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BRANDS: |
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FINISTERRE:
THE FUTURE OF NICHE PERFORMANCE BRANDS
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ERNIE CAPBERT |
FreshBritain | Glenn Kitson | Mark Smith |
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Finisterre - named after a shipping forecast region - is rooted in cold-water
surfing. As the only brand in the world that specialises in this
extreme pursuit, they face a number of uncommon challenges.
Cold-water surfing is often about solitude. That solitude is echoed in their
marketplace where there are no real competitors who possess
the same focus as Finisterre.
This may seem like a dream scenario to some, but it comes with it’s own
problems. At the heart of what Finisterre do is an
uncompromising eye on being specialised and selling the lifestyle that goes with
their product. They would rather do that as well as they
can than be distracted by easier, well trodden paths.
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SHORTLY AFTER ENJOYING HIS FIRST SURFING LESSON , GLENN KITSON SAT DOWN WITH
ERNIE
CAPBERT, FINISTERRE’S MARKETING DIRECTOR IN ORDER TO GET A HANDLE ON WHERE THE
BRAND HAS BEEN AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHERE IT IS GOING.
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INTERVIEW [1/3]
GLENN KITSON: If you’ll pardon the obvious pun, Finisterre is a
small fish in a big pond. Can you bring us up to speed with what
the brand stands for?
ERNIE CAPBERT: When we began the brand there was
complacency within the action sports industry, our particular
market being surf specific. We didn’t feel there were any
companies designing good technical products that would allow
surfers to access cold-water surf spots, it was all geared to
a different environment because a lot of the action sports
companies were investing in product for the equatorial regions.
We realised that there was a gap in the market.
GK: Prior to you spotting this gap, what was the norm for cold-
water surfing?
EC: There would be people at the WQS (World Qualifying Series)
wearing cotton t-shirts sitting waiting for their heats in all sorts
of conditions. It didn’t seem right, so we wanted to design
something much more technical for them. We also thought
there must be a customer out there who desires subtly branded
surf products that are also technically advanced and will allow
access to cold-water spots. Geographically speaking there
are more cold-water surf spots than there are warm water surf
spots so we knew demand for the right product existed, even
if the marketplace didn’t know it yet.
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GK: So how did you set out to meet that demand? Traditionally,
smaller brands tend to get knocked about a bit in a competitive
marketplace.
EC: When we started we had very little budget but there was a
great desire to challenge the big companies by creating good
product, inspiring people and inspiring environments. We got
burnt in our first year with manufacturing product abroad; this is
still a problem today. We had to pull back and reduce our supply
chain and produce in Europe.
After initial setbacks, we made some changes and within a year,
this concept of producing for cold-water surf began to catch on
with surfers that were looking for quality product.
GK: How did you tell people about yourself though? Presumably
at the start all efforts went into the product rather than
marketing?
EC: There wasn’t much advertising, there was no marketing as
such, and all we could do was talk about the fact that there was
this gap in the market. We pursued this quite subtly, talking about
it to the right people, getting the right coverage. We were featured
in Monocle magazine and started to gather attention. It grew from
there.
Now we are at a point where we’ve gone in a few different
directions but at the heart of Finisterre is making good
technical product that opens up these cold-water surfing spots.
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INTERVIEW [2/3]
GK: What attracts you personally to cold-water surfing?
EC: Look, it’s much easier to surf in board shorts or go to a
warm area and surf but the moment you start getting cold,
harsh elements and remote locations it becomes much more
about solitude and as a surfer, you crave solitude.
For example if it’s a warm area and there are loads of airports,
lots of air planes flying in to Oz or Bali the crowds are huge,
people queuing up to score waves.
When it’s just you and a couple of mates out there with nobody
around and you’re caning right handers (waves) it’s awesome.
You start to pull in crowds, and then comes the animosity, a bit
of tension, then a bit of ‘localism’ it quickly takes the fun out of
the sport.
So for me, the biggest thing is the solitude. It’s about travelling
further, getting into extreme situations that aren’t very
comfortable. Maybe if you were to smack your head on a reef or
something, you may be half an hour to forty-five minutes away
from anywhere. Or it could be snowing but you get in and find
the perfect peak. You’ve got to work a little harder for it but as
a result the gains are far greater.
GK: It sounds extreme.
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EC: Oh yes, when you paddle out into those waves off the coast
of Ireland it’s extreme. I’ve been in big waves before but when
you add the cold they can scare the shit out of you. When it’s cold
and your hands are freezing and you have to drive there and then
walk for six hours to find this one perfect wave and you get there
and nobody is on it, nobody is there then its amazing.
It’s difficult too, because your fitness level has to be good. It’s
probably the reason why not so many people do it. One thing, your
wetsuit has to be thicker, which means more neoprene therefore,
it’s heavier.
GK: You mentioned Ireland. Where else has the pursuit of perfect
waves taken you?
EC: Our guys have surfed spots of the coast of Norway and
Iceland. They are so hard to get to but that’s part of the buzz.
There are still some frontiers that have never been surfed. It’s a
challenge. It’s also nice because when you surf these spots and
you meet a couple of other guys surfing the cold water waves in
say, Alaska or somewhere there’s a nice rapport, a camaraderie.
People look out for each other unlike in the big cities or the
tourist spots. You also have to go back to basics to find the waves,
as there’s no wave report for these places. The cameras aren’t on
them so it’s a case of checking a topographic map, looking at
wind direction, checking the swell and making a reading yourself
but when you get it, its nice!
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INTERVIEW [3/3]
GK: Back to Finisterre. It’s the only brand the world to specialise
in cold-water surfing?
EC: Amazingly, yes. There are other brands that make cold water
gear but we are the only one specialising in that specific category.
GK: As such a niche brand what sort of difficulties do you come
up against?
EC: In terms of branding it can be difficult, as we aren’t latching
onto an already established market. Surfing in general is of
course established and if we wanted to make this easy we would
just make board shorts or ‘Aloha’ graphic t-shirts. If we wanted
to be straightforward about it all our marketing would involve
scantily clad women and we would become the stereotypical
‘surf brand’.
It’s not where we personally are coming from though. We are
trying to communicate our story, romanticising the travel and
the remoteness. For us it’s about attempting to surf a peak that
nobody has surfed before.
But yes, in terms of branding this can be difficult as we are trying
to pioneer a new category.
It’s like the MP3 player, the technology for them had been around
since 1983 by some German dude and then all of a sudden Apple
came along and said ‘lets call it an iPod?’ Lots of people had
MP3 players but it was only until the iPod came along that
they really became defined. We think it’s the same with cold-water surfing.
Everybody knows about surfing but defining and communicating
the message of cold-water surfing can be difficult. But then, if
we do it right and we do it properly we will be known as the
first to the market with this. That motivates us.
GK: Increasingly there are brands playing the 'green' card,
making sure they factor a bit of care for the environment into the
way they brand themselves. What’s your take on that?
EC: There are brands in the action sports industry who are
making loads of crap product with no design ambition, or
environmental consciousness, I'm not going to name names,
but you all know who you are. They just seem to be churning
out rubbish and ticking the so-called 'green box'. If you're
going to make good product, product that lasts, put the
environment at the heart of your design process, don't just
make it an after thought. I remember reading about one of the
big companies putting out a 'Verde' line (Verde meaning green
in Spanish). It was just token stuff. It’s not genuine, all done
to capture a green market, that sucks.
GK: We touched on the difficulties of being a relatively young
independent brand. What are the dynamics of that from your
point of view?
EC: In terms of being a small independent brand in the sports
performance market, yes it is difficult. We’ve had problems at
various levels be it production or finance. We recently had to
get rid of some venture capitalists that invested in us and then
insisted we made all sorts of rubbish. We are a surf brand and
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we've had to pull Finisterre back to that. We are only just
recovering from that still now.
We are trying to pioneer our concept in an industry that is riddled
with poor decision-making at our level, from the factories to
sourcing fabrics. It is better to be focused on what you’re about
personally and with that in mind we will pursue our singular
concept. There may be other larger brands such as Patagonia
who have their surf range and sometimes make for cold-water
surfing but there is no one else out there specialising in it like
Finisterre.
GK: Wouldn’t it be easier to diversify into more established
markets?
EC: We would probably make more money selling board shorts,
but we haven’t made board shorts for six years. That market is
sewn up and marketed well, flip-flops, bottled beer, tanned
dudes, the nightlife, the t-shirts and so on. But all that stuff is
so corny and clichéd. It has been done, whereas the cold water
surf hasn’t been done and it’s up to us to package the lifestyle
and bring it to the market.
GK: How has the recession affected Finisterre? It can’t be the
best time to try and establish a new concept.
EC: We are a very small company and when you are doing
one thing and trying to do it well it can be difficult. The recession
has brought difficulties. As I said, some guys tried to invest in us
and bring in some equity. Things didn’t work out, which in the end
turned out to be a good thing. They wanted to pull us into a lot of
different directions.
I’m a sucker for branding and I’m a sucker for specialising and
doing one thing and doing it very well. It's about getting that
focused message out there and we were doing that four years
ago before the recession struck and these guys came on board
(let’s call them ‘the bad guys’). They were no good for us; they
wanted Finisterre to be everything to everyone, a running brand,
a yoga brand and whatever was the ‘next big thing’. They’d tell
us “You’re not a specialist, you’re making product you’ve never
made before and there’s an economic downturn.” It didn’t leave
us in a very good position. So we’ve had the struggles and we’ve
seen how bad decisions can make things even more difficult.
GK: So, lessons learnt, how do you see Finisterre growing?
EC: I would love to see Finisterre being known as the de facto
cold water surf company. I want to bring it right back around and
concentrate on the UK and then build from there but there’s a lot
of work to be done. I’d like to see us romanticising the life of the
cold-water surfer and carry on making product that makes those
cold-water spots accessible and then roll it out globally. I’d like
Finisterre to be seen as a specialist niche brand with a global
reach.
In a marketplace cluttered with brands playing it safe and
mistrusting their instincts, it’s heartening to see that a brand like
Finisterre exists. Their uncompromising approach will stand them
in good stead. They don’t just stick to what they know, they
specialise in it. No distractions, just genuine focus on performance
manufacture, high standards and hard work.
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