the Mach 1 decks himself, one at a time. It takes a full week to complete one deck. That doesn’t include drying times –it's just the time spent working on the deck. “Certain things have to take place at specific times,” says Luxat. “If I have to get up at 3 a.m. to work on the deck, that’s what I do. It’s handmade, and you can’t rush it.”

Material cost alone is more than $500. It’s constructed of seven layers of F1-grade prepreg carbon fiber over a core made of ash veneers and Airex polymer foam. The core features a center channel with a carbon fiber inlay for unmatched torsional rigidity and reduced drag. The nose and tail sections are reinforced with Makrolon polycarbonate for high-velocity impact resistance. The top of the deck features two separate grades of grip engineered for maximum control. The front grip is less coarse and permits shifting of the front foot, while the rear grip is made from Corundum, a synthetic sapphire crystal second only to diamond in hardness. The Corundum provides an extremely grippy surface and resists the deterioration from hot shoe soles that can accompany aggressive footbraking at high speeds.

Only 10 boards of these boards have been made – and yes, there have been buyers, including one chap from Australia. The key thing is that this is an actual working product that pushes things to heights not previously imagined. If the longboard business winds up following the bike industry, this will go down in history as a defining moment.

THE GNARVIGATOR

Stealth Division didn’t just create a phenomenal deck; they also came up with the most advanced piece of technology ever mounted on a longboard: the “Gnarvigator,” the world’s first and only full telemetry-enabled rider information system for longboarding. “Telemetry is something you’d find in an F1 car,” says Luxat. “It gives you a huge amount of information at the time you are driving, or in this case, riding – like a ‘black box’ you’d find on an airplane.” It’s equipped with onboard GPS, solid-state data logging, Bluetooth wireless data and voice (for real-time data relay via wireless Bluetooth headset) and tri-axial accelerometer. Key performance metrics tracked include speed, start/stop run time, altitude, vertical drop, average speed, velocity and Gforce (entering and exiting turns), as well as GPS position with RDGPS proprietary errorcorrection algorithms.

Plans are under way to make the Gnarvigator available separately as a universal attachment for all types of longboard decks, allowing you to retrofit anything in your quiver into the ultimate full-telemetry “smartboard.” The product will consist of two parts: the onboard Gnarvigator module and a watch interface that reads, interprets and displays the data in a meaningful fashion. The target price for the system is $399, which would also include a free year of system access. System access for subsequent years is targeted at $80 per year.

This technology would be invaluable to product designers, top racers or anyone just looking to maximize their downhill experience. “With this technology you can verify and quantify exactly what is happening with the board,” Luxat says. “It gives you the total picture.”

After his foray into F1, Alex teamed up with a partner to build decks in China. Sadly, it was not everything he’d hoped for. “Things didn’t work out between the factory and my partner,” he admits.

But it was around this time that Luxat and Huszti met and began working together. “It’s as if the stars aligned,” Huszti says. “Skateboarding allowed me to focus my energy into something I loved.”

Since Luxat and Huszti teamed up, they have been focused on creating something truly exceptional. The fruits of their labor paid off with their $8,000 longboard. Yes, you read that correctly: EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS for a longboard! While only 10 decks were created, they generated an enormous amount of publicity. “It’s really a provocation,” explains Luxat. “But the thing is, we brought the shape and technology down to a $229 price for our regular production model.”

The production-model wefunk decks are constructed in a vastly different way than most and are made in a ski factory in Slovenia. “We have developed proprietary manufacturing technologies that are ecologically sound,” Huszti says. “The raw logs are harvested locally and everything takes place in one facility. This minimizes the C02 footprint.”

Adding to the environmental friendliness is a high-frequency curing process for the veneers that requires less heat and less glue. Huszti says the process is “similar to a microwave, and the water molecules get cooked — less resin, better bonding, while at the same time using less energy.”

Earlier this year, the duo launched Stealth Division as a premium sub-brand of wefunk.

The brand met with an exceptional response to their first offering: the Stealth Division truck. “This truck is not just my creation,” explains Luxat. “Leslie and Wayne Gallipoli from SurfRodz had big roles to play. I tried to clean up the design so that it would fit with Stealth Division.”

wefunk and Stealth Division are working with a number of core skate shops and have been actively selling to them since June. Things seem to be on a pretty fast trajectory. When I met with the duo in late September, they were completely out of the $370-per-set trucks, and they had signed a lease for a shop/office/warehouse in midtown Toronto and planned to move in within 3 weeks.

Huszti says online-only shops are generally having a more challenging time selling the product. “The shops that actually showcase the decks and trucks and let customers actually touch and feel the quality of the product – those shops are finding tremendous success,” he says. “A picture really doesn’t give people the appreciation of what the product is like. When they hold it in their hands, they are sold instantly.”

In Europe, wefunk’s reputation was such that there was an incredible demand. “Boneless in Munich doesn’t have an online shop, but he has a good location with a lot of customers dropping by,” explains Luxat. “The more higher-end your product, the more necessary it is to be closely inspected.”

Huszti says there are essentially two paths in the longboard business. “There are people who believe the sport has to be advanced and [who] will reinvest,” he says. “This fosters innovation and creates more enjoyment for people worldwide. Then there are the grassroots people who are happy to enjoy the status quo. There are polar opposite viewpoints on where the industry is going.”

The truth is that no matter what type of longboard you’re riding, it’s all about the user experience. wefunk and Stealth Division are pushing things forward on their own terms. “Everything takes time to get right, and we’d rather take our time,” Huszti says. The vision that Luxat and Huszti share creates a unique chemistry. I was struck not only by their passion but by their commitment to really challenge the status quo. I get the feeling they’d work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, if they could.

“To have the kind of magic that we have together, you cannot put a price tag on it,” Huszti says. It would appear that the combination of these two brilliant minds means that wefunk has got its groove back. AXS

By Mark Schmid

SKATEBOARD PRESENTATION 2.0

For as long as there have been retail storefronts, there have been issues about how to present the product you’re selling. The skateboard market is no different. I’ve been in hundreds of skate shops over the last 35 years, and the level of presentation has rarely punctured the “adequate” ceiling. Since this is an election year in the USA, I’m going to bring the word “HOPE” into the equation in the “hopes” that retailers reading this will consciously add more value to their products via high-quality presentation.

This specific article is focused on skateboard deck presentation, so we’re not going to talk about all the other “presentation” opportunities in the skate shop environment (I’ll talk about each of those in subsequent issues of AXS Longboard Retailer Magazine – if they’ll have me back). So, without further delay, here’s a short list of things that I hope will help you, or at least get you thinking.

Merchandising

The first question I always ask when witnessing a standard deck wall for the first time is, “Are you storing these or trying to sell them?” Traditional horizontal racks are fine for storage and easy access, but with the exception of the bottom deck, 40% of each deck’s narrative is covered by the deck in front of it. If Sports Illustrated covered each swimsuit model to that extent, do you think they would sell a few less magazines? I haven’t

seen such a surge of creative shapes hit skateboarding as now since the mid1980s (shout out to Mark Lake and his impossible-to-CNC Walker Skates “Nightmare” model), and I’m really impressed by the variety of shapes/molds available in the market today. These should be celebrated, not hidden behind one another. In addition, the artwork on these boards continues to get more compelling. Are we honoring the artists, riders and designers of these amazing creations? Well, we should be, as it is in our own best interest.

shop environment where nimble-fingered patrons contribute far less to inventory shrinkage than when product (treasure) is oozing out of every nook and cranny of an over-inventoried shop.

Lighting

Did you ever get a headache in class while reading or taking a test under fluorescent lighting? I did, and as I did a little research into the subject, I did not like what I found. While the latest compact fluorescent bulbs have a greatly increased flicker rate, the light they emit is still cold and, frankly, makes that previously mentioned Sports Illustrated swimsuit model look like a steak that’s been in the fridge a week too long instead of the deserving warm brown color that natural light provides. The solution to this is full-spectrum lighting. Halogen lights used to be expensive before IKEA hit our shores. Now they’re cheap, and the upscaling that full-spectrum floodlights will bring to your deck wall can’t be overstated. Go into a well-lit jewelry store and you’ll see what I mean. The extra $ spent on your electric bill will more than be made up for in increased sales relating to beautifully lit product. So many of today’s longboards truly do look like works of art; celebrate them as such.

I know, I know; space is at a premium and, with business booming, we are working with more product and less space. If this is the case, then the deck wall should be like a shoe wall: one piece of each deck displayed and excess inventory in the back – in addition to your demo board rack. The benefits of this are immediate: perceived scarcity, increased inventory control and awareness, increased product focus, and a much cleaner

There is a large gray zone between product “storage” and “gallery display,” and I challenge you, the retailer, to create something that works for your physical space and enhances your reputation in your community as a purveyor of art as much as a valued seller of the things we love. AXS

Mark is the CEO of the Art Function Group of Companies. You can find out more about his unique products at sk8ology.com

Top of the World Ottawa, Ontario

Edge Board Shop, Dana Point, California.

A MATTER OF SOLE

BROOKLYN

WORKSHOP CREATES THE WORLD’S FIRST SHOE FOR LONGBOARDERS

AXS Magazine: How did these shoes come about?

Alon Karpman – Brooklyn Workshop: We have been working on a longboard design for the past few years as our next product. But because we are working with new and difficult materials, and a production process that doesn’t exist, it’s taking longer than we hoped. I commute to work on my longboard and, like most people who ride, was wearing through my sneakers pretty rapidly. This got me thinking about what it would take to make a shoe geared toward longboarding. I decided to send an email to Michael DiTullo. He’s a designer that started out at Nike and Jordan, and then, when Nike bought Converse, was promoted to design director of Converse. He was there for about eight years. The goal was to get some advice on the idea of a longboard shoe. Michael was also a contributing editor for core77.com, a designcentric blog. He often gave advice in his posts about shoe design and design philosophies. I really enjoyed his posts. Also didn’t hurt that he was at Converse during the time I was really into all the high-end Converse lines they were putting out. I thought at the very least he would give me some insight as to what was going on in the

industry in terms of production and the skate market. Surprised the s—t out of me when he wrote back an hour later. His reply was that he was familiar with Brooklyn Workshop and the Skatecycle, and congratulated me on the design award I received for that. At the end of the email he wrote, “Let’s make a shoe.” I was only thinking to seed the idea and hopefully make these in a few years, after introducing our board. But you don’t say no to an opportunity to work with a guy like this. And so here we are with the Elby.

AXS: The skate shoe industry is very hard to break into. What were your initial thoughts?

AK: Every product we make at Brooklyn Workshop undergoes absolutely no market research or focus-group analysis before we make it. The only test it needs to pass is that it has to be the one thing I can’t stop thinking about, and want for myself, very badly. I figure if I want it that badly, there must be others who will too. I can’t tell you how many shoes I destroyed after only one week spent just boarding back and forth from work. To me it becomes obvious that there is a void that needs to be filled. The rest is just blind ambition to get it made.

AXS: Why do you feel the major shoe companies have not done something like this?

AK: I can tell you what I have heard directly from some of the designers that work for major companies. Bottom line is that they cater to the short-board market. Also there is the reality that the soft goods generated from short-board culture exceed the actual sales of the boards. There is just no need for them to enter the longboard market until they see sales surpassing short boards, which includes the soft goods. The crazy part is that it’s just a matter of time. I think most shop owners who carry longboards already see their sales of longboards exceeding sales of short boards. It covers a much wider age range and demographic. It’s going to be crazy when you have a market where the hard goods and soft goods are equal in terms of sales volume. The shift is already happening, and those who are paying attention are seeing it. I would compare the major shoe companies and shops that only carry short boards to a boyfriend in a relationship with a cheating girlfriend. He’s committed and invested, he just doesn’t want to see what’s right in front of him. The boyfriend is always the last to know, but he will have to come to terms with it sooner or later. It will be a good day when everyone realizes that short boards and longboards are just two disciplines of the same sport. It’s all skateboarding.

AXS: Longboarders love to footbrake like crazy. How will your shoes help lessen the wear on the sole?

AK: A lot of people enjoy vulcanized shoes because they have thin soles and a great amount of grip. But the downside is that thin and grippy soles are made from softer rubbers that wear our really fast. Our focus was to get a compound that could retain all the grip and board feel but not wear out so easily. No sole is indestructible, but at least we can get it to last longer than what’s available on the market right now. The chemistry isn’t easy, but we got it. A typical Vans vulcanized shoe is at about a .02 in the lab we tested. Ours is a .11. That’s 10 times more abrasion-resistant, while still being just as grippy – not an easy thing to achieve. That doesn’t mean it will last 10 times longer; it just means that it will last longer. The next step we are working on is to get even more vibration dampening on the sole, and especially the heel, without losing any board feel.

AXS: What are some of your approaches to core longboard shops?

AK: Our market intro was just at the end of August, so we haven’t had a chance to hit up too many shops yet. I’m hoping the core shops see us before we see them. We believe in our product and have already brought in a container of goods. Amazingly enough, half of the container

is already sold. This gives us the ability to ship out to stores without asking for any minimum-quantity orders. We are happy to have them put the shoes on the shelf to see how customers react without making them buy a minimum amount. We are looking to build long and lasting relationships with the core shops so we can continue to get feedback and make the product better every year.

AXS: What was the reaction at Agenda to the shoe?

AK: Surprising. We were bracing ourselves for a lot of short-board hate. But an overwhelming amount of short-boarders walked up, looked at the shoe and said, “Hey, look, a rubber ollie patch; why didn’t someone think of that before?” We built the rubber overlay as more of a drag patch when you lay your foot down on its side on the grip tape, but you can call it whatever you want. It’s there as an extra layer of protection. I think we were very happy to see confirmation that the design resonated with so many and they saw that it can sit on the shelf alongside Vans and Etnies and has its own look. It’s good for shop owners to give an option on the shelf and not have everything look the same. Also I think a lot of shops that don’t even sell shoes would be happy to have a longboard-specific shoe in their shops. It’s great when a store can be ahead of the curve.

AXS: Describe the overall philosophy of Brooklyn Workshop.

AK: There are many that will jump on our site

and see the Skatecycle. They could say, “What the hell is that?” and “What does that have to do with a company trying to make a longboard and putting out longboard shoes?” To me, there is a very clear connection. I love my longboard and I have unique ideas on how to make one. But for our first product, we wanted to do something that has never been done, so it would be obvious to others that we are capable of producing products that are unique. We don’t just put out anything someone else is making unless we can really add to the conversation. What other company is crazy enough to inject all the money (with no financial backing), blood, sweat and tears it takes to mass-produce a product that is not currently on the market and without knowing whether it will sell or not! Answer: the same company that is crazy enough to do it with longboard shoes. We have a pipeline of products that corresponds to the amount of wheels they have. The concept is, 4, 3, 2, none: two wheels is the Skatecycle, four wheels is our upcoming boards and “none” is the shoes. To me they are all products that I want to see made in a way never done before. And they all fit a full spectrum of distance and capability, from area ride to long distance. The Skatecycle can’t do what longboards can do, and vice versa. Even though we don’t have our board out yet, when people call telling me they want to buy the Skatecycle for their commute to work or school, I tell them that the Skatecycle is for hanging out in an area and having fun with that coordinated pump technique, not for distance or hills. For that I tell them to check out some of my favorite longboard companies. It’s better to lose a sale than to have someone buy something that’s not for them and bad-mouth it. The Skatecycle sells really well, so I don’t push it on someone if it doesn’t fit their needs. But I can tell you that if you can learn to ride the Skatecycle, you will be able to long-distance pump almost any longboard. It totally hones those skills.

AXS: What do you feel about the future of the longboard market?

AK: It’s an amazing time. You can see this drastic change year by year. If you go to the Broadway Bomb here in New York, you’ll witness the growth firsthand. People come from all over, and every year it seems to double in size. I think that we are going to have a great time the next few years before the marketing machine of major companies comes in and changes the game. It’s nice feeling like a pioneer, and I hope that when the market hits that tipping point, we will see competition that propels the sport and raises the bar instead of just saturating and confusing customers. AXS

Stratford

THE SO-AND-SO SYNDROME

One of the best things about being a retiring skate-industry consultant is getting the “thank you” calls from clients (and friends) from far and near, graciously thanking me for my help over the last five years. I got one of these calls just last week. I wouldn't call the guy who thanked me a “client” per se. True, it just so happens that he owns a small skateboard company and I just so happen to be a skate-industry consultant. But really, we’re just friends.

At any rate, this guy gave me a call last week to thank me for my help – which is always nice. But in this case, it also left me a little bit perplexed.

“What’d I do?” I asked, because I honestly didn’t remember doing anything special at all, outside of maybe buying him a cold PBR once in a blue moon.

“Well, you did a lot for me, actually,” he said. “You always pointed out the importance of not listening to ‘the haters,’ but instead listening to my own head and heart. You were always telling me to do whatever I wanted to do, not what everybody else wanted me to do. So, thanks for that! It totally worked!”

Well, I’m paraphrasing, of course. But that was basically the whole convo, right there.

“The Haters.” Oh, yeah. This is actually a very, very common problem across this industry. It can also be called “The ‘No’ Men,” “The Unfriendly ‘Friendly’ Competitors” … or, my personal favorite, “The So-and-So Syndrome.”

The skateboard industry is sort of weird that way. Everybody’s always afraid to do anything that doesn’t somehow sit right with all of the Soand-Sos out there – even if So-and-So is one of your competitors, or your mortal enemy. And if it doesn’t make So-and-So happy, well, then, maybe it’s just best not to do it at all.

For my part, I’m not entirely sure where this “So-and-So Syndrome” originated, or why it’s so pervasive in our industry, or across our community culture. Is it because teenagers are intrinsically insecure and overly sensitive to peer pressure? That might explain away the “cultural” aspect of it, but it certainly doesn’t jibe very well with the “industry” side of things, where our leading skateboard companies are (generally)

owned and operated by (hopefully) mature and enlightened adults. For some reason, though, it just doesn’t always work out that way. Even at the industry level, our “industry leaders” are often much more apt to act like insecure teenagers than bona fide men living in a hypercompetitive world. I do work in other industries quite removed from skateboarding, and while the So-and-So Syndrome might exist in some insignificant to imperceptible form in them, it’s still nothing like the over-the-top peer-pressure experiences that I’ve perpetually had to deal with within the skateboard industry.

Regardless of the source, the So-and-So Syndrome has been a particularly menacing problem that I’ve fought hard to neutralize among my clientele for the last five years. Whenever the So-and-So Syndrome pops up in a conversation – and it always does – I always like to ask my clients a few questions, to illustrate the true nature of the problem.

“Is So-and-So, by any chance, putting food on your table every night?”

“Uhhh … no.”

“Is So-and-So paying your mortgage or your rent?”

“Nope.”

“Is So-and-So saving up for your retirement?”

“No.”

You can usually start to see the light bulb going on right about now. If you can’t, then you’ve got even bigger problems than you originally thought.

“Is So-and-So f—-ing your wife or raising your kids?”

“Hopefully not!”

“Well, then, why in the hell does it matter what in the hell So-and-So thinks about anything? After all, So-and-So apparently ain’t doin’ anything good for you!”

Yes, it’s a really funny argument to make. Yes, it always gets at least a chuckle – maybe even two. Unfortunately, it also happens to be true. That part isn’t always so funny.

At the end of the day, I’m a huge believer in the merits of the competitive spirit and of the relentless pursuit of individual liberty. Competition, after all, brings out the very best of our industry and of our leaders. Competition brings us technical progress, better manufac-

turing practices, more consistent quality control and more value for the consumers – who also happen to be “the skaters” that we should really be worried about over here. Because that’s who we’re all really working for, right? The skaters, and the customers – not the f—-ing So-and-Sos.

But as my clients will happily attest, there’s also very real value in turning your back on “the haters” and doing whatever you think is right, or whatever makes you happy. And I hammer that home every chance I get – because long after the sales are tallied, the balance sheets are compiled, the stocks are revalued, the market share is determined, the awards are won and the props are given, the bottom line is that if you aren’t happy with the outcomes, then none of it was really worth a damn. And make no mistake: You’ll never find any measure of true happiness if you insist on perpetually living your life based on what’s gonna make your enemies and your competition happy.

That said, I would challenge everyone across this industry – from woodshop operators, to brand managers, to advertising and sales executives, to distributors, to skate shop owners, all the way to team riders, sales reps and skate shop employees, and even all the way through to the skaters themselves – to maybe stop for a minute, put your thinking cap on and take a cold, hard look at why you’re doing whatever you’re doing. And more importantly, who you’re doing it for. And then make some changes until you’re completely satisfied that whatever you’re doing, you’re ultimately doing it for yourself, and nobody else.

If we can make that happen, I’m certain that skateboarding will be in a far better place than it currently sits today. In fact, I can damn near guarantee it. And I just so happen to have the happy clients (and friends) to prove it. AXS

Bud Stratford is the editor of Everything Skateboarding Magazine. everything skateboardingmagazine.blogspot.com

REWARDING YOUR BEST CUSTOMERS

We all know that it is crucial to maintain an excellent relationship with your best customers. But what are some specific things your shop can do to ensure these customers stay happy and keep spreading the good word on your business? We asked a number of shops what they do to reward their best customers. Read on to find out more.

Q:Do you have a system in place to identify your best customers?

Lizzie Lee – Purple Skunk, San Francisco: Not really, but we have an innate ability to remember most of our customers because we make it a habit to introduce ourselves when we assist them and ask what their name is. We also handwrite our receipts so it has a personable and somewhat homey flavor. You know, like a restaurant that serves home cooking like mom –pleasantly comforting and cozy. Somehow writing one’s name down leaves an impression in the brain’s memory bank.

Jogi März – Longboardshop.eu, Germany: We’ve had different approaches over the years to keep our good clients.

Dennis “DNAZ” Nazari – Salty Peaks, Salt Lake City, Utah: Not really. We have a way to do it in our new Point of Sale System but we are not utilizing it to its full potential.

Q:If not, why not? And if you do have a system, what are some of the things you’re doing to identify your best customers?

Lizzie: It’sfunny, but I think the tables are turned here. Our best customers know they are our good

customers. As they walk through the doors they make it a point to acknowledge and greet us by our first names and we in turn do the same. Best customers are never forgotten. They’re like best friends. They’re Skunk family. Plus our best customers don’t run in and out. They enjoy their time at the Skunk. That’s when you know you’re doing something right. Mi casa es su casa.

Jogi: We’ve had different approaches over the years to keep our good clients. Incentives are a good way to reward good, but personally unknown customers. But to be honest, the best way to keep your best customers (or make people your best customers) is to go riding with them!

When I look through our 30-year-old customer file, those who came back most often are the ones we met riding (at freerides or in races). Some of them shared the pioneer days of longboarding or even snowboarding with us. We invite them regularly to our POGO parties and to other events (for example, glacier openings with free snowboard and longboard test material).

We’ve had customers who even ended up working for us or moved to our town to go riding with our staff after work.

Those are the best customers, and it is not the incentives that will keep them here. We try to give them a place to visit in their spare time, we have a big showroom with couches, a skate + snowboard museum, a schnapps distillery, a mini ramp in the garden, a fireplace, a small old house and an old caravan /camper.

Last but not least it is also competence that

makes them come here. We repair their boards since we also have a board production, we cut rain profiles into longboard wheels, trim sidewalls or lacquer transparent gripdeck with different grades (granulates) when the old one is used down.

DNAZ: We know our best customers by name and face and we take care of them.

Q:Are your best customers given any sort of special pricing, gifts or other types of incentive? If so, please describe in detail.

Lizzie: Absolutely! Best customers, like best friends, are rewarded. It’s give to get and get to give here at the Skunk. We give a 15% Thank You Skunk Buck with purchase to use on future purchases. The buck customer is our returning customer, which in turn is our good customer. Buy a complete and the price is reduced as a package, plus we throw in a handful of stickers … sometimes even a Purple Skunk baseball cap or T-shirt. If time permits, first-time skaters receive special attention when selecting their first board and protective gear. We try to make it a point to have this purchase experience memorable. A happy experience as a child pretty much leaves a long-lasting memory in one’s life. That is priceless in itself.

DNAZ: Yes, we are always taking care of our regulars. Not only with top-notch customer service,

Dennis “DNAZ” Nazari Salty Peaks, Salt Lake City, Utah

Lizzie Lee & Rodney Van Beusekom Purple Skunk, San Francisco

but knowledgeable people and a huge selection of longboard gear with cabinets full of trucks, wheels and accessories to race downhill.

Q:Based on your experiences, do you feel that the incentives for your best customers work?

Lizzie: They sure do, because they are returning customers. A satisfied customer is a loyal customer for life.

Jogi: Even if it takes one hour of advice to sell the right bushing, the client will be pleased to get fundamental info and he will recommend our shop to his friends.

DNAZ: We don’t need to offer them, and don’t for everyone, but we do because we like to [see] them stoked. Many of our customers will drive for miles and pass other shops to come to Salty Peaks because of our knowledge and selection. We have stuff you won’t find at other shops.

Q:Do you feel that your best customers bring you additional business or increase positive word of mouth?

Lizzie: For sure. Our best form of advertising is word-of-mouth. We ask all of our new customers how they found us. 70% of the time it is by referral. That is the purest of all forms of advertising.

Jogi: We don’t just compare turnover, but do also consider the importance of growing the scene by actions (events) and word of mouth. It all comes down to open-minded and at first sight rather nonprofitable advisory service.

DNAZ: Absolutely. They are our boots on the ground and wheels in the streets.

Q:Any final comments or thoughts?

Lizzie: I’d like to ask a question: How often are you rewarded as a retailer? I can name several occasions where a customer gave us unexpected tips, gifts or even go out of their way in bringing a pizza or a six-pack to say “thank you.” Those were unexpected, heartfelt surprises. I believe that there is no limit in kindness.

Jogi: I believe you don’t just have to serve existing clients, but you have to “build” one longboarder every day. This means you have to put people on boards and let them share the sensations we feel. Many of those clients will stay with you even if they wouldn’t get incentives with each purchase.

DNAZ: Longboarding is paying the bills for most shops that are still in business these days. It’s funny that the companies that 15 years ago made fun of longboards are now coming out with token longboards to try and stay in business and increase sales, but it’s years late and inches short. The long-

board industry and companies need to pay attention to the mistakes made by the skate industry in the past and support the core shops. They need to police the Internet and deep discounters and support the riders that make a difference. It’s never going to be worth it to overproduce and incentivize discounting for short-term gain at the expense of the health of the industry and long-term losses. Heed the words. AXS

FACTS ON WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING

(Courtesy of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association)

•Nine out of 10 conversations about brands occur offline.

•The typical American mentions brand names 60 times a week in both online and offline conversations.

•Every day in the United States there are 3.3 billion brand mentions in 2.4 billion brand-related conversations.

•66% of all brand-related word-of-mouth conversations are “mostly positive.”

•8% of brand-related word-of-mouth conversations are “mostly negative.”

•Word of mouth is the No. 1 factor in driving a purchasing decision (54%).

•Most people have four to six independent groups of friends, and information spreads throughout these networks.

Jogi März & Crew Longboardshop.eu, Germany

2012 CONCRETE WAVE READERSHIP SURVEY

A COMPLETE ANALYSIS

We received approximately 1,200 responses to our survey. It was completed back in May of this year. In sifting through the data, some rather interesting trends become apparent. Statistically speaking, having 1,200 respondents is 100% more than the number required to get solid information. Remember, they poll roughly 1,000 people for elections!

But as Mark Twain famously said, there are “lies, damned lies and statistics.” We welcome your feedback as to whether these numbers correlate with your own.

Male vs. Female

The overwhelming majority of people filling out the survey were male. Females didn’t even hit 10%. If you take a look at the demographics of TransWorld Skateboarding, it attracts a 91% male audience. There is probably a crucial explanation as to why. Our survey was conducted online and we promoted it at several sites. From what we can discern, there are a tremendous number of males online at skateboard websites when compared to females. There is growth in female participation in longboarding. However, unlike males, we surmise women are not spending a huge amount of time online at skate sites.

Age is Just a Number

Traditionally, the median age of most readers of skateboard magazines is 16. The longboard market is different. Approximately 58% of the Concrete Wave audience is under 20. This leaves

42% over the age of 20. This is significant. Even more intriguing is the slight uptick of riders aged 36-45 when compared to riders aged 26-35. Even those riders aged 45+ registered significantly on the survey, hitting more than 7%. Over the past decade we’ve seen a lot more younger longboarders, and our survey’s statistics indicate this clearly. However, there are still a large number of people over the age of 20 who are enjoying longboarding. Remember, they don’t have an allowance — they have a paycheck.

Money Spent on Hardgoods

Our readers like to spend money on longboard gear. Longboarding is product-driven. There are quivers, there are kids wearing out wheels, and of course, there is new technology being introduced each quarter. Unlike the street skate market, longboarding is not fixated on a $99 price-point complete. Sure, there are some lowpriced longboard completes, and there is a very sizable market for this product. But when it comes to components, price takes a back seat to performance. Decks can range from $75 to more than $250. Trucks can hit more than $420 per set and wheels more than $70 per set. As we wrote

Ready to roll at 4 years old.

Photo: Michael Brooke

Female riders like Rebekka Gemperle are also rolling – but are they clicking?

Photo: Michael Brooke

Jeff Tatum, still rolling after more than 40 years.

in our previous issue, the longboard market will probably wind up like the bicycle market, with three distinctive groups: entry level, midprice and high-end. The high-end products will be a small but vital part of the market. Their technology and ideas will move from the high end to the entry level, which means everyone benefits.

About 35% of our readership spend less than $250 per year on hardgoods. A few spend very little (zero dollars). But most of these consumers are content to pick up a new deck, a set of wheels or some bearings a few times per year. No surprises here. There is potential to move these folks up the consumption food chain. The more they discover what longboarding offers, the more they will want to keep up with the technology. They can cultivate a quiver. A lot of it depends on whom they are hanging out with, which websites they visit and what your shop can do to get them to embrace more gear.

Where things get truly interesting is that 65% of our readership are spending more than $250 per year. We can break this down into three categories:

•Medium purchasers – $250 to $400 per year – 27%

•Heavy purchasers – $400 to $800 per year – 27 %

•Super purchasers – $800 or more per year – 11%

The medium purchasers are buying wheels and maybe a deck every few months. These consumers can be cultivated to move up into the heavy purchasing group.

The heavy purchasers are going through more product. They also have an urge to keep up with the technology and are willing to spend on something they love. I have visions of some of these folks hiding the credit card bill so their spouses don’t see the purchases.

But if splurging on longboard product is a capital offense, at least it’s a lot cheaper than purchasing and maintaining a Porsche. If 27% of your clients are spending $400 to $800, it’s vital that you recognize and reward them. There are lots of ways to do this (see article this issue). But however you do it, it’s very important for you to do something for these heavy purchasers.

The final category are super purchasers. They make up 11% of all readers, and they are truly remarkable people. They LOVE longboarding and are willing to spend a fairly significant amount of their income on product. Within this 11%, about 3% are spending $800 to $1,000 per year. This figure DOUBLES to 6% for people spending $1,000 to $1,500 per year on longboard hardgoods. This is a significant jump. Wheel of the Month Club, anyone?

Finally we come to a small but powerful number. Just under 2% of our readership are spending more than $1,500 per year on hardgoods. I’ll let you process that for a moment. If you are lucky enough to have customers like this, I sincerely hope you’re doing everything in your power to make them the happiest folks on earth.

As you can see, there are a wide range of consumers when it comes to purchasing hardgoods. Your No.1 job as a retailer is to cultivate each group to move forward. It’s much easier to work with current customers than to try to find new ones. There are many ways to engage customers. Whatever you do, make sure you do something

Print

The No. 1 question I get from folks who work outside the skate business is, “What is it like to run a print publication?” I always reply in the following way: “We are doing well. As long as kids have lockers at school and people are still going to the bathroom, there will always be print.” Concrete Wave is a niche publication. While the Web offers endless amounts of information, magazines, especially focused publications, offer a vastly different experience.

Online

It’s not a surprise, but 95% of our readers shop online for product or are planning to. There are a number of reasons for this huge number. Since there are so many different brands and SKUs (Abec 11 has more than 80 wheels alone), it’s almost impossible for retailers to stock everything on their shelves. Customers spend a significant amount of time researching what they want. When it comes time to purchase, if the local shop doesn’t know its stuff or doesn’t have exactly the right product, the consumer will go online to purchase. This is the reality, and it’s going to keep affecting the skate biz for a number of years. According to Nielsen research, e-commerce is predicted to grow 8.5% over the next four years. This was the No. 1 area of growth. Sporting goods shops were expected to lose market share.

I spoke to a brick-and-mortar retailer who told me that 90% of his business now comes from the Web. He’s got a fairly small shop but an overflowing stockroom. No matter what you feel about e-commerce, 90% is a significant number.

Think about how much time you spend on the Web at a specific site, and then think about these numbers:

•45% of our audience spends more than one hour reading Concrete Wave. A whopping 18% of our audience spends more than two hours with the magazine. Readers are engaged and spending quality time with CW.

•There is also a tremendous pass-along rate with Concrete Wave. Seventy-five percent of our readers share it with more than one person. Almost 10% of readers share the magazine with 11 or more people. Guess there are quite a few magazines on coffee tables and in bathrooms! AXS

HOW TO SURVIVE THE FUTURE

In the next couple of years, our shops, our skateparks, our hangouts, our hills and the places we exchange money for the products we enjoy riding and wearing will have a tall task: survive and thrive. It’s my belief that if you love what you do, and you work hard, the rewards for your efforts will follow suit. Admittedly, it’s a cliché thing to say, but it’s the truth. Through work experience and business relationships built over time, I have the confidence to say this in print. My current position as an in-house rep gives me a little insight on shops coast to coast. I hear and see how successful shops operate and what struggling shops can learn from their prospering peers. I’ve been asked to look forward and give my opinion about what shops can do to increase their bottom line. Hopefully, when I’m done, a few bits and pieces will stick with you, and possibly help you.

I frequently ask buyers what is working and what is not. For quite a few years, longboard goods have seen steady growth and innovation.

Some street skate brands were hit hard by the economy and by other factors such as brand saturation. As the thinning out of street brands began to take hold, longboard brands continued to rush the market with new and exciting shapes, art and events. Right now, it’s a bull market for longboards. So how do you capitalize on it?

If you’ve made the decision to go full force and have a longboard section complete with decks, trucks, wheels, bearings, bushings and grip tape, I say go further. Carry safety gear. Carry leathers. Carry those niche products other shops around you haven’t thought of. Know your decks, too. Is a deck made of maple? Bamboo? Composite? How many plies of each? What is the wheelbase? Gas pedals? How steep is the concave; is it ½” or ⅝”? How many truck holes? Is it drop-down or drop-through — or both? Where was it pressed? What is the story behind the company you bought it from? Each week I talk to buyers that don’t care about details or are hesitant to ask more. It’s a bummer sometimes,

because the more buyers ask the right questions, the more I learn as well.

There are specific details about wheels where knowledge is necessary as well, such as coning and core placement. Are they sideset, offset or centerset? What is the durometer? How wide is the contact patch? Are the lips rounded, squared or acute? All of these are factors that create conversation with your customer. Hell, maybe they don’t even know about some of the things you are handsomely versed in. And you know what? That gives you an edge. You become the source of information in your town where longboarding is growing. You create a transparent need to be in your store. Maybe a walk-in came in just to ask about a new wheel you posted online ... and grabbed a sheet of grip and a set of high-end bushings just because you were so damn helpful.

Trucks — I can write a couple more pages about trucks. Know them. Know the best brands, and the best brands for your money. Buy

The Broadway Bomb was canceled due to a court injunction. That didn't prevent it from happening. The future is unwritten.

a little of each – locally, if possible, to save on shipping – but dollars can be well spent on other components as well.

Yes, your longboard customer will ask these questions, and more. If you have a ready answer, it shows you respect what they do, and you just might end up with a sale. Not just a $120 complete sale, but possibly upwards of $300-$500 worth of product when you’re done. Do five of those transactions a day in your offseason, and tell me how s---ty you feel.

If your product and your knowledge are present, customers can create their masterpiece.

Sometimes the best way to describe a method that works is to describe a method that doesn’t, as Bud Stratford interestingly pointed out in a previous AXS article titled “The Future of the Indie Skate Shop.” His random survey of 300plus shops brought him to the conclusion that “less than a dozen of them knew how to answer the damned telephone correctly.” While I slightly disagree with such a low number, I completely agree that a majority of shop employees answer the phone not knowing how highly important this action is. They are the first point of contact and everyone is a potential customer. It could be a well-to-do parent doing some back-to-school shopping. It could be a tourist from Europe, South America or Australia looking to get that

high-end USA product without all the shipping costs. You just never know who’s on the other end, and being unprofessional will not gain customers. We work in a rad industry. Always let your customers know this.

Purist longboarding, just like street skating, is about personal expression. What’s cool, who can go bigger, and, of course, style all dictate the next trend. Why shouldn’t you dictate what sells in your area? Your shop’s presentation is just as crucial as your product knowledge. Keep your shop fresh. Hell, keep it clean, too. When business is booming, we are all busy, but when business is slow, we should be even busier. Give your employees projects and fill hours that would otherwise seem unproductive. If it’s just you running the show, the same rules apply. Don’t remain idle. Present the product as it should be, as a handcrafted piece of art. Give your customer a reason to come in other than to pull out their wallet. Give them an experience. Make a wooden Transformer-like rack or a fan with longboard blades, or display your product on some type of board rotisserie. Slap a metaphorical new pair of shoes on your shop once in awhile; your customers will notice. The key is not to keep your customer guessing, but to give them a little reason to “ooh” and “ahh” each time they pop in.

How you present your brick-and-mortar shop to walk-ins is just as important as how you’re represented online. We all have a website or social media outlets set up these days. Keep a fluidity between what’s actually in your shop and what’s online. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen a shop Facebook picture dated from 2009. This drives me nuts because of how easy it is to upload something new. Drop that picture of your old skate counter. If it’s a website, spend the money to do it right, and maintain it, or don’t do it. Instead spend that money on promoting your shop locally. Kids will go to websites for places they can’t reach by skate. There are plenty of ways to keep them in the loop without dropping a lot of coin. For example today, right now, it’s Instagram. If Facebook is too involved, and Twitter is confusing, then Instagram might be perfect.

Take a look around your shop. If you already had an answer to all that I mentioned above, then there’s a good chance you’re part of a thriving global longboard community. If you had to think about the concave depth of a deck or the core placement of a wheel, then you might be just surviving. The great part is that it’s pretty easy to get up to speed. Watch YouTube videos and go to local events. Be consistent about your dedication to the sport, and you’ll see results. AXS

The wheels of fortune at New York's Longboard Loft.

FIGURING OUT FACEBOOK

Is the Social Media Site a Help or a Hindrance for Small Business?

facilitated any number of meet-ups and events over the past few years. But it seems like every minute of every day there’s another contest to try to incentivize people to Like a certain page, and the reality of the true value of Facebook Likes can be somewhat murky. Just Google “purchase Facebook Likes” and you’ll find hundreds of sites offering 1,000 Likes for $25 or less. Facebook announced in September that it was cracking down on the practice.

A website called Inside Facebook has a great deal of information about what kinds of information truly count on Facebook. One key metric is called “People Talking About This.” Created in the fall of 2011, it is an excellent indicator as to what is really happening out there on any given Facebook site. It indicates the number of unique users who have created a “story” about a page in a seven-day period. On Facebook, stories are items that display in one’s News Feed. So when you see the number of people “talking about this,” it’s because they have done one or more of the following:

•Like a page

•Post on the page wall

•Like a post

•Comment on a post

•Share a post

•Answer a question

•RSVP to a page’s event

•Mention the page in a post

While Facebook’s stock price might not be where it was a few months ago, there is no doubt that the social media site continues to be a juggernaut. In writing this article, we wanted to give you some “best practices” to help you figure out how best to use Facebook to your advantage. But since most of our readers don’t have the deep pockets of Pepsi or Red Bull, we wanted to present an additional angle to the feature – about that weird feeling you might have gotten in your gut that maybe social media ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe it’s really only effective for big business? As you will soon discover, there are some folks who call bulls—t on

Facebook and aren’t ashamed to tell the world. You’ll meet one of them later on in this piece. For now, sit back and let’s try to figure out some Facebook best practices.

Most marketing people you speak with are generally trumpeting how many Facebook “Likes” their site has and how that’s helped increase the success of their business. An odd sort of frenzy surrounds social media that reminds me of the early days of the Web. Remember when it was all about “hits” on your website?

For now, though, there is no question that Facebook and longboarding go hand in hand. Facebook has connected many skaters and has

•Tag the page in a photo

•Check in at a place

•Share a check-in deal

•Like a check-in deal

•Write a recommendation

The formula is simple to determine:

Let’s say a Facebook page has 100,000 likes 1,000 are talking about this ENGAGEMENT RATIO FORMULA 1,000/100,000 then multiplied by 100 = 1%

The metric tracks unique users interacting with a page over a seven-day range. If a fan does

more than one of these items during a week, it only adds one point.

According to insidefacebook.com, anyone visiting a page can see the total People Talking About This on the left side of the page under the number of Likes. Although Likes are counted and displayed in real time, “People Talking About This” data is typically two days behind. This means the number doesn’t tell admins how many people are talking about their page right now, but how many people directly interacted with the page in some way in the seven days prior to two days ago.

“People Talking About This” is an important metric because it emphasizes interactions beyond an initial Facebook Like. If you can create posts that fans enjoy, then you will reap the rewards of true engagement. When people interact with pages in ways that generate stories, pages reach an audience beyond their existing fan base. Users benefit, too, from pages providing more relevant content.

The key thing to understand is that if you’ve only been focused on attaining Likes without truly engaging your followers, you will find things out of balance.

So what are some effective ways to boost user engagement? Marketing consultant Jeff Bullas shares a great many insights on his website, jeffbullas.com. Among them:

•The best time to post on Facebook is between the hours of 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. – when people are not at work.

•The best days to post on Facebook are Wednesdays and Sundays.

•One or two posts a day is enough – it’s all about quality, not quantity, and you don’t have to post every day.

•Keep your posts concise. By keeping things under 40 characters you will ensure the most engagements.

•If you own a brand and you want your fans talking, ask questions to spark dialogue.

•A fill-in-the-blanks strategy with your posts can get you 9 times more comments than other posts.

•Fans like coupons – but don’t make fans do the math. A simple “$ off” will generate twice the engagement of “% off.”

•Keep posts simple. The most effective posts are clear to understand and are not fancy.

THE AXS FACEBOOK SURVEY

In September 2012, we conducted a survey about Facebook. We asked five key questions. Remember, this is a small sample of people (most of whom are longboarders), but it does give some idea as to what’s really going on out there.

What is your overall impression of Facebook?

People seem to be pretty much evenly split on the subject of Facebook. For some it’s a necessary evil, and for others it’s part of their hourly ritual. Between these two extremes, it’s mostly enjoyed.

4% Hate it!

9% Dislike 30% OK 48% Like it

9%Love it!

Time Spent on Facebook

Assuming that people were honest with their answer, 50% of the population spends 45 minutes or more per day on Facebook. That works out to more than 20 hours per month. Here’s some food for thought: 26% of people out there are spending more than 46 hours a month on Facebook.

0–5 minutes — 24%

15-45 minutes — 25%

45-90 minutes — 25%

90 minutes or more per day — 26%

What are some of the best things that Facebook offers you?

Summary: Facebook helps people connect and feel a part of something. This is an important feature.

•Facebook allows me to stay in touch with happenings in the skating community (more so products and events).

•Meeting up with skaters, planning sessions.

•I like the way it allows you to share things with people all over the world. The people it can reach is virtually endless, depending on how many Likes/Comments/Shares you get.

•Also, I love how you can connect accounts such as YouTube or Instagram to your FB page to increase the amount of people you reach. Getting word out about events/sessions is also easier with the use of FB. Not to mention you can meet a lot of cool new people if you use it right. Contests and giveaways are also nice, but I feel like there are other ways to connect with your audience.

•Connect with longboard companies and other skaters. Meeting up with people.

•Winning prizes. Organizing skate events.

•Easy chatting amongst groups of skaters, more one-on-one communication with company reps.

What does clicking the “Like” button mean to you?

So, what does actually clicking the button really mean? The range of emotions (or lack thereof) might surprise you!

•Nothing. I don’t really care for it. And even when people “Like” my stuff, it doesn’t mean much. It’s like finding a quarter on the ground: It’s good, I suppose, but doesn’t do much for me.

•I actually, really like something and am not just upvoting my friends’ stuff just to show support

•It means someone took their time to view your post/picture/video/etc. and make an effort to show that they “Like” it. The more Likes on our pictures/videos/posts the more flattering for sure. I wish I knew how certain companies get thousands of Likes on their posts, but we are still a small company and learning. We just started tapping into the social media outlets this past year, but I think we’ve made tremendous progress so far.

•If it’s a brand, I feel somehow connected to that brand.

•I read it, understand it and have an opinion enough to share my response. What is done with those responses, I have no idea, and think the data could be better collected through other sites.

•It means I’d like to see more information regarding the “Liked” page.

•Nothing more than a socially acceptable way of giving someone an e-thumbs up.

•It means that whatever I have “Liked” is relevant to my interests and I would like to see more of it.

•I agree with something or I think a comment is funny.

•A self-confidence booster! And a simple, easy way to show support.

•It means that my friends might see what I saw.

Have you ever clicked on a Facebook ad?

If so, did it have any effect on you?

Judging by this survey, Facebook isn’t particularly successful at getting people to actually click on ads. That’s not great for their business model. The truth is that most people ignore the ads. Here are some choice comments.

•No.

•I usually don’t click on ads. I almost never pay attention to them.

•Once or twice. I’ve looked at things, but can’t recall actually buying anything that way.

•I don’t like ads. Our company was started from word of mouth, and honestly I love the fact that our FB page is still small, but steadily growing. The reason I say this is because we did it organically. We didn’t pay some fancy web designer to create a fancy page for us, we don’t pay someone full time to post stuff all day everyday, etc. We are all skaters here and only post stuff that we feel is worth it. We do know that every Like on Facebook or view on YouTube that we do get is from people hearing about it organically.

•Yes, I have. I don’t know that it really affected me. Not sure.

•I am very skeptical of FB ads and stay away from them on purpose.

•Never have. All of them are junk.

•Yes, it was an accident. It affected me because I really didn’t want to know more about pants because I only wear shorts. It froze my com-

puter and it was lagging for a few days until I ran a virus check and it had seeded a virus that was taking up all the memory on my desktop.

Questioning Social Media

As noted in the beginning of this article, some people have become quite vocal in their criticism of social media. One good example is BJ Mendelson, who released a book this past fall that sums up his viewpoint quite succinctly. The title? Social Media is Bulls—t. In an interview with Holy Taco website, Mendelson said the following:

“Social Media doesn’t exist. ‘Social Media’ is a bulls—t marketing term made up to sell you ebooks, consulting services, conferences, workshops, and other crap that makes these a— hole marketers and Cyber Hipsters rich. All ‘social media’ describes is what the Web has always allowed you to do. The Web is better, prettier, and faster now.”

In a September 2012 interview with Saya Weissman of digiday.com, Mendelson said he viewed sites like Twitter, Facebook and Reddit as neither good or bad. He considers them tools and believes that many myths have been generated about social media, which has given people a false impression of social media’s true nature: “There are many people out there who believe the myths that all you need to do is use Twitter to make money, and that YouTube is the thing that will make you famous,” he said. “I do believe a lot of these platforms are oversold in

what they can do on the marketing and business side of things, and that’s what the research in the book supports. If you want to use Twitter to write jokes like I do or to connect with friends and family on Facebook, that’s totally fine. But if you want to use it for your business, that’s where it starts to get a little murky, and in that murkiness lies danger for small businesses, artists and entrepreneurs.”

What’s interesting about Mendelson’s book is that hecritically dissects supposed “viral hits” like the guy from Old Spice. He states that “the Internet is great, if you’re rich, but if you’re like me and just a normal person, it’s a total crapshoot. Maybe you do get lucky. It’s entirely possible, but it’s highly unlikely.”

In that same interview, Mendelson continued to urge caution about the overall effect of social media. “There are some great things you can do with these tools, absolutely,” he said, “but I think we need to be realistic about their potential, too. The issue comes with the expectations, and I think in a bad economy we have to set realistic expectations so we can manage our time, money and other resources better. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable thing to ask. And a lot of this seems like common sense because it is, but the thing about common sense is that it’s not as common as you think, and I believe we have a moral obligation to help others who might not know any better to see the light. That’s why this book exists.” AXS

KEEP YOUR POSTS CONCISE. BY KEEPING THINGS UNDER 40 CHARACTERS YOU WILL ENSURE THE MOST ENGAGEMENTS.

“THE INTERNET IS GREAT, IF YOU’RE RICH, BUT IF YOU¹RE LIKE ME AND JUST A NORMAL PERSON, IT’S A TOTAL CRAPSHOOT. MAYBE YOU DO GET LUCKY. IT¹S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE, BUT IT’S HIGHLY UNLIKELY.”

— BJ Mendelson

In the Internet age, everything is for sale.

By Michael Brooke

CULTivating YOUR BRAND

Why Customers Unite Around Certain Brands

IIn the previous issue we discussed how a small beverage company named IRN-BRU from Scotland took on Pepsi and Coke and won. While IRN-BRU has nowhere near the revenue of the two soft drink titans, it has created its own special place in the minds and hearts of Scots. In this feature, our aim is to dig deeper and continue to crack the code of cult brands. A cult brand is one that transcends the product or service. For the buyer, it’s not just a possession, but an extension of who you are. For example, for Harley-Davidson users, the bike is much more than a transportation vehicle.

In the skateboarding world, several brands clearly stand out as having an extremely deep connection with their customers. Independent Trucks, Powell-Peralta and Thrasher magazine are three that come to mind. There is a deep reverence for these companies that is expressed in not just purchases of the products they sell.

Cult brands are not like fads. Fads can come and go pretty quickly. A cult brand may or may not have huge sales, but its success is defined by more than just revenue. People get an almost spiritual feeling from being associated with the brand. In creating a very special connection with consumers, you first must have a unique appeal and tap into the grass roots. The growth of longboarding itself mirrors a lot of what you’ll find with respect to cult branding. As an entity, longboarding was underground for many years before it finally exploded in popularity.

As a shop owner, it’s important that you understand the underlying characteristics of a cult brand. But even more importantly, your shop can benefit from what makes a cult brand prosperous. The very things that make them successful can make your shop successful.

BJ Bueno is an expert on cult branding. He is People get an almost spiritual feeling from being associated with the brand. of The Cult Branding Company and shares many of his insights in his books and on his website. Bueno has spent many years studying what makes people unite around a specific product or service. By applying the theories of psychologist Abraham Maslow, Bueno says he’s observed patterns that form the basis of why people are drawn to specific brands and how a cult brand is created.

Cult Wheels has done a good job of creating a cult brand. Rider: Luis Lins. Photo: Rafael Fazano

For those unfamiliar with Maslow, here is a brief overview. Maslow hypothesized that humans have an ascending order of needs, which are often illustrated with a pyramid. Basic things like food, shelter and clothing are at the bottom of the pyramid. Next come safety and security, social interaction and selfesteem. At the top of the pyramid is “self-actualization,” which Maslow described as the ultimate human need to learn, grow and reach one’s full potential.

Once we take care of the first two tiers in the pyramid, things get rather intriguing. Bueno notes that Maslow states time and time again in his work, “Man is a perpetually wanting animal.”

As Bueno explains, “We all desire on some level to self-actualize, both to be at peace with ourselves and to try to be the best we can be. As humans, we are drawn to people, places, groups, causes, companies, and, ultimately, brands that we believe can help us toward our ultimate goal of self-actualization and total fulfillment.”

Through the pyramid, we can begin to understand why humans make the decisions they do. Bueno says that although Maslow never mentions the phrase “brand loyalty” in his books, his “hierarchy of needs” and concepts like self-actualization are key to understanding why consumers consistently choose one brand over another and enjoy such strong relationships with them.

Bueno’s theory is that the higher-level needs influence future human behavior much more than lower-level needs. It’s one thing to satisfy our needs on the bottom four layers of the pyramid – what Maslow called “deficiency needs” or d-needs. If we don’t have food or shelter, we will die. As we head toward the top of the pyramid, into the area of self-actualization, d-needs are transcended, and “being values” (or

b-values) are realized. These “intrinsic values of being,” when fulfilled, motivate and inspire humans to grow and reach their fullest potential.

The brands that can fulfill human needs on the higher levels of the hierarchy become irreplaceable in the mind of the consumer. This is precisely what Bueno feels customer loyalty is really all about: being irreplaceable.

As he states emphatically: True customer loyalty is not only about getting a customer to consistently choose your brand over another. It’s for that same customer to always believe (and then go tell the world) that your company’s brand has no equal!

Bueno came up with seven rules that define cult brands. We present them here and provide examples from the longboard market.

#1 – The Golden Rule of Social Groups

Consumers want to be part of a group that’s different. We humans like to feel unique, and products that tap into this sense of “standing out” have an opportunity to grow into cult brands. But things can be complicated when you’re the first. When Sector 9 burst onto the skate scene in 1993, it was a page right out of Gandhi. You know his famous expression, don’t you? First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

In the case of Sector 9, when they weren’t being completely ignored, they were met with howls of derision from many people in the skate industry. A number of people told them there was absolutely no market for the product they were creating. But the Sector 9 gang never wavered from their idea – that consumers were hungry for something that rode differently than a traditional street deck. Over time, they brilliantly forged a community around their brand. They were smart enough to stick to their guns and wait for the skate industry to finally wake up to a new reality. By that time, Sector 9 had

Dan Gesmer of Seismic.

The Sector 9 gang at ASR back in 1999.

By Michael Brooke

already endured Gandhi’s three stages and had won. Being different than the rest of the crowd has its own pitfalls and rewards. If you know in your heart that you’d rather lead and forge into new territory, then you are well on your way to achieving success with this rule.

#2 – The Golden Rule of Courage

Cult brand inventors show daring and determination. Building on the concept of being different is the idea behind products that truly surprise us. Back in 1994, an ad appeared in TransWorld Skateboarding with the caption, “This Truck Must Die.”

The ad explained the importance of turning in skateboarding. Its writer, Dan Gesmer, would later write a report detailing the future of longboarding, including the possibility of a $500+ complete. Dan’s company, Seismic, was truly ahead of the curve.

In May 1999, I happened to be in Vancouver at the Slam City Jam, where I met Thomas Edstrand and Michael Perreten. They were fresh out of college and had a booth at the event for a new

was a very peculiar-looking deck, on which the standing platform was dropped below the typical level. “It’s for stability at high speeds,” they proudly told me. This company was one of the key architects in creating the world of downhill longboarding. Even though some ignored and laughed at what they were doing, they kept at it. Since they first marketed them, the drop decks that Landyachtz showcased have become an industry standard and the company has grown by leaps and bounds.

A year later in 2000, I found myself at the ASR Trade Show in San Diego. The show was so jammed that booth space was at a premium; in this case, show management decided to sell space underneath an exit sign surrounded by concrete columns. Despite the rather odd booth shape, I was drawn to the product that was on display. It was a very different type of truck that maximized carving. The ride was completely different, and you could effortlessly pump hard with the board. The truck was called Carver, and a dozen years

later, the brand has exploded worldwide, truly bridging the worlds of surf and skate.

In 2005 a gentleman from Huntington Beach called me and explained he had longboards that were 6 ½ feet long. He’d named them Hamboards after his last name – Hamborg. The boards might not to be everyone’s taste, and they take up a fair amount of space in your car, but there is no ignoring these incredibly huge longboards.

Independent's "Iron Cross" logo has inspired many tattoos.

Maitane Rascon charging in Spain.

Photo: Jesus A. Fernandez

Branded!

#3 – The Golden Rule of Fun

Cult brands sell lifestyles.

A few years ago, a man named Pablo Castro sent me a photo of an odd-looking orangutan for the listing in the 2007 Concrete Wave Buyer’s Guide. In fact, if you looked closely, you could see that the poor animal was actually in the act of defecating. “What the hell is this?” I calmly asked Pablo. He replied that it was a new wheel company that was coming. I didn’t know what to think. It was unlike any listing I’d ever published – or even read, for that matter!

The company’s name was Orangatang. The odd photo and even odder name soon took on a whole new meaning when the wheels were finally released. There was indeed a s—tstorm of interest, and buyers quickly embraced a new wheel

in races and is immersed in the actual building of the decks. Beyond this, it seems to have some fairly intense marketing ideas, including a very shocking sticker. Who am I talking about? The one, the only, Rayne “Motherf—-ing” Longboards. When I spoke to Les Robertson, the marketing manager of Rayne, he admitted that parents have called their offices complaining about the sticker (when it was sent to their child). Les seemed to take things in stride and had no plans to change things. If anything, the stickers are more in demand now!

Sticking to your guns when things get a little heated can be difficult. Most companies are searching for more market share. Cult brands and services are focused on servicing their customers and interacting as closely as they can with them. The infrastructure must match their philosophy; otherwise, overheads can trump passion.

YouTube exploded, this same company brought people together through their incredible videos. In fact, if you take a look at the history of Gravity Skateboards, you’ll find that they were at the forefront of much of what is popular today within longboarding. Michael Bream, the founder of Gravity, created a passionate following with his brand. Eco-friendly ideas such as nontoxic materials that are now widely popular were developed by Gravity more than a decade ago.

Original Skateboards has built an army of followers via their YouTube channel. In terms of creating a truly expansive customer community, Bustin Boards reinvented the commuting experience in New York City and exploded the concept of “Push Culture.”

company. Orangatang comes from the same quirky minds that bring you Loaded, another fantastic cult longboard brand. This company builds fun into all aspects of their existence. They don’t take things too seriously, and manage to really get into the heads of consumers.

The ads that Paris Trucks and Dregs Skateboards create for Concrete Wave are always amusing. The reaction to the outrageous ads is always the same: They take us to a different place and make us laugh. If you can add some humorous irreverence to your marketing mix, your brand loyalists will thank you.

#4 – The Golden Rule of Human Needs

Listen to the choir and create cult brand evangelists. Based in British Columbia, this longboard brand has methodically built its own following on its own terms. Its owner, Graham Buksa, competes

When it comes to skate retailers who have developed a very special relationship with their customers, I can think of two who really stand out: Scott Lembach at Muir Surf and Skate and Kelsey Crozier of Switchback Longboards are constantly out there competing and charging hard. Kudos to them both.

#5 of Contribution

Cult brands always create customer communities.

Before freeriding became enormous, there was a company holding sliding contests years ago. And before

Whether it’s races, events or just a simple skate session with a BBQ, the old adage of “the more you give, the more you get” holds true. When the bean counters enter the picture, however, the fun might get curtailed. You have been warned!

Graham Buksa of Rayne (Motherf---ing) Longboards

Don Tashman in the early days of Loaded.

By Michael Brooke

#6 – The Golden Rule of Openness

Cult brands are inclusive. I love that longboarding embraces the idea of inclusiveness. But let’s be honest here. It has been a very difficult path. For many years the traditional street skate market turned up its nose at anything new or different. As the street skate industry found its entire market collapsing, it has made some bold moves to rectify things. Women and older folks who were generally ignored and marginalized for years now find themselves courted by the street folks. A number of companies in the street skate world renamed longboards “cruisers” and have decided to flood the market with price-point completes. This should have come as no surprise to anyone who knows how markets generally move.

At the heart of a cult longboard brand you’ll find the essence of inclusion. And what is this essence precisely? It is a desire to spread the stoke – the joy of riding and sharing longboarding with your friends and the rest of the world. One brand in particular that does an incredible job of inclusiveness is Abec 11. The reason is simple – with more than 80 different wheels, they have a wheel for every type of skater and every type of terrain. Beyond this, another example was a recent ad that truly celebrated this concept of inclusiveness. Here’s a brief snippet: “Longboarding isn’t about landing a trick or seeing who can Ollie the highest. It’s about enjoying the freedom to express yourself and skate however you want.”

I felt for years that the key problem with skateboarding was that it was mighty exclusive. If you didn’t ollie or couldn’t bust huge airs, you were marginalized. The tricks presented in videos and

in magazines are truly incredible. At the same time, many people feel intimidated by these moves and leave skateboarding behind – or worse, they never pick up a skateboard at all. Longboarding has played a key role in changing the face of skateboarding. Some still decry this and rail against what they believe were sacred roots. Sadly, these folks don’t really understand the history of skate-

boarding. Variety, inclusion and a sense of riding for fun are at the very heart of skating’s history. You ignore history at your peril.

#7 – The Golden Rule of Freedom

Cult brands promote personal freedom and draw power from their enemies. Of all the rules, this one is particularly sensitive. If you’re an upstart company, chances are you’re going to step on some toes. Your desire to make at least some money from your enterprise can mean that someone else is going to earn less. But then again, if you’re creating something entirely new and different, perhaps that money wasn’t going to go to your competitor in the first place. Either way, if you’re trying to establish yourself as a cult brand, one of the greatest things you can do is tie in a sense of freedom and leverage it against the establishment. Yep, I’m talking about “sticking it to the man.”

But in a world of marketing hype, it can be difficult to separate the bulls—t from true, heartfelt products or services. Back in the day, it was Apple vs. IBM. Steve Rocco founded World Industries to take on the Big Five in the skate industry. For those who haven’t seen the documentary about Rocco, “The Man Who Souled the World,” it’s readily available on video.

While the paths of nonconformity and rejecting the establishment are noble pursuits, they do sometimes have a dark side. Those who originally had good intentions in developing something new and changing the status quo can sometimes wind up moving completely away from a cult brand. Something happens when they meet success. They forget the roots of why they started and their focus becomes about money. Passion, community and creativity take a back seat to the drive for more. It is indeed possible to start life as a cult brand and morph into something that is completely different — the very establishment you once railed against. Will ironies never cease? For some, this road to riches is perfectly acceptable. From what I’ve read, Steve Rocco did quite well for himself when he sold his company. For others, they remain happy being a cult brand.

Like BJ Bueno, I too relish the world of cult brands. I understand exactly what he means when he writes that “Cult Brands want to improve the lives of others. By harnessing the power and magnetism of Being-values, these brands tap into our innate reservoirs of self-actualization. We are drawn to Cult Brands because they make us feel good about ourselves, but on a deeper level, they lift us higher up the hierarchy to illuminate our Being needs. This drive towards self-actualization is intrinsic to our nature. Maslow understood it, and Cult Brands do too.”

So there you have it. The goods or services that you sell can be looked at as mere products or as something a lot deeper. The choice is yours. AXS

Just two guys and a dream – Mike Perreten and Tom Edstrand of Landyachtz back in the late '90s.

Supporting the brand with a purchase of gear and a T-shirt.

Photo: Michael Brooke

SPOTFINDER

New App Helps Build Longboard Communities

The Longboard Spotfinder is a free mobile app currently being used all over the world that helps riders in your community find and share spots, organize events and connect socially. As retailers, you can use this app to boost your store’s exposure and get yourselves integrated into the heart of your local longboard scene.

With more than 1.5 million monthly hits and 11,000 spots online, the Longboard Spotfinder is extremely popular, as it allows people to find and share spots based on both their riding style (downhill, freeride, dancing, carving, long distance) and the spot’s traffic level, difficulty and pavement conditions. The app is especially important for all the networking features connecting riders within communities and around the world. There are several ways your store can use this app to help your scene and gain exposure.

Connect to the Scene!

If your store is actively trying to get involved with the community, we want to give you the ability to host a Spotfinder for free on your very own website. Longboarders use the urban environment as their skatepark, and riders come into your store every day asking where they can find a place to ride that fits their skill level and style. By promoting and using the Longboard Spotfinder, you will help people find new spots, make it easier to meet for sessions, organize your own events and build a loyal customer base. This will get you in a dialogue with your customers and directly involve you in supporting your longboard community.

Put Your Store on the Map

For further exposure on the app, your retail store can be featured by having an icon at the store’s location, using the shop’s logo. Anytime a user is searching for spots in your city, your store is instantly recognized at your location on the map. This icon

is clickable, bringing up a promo page with info and a link to your website. You will know at the end of each month how many riders clicked on your location.

Mobile advertising is changing the industry in many ways because of how easily you can customize the reach of your advertising. With banner space, you can choose to target selected areas – for example, having your banner display only within your city, province or country, or to have world wide exposure. This is also a great place to promote an e-commerce store. Ads can be changed at any time to promote limited sales offers, or to spread news about a new product in store or online. The app currently reaches more than 40,000 unique visitors per month, with more than 1.5 million monthly page hits. These numbers are growing exponentially each month. This app will get you directly into the pockets of all these users.

Organize Events

If your store is organizing an event, the Spotfinder makes it easy to refer riders to the event’s location. Simply copy the link provided in the spot info and paste it into your event page, newsletter or text message. The app will direct users to the spot, whether they’re on a computer, iPhone or Android device. No need to provide anonymous Google Maps links! It’s easy and longboard-specific. Users can then share and Like your event on various social networking platforms.

Protect the Stoke: Promoting Safety and Etiquette

The Spotfinder directly deals with a main issue that longboarders are facing in their communities: Spots are being blown out every day. A spot blowout is when an area gets a lot of attention by longboarders, causing a reaction from either the police or community residents, thus preventing riders from using the area. The main reason that spots get blown out is not the amount of riders at a spot, but the attitude and respect riders demonstrate when riding in a group. The app was created to not only build a worldwide database of spots, but also to welcome people who might be new to the sport and promote an awareness of safety and etiquette – educating riders on how to respect a spot in order to keep it.

Experience shows that the way to keep spots rideable, keep the community strong and avoid conflict with residents and police, is not to try to hide the spot from the public and treat it as exclusive. Rather, a much better solution is to foster an inclusive community that strives to educate riders on how to promote their sport positively – to work with society instead of against it. By connecting users to their community, the philosophy of the sport can be spread. The Longboard Spotfinder puts riders directly in touch with their communities by

having links to community forums, session pages and blogs.

Save Some for Yourself –Keeping Things Private

For those who still strongly believe some spots shouldn’t be widely known, there are features to keep spots private by having them only seen by Facebook friends. Soon users will be able to lock a spot by password.

The Future of the Longboard Spotfinder

2013 will introduce a lot of exciting new features to the app’s development. The Longboard Spotfinder is currently merging with German-based company, Youspots, to form a new platform. In the new version, users will be able to upload images and video, as well as have access to a mobile cockpit to measure speed and distance while they ride. New and enhanced social network features will bring the Spotfinder to new heights, instilling it as a powerful force in the longboard industry. Download the free Longboard Spotfinder via your app store or at www.longboardcommunity.org and get involved in your local scene. Create and embed your personalized map at longboardcommunity.org and add a free service to your business’s web presence. Contact longboardspotfinder@gmail.com for further information on advertising and marketing opportunities. AXS

SUBLIMINAL: HOW YOUR UNCONSCIOUS MIND RULES YOUR BEHAVIOR

By Leonard Mlodinow

OVERVIEW

As a retailer or marketer, it is imperative that you take an interest in why people behave the way they do. What is it about our unconscious mind that affects our choices? This book explores our preference in politicians, the amount you tip your waiter and how we read strangers. For years, scientists have only speculated about the significance of our unconscious. Mlodinow brings a wide range of new data, and the information he presents is awe-inspiring. For example, we are conscious of only about 5 percent of our cognitive function. The other 95 percent goes on beyond our awareness and exerts a huge influence on our lives – beginning with making our lives possible. The human sensory system sends the brain about 11 million bits of information each second. If your conscious mind had to process all that incoming information, your brain would freeze like an overtaxed computer. Though we don’t realize it, we are making many decisions each second. How shall I adjust my muscles so that I remain standing and don’t tip over? What is the meaning of the words that person across the table is uttering?

The way we look and the way we speak have an immense impact on how we are perceived, but our senses can play tricks on our unconscious minds. Mlodinow explains how Richard Nixon and John Kennedy prepared for their first televised debate. Both candidates were asked if they wanted the services of a make-up artist. Both declined, but then one of Nixon’s aides proceeded to rub an over-the-counter cosmetic called Lazy Shave over his boss’s famous five-o’clock shadow. At the same time, Kennedy’s people gave him a full cosmetic touch-up. Seventy million people watched the debate and, based on the haggard-looking Nixon, the vast majority of them declared Kennedy the winner. Yet those who only heard the debate on radio thought that Nixon won. It should be noted that Nixon lost the election by 113,000 votes out of the 67 million cast.

WHY READ IT?

There is a huge amount of deep psychology presented in this book, but it’s not written in a dry fashion. Rather, the stories and examples are absolutely fascinating. Of particular note is the chapter on “In Groups and Out-Groups,” which has particular resonance for those who work in action sports.

TRUST ME, I’M LYING: CONFESSIONS OF A MEDIA MANIPULATOR

By Ryan Holiday

OVERVIEW

I spied this book at a local bookstore and was immediately drawn to its dark, foreboding cover. Like many of you, I am fascinated by the Internet but have always felt uneasy about some of the content that’s published. As a magazine publisher who actually prints on paper, I am painfully aware of just how careful you need to be when it comes to the facts. Innuendo and rumor seem to be the backbone of many blogs. Sure enough, my worst fears about the underbelly of the Internet were confirmed as I dove into the book. Holiday discusses in vivid detail how for years he manipulated blogs, provided dis-information and twisted or completely fabricated the truth. A self-proclaimed “media manipulator,” Holiday calls BS on a lot of the websites that many of us frequent. Here’s his breakdown on the levels of deception:

1)Blogs like Gawker, Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post drive the media agenda.

2)Bloggers are slaves to money, technology and deadlines.

3)Manipulators wield these levers to shape everything you read, see and watch –online and off.

Holiday’s reason for giving away these secrets seems contrary to his history of being a deceptive mercenary – a slave to the ego and almighty dollar. “Why am I giving away these secrets?” he writes. “Because I’m tired of a world where blogs take indirect bribes, marketers help write the news, reckless journalists spread lies, and no one is accountable for any of it. I’m pulling back the curtain because I don’t want anyone else to get blindsided.”

WHY READ IT?

This book is his mea culpa. Once you’re armed with Holiday’s insights, the choice is up to you whether or not to use them as a force for good or for more nefarious means.

HOW WILL YOU MEASURE YOUR LIFE?

By Clayton M.Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon

OVERVIEW

The genesis of this book grew out of a speech that Christensen gave to the 2010 graduating class of the Harvard School of Business. At the time he delivered his lecture, Christensen had just overcome the same type of cancer that had taken his father’s life. As Christensen struggled with the disease, the question “How do you measure your life?” became more urgent and poignant, and he began to share his insights more widely with family, friends and students. While some readers might be a bit turned off by the syrupy or cornball nature of most “self-help” books, you can rest assured that the insights offered in this particular book are highly worthwhile and are 100% fluff-free.

The book is organized into parts with a particular focus on core questions:

Part 1Finding Happiness in Your Career, discusses the true basis of motivation and reward;

Part 2Finding Happiness in Your Relationships, concentrates on spending time consistent with your priorities, patience and how they apply;

Part 3Staying out of Jail, talks about living with integrity and the pitfalls of marginal versus full thinking.

I have found myself rereading specific chapters and have bought several copies for friends. It’s a perfect book for those questioning their place in the world and those who are just entering the workforce.

WHY BUY IT?

This is a book for people wanting to think about how to help themselves. It helps you really examine the how and why of your life. It will get you thinking, questioning and acting. That alone is worth the $26 investment. AXS