Columbia Sportswear 1999 Annual Report Download - page 8

Growth Strategies
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Columbia is enhancing sales through existing retail channels by
employing marketing tactics such as visual merchandising and
advertising, thereby infusing the image of Mother Boyle
around the world. We are also investing more dollars in our
concept shop program, which has contributed to
increased sales of Columbia merchandise. Further, we
are also expanding our reach across all types of media
to enhance the Columbia image and make our prod-
ucts more valuable to our retail customers.
Retail Marketing
Columbia Sportswear’s customer loyalty is very high, with
consumers returning to buy our products again and again. In
order to attract new customers to the brand, we launched a retail
marketing division in 1995, which set out to create a concept shop
and identity program that would raise the brand to new heights of
awareness at the retail level. Since program inception, Columbia has
installed 674 shops worldwide, with 238 of them in the United States.
Columbia’s retail marketing strategy consists of three primary tactics: concept shops, focus
areas and brand enhancement systems. Used in tandem or individually, these merchandising tools create a uni-
form brand presentation at retail, encouraging shoppers to purchase coordinated products from a single apparel
company. Columbia employs a well-trained and growing team of visual merchandisers to manage the program
from critical points around the world.
Columbia concept shops are housed primarily in major sporting goods chains like Dick’s, Gander Mountain,
Gart Sports and G.I. Joe’s. However, we’ve also been successful in placing shops in such department stores as
Nordstrom, May Company and JCPenney. Concept shops are a worthwhile investment because they typically
provide better gross profit margins to our retailers, driving greater demand for our products at the wholesale
level, and they create a more pleasant shopping
experience by enabling consumers to serve
themselves when a store and its associates are busy.
Going forward, our objective on this front
is to tightly manage our existing retail
marketing program, keeping costs
down and quality high
through careful sourcing
and strategic placement
of fixtures. At the same
time, we intend to
continue working
closely with
customers to make
sure our programs
evolve to meet new
retail demands and
our corporate sales
goals.
Brand awareness
It’s widely known that Columbia Sportswear’s
success has been the personal mission of Mother
Gert Boyle since she took over the Company reins in
1970. Our Chairman, the founder’s daughter, was
forever transformed in 1986 when she became the
focus of Columbia’s irreverently funny advertising
campaign, which permeates virtually every part of
our business. This campaign has helped to make
Columbia Sportswear one of the most popular,
not to mention entertaining, outdoor brands
in the world.
In 2000 the Company will target an ever-expanding
audience by placing more ads in a combination of
mass-reach and enthusiast publications, thereby
creating a consistent and meaningful presence. We’ll
also continue a categorical expansion, creating ads
for a greater number of product lines. In addition,
television ads for fall 2000 will continue the saga of
Mother Boyle’s torturous product testing sessions
with son Tim.
Supporting our popular ad campaign are targeted
sponsorship and public relations efforts designed to
increase awareness among consumers, the media and
other key audiences. For example, we recently signed
an agreement to be an official apparel supplier to
NBC’s Olympic broadcast unit for the 2000 Summer
Games in Sydney, Australia and the 2002 Winter
Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition, we will
continue to carry our sponsorship of professional
golfer Steve Jones through to the retail level to
maintain credibility for our popular golf apparel.
enhance channel productivity
3
Enhance channel
productivity