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The next step in one-piece sticks? Customization |
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Written by Wayne Karl
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Tuesday, 22 August 2006 |
It’s always been an important part of the business, but color selection and marketing and even customization are becoming critical points of differentiation for one-piece composite sticks.
From the early days--if you can call 2000 ‘early’--when the silver Easton Synergy first flashed onto the market, then the mustard yellow Louisville Response and others that followed, one-piece sticks have used color to attract attention and users.
“Color has been an important marketing tool from the start,” says Mike Mountain, stick product for Easton Hockey. “Easton started the trend with our Synergy line to stand out as well as differentiate technologies. Everyone recognized silver as our Synergy, yellow as our Synergy Grip and orange as the Si-Core, and so on. Other companies took note of this and have used colors to separate themselves from the Synergy line.”
“In the past, color was the way consumers have identified the stick of the favorite player, and there weren’t a whole lot of color choices,” says Brad James, product line manager, sticks, for Nike Bauer Hockey Inc. “Today, however, sticks are available in a wide range of colors, so when a player chooses a stick, it’s not based on just the color. Players can find the stick that is best suited for their game and then get the color they want.”
Adds Craig Johnson, brand manager for the Mission Hockey unit of Mission Itech Hockey: “Color has always been important. It’s the first thing a customer sees.”
All manufacturers know that while first impressions count, performance is the ultimate determining factor.
“The bottom line is that the stick must perform on ice, beyond the player’s expectations for both performance and durability,” says Johnson.
While large and even small producers such as Rebellion Hockey and Ballistik Hockey Inc. and others have tested the market with increasingly bold, creative and sometimes even garish colors and graphics, perhaps no company has done so as bravely and, so far anyway, as successfully as upstart Warrior Hockey.
Born from the acquisition of Innovative Hockey Inc. by New Balance-owned Warrior Lacrosse in 2005, Warrior debuted on the NHL ice in 2005-06 and to retailers and consumers in early 2006.
With R&D offices in San Diego and a manufacturing plant in Tijuana, Mexico, Warrior says it is well equipped and is targeting younger plans with a “fun, edgy and irreverent” approach.
The company’s use of bold colors and graphics seems to be working, as many high profile NHL players began using the sticks last season, including some like Chris Pronger and Mike Modano, who were being paid to use other brands.
“Color and overall graphics has become a significant facet of the stick category,” says Neil Wensley, director of marketing for Warrior Hockey. “Aesthetics are a significant way of differentiating ourselves on television and on the retail stick rack. Warrior prides itself on having very non-traditional and edgy graphics on all of our sticks.”
The next logical step in this evolution is customization. Easton, for example, made customized versions of its Stealth stick for some players in the World Cup of Hockey 2004, and continued the practice on a limited basis through the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
“(Recreational) players like to use what they see the best players in the world using,” says Easton’s Mountain. “We don’t think it’s fair to our customers to show unique or custom colors on sticks that won’t be available at the retail level. That being said, for special moments in the game such as the Olympics or the World Cup, Easton provides its players with custom colors to support their countries.”
RbK and Warrior produced sticks for the Olympics which were adaptations of existing graphics with country colors and names.
“It’s not something we’ve done at retail, but never say never,” says Wensley.
Nike Bauer is offering a customization program on a limited basis to some teams in the Canadian Hockey League, such as the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League, as well as some in the NCAA.
“We have been very successful in providing color selections for a select number of teams at the CHL and NCAA level and no doubt we will continue that strategy,” says James. “We are just beginning to see the interest level in customized sticks rise and we are continuing to evaluate our overall strategies as it pertains to elite level teams.”
Extending options for stick customization to recreational hockey players would no doubt be of interest to retailers and consumers. But it would also be a huge challenge.
“We’ve discussed the possibility of consumers being able to order custom colored graphics,” says Wensley. “It would be a great feature to be able to offer. However, logistically, there would be quite a few hoops to jump through. Stay tuned.” |
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