I’m blessed to be at Mammoth Mountain in northern California this week. It’s “ski week” for schools in California (no… that is NOT a joke), and our teenager, like so many others, is drawn to snowboarding like moth to flame. I grew up skiing, and then outgrew the urge. I tried snowboarding, and it was an unmitigated disaster. These days, I spend my time in Mammoth like a “brand detective,” watching, listening, and learning about what sells.
And what an amazing place for brand-watching this is.
It snowed 18 inches last night. There are 25-mile-per-hour winds. You can hear the cannons on the mountains, starting safe avalanches to avoid disasters. It’s a cold mess. But even in whiteout conditions, I can clearly see the Burton “B” everywhere I look.
Brands are different on the mountain (and at the beach, and the skateboard park). The top brands were founded by enthusiasts. Which means that those with a love for the sport still control the market. The little guys still rule; they’re just not little any more. The rags to riches stories make for the best kind of inspiration. And the savvy combo of design and technology continue to put companies like Lib Tech and Burton right out in front.
But really, where these snowboard brands have it all going on, is that they’re just so frickin’ cool. I have zero desire to snowboard. But man, I want to buy one of these jackets. And maybe some pants. And hell, maybe a snowboard and boots. Just to stand them up in my family room… so people know I’m “that kind” of hip.
That, my friends, is the definition of branding. When you want to get NEXT to a brand, to associate yourself with it, to call it your own and be part of its tribe. Then you know that a company has really won the branding game.
Jake Burton started Burton snowboards in 1977. He was a surfer and a snow enthusiast; in some ways, he invented the sport. At that time, it was referred to as “snow surfing,” and Burton built some of the first boards, and introduced graphics to the equipment in 1979. (Intense, vivid, avante-garde graphics have become a defining element of the retail snowboarding industry.) Today, the Burton logo is so ubiquitous at Mammoth Mountain I see it with my eyes closed. Burton is, in many ways, the definition of snowboarding.
Mike Olson, the founder of Lib Technologies (commonly referred to as Lib Tech) also built his first snowboard in 1977. The story goes that he mowed lawns and cleaned gutters at the barn he worked in shaping boards, to cover his rent. In the 80’s “Liberace Technologies” came into play, when he created a skateboard that felt as “lacey as one of Liberace’s costumes.” Today Olson’s Mervin Manufacturing (purchased by Quicksilver in 1997, and then by Altamont Capital Partners in 2013) is a leader in snowboarding, surfing and skateboard manufacturing.
Jake Burton and Mike Olson are still majorly involved in their companies. They have teams of skaters, surfers and snowboarders. And they DEFINE cool.
Why? Because they genuinely and authentically love what they produce. They are committed to the feeling, the sensation, the thrill. Their technologies are driven by a desire to take things ever further. To experience the snow, the concrete, the ocean at an entirely new level.
Jake Burton and Mike Olson are cool not because they happened upon a slogan or charmed a target audience. They’re cool because they’re REAL.
Snowboarders have lots of cheap options. They can go to Sports Authority and buy stuff at a discount. But they don’t want to. They’re willing to pay full price for these brands. They’re willing to cough up $380 for a pair of snowboard boots because they have the “B.” The “B” is worth the cha-ching.
I often hear business owners tell me their companies are too small to brand. “It’s just me,” they say.
Go to burton.com or lib-tech.com and you can see the histories of these brands, laid out in timelines of passion, hard work and love for adventure.
If you’d told Jake Burton in 1977 that every kid (and parent) at Mammoth Mountain would be wearing his name on their boards, their jackets, their boots, their pants… do you think he would have believed it?
They say, “Do what you love and the money will follow.” I say, “Brand what you love, and so will the fans.”
Tell me your rags to riches vision in the comments below. Tell me why you’re hip. Tell my why you rule the mountain. Make me buy your snowboard.
My vision is to help people own their healing and achieve their “whole healthy”. I see people taking control of their health, transforming their trauma, and being ambassadors of the whole, healthy lifestyle that comes with that. Everyone want their health to radiate out of how their words and how they look. When you see people who are fit, healthy, and happy, it makes you want it for yourself! And it’s totally achievable. My Whole Healthy is that lifestyle and that brand.
I love it, Maggie. Change the world. You can do it.
I rule the mountain because I love the mountain. I love it’s steadiness, it’s power, it’s beauty, it’s resilience! One thing I know is that the mountain doesn’t look outside itself for answers. No matter the weather, it stands firmly in what it knows. It knows how to stand for just BEing exactly what it is, regardless of the external conditions. It knows that as long as it relies on itself, it can weather any storm. Metaphorically standing like the mountain, whether it’s sunny skies or white outs, I love that I can always find the answers inside my Inner Core, AND that I’ve helped hundreds of people do the same thing.
You just sold me a snowboard. I want to feel like you feel. Plain and simple.