ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

I was looking through the latest CW at Books-A-Million (I don't subscribe) and noticed something worth considering: no slalom ads.

Of course, ABEC 11 was there but with no slalom-specific emphasis and the Concrete Wave online shop ad recognized having GOG available. Other than that, though, nothing from Radikal, Roe, PPS or any of the other more recognizable brands. (I don't want to say Seismic wasn't there but if they were it grab me. Sorry, Dan. Same for Sk8kings.)

Anyway, just thought I'd bring this up.

Seismic certainly was there, but maybe not with a slalom ad. Also many other brands that are close to slalom were present, but once again, not with slalom specific ads. But I think that's still good. And it's understandable: we're not such a great audience for these companies, are we? Yes, we buy a lot of equipment (most of us have plenty more than we need - the producers should be thankful for that!) but after all we're not that many all in all.

And, you have to deduct all of those that get free equipment, either directly from the manufacturer, or from another vendor in the chain, reducing the total income that is be won from this group of customers.

/Jani

ooooooooh Wesley, you've opened up a big can here!

Let me just sum it up like this - The juice ain't worth the squeezin'

Take it from someone who's spent THOUSANDS of dollars in advertising

Didn't Fullbag run an ad? And didn't I see Virage in there too? Maybe that was last issue.

The bottom line is this - you guys don't buy anything. And by "you guys" I mean experienced slalom racers. The only people that buy from magazine ads are beginners. You are not buying a Radikal because you saw a cool ad, you're buying it because you've seen it on the course or tried one. Same with wheels. Yes an ad with new product puts said item on your radar, this is true. But even then, how many of you are paying retail at this point?

In most cases with slalom companies, ads are run just to remind you of the brand.

Wesley Tucker wrote:I was looking through the latest CW at Books-A-Million (I don't subscribe)

You're supposed to be a big slalom advocate and you don't even support the only publication that covers slalom once in a while. Yet, you expect companies to run slalom specific ads in every issue??? Am I the only one to find this kind of ironic???

Fullbag runs ads in CW once in a while, and will keep doing so. Maybe even more frequently in the very near futur...

Miguel Marco wrote:

Wesley Tucker wrote:I was looking through the latest CW at Books-A-Million (I don't subscribe)

You're supposed to be a big slalom advocate and you don't even support the only publication that covers slalom once in a while. Yet, you expect companies to run slalom specific ads in every issue??? Am I the only one to find this kind of ironic???

Fullbag runs ads in CW once in a while, and will keep doing so. Maybe even more frequently in the very near futur...

Will there be a "Fullbag Magazine" soon????

maybe its over and the small niche market is saturated with products?

who knows...
some do for sure...

Donald Campbell wrote:maybe its over and the samll niche market is saturated with product?

who knows...
some do for sure...

Don, are you moving boards to NEW customers or selling more board to people who already own a Pavel? Do you get orders from people you've never heard of (meaning they haven't been to races and don't gab on websites)?

Just wondering.

Would also be interesting to hear from other manufacturers the state of the slalom skate industry.

it's a mix wesley
but in general the demand is lower than it was
and i'm not the only one noticing that
it would be interesting to hear from others too,but admitting that might be regarded as a form
of weakness.
but.... the trend is there

Donald Campbell wrote:it's a mix wesley
but in general the demand is lower than it was
and i'm not the only one noticing that
it would be interesting to hear from others too,but admitting that might be regarded as a form
of weakness.
but.... the trend is there

Please put some boards up at your new site so we can shop!!!
I´m thinking WADSTEN........GS WADSTEN????

Donald Campbell wrote:it's a mix wesley
but in general the demand is lower than it was
and i'm not the only one noticing that
it would be interesting to hear from others too,but admitting that might be regarded as a form
of weakness.
but.... the trend is there

Same here, mix of repeat customers and brand new ones for the direct sales. Can not speak for our dealers though, but the fact that they almost all did repeat orders is a good sign.

But demand is not lower in my case, it's about the same as last year with just a shift in the deck sizes sold. This year, up to now, we sold a little bit less of the GS length decks but a little bit more of the Tight and Hybrid length decks.

I guess I'm not experiencing a lower demand like Donald because of the price difference between his boards and mine. Money has been scarce for a lot of people this year, and Pavel and GOG are pretty much at the top of the price range. Time for a cheesy plug: The growing reputation of Fullbag as very high quality and performance products at an affordable price may have something to do in our steady slalom sales... LOL

By the way, I don't see why admitting to lower sales during a fucked up economy period would be regarded as a form of weakness...

Hey! Where's the Kash-for-klunkers slalom deck program?

I'd gladly trade in an old deck for a shiny new Fullbag or Pavel!

(Don and Mig, if you don't know what I'm talking about, just ingore me... A few folks in the US might understand my sarcasm...)

Ooh, I do know what you're talking about, I get it. I do follow american politics, once in a while...

I subscribe. Though I gotta admit I'm probably not gonna renew it after the 2 years I bought last time runs out. I always get the feeling that I've read that before... Actually its almost only the ads that I read these days (and all the new interesting stuff that I buy is always at full price, long after everybody else have tried it, it seems).

I (161) don't advertise in CW, but just as I said to Adam (at ncdsa who thought 161 should buy ads there) - we will start buying ads as soon as we break the magic 10 boards sold per season mark

Perhaps I should expand the team and thus sell more boards (yes the teamriders pay their boards, trucks and t-shirts and stickers and... well everything). Don you're on to something...

Curt C wrote:Hey! Where's the Kash-for-klunkers slalom deck program?

I'd gladly trade in an old deck for a shiny new Fullbag or Pavel!

(Don and Mig, if you don't know what I'm talking about, just ingore me... A few folks in the US might understand my sarcasm...)

First you have to prove that the board you are getting, gets better mileage than your old one.

-RF

Rick Floyd wrote: First you have to prove that the board you are getting, gets better mileage than your old one.

-RF

New gear is ALWAYS faster than old gear....

(Oh wait, you said someting about better mileage?)

OK, here goes: a Pavel foamie, or a new Death or Glory GS will definitely be lighter than my current boards; thus they will get better mileage...

There you go. Where's my big, fat checks from the government that I can foward on to Don and Mig?

hello all,
thought I'd come over here and give my 2 cents...for what it's worth...

as some of you might suspect, CW is more than a magazine, it's a movement...

it's here to document in PRINT what is taking place in all of skateboarding...that's why I am happy to cover slalom and a lot of other generes the other skate mags seem to have forgotten.

i might be in my 90's before skateboarding fully embraces ALL aspects of skating, but that's a goal worth fighting for.

Would I like to see some more slalom folks advertise? Sure...but, the way I've built the mag, it's one of those things that I don't worry about. I am happy to give you guys the coverage you richly deserve. Should I do more? Of course! But then again, I should be covering more downhill, according to the downhillers....and more vert, according to the vert dogs...and more freestyle...and more cruising...and more street...and more cowbell

you get the picture.

It ain't easy publishing a PRINTED skateboard magazine these days...but we've got more than ink on dead trees. You know that, I know that...and I will continue to confound and surprise the skate industry...and our readers.

If you feel like contributing, or just sending a brutal email full of what I should be doing better...I am all ears.

cheers

Michael

I think you´re doing a great job as it is.

mike brooke wrote:...and more cowbell

Haaa! Haaa! Haa!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mie9hhQTUM

I've got a fever and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL!!! LOL

Donald said it.It is a niche market that is over saturated.Wish it was different.C

Why are Civ's post being erased??? He posted about one of his post being removed (I didn't get to read the first one btw) and now even that one disappeared... What is going on???

Miguel Marco wrote:Why are Civ's post being erased??? He posted about one of his post being removed (I didn't get to read the first one btw) and now even that one disappeared... What is going on???

I haven't seen anything strange lately. Did the post really make it. Did Civ see it after it was actually posted? For info: Only moderators (and admins) can remove posts. Users can only empty the contents as far as I know.

/Jani

Mikey, you know I always have your back and I love Concrete Wave. Only skate mag I read.

And you know my loyalty goes all the way back to Int'l LBer.

This is no reflection on your great publication. YOU can only publish the ads that manus pay for, you can't MAKE us advertise. Well there was that one time when you had those photos of Mig and I and that Eskimo midget hooker, but in our defense we WERE under the effects of a Tim Hortons overdose!

And as CFav and Donald said, it's a very small market and not one prone to buy gear often. I'm sure we'd all like to advertise more, but the money just isn't there all the time. Most of us smaller guys are doing it more for love than money. No one is doing it full time for a living. Every small manu that I know has a day job. There's not a lot of money to be made and every month there's a new guy that's lookin' for a piece of a very small pie.....................oooooooh, did someone say pie?

CW should have a pie section.

Rick Floyd wrote:CW should have a pie section.

It does.

There's a forum at the botton on restaurants and eating.

HAH! gotcha.

jani
i saw the one post where he asked about his recent post being removed.
who is administrating this forum?

We advertise occassionally, but fact is I know pretty much the circulation figures for the UK, and to advertise only to them means paying for ads that get seen by every US racer too...not our customer base...however for the Virages we did run an ad, and appear in the buyers guide.

The old advertising maxim applies:
I know 75% of my advertising budget is wasted...just I never know which 75%

We just had a downhill race here in the UK...there were 220 racers.

Donald Campbell wrote:jani
i saw the one post where he asked about his recent post being removed.
who is administrating this forum?

OK, so someone really did delete them. I understand the first one had some offensive language, or was otherwise unsuitable for this topic. I didn't see it. Someone with moderator or admin rights probably deleted it. It's in their rights. Normally though we move offensive posts to a Thrash bin where they can still be viewed by moderators - just in case a heated debate starts about the move. That move didn't happen here.

/Jani

that's what i was eyeing at jani.you implemented a few very fair rules here and these simple rules make this forum so quality.
let's just make sure it remains that way.
no shitstirring intended,but i want this to be clear,so others can also rely on the very fair posting guidelines provided here.

I made a rather benign comment about Wes and his ability on a skate board. Got deleted...asked what happened...got deleted...

I dont think it takes much of a sleuth to realize that it is Wes who is deleting them and then not owning up for it...simple as far as I can see it.

Thanks for speaking up for me guys, good eye Mig.

Hi Civ,

Thanks for jumping in here. I don't think it was Wes because he wrote to me asking if I had deleted the posts. It wasn't me, but there are others who have access too.

If the comment was about Wes's skating ability, maybe it wasn't the right place for it, as this is a thread about ConcreteWave slalom ads.

/Jani

maybe people can be a little too touchy? NO, not here....

Don't know. Didn't read it. Maybe it was meant as a joke, then it definitely didn't merit disappearing.

/Jani