Madeline Mulvihill | Senior Capstone Project | Winter 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of Opportunity 5 Company Overview 7 Swot Analysis 8 Market Research
10
Competitive Analysis
12
Launching New Collection
14
Customer Profile
16
Assortment Plan
20
Financial Buying Plan
22
Allocated Store Spaces
24
Launching Partnership
26
Press and Advertisement Strategy
28
Sponsors
30
Social Media Campaign
32
Entering the Ski Apparel Market Smith Optics remains to be the top choice for headwear protection in the ski and snowboard industry. This is a response to Smith never failing to execute sleek, reliable, and shielding products. This being said, many progressing competitors are not much further behind. The brands have fully immersed themselves as lifestyle brands that provide wide ranges of product lines to their consumers. For the brand loyal ski bums, this has become not only the norm, but the expectation for brands. It is time for Smith to strategically introduce a highly performing, sleek, and trending ski apparel collection to build brand awareness without over saturating its name. This apparel line will not only be an extension of the assortment, but an enhancement of Smith’s promise to deliver and execute these values. Introducing a limited edition Smith Ski & Board apparel line will put Smith optics back on the trending map for sponsored pro athletes, avid ski obsessers, and even the run in the mill rookie that is trying to join the snow culture. This line will reassure Smith’s loyal consumer base that they are innovating and constantly providing the best ski and snowboard gear to flash on the mountain.
Brand History
“Taking 50 years of heritage to inform the next 50 years of innovation� In 1965, Robert Smith, orthodontist and avide skier, developed the first sealed thermal lens and breathable vent foam goggles so he could get a few more powder runs on days when everyone else had to go indoors. This changed the game for all ski goggles on the marker. Since then, SMITH has pioneered innovative products to fuel functionality and performance and creating gear where every detail counts. From 1989 to 1995 Smith Optics developed exclusive polarised lens technologies. It was around this time when the Safilo Group bought out Smith Optics SMITH Optics remains today to be the top ski and snowboard headwear brand on the market
Company Overview Founder: Dr. Robert Smith President: Ned Post VP of Product & Design: Eric Carlson Total Revenue of Ownership: 101 B Ownership: Safilo Group Store Space Exposure: 50 online retailer partners, ~ 5,000 stores
Mission Statement We will be a leading Global Eyewear Creator with a balanced Portfolio of superior brands that will delight the world’s consumers, create mutual value with our partners and reward Safilo with leadership shareholder value creation.
Balance
Focus
Simplification
Differentiation
S W O T
Strong brand awareness for ski gear Ski and Snowboarders Brand Ambassadors endorsing products (X games & Winter Olymipcs) Great quality goods with safety features
Product Assortment is limiting Price range is limiting Lacks International Exposure
Expanding into apparel/gear market Endorsing more pro athletes Invest in smart materials & smart fabrics to enhance information in take and overall experience
Brands expanding assortment faster Counterfeit goods copying Smith optics at lower price point
Market Research & Targetted Market The Ski Apparel Industry Market size has steadily grown in recent years. According to Euromonitor, theSki Apparel market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 1.45% from $726 million in 2014 to $758 million in 2017. It is believed by 2022 the market will reach $791 million. The Ski Industry is very expensive for cosnumers due to: highly priced equitment, limiting Georgraphical locations, and over priced Ski Resort Lift Passes. Despite the expense, many justify the activity for the active, social, and nature compasssing enviromnment. It was found that 9.78 million people went skiing or snowboarding in the last year in the United States.
Age: 18- 40
Income 65 K - 1 M
Male to Female Ratio 3:2
Market Peak Locations Events: For the past 15 years the Snowmass and Aspen Resort, Colorado hosted the X games and the Bud Light HiFi series, Jackson hole music under the tram, Whistler Backcomb World Ski and Snowboard festival, Vail Burton US Snowboarding Open and World Pond Skimming Champanions, Breckinridge Beer festival Key Cities for the Winter Mountain Market United States: Aspen, Park City, Jackson, Salt Lake City, Bozeman, Big Sky, Denver, Burlington, Vail, Lake Tahoe Canada: Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Whistler
Direct and Indirect Competitors
Key Players North Face
Strengths This mainstreamed brand recently has put its name on the map for luxury clothing through multiple brand collaborations. Collaborators include: mastermind World, Sacai, Supreme, Beams, Vans, and Hyke. As a result the perception of the brand shifted from overexposed and predictable to highend, current, and creative. AUR Jackets: $320
Price Range: $900-$150
Helly Hansen
Strengths If you are going to any main ski resort it is nearly impossible to miss seeing the Helly Hansen name everywhere. The brand strategically partnered with the EPIC pass as the sole skiwear brand worn by all ski instructors on every Epic mountain available. This partnership has successfully brought more brand awarenss to skiers offline than any other. AUR Jackets: $450
Price Range: $900-$325
686
Strengths 686 recently signed Parker White as the first pro brand sponsor. 686 also collaborated with Coors Light for their new Sixer Insulated Jacket and is special featured on Level 1 Productions. Even though the brand is not as exposed as others, it is doing a good job of staying relevant. AUR Jackets: $192
Price Range Jackets: $400 - $100
Oakley
Strengths After this years Winter Olymipics, Oakley quickly became all of the talk along the athletes. The brands Prizm React techonology, which allows athletes to control the lighting of their goggles, proved itself by resulting in 5 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medalists for United States Olympians. The brand never fails to be innovative, fashionable, and often spot on with their product line for the past recent years. AUR Jackets: $200 AUR Goggles $170
Price Range: $380 - $100 Price Range: $250- $50
Burton
Strengths Burton has become a trusted brand especially within the snowboarding community. Always executing supreme boards, bindings, and gear, Burton remains to be a go-to retailer for mountain lovers. The brand was widely respresented in the Olympic Opening Ceremony by the entire US Snowboarding team. AUR Jackets: $350 AUR Goggles $200
Price Range: $689 - $111 Price Range: $289 - $59
Assortment Descriptions Protective Outer Shell Features: Waterproof, windproof, and breathable for optimal performance. With the SMITH GEARÂŽ technology this shell will regulate body heat temperature while also staying protective and shielding to the athlete wearing it. This shell is perfectly compatible with Smith helmets allowing you to attach parts to the compacted collar or hood.
Amplify Down Jacket Features: This down jacket is known for its insulation. With waterproof pockets, built in headphone jacks, and thermal neck warmers, this down jacket will provide the ideal level of comfort and convenience. The Down Jacket also allows breathable layers to attach and detach to suit comfort. Like the Shell, the down jacket is also compatible with the Smith helmets.
Insulated Pullover Features: The Insulated Pullover acts as a second skin hugging your body for the extra cold ski days. The pullover includes attachments to the Pow Snow pant to illuminate any possibility of snow reaching your body. The pullover also comes with a built in attatchable face mask.
Bib Overall Snow pant Features: The Bib Overall Snow pant contains a thermal kangaroo pouch in the center of the chest to strengthen the battery of any form of technology used. The bib pants also provide protective knee padding. The bib pants are incredible breathable, flexible, and contain very strong fibers to ensure durability.
Pow Snow pant Features: A key feature of the pow snow pant is that is has additional insulation from the bottom leg to the upper thigh to prepare for the low riding powder days. This pants also have many thermal protective subtle pockets to store all of your belongings on the mountain.
Meet Jordyn
Age: 25 Residence: Salt Lake City , Utah Education: Colorado State University Profession: Research Analyst for Energy Solutions Income: $80 K Favorite Mountain: Snowmass, Colorado Favorite Ski Brands: Oakley, Smith, K2 Hobbies: Rock Climbing, Photography, and binge watching Law and Order episodes
Age: 28 Residence: Seattle, Washington Education: Saint Lawrence University Profession: Tech Application Developer for Amazon Income: $100 K Favorite Mountain: Jackson Hole, WY Favorite Ski Brands: J Ski’s , Helly Hansen, Outdoor Tech Hobbies: Sailing in the summer, hiking with his dog, and checking our all the new breweries in the city.
Meet Corey
Denver SIA Snow Trade Show Location: Colorado Convention Center 700 14th St, Denver, CO 80202, United States Date: 25 - 28th January, 2018 The annual Denver Ski Trade Show is listed as the top outdoor trade show in the US. Up to a thousand brands are represented through out the whole venue. This weekend long event is full of booths of seasonal collections with brand representatives informing buyers of the product. This is the most important trade show to attend as the majority of orders are placed here. Smith Optics utilizes this event the best way they can to ensure that their booth is a must stop destination. Showcasing the new apparel collection all weekend long is crucial to solidify orders in key store locations. The collection will be displayed and styled along side the compatible helmets and goggles to demonstrate the entire look. Brand representatives must be fully informed on features and launching SMITH GEAR technology to answer any questions potential buyers may have. This will be the first time the new added product is added and it is vitally important that it looks as sharp as possible.
ASSORTMENT PLAN WINTER 2019
Sizing In Men’s Skiwear it is important to realize that the consumer base is usually full of athletes who either like to wear their outerwear a little over sized, or naturally are larger people than compared to most menswear categories. Due to this, the size that is predicted to sell the most is Large followed by Medium and X-Large. Women’s skiwear however, is usually sold more true to traditionally sixing with Medium being the most frequently sold size. For each item in each color, the units will be distributed by sizing packs listed at thirteen units for men and eleven units for women. Inventory The Men’s Retail Inventory makes up 53% and the Women’s Retail Inventory makes up 47% of inventory total. This is due to the fact that the snow sports market more male dominate consumer base. The total inventory owned at $1,839,900 is considered the average stock on hand. This amount will double as the targeted turn rate is 2. Pricing All of the pricing is calculated by comparing retail prices on the market of similar product from brand competitors. These prices reflect the expected price of products already Smith Optics assortment to ensure that the brand remains consistent in perceived value. All items will have a mark up percentage of 60%.
BUYING PLAN WINTER 2019
Sales Peak The collection will begin to gain momemtum when the inventory is all in stores, brand marketing is well underway, and the ski season begins. While sales can be greatly factored by weather conditions, we can predict that November and December will be the highest selling month as season gift giving is underway. Sales are predicted to remain strong through February as mardowns and stock to sales start to increase. March and April are the two months left to push the last of the inventory out for the lowest preforming twenty stores. Turnover Rate This collection is predicting a turnover rate of two making the average stock of inventory $1,839,900 and the total sales retail at $3,679,800. Stores will recieved the second shipment of inventory for the beginning of the month of Feburary. It is important that this shipment is timing, as the holiday season will hopefully peak the sales penetration of the Fall season. Last Three Months For the months of May, June, and July there is a great intentional shift on inventory levels. Because this is the low season of selling the new collection, it seemed most logical to push the remaining items through to only the top preforming ten doors. It ensure that these stores can handle this shift, it is planned for the inventory to hold $613,300 which is the ideal average units on hand in three of the thirty stor spaces. Sales will remain the lowest at this time.
Allocated Store Spaces
EAST COAST Skiershop 580 Mountain Rd, Stowe, VT 05672 Outdoor Gear Exchange 37 Church St, Burlington, VT 05401 Killington Sports 2326 US-4, Killington, VT 05751 Golf & Ski Warehouse 290 N Plainfield Rd, West Lebanon, NH 03784 Allspeed Cyclery & Snow 127 Marginal Way, Portland, ME 04101 Lake Placid Ski and Board 2532 Main St, Lake Placid, NY 12946
WEST COAST Teton Village Sports 3285 W Village Drive, Teton Village, WY 83025 Grizzly Outfitters 47855 GALLATIN ROAD, BIG SKY, MT 59716 Ph.D Skis 2405, #7, 3978, W Main St, Bozeman, MT 59718 Crows Feet Commons 869 NW Wall St #4, Bend, OR 97703 Alpenglow Sports 415 N Lake Blvd, Tahoe City, CA 96145 Evo Store 860 BROADWAY, DENVER, CO 80203 Bent Gate Mountaineering 1313 Washington Ave, Golden, CO 80401 Gorsuch Ltd. 601 E Dean St, Aspen, CO 81611 Level Nine Sports Downtown 660 400 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Glacier Ski Shop 9966 Mt Baker Hwy, Deming, WA 98244 ProSki Seattle 8954 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103 Evo Seattle Store 3500 Stone Way N, Seattle, WA 98103 Sturtevants of Sun Valley Main Street, Ketchum, ID 83340
CANADA La Vie Sportive 600 Rue Bouvier, Ville de Québec, QC G2J 1A7, Canada MEC Toronto 400 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1K2, Canada So Hip It Hurts 323 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M5V 2A4, Canada Whistler Village Sports 4254 Village Stroll, Whistler, BC V0N 1B4, Canada Can-Ski Creekside 2051 Lake Placid Rd #220, Whistler, BC V0N 1B2, Canada * Remaining seven store spaces are allocated to flagship stores of Columbia Sportswear, Mountain Hardware, and REI.
Smith Partnership with Ikon Pass With Helly Hansen establishing a partnership with the infamous epic pass, the brand has reached a new level of awareness in the ski industry. Just starting in November of this past year, the Ikon pass has placed itself at the direct competetitor to the Epic pass reaching 26 different mountains in the US. Smith would be wise to partner with Ikon while it is newly established and has yet to sign with any other retailer. Not only would this be one of the easiest ways to promote the brand, but it could allow additional merchanidise to be sold at 26 locations, create packages and benefits deals with the pass to incentivise customers, and create the perfect opportunity to showcase the Smith Amplify Apparel Collection to Ski staff. As the pass gets more recognition to the ski community, more major influencing brands, businesses, and athletes will endorse it. As of now the Ikon pass has Mikaela Shiffron, youngest US gold medalists for downhill kiing, as its primary sponsor. Mikaela has a large following and undoubtable will influence others to sign with the pass as well. It is possible that through this type of partnerships more athletes would be inclined to sign with Smith and endorse the new collection. Having this type of reassurance could completely change the game for this apparel business sector and allow the brand to expand even further.
Epic vs. Ikon
Epic Pass: $809 10 US & CAN destinations, unlimited buddy pass, international, price options, epicmix app Ikon Pass: $899 26 US & CAN destinations, 10 days 25% off friends, heli-skiing pre-ordering and discounts
November 2018 Advertising Summary: Ski
Ski Journal - Fall Powder - Fall Teton Gravity Research - Fall
Snowboard
Frequency - Fall
Maggie Voisin
Henrik Harlaut
Marcus Kleveland
Athletes to Sponsor Only 20 years old Maggie Voisin is known as one of the worlds best female freestyle skier representing the United States. Maggie is a two-time Olympian athlete participating in the Slopestyle event from both 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. In 2014 she was considered the youngest member of the U.S. team at 15 years old. This same year she came in second at the Aspen X games. Maggie would be a great athlete to sponsor the Smith Amplify Apparel Collection because she is well known, not signed by many other brands, and still has many years left in her career. Current Sponsors: Monster, K2, Visa, and Whitefish Montana
Henrik Harlaut is one of the best Slopestyle skiers in the world. This 26-year-old from Sweden is a 4-time Aspen X game gold medalist for big air and a 2 time AFP champion. Henrik quickly made a name for himself when he decided to endorse rap group Wu Tang publically on national television, and since then has gathered quite the following. Henrik is also known to mix up his style of skiing and never fails to surprise the audience and always comes up with new tricks such as the nose butter, that have become a signature, Henrik would be a perfect fit for Smith because he has a huge following and he could bring more attention to an international consumer base. Current Sponsors: Armada Skis, hair-do
Marcus Kleveland was names the Snowboader Magazine’s Rookie of the Year in 2016 from xgames.espn.com. Only being 18 years old, Marcus has had many accomplishments including winning gold in Mens Slopestyle for the 2018 Winter Olympics, and gold two years in a row for the Aspen X games. Marcus is ranked 6th in the world for Snowboarding Slopestyle and 18th for Big Air. Being from Norway, Marcus too can bring more of an international presence to the brand. It also works in Smith’s favor that he does not plan to end his career any time soon. Current Sponsors: Red Bull, Volcom, Nitro, Electril and Skullcandy
Smith Opitcs consistantly posts and updates their landing page and instagrm account with the newest products, promotions, and any brand news. It is important to keep the messages displayed through these platforms on brand and informative. Due to their strong instagram following, it would be most powerful to promote the launch of the Amplify Apparel Collection first through instagram and an email blast. This will give Smith followers a sneak peak of the technology, design, and assortment of the new line. Once the product is availabile, the landing page of smithoptics. com will present the collection and introduce the SMITH GEARÂŽ technology included. Smithoptics.com and smithoptics instagram both make an adimit effort to ensure both platforms are well respresented and promoted through eachother. Marketing this collection will make the messge on these platforms even more seamless by including the shopable feature that directs uses to purchase through the site and displaying insta content on the landing page. The brand will continue to build awareness to the collection by posting on twitter, facebook, and sending blast emails.
Introducing Smith’s Amplify Skiwear Collection Men’s and Women’s Ski Apparel Line
New High Preforming Skiwear featuring SMITH GEAR® to master all mountain terrain.
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