Quiksilver and Dinosaurs

Is it boom or bust for surfing? On one hand Quiksilver look to be in all sorts of trouble on the other hand new companies like Vissla would seem to be smashing goals...so which is it?

I like to think that, as in the world of professional surfing, we are just looking at the evolution of the sport and industry. A changing of the guard if you will.

When I started surfing (just after the dinos where wiped out) there was very little in the way of options for purchasing surf wear, surfboards, wet suits, wax etc. If you could get your hands on a Quiksilver or Billabong tee, you where the 'mutts' nutts' but if you could get a sweatshirt or hoodie from a surf brand people would be like wooow. Fast forward to today and the market is saturated with a plethora of surf apparel and lifestyle brands, all scrabbling for their own market share. In short there is not enough to go around.

If you are a dinosaur ( bear with me here) say a Supersaurus( its real, I looked it up) and weigh in at about 40 tons, you would need to eat a huge amount of food, so much that you have not even got the time to chew and need to pretty much eat constantly. Imagine this is Quiksilver.

If you are a small dinosaur, say a Saltopus (also real) that is only 3ft long and eats little rat like creatures and large insects, you don't command such a presence but at the same time you dont need as much to survive. You chew everything and are grateful for what you get. Imagine this is the independent brand that we all want to succeed.

Now imagine there is a sudden growth in the number of medium sized and small dinosaurs, suddenly they figure out how to work together to get more of the food and quicker. They are able to change their tactics to suit different conditions and changing environments. The larger Supersaurus is slower to react, is less able to adapt in its techniques and above all NEEDS to keep eating otherwise it will not survive.

Right, thanks for indulging me in that analogy, back to surfing. What I am saying is that Quiksilver got too big, forgot what it was doing and took its eye off the ball. It tried to be a high street brand and forgot its core audience, it out priced the average surfer and consequently after loosing an inevitable battle with other high street sport brands (Nike / Hurley to name one) had nothing left to fall back on. Its core audience (surfers) had moved on to, smaller, more niche, affordable and unique brands that had began to sow their seeds and as those seeds grew so Quikslivers' market share got reduced.

Here are some names that have left the Quiksilver surfing team recently: Dane Reynolds, Kelly Slater, Craig Anderson (rumored) , Freddy Patachia. Do they know something that we also now do? The future does not look good for the lumbering beast and you know what, having once thought I would do anything for a Quiksilver jacket I know find I would rather spend the money with a company that was owned by surfers.One that didn't just print t-shirts with their logo on it in sweat shops in less economically developed countries.

P.S Before I get dinosaur geeks emailing me saying that the Supersaurus ate plants and the Saltopus ate meat, I know. I just liked the names.