Rich J Posted February 23, 2013 Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 http://thecomeup.com/news/dc-shoes-cuts-bmx-team/ DC have cut their entire team, some of the worlds best riders. I have no idea why. Crazy for people like Maddog who is still in rehab or people like Chris Doyle who have been on the team for ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revolver Posted February 23, 2013 Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 That's bullshit, I wonder what they're playing at. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich J Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 http://thecomeup.com/cnr/does-dcs-departure-mean-the-bmx-industry-is-doomed/ Proper write up here. It seems they have left surfing and what is named auto, which I assume is cars which confuses me as what will happen to Ken Block? Bloody Quicksilver cutting support of their own sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash-Kennard Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 ken block owns DC, im sure he will be fine haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich J Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Nope Quicksilver own DC now, hence all the changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Well then Ken Block will be even more fine, as I imagine he's just made a few Dollars and a few extra zeroes on the end! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 yeah, Ken earned a few million from that deal. It's a shame the riders got dumped, but I've never really been into DC as a brand. Their shoes are ugly and I get really put off when I see really annoying people (like Rob Dyrdek) wearing silly american style flat peaked caps and loud branded tops from DC. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rejoinder Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I used to ride BMX a lot and I still couldn't really tell you that many of their team riders. I looked at the list and was surprised to see so many big names considering DC have never really had much presence in BMX. It's like they just thought having some big name riders would take care of sales, but you need to put more in to get more out. If you look at the UK team, it was guys like Kye Forte who would probably expect a good wage from a sponsor (e.g. Red Bull), yet isn't really a unit mover. People don't buy shoes because they see Kye Forte riding in them. If you have riders like that on your team who are taking money but aren't gaining you money by selling products because of their influence, you're never going to see the numbers add up to make you want to stay with that sport. Their international team had riders like Corey Bohan, Jeremiah Smith and Anthony Napolitan. No-one buys shoes because they see them riding in them either, but all of those riders take part in huge international competitions and have other corporate sponsors which probably mean DC had to pay them a good wage too. Margins for a shoe company will probably be good, but you'd have to shift a lot of trainers to pay for the travel costs of, say, Anthony Napolitan to go ride the X-Games. They're a skate shoe company at heart and probably make most of their sales from people going in to high street stores and buying their products so it isn't surprising they're going back to the sport that helped them make their name and focussing their brand more. They tried BMX, it didn't work, not the end of the world. I'm sure their riders will pick up new sponsors quickly and people will go back to not buying their shoes anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich J Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 (edited) As it suggests in the article, it isn't about saying oh he's wearing those shoes I want them, it's just noticing the brand that counts, fashion to put it simply, It's advertising without the adverts. DC also used to help fund events such as Dew Tour with sponsership/ prize money. Ken Block sold DC in 2004 but yeah he got a fair whack for it. Edited March 6, 2013 by Rich J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rejoinder Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 The aim is that you notice the brand with the next logical step being that you buy their product. As Adam says, they "want you to think they're cool" but that's so you buy their stuff. Just knowing about a brand doesn't start money ticking over which is where they seem to lose out to brands that have more of a known involvement with BMX like Nike 6.0, Vans and so on. DC helping fund events like the Dew Tour also points to them not really getting it and just throwing money at stuff without much more involvement than that. Helping out with smaller, rider-orientated comps would have helped them out more in terms of riders wanting to be associated with that brand by wearing their stuff, but instead they opted to try and get exposure on TV networks. That doesn't really work with BMX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich J Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 The aim is that you notice the brand with the next logical step being that you buy their product. As Adam says, they "want you to think they're cool" but that's so you buy their stuff. Just knowing about a brand doesn't start money ticking over which is where they seem to lose out to brands that have more of a known involvement with BMX like Nike 6.0, Vans and so on. Nike 6.0 have had much less involvement than DC. I was going for a similar thing to what you said Adam did, it's not the hard sell more just the noticing, DC as a would brand will lose nothing but sales pulling out of BMX, motorsport and surf, which still confuses me. I guess the amount they were paying riders wasn't in their favour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I won €40 for doing a 180 to half-cab down a double 7 set in Cologne thanks to Nike 6.0 putting on a jam and giving the organisers over €1000 in cash to give out on the day, I also got a load of free food and drink in an amazing after party/BBQ they put on in a park in Cologne too. I've also shot photos for a company at The Tunnel, which was also largely funded by Nike 6.0. I was also offered the chance to go and ride The Pool setup, which was again funded by Nike 6.0. They also gave me some shoes and a T-shirt and paid for my travel as part of the Nike Media Apprentice finale. They also sponsored a few riders I knew in London. As a result, I'm probably contractually obliged to say that Nike 6.0 have more involvement in BMX than DC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 get you mr big time 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Swales Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I won €40 for doing a 180 to half-cab down a double 7 set in Cologne thanks to Nike 6.0 putting on a jam and giving the organisers over €1000 in cash to give out on the day, I also got a load of free food and drink in an amazing after party/BBQ they in a park in Cologne too. I've also shot photos for a company at The Tunnel, which was also largely funded by Nike 6.0. I was also offered the chance to go and ride The Pool setup, which was again funded by Nike 6.0. They also gave me some shoes and a T-shirt and paid for my travel as part of the Nike Media Apprentice finale. They also sponsored a few riders I knew in London. As a result, I'm probably contractually obliged to say that Nike 6.0 have more involvement in BMX than DC Well, they are now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich J Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I won €40 for doing a 180 to half-cab down a double 7 set in Cologne thanks to Nike 6.0 putting on a jam and giving the organisers over €1000 in cash to give out on the day, I also got a load of free food and drink in an amazing after party/BBQ they put on in a park in Cologne too. I've also shot photos for a company at The Tunnel, which was also largely funded by Nike 6.0. I was also offered the chance to go and ride The Pool setup, which was again funded by Nike 6.0. They also gave me some shoes and a T-shirt and paid for my travel as part of the Nike Media Apprentice finale. They also sponsored a few riders I knew in London. As a result, I'm probably contractually obliged to say that Nike 6.0 have more involvement in BMX than DC Since I posted stuff like tunnel jam, the pool, Barcelona comps, when you had that photo/video comp and such have popped up in my head, came back to correct myself. DC quitting BMX is pants is my view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 I didn't know they were involved in bmx to be honest. I thought they were more into skating and car stuff. Not a huge biggie, I don't like DC a huge deal, some of their shoes are cool but they fall apart pretty quick. The logo looks fairly cool on hoodies/plain tops but I don't know if that's just me being a brand whore. Meh, lame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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