Selling Sports Equipment

When teenage slackers want to get hooked up with the “dopest” gear, they have quite a selection of catalogs from which to choose.

One newcomer is attracting attention. Monsterskate.com is created with flippant copy, detailed product specifications and hundreds of branded skating products. The mission of Monsterskate.com is to produce stellar Web site editorial, photography and entertainment that is leveraged to create a direct mail piece that has long shelf life and the ability to sell.

Monsterskate is the sister publication of Swell.com and Crossrocket.com, which serve surfing and snowboarding customers, respectively. Swell.com is the company’s flagship publication.

“Swell.com started in January 2000 as an Internet e-zine, but commerce has always been a part of the equation and revenue structure,” says Catalog Manager Kevin Donley. “Basically, the premise is to take the wealth of knowledge that we have in terms of media and parlay it into an Internet commerce component and print catalog.”

While skateboarding’s median age is 16, its customer base ranges from 11 to 40. And the market is vast: An estimated 8 million skaters live in the United States and about 16 million worldwide.

Skateboarders are a fashion-conscious, technically demanding, brand-oriented, impressionable bunch. Their brand-driven buying is largely a function of the skateboarding industry. Typical of most action sports, athletes are sponsored by equipment manufacturers, and fans want to emulate the pros. According to Forrester Research, heavily branded, high-style products, such as action sports apparel, are among the most Web-friendly merchandise categories. Online apparel sales are predicted to grow to $22.5 billion by 2004.

Monsterskate launched its Web site in early 2000 and put out its first catalog near the end of that year. At only 50 pages in a 4˝x8˝ format, the catalog is a mere shadow of the Monsterskate.com Web site in offerings and mission.

While the Web sites have proved successful at attracting attention, they don’t have the pull of direct mail. Catalogs enable Monsterskate to do two very important things: prospect and reach parents. Since the company’s clientele is on the rather young side, reaching parents or even grandparents is imperative, as is attracting new customers.

Unlike its unabashed Web site, the catalog must walk a fine line. To maintain its shelf life, the catalog has to have edgy and comedic copy that skaters show their friends, along with feature articles that shoppers want to keep. But it cannot afford to offend parents who pick it up and may want to shop for gifts.

“Being a startup with limited marketing funds, we wanted to parlay our strength in editorial to leverage sales, to extend shelf life and create word-of-mouth buzz,” says Donley.

Merchandise Maneuvers

Skateboarding is an unusual merchandise sector. Afficionados have a language and look all their own. While skateboarders may look slovenly to most of us, they are actually wearing high-end, expensive clothing.

Skateboarding is a heavily vendor/merchandiser driven sport. Skateboarders are frequently sponsored by manufacturers and are only allowed to wear sponsored apparel, skate on certain wheels and use particular “decks” (the boards themselves). This makes selling skating apparel, accessories and equipment via catalog a layout nightmare. The challenge to the cataloger is where to put logos and how to arrange products, either by category or by manufacturer. A considerable problem arises when using a photo of a sponsored skater; it attracts readers, but must be carefully located.

“If we do use some photo next to a product, we keep it general, not brand specific,” says Donley. “We try to use sponsored riders next to their product. We try and brand the catalog as much as we can for our vendors.”

Most often, skate catalogs are divided by brand rather than product categories. Merchandisers heavily promote their brands to create a loyal following. It has worked. Shoppers typically prefer one brand over another, and catalogers find it beneficial to spotlight vendors rather than products.

While shoppers are brand loyal, they might prefer one brand of shoes and another manufacturer’s shorts. To increase profitability, Monsterskate carries a large number of vendors. Monsterskate’s debut catalog was unusual because it was laid out by product type. A logo accompanies each product for branding purposes and for ease of locating a specific vendor. The frenzy of the product-logo layout results in an extremely busy page. For its second catalog, Donley is considering moving Monsterskate to a more traditional brand layout approach.

Creative

The catalog creative is the result of two constraints: the Web site’s available media and the merchandise’s branding. Maintaining Monsterskate’s image is very important since there is so much back-and-forth between the online and print editions. The catalog reflects the Web site: chaotic, energetic and chock-full. All editorial, photography and product shots are literally plucked from the Web site.

Done in a vivid orange theme, the catalog’s pages hang together. Page borders are bright and active. Product shots are shown from multiple angles (e.g., shoes are shown top, side and bottom) against a naked background or solid colors to make the smaller products, such as wheels, pop. While the catalog is busy, selling up to 15 products per page, it appeals to its median age group.

Donley says he is considering moving to a larger page size for the second issue. He initially chose the smaller size because it was being tested by other skate catalogs.

“The larger format will better utilize editorial. I am thinking of a wider and longer format. The larger surface area will give customers larger product photos and action photos and more editorial content,” he says.

A compelling part of the catalog is the photography. Sprinkled throughout are shots of famous skateboarders and photo series showing popular skate tricks. Typically done in black and white, most shots are from the collection of longtime skateboard photographer Pete Thompson.

Bustin’ Copy

Here is where the catalog puts itself in a separate category from its competitors. The copy has a brassy tone that mimics the language of skateboarders. It is funny, self-effacing and real.

Look at the catalog introduction:

Welcome to Monsterskate.com catalog, brought to you by the universe’s ultimate skateboard web site...maybe. Packed into these pages is a ton of gear revolving around skating: decks, wheels, trucks, videos, backpacks, clothes, wallets, belts—everything a skater needs, except toilet paper and food. If you don’t skate but want to look as “dope” or “tight” or “dandy” as the people who do, let us hook you up. Just crank the old rotary dial to place your order. Or visit our store at www.monsterskate.com. Either way, you get the stuff you want without having to get dressed, brush your teeth or pop your zits.

The catalog features different varieties of copy. It has features about skateboarders, a comic version of the Web site’s animated series “The Busteds” and how-tos on skateboarding.

“We hire journalists who live and breathe the sport. They basically are in the center of creating that culture,” says Donley.

Indeed, Monsterskate lured away a quality crew of former skaters and skateboard magazine writers for the new venture. The team of writers include Sean Mortimer, former editor, Skateboarder and once sponsored skater; Paul Zitzer, former senior editor, Skateboarder; Pete Thompson, past senior photographer, Transworld Skateboarding; Jodi Morris, past senior photographer, Transworld Skateboarding; and Brian Gaberman, past senior photographer, Slap.

The cataloger conducts focus groups and watches a lot of online customer behavior, then translates it into the print catalog. Monsterskate also has a well rounded advisory board, including skaters, that it draws on for planning.

Because the catalog is used as a sales driver and hopes to reach credit card-holding parents, its copy is less in-your-face than the Web site. “We have a demographic as young as 12, quite honestly even younger. We don’t want to alienate parents. We want to set a good example in terms of language and content but at the same time maintain the true spirit and culture of the sport,” says Donley. “It is a fine line.”

The catalog also has a four-page insert on ordering. It covers everything from how to order, sizes, colors, safety, liability releases to what constitutes a returnable product:

The main reason boards break or crack is improper technique and/or foot placement when attempting jumps. If you bust your board trying to nail a switch krooked grind down a 12 stair rail, do NOT send it back to us looking for a free replacement...It’s not our fault you didn’t land on your bolts...

Secondly, water is the equivalent of kryptonite, to your board... It warps the wood, rusts the trucks, bearings and bolts and worse of all, may cause the graphics to look like Tammy Faye Baker’s face after a good long crying session.

Monsterskate highlights its friendly, reliable and easy-to-use customer service on the order form. It guarantees a full refund or exchange if the customer is disappointed with the quality or if the merchandise is defective, but only if returned in the original condition.

Throughout the catalog, Donley promotes two offers: a free t-shirt with a $50 purchase and free shipping on orders over $99.

The Monsterskate catalog works because it directly relates to its shoppers—not heavy on “sell” but providing the information necessary to close a sale.

“Skating is a very technical, skill-oriented sport,” explains Donley. “The kids interested in purchasing this hardware need to know the technical specifications. It is important the product descriptions describe the product and construction. Where I can, I try to give them some humor and personality.”