THE POLITICAL NATURE OF THE BEAST
by Sam Moses, Senior Editor
We lost two of our guest testers yesterday. No, they weren't swept away by turbulent waters or swallowed by a shark. Well, come to think of it, metaphorically speaking, maybe they were.
They were disappointed that our fleet of more than 60 boards and 60 sails includes no F2, Mistral, Naish or JP boards, nor sails from North or Naish. We've had nearly 50 testers in these five weeks, and these two are the first who missed those products enough to speak of. And actually, only one of them was dissatisfied: the husband. His wife was extremely nice, and told us she really wanted to stay.
I guess I knew all along that at some point I would explain the situation in more detail. In the opening Postcard from the Water's Edge, I alluded to the subject but didn't get into it. But now. now that the test is nearly over and has succeeded beyond our own expectations (thank you God, for 31 of 33 days of wind so far). well, I just feel like it. It's merely reporting the facts of a significant issue, and isn't that what a magazine is about?
Here's what happened.
A few days before the test began, the distributor for those boards and sails, North Sports (ironically my small-town neighbor in White Salmon), the industry's giant, informed John Chao that they would require payment of $7000 to cover freight and depreciation. They said times had been tough recently, and they simply couldn't afford to participate, otherwise. It was a shocking admission. We accepted the explanation. It was not productive to wonder about possible ulterior motives.
More to the point, it was a stunning break from practice, not only in the windsurfing industry but pretty much in the wide world of product testing by magazines. In most such professional circles (certainly in my own experience with cars and motorcycles), such a bold demand would have the marketing guys rolling in the aisles with its absurdity, and the dealers, as economic victims, screaming for the distributor's head. Which they would get. After all, American Windsurfer has announced that the test issue will boast a press run of 200,000, targeted to a mailing list of 140,000, and Chilli Videos is making an internationally distributed video of the test.
Journalism is my game, not advertising or marketing. But it seems to me that if you are confident in the quality of your product, and you can get 30 or more of those new products (figuring four board and two sail lines) exposed to that kind of audience for a minimal business expense. well, it appears to be a no-brainer. Especially considering that the boards and sails usually go from our test into rental fleets, where they get direct exposure, the best kind.
John had no choice but to decline; conceding would open the door, understandably, to similar demands by other manufacturers. Testing would then vanish altogether. You lose.
It's been suggested by the rumor mill that the death of testing is what North Sports wants. I do my best to cover my ears to the harsh sounds of that mill, but this one does have a ring of possibility. Testing puts smaller manufacturers on equal ground with the giants. It provides product exposure that would otherwise have to be bought by advertising, which has less inherent credibility. Even if North Sports is indeed weathering an economic slide as it claims (which would lead one to believe its products are not selling well), it still consistently outspends its competitors in advertising. So if advertising is all there is, exposure-wise, North Sports would significantly increase its advantage over its competition.
The almost funny irony is that our test this year is structured to put the emphasis on reporting: careful spreading of the manufacturers' word on its product (not the hype, there is a distinction), including specific descriptions and background of the board or sail and its intent. I'm convinced that this is a win-win approach, because this information is important to your windsurfing happiness as the basis of correct buying decisions, and it hasn't been getting to you very efficiently, if at all.
In the test, the rating of the performance in Maui conditions by mostly intermediate sailors is being diminished, as it should be. The reality is that boards and sails largely perform as designed, nowadays. The trick is for the consumer to understand that design, then mate it with their style.
As we see it, and as 49 of our 50 testers have apparently seen it, one upside of North Sports' absence is the focus on exciting equipment that too often gets buried or lost in the high cost of advertising. To name a few, we have RRD and Starboard boards, and Sailworks, Windwing, Loft and Tushingham sails. These are innovative products created by impressive, interesting people trying very hard to make windsurfing easier and more enjoyable for you, and they are succeeding. They are progressive thinkers, not just technically, but from a marketing standpoint. Their emphasis is not on selling product to make money. It's on expanding the market, after which they believe they will get their share, because their product will earn it.
So far I've interviewed the designer/owners of five of those six companies (most recently Svein Rasmussen of Starboard), and the sixth will come later. By profiling them in the test issue, presenting their practices, plans, pursuits and philosophies as those things relate to their equipment, you will better know where you want to stand. Had North Sports been here, dominating the test by its sheer bulk, I'm not sure these excellent characters and their companies would have emerged as they have. Again, marketing is not my game, but it does seem as if North Sports handed its competition a gigantic opportunity to become well known to windsurfers.
Down the beach a bit, Windsurfing Magazine is conducting its own annual test. They have North Sports equipment. North Sports tells us that Windsurfing was presented with the same $7000 hitch. If they paid it, we wish them luck in keeping their budget manageable next year, when the other manufacturers rightfully expect the same deal.
Meanwhile, we'll continue to try to test products in the manner that we believe is in your best interest.
