Columbia Sportswear is Back on Top
The performance needs of consumers have always inspired Columbia Sportswear Company (www.columbia.com) to design innovative products, from revolutionizing the fishing vest in 1960 to the release of the interchange parka in 1982. But a few years ago -- and even before the recession hit -- increasing market competition led Columbia to hit a financial slump.
"We had gotten to a point where our business wasn't as healthy as we wanted it to be," says Mick McCormick, executive vice president of Global Sales and Marketing, Columbia Sportswear Company. In response, senior leadership initiated a company-wide plan that would reclaim profitability as well as its title as a top innovator.
Its first stop on this multi-year journey was gathering consumer feedback to pinpoint what consumers wanted from active outdoor apparel products.
"We needed to determine what kind of innovation we wanted to drive. We landed on four unique areas of need: keep the consumer warm, dry, cool or protected. That allowed us to pit guardrails on where we went to look for innovations."
In addition to identifying these four "guardrails", consumer research led to two more very important insights:
1. Keep it simple! The consumer doesn't care about the technology behind the product. They just want easy-to-understand innovations that deliver real benefits.
2. If you can, make the technology visible. As an example, Omni-Heat Thermal Reflective products launched in 2010 feature a visible dot-matrix aluminum application that reflects body heat and increases warmth by 20 percent. "If the product kept you warmer without the visible dots, the impact would be much less," says McCormick.
With its compass set toward very specific types of innovation, the company now had to ensure that the entire organization -- all 4,000+ employees -- was supportive of its new roadmap. Management executed simple exercises that boosted employee moral. Every manager across the company -- from IT to R&D to Marketing and beyond -- conducted a one-day team meeting focused on brainstorming two innovations: One idea for improving his or her team's function and another that would better any department, product or process anywhere in the company. Each team then reported the ideas to senior management.
Aside from achieving buy-in and excitement among employees for the new innovation platform, the exercises helped grow the company's innovation pipeline to include more than 130 patented or patent-pending innovations (as opposed to just two a few years earlier).
"Now, innovation is celebrated from the CEO on down in our organization," says McCormick.
New products or technologies that resulted from the innovation platform -- like the Omni-Heat and Insect Blocker lines -- are being supported by new media plans that differ drastically from previous delivery methods. As opposed to broadcast media, the company is reaching out to younger consumers via electronic media.
"The younger consumer is much more open to innovation than the older consumer. You don't have to convince them that a heated jacket is cool -- they get it."
Its marketing campaigns are also highly integrated to focus on one message -- this winter focused on Omni-Heat technology -- rather than marketing one product or another. All together, Columbia's efforts to reinvigorate the company's approach to innovation led it to confidently project a 16 percent to 18 percent spike in revenue in 2011.
"It was good for us to go through some tough financial times to realize that we needed to get refocused. Quite honestly, if our business hadn't been mediocre, I don't believe we would have ramped up innovation in the company as we did," closes McCormick.
FAST FACTS
Company at a Glance
Under the leadership of Gert Boyle and her son Tim, Columbia has pushed the limits of what's possible, trying new stuff since 1938, while remaining true to the rich heritage of outdoor adventuring.
A New Way to Market
Last Fall, Columbia Sportswear launched the largest integrated global marketing campaign in its history to introduce its Omni-Heat technologies in an interactive and experiential way.
Outside In
Columbia Sportswear acquired OutDry technology to waterproof footwear, gloves and other clothing items in August 2010.
Columbia Sportswear acquired OutDry technology to waterproof footwear, gloves and other clothing items in August 2010.
Four Areas of Need
Columbia innovates around four key areas of need: warm, dry, cool or protected. New Insect Blocker technology delivers on the protection front.
Words of Wisdom
"Don't be afraid to fail. Culturally, it's very difficult for companies to have that philosophy. When failing is a problem for you, you're never going to be great at innovation."
--Mick Mccormick, EVP, Sales/Marketing, Columbia Sportswear Company
Coming Down the Pipe
An Omni-Heat electric apparel line of jackets, gloves and accessories builds on Columbia's success in electric boots. Jackets make the technology visible with an LED button that shows it's on.