Extreme Sports and Their Influence On The Youth Market
...ombined. These companies enjoy a great deal of brand loyalty, but the companies can do more. They operate in a small overall market. In some ways they compete with much larger companies such as Nike and Adidas. Boardriding companies are looking to expand their market in any way possible; helping competitors is even an option. The companies have a boardriding heritage and their clothes represent a casual lifestyle. The companies claim their authenticity through their grassroots sponsorship programs, innovative products, and many other close links to the boardriding markets. Looking at the industry that these companies operate in, one can see the competitiveness of the area. A basic industry analysis, using Porter’s Five Forces model, will show a very competitive industry, and one that is very unforgiving when a mistake occurs. The threat of new entrants is high in the industry. The industry is fashion driven with tastes changing over time and for one company to have a long successful run is unlikely, although possible. A company needs to engender some loyalty to stay successful or have some sort of a “hook.” Established companies have this ‘hook’ with their connection to the boardriding sports and the associated brand loyalty whereas a new company would need to create this. There are many distribution channels in the industry allowing for many ways to exploit a target market. No one company can cover all of the areas and any new entrant could easily focus on one particular area of the extreme sports spectrum. A new entrant would not even require a great deal of capital as some clothing companies are essentially marketing companies today. They only develop the consumer public’s allure for their goods. The suppliers’ bargaining power is low within the industry. This is because of the rise of manufacturing in Asia that is pushing down production costs while the increased shipping costs do not outweigh the lower production prices. While there is still production in Europe, more is moving each day to Asia and other low-cost economies. With China entering the World Trade Organization in the near future, its few remaining barriers will be lowered and costs should continue to decline with additional suppliers entering the market. The bargaining power of buyers in the industry is medium. The popularity of products changes by the season and in the fashion business that means that the buyers have some power. The companies have been able to maintain some power through brand loyalty though, especially with certain brands. The power of the label can be very high but there has to be a value present that the public actively wants. Companies like RipCurl, Billabong and Quiksilver have that loyalty through their association with being an “authentic” boardriding company combined with the quality of products that they produce. The threat of substitute products in the industry is high in the industry. There are many places from which to get fashion accessories with Quiksilver and its related competitors not being nearly the only place. Finally, the threat of rivalry in the industry is very high. There are not a large amount of players that compete in this market but the overall market has some behemoths. Those companies fight tooth and nail for any small amount of the market that they can obtain. While there is some friendly competition in the market, most of it is very intense. There is strong competition in the global surfing market, not a large market, and when looking at casual sportswear there are almost too many competitors to count. With this being a fashion-based industry, the companies are constantly trying to outdo each other and maintain their market power. In sum, looking at the industry from Porter’s Five Forces perspective, one can see that the industry is quite inhospitable as a whole. A company would need to be very strong and wise to succeed in this industry. New Opportunities: Europe is a very fashionable continent, so if the clothing companies can introduce the way of life as they introduced it in USA, the size of the market will increase dramatically and along with that, sales. This is not an easy job, but if they did it once they have the knowledge and ability to do it again. Many people can say that Europe is very different to America but in these kinds of sports people are very similar in the implements that they buy and also in the clothes that they wear. So it is even easier as in Europe there are several countries where you can practice surfing and several more countries where you can practice snowboarding. If they have the ability to develop the ‘extreme sports’ concept they could in fact be successful. By this way and with promotions using their stars, extreme sports companies will be able to start a new way of life here in Europe and that is the key factor to be successful for the whole business network. Music Industry Another important issue that is directly related with extreme sports and its youth target marget are the rock concerts or rock festivals. Many of these kinds of events come together with sports just because they have the same target market. Therefore, the presence of the companies in both events could bring important benefits to their respective companies. The fashion styles of the sporting heroes are what young people try to imitate and when they see their favourite singers (in the case of rock stars) or their favourite skateboarder they see much more than just a talented person. These icons are the definition of what cool means for them so it is very normal that the young people try to imitate them. MTV quickly recognized the untapped extreme sports market, creating a weekly show, "MTV Sports," devoted to the on-the-edge lifestyle. They married interesting visual sports with great music and the combination worked really well. Each year, MTV stages an Annual Sports and Music Festival. This past year the show was held in Memphis, Tennessee. In addition, there is the Vans Warp Tour, a travelling music and extreme sports fest sponsored by the sneaker company. It is always one of the summer's hottest tickets. Alternative sports and alternative music, it is no surprise that the two go together that well. As a bonus, being on ESPN has given extreme sports a new audience and exposure beyond the MTV generation. For now, extreme sports are a hot commodity with million-dollar sponsors and big-budget TV shots lagging behind what the athletes themselves earn. Most athletes rely on modest product endorsements and contest winnings. At the top of each sport they earn between $150,000 and $200,000, but most get far less, usually around $20,000. Sports that began largely in the counterculture have arrived thanks to mainstream merchandising and the athletes basking in their growing fame and fortune find that anything but extreme. Developing extremes sports The creation of extreme sports parks in the biggest cities in the world would be a good idea. Creating places where it is possible to participate in all of these kinds of sports, where the people can learn everything from safety tactics to advanced tricks and jumps. The parks could have recreational ramps for Skateboarding, BMX bikers and inline skaters, skating pools, half pipe, even waves simulation for surf practice with machines like Flowrider, The FlowRider generates a thin sheet of water that flows over a stationary wave form. The resulting "wave-like" shape permits riders to slide down, carve a turn, and ride up the simulated wave surface. The Flow Rider offers the thrill of surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding in a self-contained, compact, flexible and safe design. Of course the parks should all have shopping areas for extremes products. In order to promote these developments the champions of all board sports (surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, windsurfing, skimboarding, kitesurfing, and wakeboarding) should make demonstrations and attend events. The key to this kind of park is the controlled environment, as with tennis or golf, but with the excitement of boardriding. In this kind of environment you are sure to get solid television exposure and live crowds, something which doesn't always happen at the ocean. This will probably attract attention at a much faster pace than traditional surfing; it would be safe to say 95% of all surfers would want to try it. Another important thing is the organization of events in all the European countries. For example, the introducing of new surfing events in Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and in every country that has suitable areas for surfing would be beneficial to the growing of the sport. Also, the creation of new snowboard tournaments in countries like Austria, Germany, and Switzerland would be ideal. Skateboarding can easily be introduced in any country. The important thing about all of this is to reach more people and convert them to this way of life. Conclusion They call them Xtreme Sports; more and more kids are taking them up as an alternative to traditional sports such as baseball. They consist of Motorcross, BMX racing, inline skating, skateboarding, wakeboarding and surfing. They even have their own Olympics, the X Games. Just why did so many kids put down their baseball gloves, soccer balls, footballs and hockey sticks for Xtreme sports? Well there are several theories, but there is little question that this generation of kids has turned what older adults once called leisure activities into true sport. Kids have pushed the limits of what a bicycle can do and proved that a skateboard can be used to get down a flight of outdoor stairs (as long as there is a railing in place). According to the National Sporting Goods Association, skateboarding had the largest increase in participation of any sport over the past five years for boys ages 7 to 17, and the second largest for girls. In that same period team sports either remained stagnant or saw participation numbers drop. Little League numbers dropped for three consecutive years, now ranking eighth among youth sports behind skateboarding. So as the ballfields remain empty, more and more kids are flocking to the skateboard parks for a day of fun in the sun. Just where did it all change? First off, unlike baseball, football, basketball or hockey, you need only yourself to be involved in Xtreme sports which is a big advantage. Kids can grab their skates, bikes or blades and head to a park for several hours of fun. In this new computer age, kids play baseball games but they do it with a friend inside a house by sitting in front of a television and plugging in their Sony Playstation. The Internet has also drawn kids to the chat rooms, where they converse with other kids or surf to their hearts' content. So with so many kids choosing to stay inside, those that want to go outside for fun and sport are choosing Xtreme sports. There also are no practice times, no coaches and no uniforms for Xtreme sports as there are in Little League. In this era of specialized sport, parents are having their chil...