What year was Venom born?

1999 We at that time had a good adult business and a good kids business but we felt that there was a gap...teenagers were just not really wearing the product and they might be wearing snowboard product or whatever but there was a gap for us in the marketplace. We needed to make sure we were talking to that kid and at the same time keeping the brand young and relevant, so it was important for us to focus on that teenage demographic.

So one of the ways you did that was to create this Venom product line specific for a younger demographic. I know we sponsored athletes prior to the inception of Venom and they were just wearing our Core product. Were there specific athletes that helped with the creation of Venom?

If you go back prior to Venom we actually had a snowboard brand Stryke that was run by Billy Jacobs and that over time through a series of events didn't really work out. It was a time when ski and snowboard were very bipolar. At that time, freeride was just coming on with atheletes and events like "big mountain" or "extreme freeskiing". Kent Kreitler was a long time athelete for Spyder and approached us to do a collection focused on extreme freesking, so we created the very first line and called it the Kreitler Line. It didn't have Kreitler on outside of the garment but we worked closely with Kent to develop the look and function of the line. Kent was at the top of his game back then and was a dominate figure in the extreme ski events at places like Valdez, and there were no park/pipe events at all. So we anchored the team with Kent and with his help brought in the best freeski atheletes.

About that time here at Spyder we had 4 or 5 of arguably some of the best skiers on the planet including Kent Kreitler, Micah Black, J.P. Auclair, Seth Morrison and CR Johnson and Jamie Burge...along with even Jeremy Jones. That's kind of a "Dream Team" of athletes!

Absolutely, and we were early in that there weren't park/pipe events and there were no parks or pipes at resorts and not really many brands focusing on that. You had snowboard brands doing snowboard athletes but in the world of extreme skiing and as freeride evolved and these events evolved there were no brands doing this but Spyder, I mean we really were the first to the table on the ski side of the equation so because we had the dialog with the athletes and everything we were doing was centered around the athletes, we knew these guys, and we were the only ones out there picking them up. Over time other brands started coming to the table. Oakley poached Seth from us, and some other brands started to take notice...hey, this is a real movement and the events started to take place and X Games started to take shape on the ski side and you know a few of the athletes started to go to other brands but a lot of the athletes have had a great long relationship with us.

What, where, and how has the clothing been influenced?

Really like everything else we do the influence comes from the athlete and we obviously identify the consumer and we really focus and built a collection that's relevant to that and we would talk to the athletes and we were having really good success getting it placed and we were also in a really strong growth time for the Spyder brand and just about everything we were doing was growing huge, but it also meant that the buyer had a pretty big opinion on the product so even though we were designing product with the athletes input, I'd say we were also designing with the buyers input and I'm not so sure that was the right way to go at the time because they wanted to make it "flashier" in a time when the market was probably trending more "plain" or "grungy". Then we ran into the same issue that we deal with every day with a global brand, that there's a different consumer preference in Europe than there is in the US. The Europeans would want brighter colors or a tighter fit. I think that all of this input skewed our product to a point that the actual kid on the hill was not resonating with the Venom line. I would say around 2005 was the year that was my wake up call and I took a step back from it and it felt like we had a little bit of "the tail wagging the dog". I don't know if we were 100% on trend because at that time we were listening a little to much to the buyers and not to the consumer. So that was a big turning point for us. At that point we decided like everything else we do we want to be 100% authentic and we want that kid to choose Spyder as his #1 brand and we put a big focus on making sure that we could do that. The first step we took was bringing in a Creative Director to really to focus on Venom more than anything else and he really stoked up the process of talking to athletes and making sure that he was in tune with what they wanted...going to events, taking a lot of pictures.

Back in the beginning we were doing a lot of athlete summits and some athlete suggestions were taken and some not. After skipping a few years we're back on it again and would you say that suggestions are being used?

I think we've always listened to the athlete but there was a point there where we were listening to the athlete and listening to other stuff. Sometimes you put it all in a blender and you come up with is product that's a little bit of a compromise from that perspective. We'd listen to the athlete, we'd make some changes, but what would happen later on is that we'd have an account that would say "Gosh if you had a reflective logo on that it'd be a little flashier and I'd buy a bunch" so it's that type of input and we'd say "lets add that", but it's not like we didn't listen to the athlete. I would say it's how you focus your attention to that input. So in 2005 we stepped back and we said you know what, we're gonna listen a little less to the buyer and more to the kid...that was one. We built a creative team in house and a whole separate product team to focus on this and these guys lived and breathed the product, they lived and breathed the lifestyle. They spent a ton of time with the athletes, looking at the competition, and just trying to understand what we needed to do to succeed. At the same time, I wanted to refocus our efforts into re-establishing our authenticity at event and athlete level so we hired Chad B. a Sports Marketing Manager in that area really with a Venom focus. So in the events we did we really had a presence there, and we tried to attend every event...we had a reason to be there and gained back some athlete respect for the product and the brand. Incrementally we started improving our product. Another thing we did as a side note, it's about the time we were moving into the outdoor market, starting to show at Outdoor Retailer with outdoor product. Again, really trying to be who we are and being true to our heritage we took a big step in 2006 with our presentation at Outdoor Retailer to say we are no longer going to show "Outdoor" clothing, we're gonna show Venom because it's relevant, it's built for the back country as much as anything else there it works in Big Mountain as well as being technical but more importantly it comes from a place of authenticity and heritage for the Spyder brand and again it was really pulling back and trying to recognize who we are and why we were there and do something that was more unique to the brand and not what the market expected.

If you look at Venom product from the past to the present how do they compare or how has it evolved?

I think historically as we started in '99, for a period of years we built the team of athletes and we were working on the product and I would say that it has always been a little over-priced for the market and where the kids could afford it. In 2005 we took the hard look at it and said okay we built a decent business here but not 100% sure that every kid is asking for the product and we want to be their reference brand or brand of choice and I'm not sure we were at the time so we put a lot of focus on making sure the team created a whole separate process to make sure that the product was something that the kid really wanted to buy. I think that over the last 3 years we've really done a good job of that to the point that the product is cool in the kid's eyes but still very expensive. For fall of '08 we have 14 styles over $400 in jackets...it's just a price zone that is not the sweet spot for the kid. We do some business and certainly build cool product that they're gonna aspire to that some people will figure out a way to get there but the bulk of the business is not done there so one of the big transitions for us as we go forward into '09 is to continue to have really relevant product but to make sure that we get it even a little bit closer to the market in price. At Spyder we make the best product, we pick the best fabrications, we put the best detail, that is unquestionable. We can play in the top of the marketplace but it's difficult to be to far out of the zone so for '09 there won't be but barely a couple jackets over $300 so I think we move with relevant product into the real sweet spot of the marketplace.

And to make that transition in price, making product that's more affordable to the kids it's not like we've compromised in quality or technicality but maybe in a few other areas.

No, no absolutely not and that's where you start to see the focus of the internal team and process start to pay dividends so by creating a team that's very focused on doing nothing but making that product, and making sure that we can achieve that pricing but still make the right product and still put the right amount of Spyder non-negotiables of functionality and performance in it. With that edict in front of them they can achieve it, we know how to do that and we've got a team focused on doing nothing but that and they've achieved it. It took us a couple of years to be able to do that. The first couple of years we made cool product but it was still expensive because we were still buying over the top fabrications but we've found ways to now still bring the best product in the class. We will still be the best product out there functionality wise and we're right on with the look and now that we can come in to where the kid can afford the product. We're not going to be the cheapest brand out there, we'll never be that...I don't want to have a $150 jacket, never will but like I said pricing in the $200's vs. the $400's we're going to be poised to kill it.

Last question...I'm not trying to "date" you or anything but you've been around the ski business for quite a while now and seen a lot of phases within the industry and you're still involved in going up to the hill, going to the events and paying attention to trends maybe you could comment on where skiing has come and where it's going and where it stands today...as it relates to Venom

It's amazing to me as I was growing up skiing, ya there was racing and that's how Spyder began but every kid as well as myself was trying to find every little thing to jump off of...a rock or lip or something. This is too many years ago to mention but every kid want to do that, what's amazing today is just the facilities they have at their fingertips. I go up and the scale of the terrain...the parks, the pipes that every area has really give these kids the opportunity to have a great playground and what comes of that, from a very young age, it's amazing what these kids are doing having access to those facilities. I'm just blown away by how some of the really young kids, 10, 11, 12 or even younger are doing stuff that was impossible even a year or two ago. I can't say what the future holds but it's very exciting for the sport, it's spectacular, it's exciting for the kid, it's exciting for the events. You go to these events and it's just mind blowing what these kids can do. I think it's great for the sport and it's going to bring people to the hill and it's aspirational for every little kid to want to be a superstar in a sport and there's more and more kids coming into it. I'd also want to say, standing in these parks and watching these kids, not to dig on the snowboarders, but the skiers are going bigger, they're going higher, they're just killing it. Spin right, spin left, on a snowboard it looks like the same trick. Skiers are doing stuff that looks different and much more interesting and from my own perspective there seems to be more skiers than snowboarders in those parks anymore and I think that's great from skiing. I think we've come a long way from the '80's, '90's where it felt a little like snowboarders vs. skiers and an us vs. them thing where culturally now I think the kids are accepting to play in the park together, accepting to wear the same stuff.

-- Interview of Jake Jacobs CEO by Chad Buckridge Sports Marketing Manager