Question: Eighty-four-year-old Gert Boyle is "one tough mother." Not only is she the chairperson of the board for Columbia Sportswear, but she is also its spokeswoman. Gert assumed control of Columbia Sportswear 35 years ago after her husband Neil passed away. Gert reported for duty a mere four days after Neil's death to take the reins of the growing company-a company that has flourished under her tough leadership. Founded by Paul and Marie Lamfrom (Gert Boyle's parents) in 1938, Columbia Sportswear Company is a global leader in the design, sourcing, marketing, and distribution of active outdoor apparel and footwear. The $1.36 billion company employs more than 2,700 people and distributes and sells products in 80 countries to more than 13,000 retailers internationally. As one of the largest outerwear brands in the world and the leading seller of skiwear in the United States, the company has developed an international reputation for quality, performance, functionality, and value. Columbia Sportswear has worked hard over the years to develop its image of offering high-quality products. It promotes itself and its products through event sponsorships, print and television advertising, and a strong public relations program. It is actively involved in event marketing.
For example, the company signed up to be the official apparel sponsor of Jeep's "King of the Mountain" series, proclaimed as the richest and most prestigious professional snow racing series in the world. For its involvement, Columbia Sportswear outfitted the event staff and volunteers, as well as VIPs attending the event. Other sponsorships include events such as the Mt. Baker Banked Slalom snowboarding competition, which draws world-class snowboarders; the annual World Superpipe Championships; and the Ski Mountaineering Competition in Korea. The company has used many approaches to promote the quality of its products. Their greatest success however, is a campaign featuring Gert and her son, Tim Boyle. This positioning is an outgrowth of the relationship that has existed between Gert and Tim since they began running the company together. According to people who know them, Tim and his mother have argued from the beginning about how to run Columbia Sportswear. A director of the company says, "Tim and Gert are a lot like the Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau characters in The Odd Couple. They complain all the time, and yet they cherish each other." Over 20 years ago, Borders, Perrin & Norrander, the company's former advertising agency, came up with an idea to use the well-known relationship between Gert and her son to develop an identity for the company-an identity beyond technical claims about product quality.
They developed an ad campaign that portrays Gert as "one tough mother," who uses her son to demonstrate that Columbia Sportswear clothes will protect whoever wears them under any weather conditions. In the many spots, Gert appears as a hard-driving mother who refuses to accept anything but the highest quality of products, for both her son and her company. The ads were so successful at positioning and promoting Columbia Sportswear's products that Gert and Tim became the company's ad staples. Showing Gert put her son through a series of catastrophic tests to demonstrate the durability of the company's products did not only communicate product quality, but it also established an identity in the customers' minds. In one commercial, Gert drives an SUV with Tim strapped on top through a series of severe weather situations to show that his clothing is protecting him.
The ending scene is a close-up of the jacket he is wearing with the tagline "Tested Tough." This theme is continued throughout a series of commercials that depict Tim in a number of cold-weather survival situations, such as being dropped on the top of a snow-covered mountain by a helicopter piloted by Gert, being under the ice in a hockey arena (staying alive with a breathing tube), and being covered by snow with Gert driving the snowplow. In all cases, Tim is unharmed and Gert is unconcerned-all because he is wearing Columbia outerwear. Columbia Sportswear's signature spot shows Gert in a biker bar. The audio track says, "In a world of rugged individuals, only one is the toughest mother of them all. Mother Gert Boyle-maker of tough mother jeans." There is a close-up of Gert with a tattoo on her bicep that reads "Born to Nag," and the spot ends with a product shot of Columbia jeans. These irreverent and memorable ads appear to be working. Since their inception, Columbia Sportswear has carved out a 50 percent market share in its category. Now that's one tough mother!16
1. What are the characteristics of Columbia's target market?
2. What are the major objectives of Columbia Sportswear's promotion program?
3. What recommendations would you make to strengthen Columbia's promotional activities?