Graffy Inc.

Why Brands Are Clueless About Social Media

JohnH2011 — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:22:32 +0000

Most companies are still approaching social media in the wrong way, says Larry Friedman, the chief research officer at TNS, North America. He points out marketers’ biggest mistakes and explains why return on investment is so tough to measure.

(Interview has been condensed and edited.) http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Why-Brands-Are-Clueless-About-66325%2ES%2E113764808

LINKEDIN: WOULD YOU ARGUE THAT MOST MARKETERS DON’T GET SOCIAL MEDIA?
Larry Friedman: Yeah, I think so. A lot of people are struggling with it, partly because it’s just so different. People tend to see it as a variation off of digital (media), which is just a variation off of traditional (media) in some sense. But they haven’t really gotten that it’s fundamentally different. And the major fundamental difference has to do with that lack of control. It’s not about you – it’s about people talking. You can make it very complicated sounding if you want, but if you strip away social media to its essence, it’s people talking. As a brand, how do you become part of that conversation?

SO IT’S ABOUT INTERJECTING YOURSELF INTO EXISTING CONVERSATIONS?
Well, interjection is a funny term. You can be a bore on social media by talking about yourself. So I think everybody is still trying to sort that out. It’s still really very new. One of my concerns is that there’s just going to be a lot of pressure to show results really quickly and companies are going to lose interest if they don’t see some immediate result, or they don’t sort it all out within months.

GIVEN THAT, SHOULD BRANDS FOCUS LESS ON ROI IN SOCIAL MEDIA?
When you start to talk about ROI, CFOs immediately start thinking about dollars, which is what their job is and that’s ultimately what the job of business is – to drive revenue. When you think of social media ROI, you have to start thinking about: What is the return and what is the investment? And how does this contribute towards building business? It may not be as direct as call-to-action advertising.

CAN YOU THINK OF A COMPANY THAT’S DOING THIS WELL?
A lot of the (consumer packaged goods) companies, the automotive companies, are really trying lots of different things. It’s a matter of being really active and being open-minded and experimental at this point. To be part of any good conversation, you have to show interest in the other party, and your thought has to be around engaging the other party in the conversation. So it’s not a matter of controlling the conversation.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES PEOPLE ARE MAKING?
Well, one of the things is when they’re basically putting an advertisement onto social media, and somehow they think they have a social media campaign.

IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT, RIGHT?
No, it doesn’t work like that. Let’s get real. You’re forgetting about the word “social” and you’re only thinking about the word “media” — this is just another place where I can put my advertisement. We’re thinking about how do you engage people in the long run? There are just so many simple things that brands need to do to build a relationship. The basic fundamental mistake that I see made is just treating this as another place to put advertising.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND?
I’m seeing a little bit of a divorce between social media as a listening platform. In other words, using it as a source of information. That’s what a lot of people have done, starting five years ago. But, we’re seeing a real shift in brands wanting to be active in marketing their brands in social media. And when you think of conversation, you can’t really divorce the two. It’s a matter of listening carefully and speaking.

Snow Outerwear Sales Lowest in Four Years

JohnH2011 — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:00:52 +0000

Source: SIA RetailTRAK™ Data produced by The Leisure Trends Group.

By TIFFANY MONTGOMERY
April 12, 2012 08:44 AM

New data from SIA on snowboard equipment and apparel sales through February confirm what retailers have been telling me – that sales of snowboards fared better than outerwear, relatively speaking, in what is shaping up to be one of the worst seasons on record.

According to SIA, snowboard equipment sales are down 10% in units and 6% in dollars compared to last season.

SIA Director of Research Kelly Davis pointed out that snowboard specialty dealers showed restraint in buying last season so are not stuck with as much excess snowboard equipment inventory as some other snow categories.

For example, alpine ski inventories are up 40% through February, but in snowboarding, inventories are up 17% in boards, 10% in boots, and 29% in bindings.

“Not fantastic, but not bad for such an anemic snow year,” Kelly wrote in an email. “Snowboard retailers cleaned their inventories over the past three seasons, did not jump on the La Nina bandwagon this season and it looks like snowboard will come out of this better than any other equipment category because of that effort.”

Snowboard equipment margins declined to 34.1% vs. 35.5% last season.

Outerwear woes

The snowboard apparel category was harder hit. Sales declined 12.9% in dollars at specialty stores, and apparel inventories are up 35% compared to last year.

According to the data, snowboard apparel sales are at their lowest level in four years.

By comparison, snowboard equipment sales are at their lowest level in three years.

Channels and regions

The internet was the only distribution channel that posted positive results, with sales in dollars rising for snowboards, bindings and boots.

The West was the only region that showed positive results in dollars, growing 1.2%. In units, sales fell 9.3% in the West.

The Northeast fared the worst, with sales falling 10.8% in dollars and 18% in units.

Instagram Purchased By Facebook

JohnH2011 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:11:44 +0000

(CBS News) Facebook announced they would purchase popular photo-sharing app Instagram Monday for a mind-blowing $1 billion. Once the acquisition is complete, people are wondering what will happen to the two-year old app that took smartphones by storm.

Facebook to acquire Instagram for $1 billion
Full coverage of Facebook at Tech Talk

Speculation has already started over what the world’s largest social network will do with Instagram. Skeptical users took to Twitter to decry the deal, even threatening to delete the app.

Naysayers have legitimate reasons for concern. Instagram is the most popular product that Facebook has purchased. Soon after Facebook purchased the location-based social network Gowalla in December 2011, the company closed up shop in March 2012. Facebook also purchased the up-and-coming FriendFeed in August 2009, but the social aggregation site has stalled since.

Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves, however. Gowalla was already losing ground to more popular services like Foursquare and Facebook Places. As for FriendFeed, the market for social aggregation didn’t quite evolve the way many thought it would.

Instagram for Android gets 1 million downloads in first day
Instagram launches for Android smartphones

A corporate takeover does not exactly spell doom for Instagram. This could be a great thing for both services.

Ideally, what Facebook will do is leave Instagram’s simple user interface alone – meaning, no advertisements or redesign. Instead, the social network should port the features like filters and sharing over to Facebook mobile upload.

Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg emphasized that they would not change Instagram in a significant way.

“We’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently,” Zuckerberg said on his Facebook feed Monday.

Another feature that would shine is better Instagram integration with Timeline. Currently, you can’t highlight an Instagram photo so that it spans two columns in Timeline. If we’re lucky, Facebook will push for a photo size that can be featured on Timeline.

While there are websites that aggregate Instagram photos, there is no official website for users to visit and manage photos. It wouldn’t be a surprise if a stronger web presence gets put in the queue.

Winter X Tignes Recap

JohnH2011 — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:32:16 +0000

ESPN’s Winter X Games from Tignes, France wrapped up this past weekend.

Highlights include Shaun White going 2 for 2 in Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe and Winning his first Slopestyle Gold Medal since 2009, Torin Yater-Wallace going massive to take Ski SuperPipe and Kelly Clark taking Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe gold.

For all the highlights be sure to check out: ESPN X Games Tignes

Weak Snow Crushes Industry Sales

JohnH2011 — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:04:38 +0000

By TIFFANY MONTGOMERY
March 13, 2012 07:54 AM

As expected, the third worst snow season in 46 years has impacted sales and inventories at stores that sell snow gear, according to recently released SIA RetailTrak data.

All told, total sales of snowboard equipment and clothing declined 12% in units through January.

This has lead to excess inventory in stores. Inventory of snowboards is up 24.5% over the same period last year. Binding inventories are up 40%, and snowboard apparel inventories are 32% to 37% higher.

Those extra inventories are likely to impact next season’s prices and retailer orders from manufacturers, said Kelly Davis, Director of Research at SIA.

The internet continues to gain strength. Despite the weak season, sales of snowboards, boots, bindings, and snowboard jackets grew in dollars online. The only category that declined online was snowboard bottoms.

By comparison, sales in each of those categories dropped in dollars in specialty and chain channels. Chain stores were especially hard hit, with sales of snowboards declining 14%, sales of boots dropping 13%, sales of bindings falling 22%, sales of snowboard jackets dropping 30% and sales of snowboard bottoms declining 26%.

In dollars, the South recorded the biggest decline – 13% – in snowboard equipment sales. Equipment sales in the Northeast fell 10%, in the Midwest sales in dollars dropped 8.5%, and in West, equipment sales fell 4%.

The data also shows that the top five sellers in certain categories are gaining a large overall percentage of sales.

For instance in men’s bindings, the top five sellers accounted for 31% of total binding sales. The top five bindings were Burton Custom, Burton Freestyle, Burton Mission, Ride EX and Ride LX.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the snow cover during winter was the third smallest winter snow cover footprint in the 46-year satellite record.

Snowpack was particularly limited across parts of the West, where parts of California, Nevada, and Arizona had snowpack less than half of average, the agency said.

Warmer than average weather was also common, with 27 states in the Northern Plains, Midwest, Southeast and Northeast recording winter temperatures that were among their 10 warmest.

Volcom Fiji Pro Confirmed

JohnH2011 — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:57:39 +0000

VOLCOM FIJI PRO SET FOR JUNE 3-15

By Justin Cote
Wed, Mar 14 2012 8:48 am | 0 Comme

Taj Burrow at Cloudbreak. Photo courtesy ASP World Tour.

Volcom Prepares to Return World’s Best Surfers to Fiji

CLOUDBREAK/Fiji (Wednesday, March 14, 2012) – The world’s best surfers are midway through the Australian leg of the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour and fans have already born witness to unprecedented levels of high-performance surfing, but come June, the Volcom Fiji Pro will send the ASP Top 34 to the idyllic isles of Fiji where they’ll do battle in the ultimate Dream Tour venues of Cloudbreak and Restaurants.

The fourth stop on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, the Volcom Fiji Pro will return the world’s very best surfers to one of the planet’s very best surfing venues. The Volcom Fiji Pro will be Volcom’s inaugural ASP World Championship Tour event.

“We are starting to get real excited about the event as June is just around the corner,” Brad Dougherty, Volcom VP of surfing, said. “Fiji is a very special place and we are ecstatic to now be part of the WCT. The Volcom Fiji Pro exemplifies the ‘Dream Tour’ concept that we believe so much in.”

The Volcom Fiji Pro compliments a 2012 ASP World Championship season that has the ASP Top 34 contesting premium venues in Australia, Brazil, Tahiti, USA, France, Portugal and the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.

“Volcom’s decision to bring the world’s best surfers back to one of the most iconic locations on the planet provides the perfect addition to ASP International’s solid stable of elite events in 2012,” Matt Wilson, ASP International Contest Director, said. “Volcom have planted their flag at two of the very best waves on the planet with their ASP 5-Star at Pipeline and now the Volcom Fiji Pro and it’s something that the surfers, the industry, the media and the fans are all very excited about.”

The ASP Top 34, the world’s elite campaigners in the hunt for the ASP World Title, are ecstatic about returning to Fiji after a three-year hiatus. Gold Coast stable mates Joel Parkinson (AUS), 30, 2011 ASP World Runner-Up, and Mick Fanning (AUS), 30, two-time ASP World Champion, are particularly eager to reunite with their respective extended families as well as Fiji’s incredible surf.

“I am so amped to be going back to Fiji,” Parkinson said. “It is my favorite place of all time. The waves, the people and the food – it epitomizes what the ASP Dream Tour is and should be. I can’t wait for the event.”

“I’ve really missed the Fiji event,” Fanning said. “Cloudbreak and Restaurants are, without a doubt two of the best waves on earth so having Volcom bring an event back to Fiji is insane. I’ve never had a bad trip to Fiji. The place rules! The locals are classic, the fishing is awesome, the waves are perfect and I’m stinging to get back there!”

Adriano de Souza (BRA), 25, current ASP World No. 2, is leading the South American charge in 2012, and the well-versed natural-footer is relishing the opportunity to return to Fiji – a locale where he has had success in past seasons.

“I had a blast at the last event we had in Fiji,” De Souza said. “I got 3rd place and I had a great time in Tavarua. For sure, I can’t wait to see the all crew from Tavarua again. Both waves, Cloudbreak and Restaurants, are amazing. I hope this event pushes other companies to run contests in similar venues as this is what surfing is all about.”

While tour veterans will be looking to dig their claws back into the Fijian perfection of Cloudbreak and Restaurants, the 2012 rookie class will get their first crack at these South Pacific reef passes.

“I’m really psyched that Fiji is back on the schedule for my rookie year on the ASP World Championship Tour,” Kolohe Andino (USA), 17, 2012 ASP Top 34 rookie, said. “I grew up watching my heroes battle it out at Cloudbreak and Restaurants, and to have the opportunity to join the tour, and get to compete there myself is really why I do this – to live out my dreams.”

The Volcom Fiji Pro will take place from June 3 – 15, 2012. The next stop on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour will be the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford Ranger from April 3 – 14, 2012. For more information, log ontowww.aspworldtour.com

ASP International
ASP World Championship Tour
Volcom Pro Fiji
June 3 – 15, 2012

Graffy2011ssm — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 04:27:21 +0000

Billabong Sells Over 50% of Nixon

JohnH2011 — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:04:36 +0000

By TIFFANY MONTGOMERY
February 16, 2012 03:30 PM

Billabong just announced it has sold just over 50% of Nixon. It will also close stores and reduce headcount.

The company indicated in another release that it is not pursuing the nonbinding offer to buy the whole company by private equity firm TPG that was the subject of news reports this week.

Here is information from financial documents the company filed. I added the headings for clarity.

Nixon sale

On 17 February 2012 the Group announced that it had entered into definitive agreements with Trilantic Capital Partners for the sale of approximately 48.5% of Nixon. The Group will retain 48.5% of Nixon, while Nixon’s management will purchase a 3% stake.

The transaction values 100% of Nixon at approximately US$464.0 million, representing a multiple of approximately 9.2 times the last twelve months’ EBITDA.

The Group expects to realise net proceeds of approximately US$285.0 million (Net proceeds are approximate and net of all transaction costs and taxes. Net proceeds are pending receipt of final tax opinions and may reduce by up to US$45 million. The Group has sought advice in advance from the relevant tax authorities) as a result of this transaction, all of which will be used to repay existing debt and reduce the limit on the Group’s financing facilities provided by its banking syndicate.

The operating results and assets and liabilities of the business will be deconsolidated from the time all conditions required for contractual completion have been satisfied. It is anticipated the transaction will be completed within 90 days, subject to certain anti-trust approval and customary closing conditions. This transaction is expected to result in a significant one-off gain in the Group’s income statement in the year ending 30 June 2012, which cannot be calculated at this point in time as the transaction has not been completed.

Aims to close 100 to 150 stores

On 17 February 2012 the Group announced that it is undertaking a review of its retail network with a view to closing loss- making stores and stores performing below expectations. While the review remains work in progress it is expected that the number of store closures will fall somewhere in the range of 100 to 150 stores.

As part of this review, the Group is targeting a range of $20 million to $30 million reduction in rent expense and a resultant increase in EBITDA in the range of $5 million to $10 million for the year ending 30 June 2013. The closures will result in a one-off charge in the Group’s income statement in the year ending 30 June 2012, which cannot be calculated at this point in time.

400 full time jobs to be eliminated

In addition to the above, the Group has also undertaken a review of its cost base and plans to reduce costs by approximately $30 million for the year ending 30 June 2013.

The savings will come from all regions and all areas of the business, including head office overheads; supply chain rationalisation; retail corporate overheads; and streamlining the company’s marketing expenditure.

The store closures mentioned above and the cost reduction program will result in full-time and casual job losses. Full-time job losses will be approximately 400 worldwide, including up to 80 in Australia. The company will seek to minimise forced job losses by redeploying staff from closed stores to other Billabong retail stores wherever possible and through natural staff attrition. The fluctuating nature of seasonal retail and the timing of store closures will impact the ultimate number of casual job losses.

Other than those items mentioned above, there has not arisen in the interval between the end of the half-year and the date of this report any item, transaction or event of a material and unusual nature likely, in the opinion of the Directors of the Group, to significantly affect the operations of the Group, the results of those operations, or the state of affairs of the Group, in future financial years.

Orange 21 now Officially Known as SPY Inc.

JohnH2011 — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:04:26 +0000

ORANGE 21 ANNOUNCES CORPORATE NAME CHANGE TO SPY INC., STOCK SYMBOL CHANGE TO “XSPY”

So Calif. Eyewear Co. Punctuates Focus on Core Brand with Eponymous Return

For Immediate Release: Feb. 10, 2012

CARLSBAD, Calif.—Orange 21 Inc. (OTCBB: ORNG) today announced that it has changed its corporate name to SPY Inc., effective Feb. 15, 2012, and has received preliminary approval to change its stock symbol to “XSPY” (OTCBB: XSPY), effective that same date.

On Feb. 6, 2012, Orange 21 Inc., a Delaware corporation, filed a Certificate of Ownership and Merger to effect a merger of the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, SPY Inc., with and into the Company, and to change the Company’s legal name to “SPY Inc.,” effective Feb. 15, 2012.

Also on Feb. 15, 2012, the Second Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Company reflecting the name change, as previously approved by the Company’s board of directors, will become effective. Other than the name change, no changes will be made to the Company’s bylaws in effect prior to Feb. 15, 2012.

“The changing of our Company name back to SPY harks to the business’s renewed focus on its most important and valuable asset—the SPY brand,” says SPY CEO Michael Marckx. “The Company’s design, marketing, financial resources and psychic energy are now singularly concentrated on SPY.”

Orange 21 decided to cease any new purchase orders of additional inventory for the O’Neill^®, Melodies by MJB^® or Margaritaville^® brands in 2011 and sold-off interest in its former Italian-based manufacturing subsidiary, LEM, on Dec. 31, 2010.

In connection with the name change, SPY Inc. anticipates it will begin trading under the new ticker symbol “XSPY” on the OTC Bulletin Board on or about Feb. 15, 2012. The Company’s common stock has been assigned a new CUSIP number of 85219W107 in connection with the name change, to be effective on Feb. 15, 2012.

Outstanding stock certificates for shares of the Company are not affected by the name change; they continue to be valid and need not be exchanged.

About SPY^®

Orange 21 Inc. designs, develops, markets and produces premium products for the action sports, motorsports, snowsports, cycling and multisport, ophthalmic, and lifestyle and fashion markets under the brands SPY^®, SPY Optic^™, SPY Performance^™ and SPY Rx^™.

SIMA Image Awards

JohnH2011 — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:03:07 +0000

By TIFFANY MONTGOMERY
February 10, 2012 07:47 AM

The industry turned out for the SIMA Image Awards at The Grove in Anaheim Thursday, with nominees hoping to take home a coveted Image award.

Several brands showed their dominance in their categories again this year.

Hurley won the closely watched Men’s Boardshort of the Year for the fourth year in a row, L*Space won Women’s Swim Brand of the Year for the fifth year in a row, Channel Islands won Surfboard of the Year for the fourth year in a row, Billabong Girls won Women’s Apparel Brand of the Year for at least the fourth year in a row and RVCA won Men’s Apparel Brand of the Year for the third consecutive time.

Huntington Surf & Sport was also a big winner, taking home both Women’s Retailer of the Year and Men’s Retailer of the Year.

Quiksilver had a big night after a dry spell with the Image Awards. The brand won twice last night, for Men’s Marketing Campaign for its promotion of Kelly Slater’s 10th world title, and for Hardgoods Accessory Product of the Year for its Cypher PS+Heat Vest System.

Stance won the coveted Breakthrough Brand of the Year award and Maui Nix of Florida won Breakthrough Retailer of the Year.

About 750 people attended the event, which was held for the first time at The Grove in Anaheim.

See a complete list of the winners and nominees here. See our slide show, above, for lots of photos from the evening.