How Burton Became The #1 Snowboard Company

SOURCE: Cloud Fleet Creation

The economic principle I’m exploring is People generally respond to incentives in predictable ways.

 My research question to help me study the economic principle is What are the most profitable snowboard brands, and how did they achieve this growth?

The article published in Inc. titled “The King of Snowboards” demonstrates this economic principle by showing the backstory of snowboarding as a sport, how Burton became so popular, and how the sport grew.

 First, Jake Carpenter began his snowboarding business by building small snowboards himself, starting the industry. The author states, “Carpenter was 14 when he got a Snurfer, the first snow surfboard. It became such an obsession that 10 years and 100 prototypes later, Carpenter produced the Burton Backhill, one of the first snowboards” (Carpenter). He went door to door selling these boards, and not many people were buying them at first. At the start, snowboarding was seen as a punky sport and many teens were into the idea. This is where the business boomed, the only reason that this sport started, was because of rebellious teens.

 Second, Burton became the primary snowboarding brand by being the first company to begin developing this idea. They had invested much more money in research and development than any other brand at the time, and had to come up with luxury ideas in order to separate themselves from other companies. Burton developed a variety of products, boots, jackets, snowboards, which all contributed to their success. Jake Carpenter states, “We started out with snowboards. But then it became clear that people needed specific footwear for them. So we got into boots. And then we started making jackets, and then more technical waterproof outerwear.”

Third, The growth of snowboarding as a sport originated from Burton, as they nearly invented the idea. The popularity came from sponsoring and advertising their apparel and snowboards. The growth was focused toward teenagers, and it was seen as a counterpart to skiing at the time. It was the rebellious option, and the culture surrounding it intrigued the youth. These original snowboarders wanted the best, as Jake states, “People want variety and individuality, but they always come back to our brand because we're so focused on product.” Burton had the best product design, build quality and reputation at the time.

In my next blog post I will research the question: What are the most profitable resorts, and how did they achieve this growth?