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Is Billabong still relevant?

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Phatt
Posts: 351 - Karma: 99
Hey guys doing some research for uni and wanted to just get some of your opinions on Billabong.
Do you still consider it cool?
Would you buy Billabong goods?
What do you think about the company
Any feedback would be awesome
Cheers
Nov 4 2012 5:53PM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9411 - Karma: 10,798
I bought a billabong backpack two years ago. One of the best investments I've ever made
Nov 4 2012 5:54PM
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gotti
Posts: 4269 - Karma: 4,548
wayyy to mainstream fo dis hipstah
Nov 4 2012 5:54PM
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ryano
Posts: 4465 - Karma: 1,535
for the snow industry, probably not.

for the surfing and summer-ee sports, i would say probably yes.

but i'm not really involved in anything super summer-ish..
Nov 4 2012 5:57PM
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CluckaChuck
Posts: 1541 - Karma: 734
Yeah I find it pretty popular still. Personally I don't wear it. Lots of people I know do.
Nov 4 2012 6:00PM
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k-rob
Posts: 14217 - Karma: 2,891
i still buy and wear billabong. who cares if they're relevant? they make good products that look cool and they support great athletes.
Nov 4 2012 6:00PM
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Rafiki
Posts: 3858 - Karma: 2,251
ya they've sorta dropped off the snow-oriented wear recently, but they still make great quality surf stuff. their board shorts are some of the best i own
Nov 4 2012 6:08PM
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aussieskier
Posts: 805 - Karma: 182
Depends on what market segment,
I think for average people who don't surf or ski probably not, there board shorts are pretty expensive for just a day on the beach but if your surfing they are great and worth the money, ski gear i have never used them so i don't know how good their quality is. their wetsuits are also epic.

The two other things i think that make them super relevant in the surfing world is their pro team and their events.

they sponsor Taj Burrow and Joel Parkinson for the contest crowd and Rasta and Donovan Frankenrieter for the soul surfer type, plus sponsor a whole lot of juniors. their team is obviously alot bigger then that but these are all household names, at least in australia people who don't surf has heard of taj and Joel.

As for their events, everyone has seen footage of Teahupoo, plus sponsor rio, jay bay and pipe masters.
apart from Rio they are all huge events probably the biggest of the calendar, they also run the junior would champs.

so yeah i would say still relevant, maybe not to mainstream fashion surf wear has kinda died down aloy, but as for their influence on the surfing world i think they are still super relevant.

Nov 4 2012 6:10PM
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Phatt
Posts: 351 - Karma: 99
thanks for all the replys guys, keep them coming. even information on what your friends thinks helps.
I am interested if they are still relevant because im doing a business assignment and want to get a general opinion to see if they are finished as a company or they are just in a rough patch.
People might feel that Billabong is on the way out and if thats the case someone else will take their place such as quicksilver or Hurley.
Nov 4 2012 6:11PM
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Phatt
Posts: 351 - Karma: 99
thanks for this, really helpful.
are you a surfer? would you think that bringing Gordon back in to run it would help it get its original vibe back that made it popular?
Nov 4 2012 6:13PM
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aussieskier
Posts: 805 - Karma: 182
and just to add to my last bit they also own Element, Von Zipper, Kustom, Xcel, Tigerlily,Sector 9, Dakine and RVCA.

and i dont think that Quiksilver will take them over I think Quiksilver are bigger as a whole then Billabong.
Nov 4 2012 6:18PM
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act.resist
Posts: 8875 - Karma: 513
no im too poor to buy anything brand name.

but if i did have money i would only buy billabong if i were a surfer, which i am not.
Nov 4 2012 6:20PM
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Wallisch_pl
Posts: 5260 - Karma: 1,022
all the tools I know where billabong
Nov 4 2012 6:22PM
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Spinoza
Posts: 12763 - Karma: 3,844
when i was in highschool wearing a shirt that said Billibong on the front was the coolest thing. my goal was to have all billibong shirts. i then transferred to LRG and at one point had collected like 17 lrg tshhirts.
man was i stupid.
i almost fell into the same trap with jiberish but didnt thankfully.

so now i relalize that a brand is a fucking stupid mental thing and following one for a reason besides practicality or productivity is pretty lame.
my last tshirt cost 1.99 at black market in toronto, its cool
Nov 4 2012 6:23PM
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aussieskier
Posts: 805 - Karma: 182
yeah I surf.

Bringing Gordon back is a bad Idea, It got to big for him to carry, Its not the CEO that made the brand popular, i think It was the marketing, and the athletes that were on the team that made it as big as it was, and thats done by marketing managers and team managers. Im not a buisness guy so i dont know really what good it would do, I mean the company is so big i doubt many of the staff would ever be infulenced by the CEO, he makes buisness choices, like what to buy what to sell.
Nov 4 2012 6:26PM
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Phatt
Posts: 351 - Karma: 99
yeh i can understand that, but for an industry like surfing where its very different to business and people will be more into the soul of a brand i felt he was the right choice. Maybe he wasn't up for the job when it got to big, but would you think that they need to get the soul back into the company that originally made it so popular?
Nov 4 2012 6:36PM
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aussieskier
Posts: 805 - Karma: 182
I think the soul is still there.
Look at the I surf because marketing campaign, that was the coolest most soul driven campaign surfing has had in a long while, maybe they only thing the could do more is use rasta as a bigger part of the team, contest are cool and the best surfers are there, but sometimes feel souless, just like skiing, freeskiing and movies segments can be more important then contest wins.
Nov 4 2012 6:41PM
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cwillygood
Posts: 6831 - Karma: 1,829
YES

For the snow industry not really, i mean they have decent outerwear, nothing special at all

There softgoods are pretty cool, hoodies decent, i have a great billabong crew neck

But the surfing wake stuff is awesome

They make sick boardies, if you get the tech kind, i think hurley and oneil make better ones though, i have a sick life jacket for waterskiing, id say in surfing there pretty big

Out of those kind of compaines i really only like oneil and hurley, kind of getting away from it though, trying to be less mainstreem
Nov 4 2012 6:48PM
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7springsprod
Posts: 2661 - Karma: 3,181
They make some real sick board shorts but theyre a bit expensive
Nov 4 2012 6:58PM
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Phatt
Posts: 351 - Karma: 99
thanks for the replies guys, keep them coming really helpful!
even a quick cool or not will be useful
Nov 4 2012 7:01PM
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