Page 256 - Foundations of Marketing

Reaching Global Markets | Chapter 8 223

Evo: The Challenge of Going Global

While Bryce Phillips, founder of active sports retailer evo, ability to negotiate with manufacturers on global distribution.
was skiing in Japan, he was surprised to learn that several As evo grows as a brand, the company may gain the power to
skiers at the lodge owned evo products. Although it is evo’s negotiate more favorable distribution terms with its vendors.
intention to become a more global company, the organiza- Additionally, dealer contracts cannot prevent consumers
tion does not regularly export to other countries. Yet, even themselves from sending the products overseas. As Phillips
with little export activities, customers from other countries found out firsthand, the company’s popularity has spilled
are seeking out evo sports gear. over into other countries. Technology has enabled the com-
Evo, short for “evolution,” was founded as an online retailer pany to engage in viral marketing, which aids in increasing
in 2001 and opened its Seattle-based retail store four years later. the company’s global brand exposure. For instance, when
While the retail store provides customers with a physical loca- mountain gear manufacturer Rossignol decided to launch its
tion to look for products, the online store allows evo to carry a skis globally through the evo website, the news was posted on
greater selection and extend its global reach. The company caters ski websites throughout the world. Evo has also been featured
to active sports enthusiasts with products like ski gear, wake- in magazines that have international circulations.
boards, snowboards, skateboard gear, and street wear. From the Evo hopes to work with its vendors to make global sell-
beginning, Phillips wanted to use the Web to spread the word ing more feasible. “Once we kind of work through that and
about evo worldwide. “When we think about the future, we get the green light from some of our bigger vendors, I think
think about being a global brand in the context that, for the kind that it’ll become more of a strategic focus,” Decker said. In
of customers that we’d like to attract, we’d like to attract them all the meantime, evo is finding additional ways to increase its
over the world,” Phillips said. “And being on the Web, the word global presence. For instance, the company launched evoTrip
travels, and your brand can travel very, very quickly.” as a service for adventurous sports enthusiasts who want to
Approximately 5 percent of evo’s business comes from travel. EvoTrip arranges the trips with the goal to connect
outside the United States, and the Web’s global reach has people to local cultures, communities, and sports. In addition
increased demand for evo’s products. Yet, despite these favor- to increasing its customer base, evoTrip allows the organiza-
able global prospects, evo has been constrained somewhat in tion to form relationships with consumers overseas.
its ability to ship internationally. “We are confined in some Global opportunities are likely to increase as evo contin-
ways by a lot of our dealer agreements,” said Nathan Decker, ues to grow. In 2011, the company released its first customer
senior director of e-commerce at evo. He provides two rea- catalog, and Phillips has expressed a desire to open more
sons for why vendors create exclusive dealer arrangements stores across the nation. The organization is also explor-
with evo: (1) to avoid saturating markets overseas; and (2) to ing the possibility of expanding its own line of evo-branded
maintain control over their products in order to compete fairly products. In doing so, the organization would not be con-
in the global marketplace. By limiting distribution, manufac- strained by contractual obligations from its vendors. Creating
turers are able to exert some control over other elements of the a global brand remains an important part of evo’s endeav-
marketing mix, such as price. The evo website contains a list ors. According to Phillips, “Everything we do, whether it be
of brands that the company cannot ship overseas due to con- something we buy or something we sell [or] something we
74
tractual agreements. If consumers from foreign countries try invest in, is connected globally.”
to order these brands, they will receive notification that their Questions for Discussion
order has been canceled.
Because retailers often do not own many of the brands 1. What are both the positive and negative outcomes from
they sell, manufacturers can maintain the right to determine using exclusive dealer agreements that restrict global
where their products are sold and how much to distribute to distribution?
the company. This represents a major challenge for retailers 2. What are the unique product features that could make
that want to go global. On the other hand, large retail compa- evo a global brand?
nies that have a lot of power, such as Walmart, have a better 3. What should evo’s marketing strategy be to go global?

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