Blog 4: The Decline of the Iconic Company

In years past, the company Jiberish, was a thriving business selling out of stock in sometimes the course of one day. Jiberish is a widely known company through primarily park skiers and boarders. Although Jiberish may be a small company, starting out with only one local store in Denver, Colorado, the company was put up on a pedestal. Why? Because Jiberish makes a certain amount of clothing, and when production stops, it stops for good. In other words, it is pretty rare to find certain pieces of clothing, especially as the years pass.

In the 2009/2010 ski season, Jiberish launched the legendary winter line that is still well-known to this day. In this season in particular, the people who were sponsored by Jiberish, were the few elite, and most innovative riders in the industry at the time; the skiers included Henrik Harlaut, Tom Wallisch, Jon Brogan, and others. Park skiing has increased at such a rapid rate, and these skiers are held responsible for this insane progression. 

Park skiing around 2009, was at a very vulnerable stage; meaning that there was much to be discovered. Jiberish helped unveil a new realm of skiing by sponsoring these skiers that I previously mentioned. Jiberish was known for their stylish riders, and was not focused on the technicality of their riding. Jiberish wanted to show skiers that anyone can do a simple trick, but to do it with style, and to make it look clean is something that comes with natural talent and years of practice. So at this time, Jiberish was looked upon as a catalyst for the progression of skiing.

More recently, in 2011 and 2012, Jiberish was still the iconic company that it was a few years back. Still selling out of stock and even collaborating with big name film companies like Level 1. Jiberish's image was still the same, even opening up 2 more stores, one in Boston, and one in Utah. But the clothing that the company was selling seemed to become much less valuable, and the statistics really show how the company declined in sales. And since Jiberish is a clothing company, selling less clothes became a severe issue.

The Jiberish brand is still valued because people can look back to what it once was, but it is severely down in sales, and even sponsorships. The skiers that were sponsored by Jiberish in 2009/2010, are no longer associated with them whatsoever. Although the importance of the company, which is the stylish riding, is still a major contributor in the company today. Jiberish may be down in sales, but people still respect the brand, and the people who ride for it.

Blog 3: The Oakley Airwave

The first section of the product life cycle diagram is commonly referred to as the Introduction Stage. In this Introduction Stage, new products are being introduced to the target market. In regards to the ski industry, a product that epitomizes this stage is the Oakley Airwave. This extraordinary modern technology is quite similar to the Google glasses, which are still a relatively new product. These Oakley Airwaves are a ski goggle technology that allows you to see your speed, altitude, etc..., all on a personal projected screen, similar to the Google glasses. At the shocking price of $650, this product has been unappealing to the average skier or boarder who mainly look for something that is exceptionally cheap. Fortunately for Oakley, this expensive product does not require as many sales as the ordinary goggle, mainly due to the fact that one set of Airwaves is almost 5 times the price of a standard, high quality goggle from Oakley. The ski industry in general, is very complex, and based off of high prices. Skis for instance, can range from $400 at a blowout sale, to $1300. What I am trying to portray here is that most of the basic necessities required for skiing are high priced, so having a high price is nothing new to this industry. Since this technology is so advanced, it is almost essential to price this product at $650. Over time, I believe that this price will decrease but will absolutely remain well above the price of the standard goggle.

As far as marketing goes, Oakley has done a somewhat subpar job advertising this product. With me being a skier, I follow nearly every company, and am up to date with every new product that is introduced to the industry. Personally, I have not seen a lot of advertising of this product; however, the power of the word of mouth covers up for Oakley's slack in advertising. There has been a fair amount of hype about this product over the internet, and through word of mouth, because Oakley is the first company in skiing to design something of this caliber. As a company, I feel that Oakley will succeed in the development of this product because Oakley is one of the top name brands in ski goggles, with competitors like Smith and Electric, maintaining the quality of their brand is no difficult task. Even if this product falls to the decline stage rather quickly, Oakley should not be concerned because they have too strong of a company to fall from one product.

Overall, the Oakley Airwave is not a "must have" product, but it is definitely dragging attention to the brand itself. Whether people actually buy the product or not, Oakley is receiving some strong recognition for their innovativeness. People throughout the industry will be talking about this new product that Oakley has come up with. With all of this talk about the new product, it puts Oakley in the spotlight, which I believe is what they mainly wanted from the creation of this product.