Kitesoul Magazine #12 English Edition
In this issue: Pre-event Triple S, IKA Kiteboarding World Championship, RC: Colleen Carroll, Kitefoil European Cup, Trip: RRD Cape Town, Australia, Turks & Caicos, ITW: Mikaili Sol, Julien Leleu, Patri McLaughlin in Jaws, Shape Wave: Sky Solbach, Pre-event Kite Babes, F-one Hydrofoil, Focus on products, Wave and Freestyle tutorials.
In this issue: Pre-event Triple S, IKA Kiteboarding World Championship, RC: Colleen Carroll, Kitefoil European Cup, Trip: RRD Cape Town, Australia, Turks & Caicos, ITW: Mikaili Sol, Julien Leleu, Patri McLaughlin in Jaws, Shape Wave: Sky Solbach, Pre-event Kite Babes, F-one Hydrofoil, Focus on products, Wave and Freestyle tutorials.
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172<br />
STORY<br />
Jürgen May – ION Line Manager<br />
ION PRODOTTI - MILESTONE<br />
2011<br />
2012<br />
2013<br />
2015<br />
2016<br />
2016<br />
“"Sanitized" Technology for Wetsuits<br />
“"Memory Foam" for Harnesses<br />
“"Nexkin" for Wetsuits<br />
SPECTRE Harness construction<br />
“WIRE-TEC Harness construction<br />
“No-Zip Wetsuit construction<br />
AR_Every second wetsuit and<br />
harness that is sold in Germany<br />
is made by ION. Is the success<br />
of “Your” brand sometimes<br />
a bit scary?<br />
JM_Not really. We are pursuing<br />
a strategy of continuous<br />
growth, which means that we<br />
are aiming to substantially<br />
grow year by year to a controlled<br />
extent.<br />
AR_"Growing to a controlled<br />
extent". To top off things, the<br />
results of the German (windsurf-)<br />
SURF-magazine reader<br />
survey in May 2015 show that<br />
that 75% of readers have chosen<br />
“ION” in reply to the question<br />
of “Which wetsuit are you<br />
most likely to buy?” That’s<br />
truly impressive!<br />
JM_Yes, ION has also become<br />
really popular lately with the<br />
more conservative type kitesurfer<br />
or windsurfer. In that target<br />
group, demands and market<br />
behaviour are changing and<br />
riders are looking for new, more<br />
progressive products rather<br />
than what was simply popular<br />
in the past.<br />
AR_Is it possible that this<br />
type of success can eventually<br />
become “too much” for a<br />
brand?<br />
JM_With increasing market<br />
share, we have to ensure we<br />
remain progressive and innovative<br />
in order to maintain our<br />
appeal. Nothing is worse than<br />
losing market position, because<br />
of the brand being considered<br />
as "boring".<br />
AR_Do you think that the company<br />
structure with investors<br />
from a private equity fund,<br />
leads to more pressure than if<br />
it was owner-operated?<br />
JM_It can be very helpful to<br />
have a well organized investor<br />
in the background. Investors<br />
can be convinced by hard economic<br />
facts to take the necessary<br />
steps for the development
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