Here’s another brand in the BBI, the “BRILLIANT BRAND INDEX” ®Kurt Frenier.
As a reminder, the BBI® model has 8 dimensions that I deem important to qualify for a “brilliant brand”: 4 ‘brand coolness’ dimensions (a lovable brand, a beacon of trust, inherent universality, a memorable visual identity), and 4 ‘brand hotness’ dimensions (novel/contemporary marketing, on a growth trajectory, creativity & awesomeness, executed to excellence).
BIT OF BACKGROUND ON O’NEILL : More than 60 years ago, Jack O’Neill, aspiring engineer turned window salesman went surfing to release everyday pressures. In love with mother nature, but frustrated by the weather, he started researching how to solve the problem of the extreme cold water in the waves of Northern California, so he could surf for longer. He invented to world’s first wetsuit in the early 50s. Much in the way Steve Jobs appropriated the computer mouse from Xerox, O’Neill found a way to translate an emerging technology into a product people would be in line for. His philosophy of “first in – last out” (the water…or whatever sports) is still a driving factor for the O’Neill brand to date.
The 4 ‘brand coolness’ dimensions:
1-A LOVABLE BRAND
O’Neill is more than a brand for surfers. It has become a lifestyle brand beyond swimwear and surf boards dudes. Captain-hook-looking-Jack-O’Neill still drives what the brand stands for: the unshakable determination to inspire people and empower them to get the most out of their passions! And so, O’Neill is a truly truly authentic brand. It seems to me they have always been themselves, transparent, real, and put their beliefs before any commercial goal. No wonder Jack O’Neill (today age 89) is surprised about the success of the brand he created 60 years back (see the video further in this post)
2-A BEACON OF TRUST
This is where O’Neill stands out from other sports and definitely other fashion brands: it’s not just the pursuit of high quality, it is the pursuit of designing exactly what the user needs. At O’Neill they call it “rider developed, rider proven“. This philosophy has proven to lead to superior product performance and enormous innovation in the (water)sports industry. Combined with their mission to “inspire”, O’Neill is a beacon of trust around the world. O’Neill’s core values – innovation in style and technology – have seen the brand devote itself wholeheartedly to the evolution of the action sports lifestyle.
3-INHERENT UNIVERSALITY
From wetsuits-for-surfers to fashion. It seems counter-intuitive. O’Neill clearly wasn’t universal at start. And maybe it still isn’t to date. Only in the 2000’s, when surf and snow saw remarkable growth across the world as new leisure themes, O’Neill moved the needle and decided to ride the wave of global branding, marketing, and selling. BUT … it is still a small scale company, with a few central people and a distributors network around the world. I personally feel that if the company would be structured differently and in a more powerful way, they could be a much stronger powerhouse with a lot more sales and a lot more powerful branding.
4-A MEMORABLE VISUAL IDENTITY
Not too sure where O’Neill stands on visual id management, but it seems to me they keep things tight, although maybe not too novel at times. Their designs and prints, whether in clothes and boards, are recognizable. You can pin point an O’Neill item -that’s powerful. Also, the O’Neill logo also hasn’t changed over the decades.
Here is an absolutely beautiful must-watch video about the history of O’Neill. Wonderful summary of what the brand stands for:
The 4 ‘brand hotness’ dimensions :
I-NOVEL, CONTEMPORARY MARKETING
In all fairness, I haven’t seen too much O’Neill myself when it comes to advertising. Maybe I’m missing out because I’m not hard-core targetgroup. Now; one of the smart things they’ve done years ago, was set up so called ‘team O’Neill’, that brings together some of the world’s most talented, legendary boarders, surfer, riders, beach volley players etc. Team O’Neill invests in the future by supporting the world’s upcoming surfers, and therefore creates the best possible brand ambassadors a brand can think of. Next to that, as another through-the-years marketing item are the O’Neill events. On the digital front, O’Neill celebrated its Winter athletes in December of last year with the launch of the “O’Neill Experience” at www.oneillexperience.com, a special microsite that followed O’Neill Snow athletes during their pursuit of gold at the 2012 Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado. Another special microsite, launching this month at www.oneill.com, will further chronicle the brand’s immense legacy in action sports. I also discovered that O’Neill and Team O’Neill have good presence on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
II-ON A GROWTH TRAJECTORY
Well, I have little to no clue on this one. Bit of surfing the net didn’t really help. O’Neill seems to remain a small scale and humble business. Today, O’Neill is sold in more than 47 countries.O’Neill’s business employs 130 people in the United States (ahum, really? that little?!) , and Logo International -the Dutch company that purchased the trademark in 2007- has licensing agreements to sell apparel and a line of snow gear around the world. O’Neill does have a leading market share – an estimated 60 percent – of international wetsuit sales. And its owner? Since assuming a reduced role in the company after having a stroke in 2005, O’Neill has pursued projects like the O’Neill Sea Odyssey program, using his 65-foot research catamaran to take kids out on Monterey Bay and teach them about ocean preservation. Not sure what good it does for the brand or the company, but at least the man keep pursuing his dream: have a deep connection with the sea and nature as a whole. Commendable.
III-CREATIVITY AND AWESOMENESS
“We believe that nature calls us and challenges us to play” – one of the many beliefs of Jack O’Neill and therefore core brand DNA material that should go straight into a brief. Man, isn’t that just a lead into creative awesomeness just there? O’Neill has fantastic, authentic views on the world. That shapes a brand. And that shapes creativity. BUT…once more, I’m not seeing that turned into awesome brand executions whether on tv or in digital. Shame.
IV-EXECUTED TO EXCELLENCE
O’Neill has a lot of “firsts”! Their commitment to innovative products has led to a long list of revolutionary products that includes the prominent Psycho series wetsuits with the industry’s first Double Fluid Seam Weld, XDS Air neoprene, and the patented Zen Zip; the Hyperfreak boardshort, the first multi-stretch, fast drying boardshort made with hyperstretch fabric; and the revolutionary Superkini, the bikini designed with NANOFRON(TM) technology making the Superkini the first to have 200% more grip. O’Neill’s 60 years of innovation extends beyond water sport products. Furthermore, you do see O’Neill where it matters: any decent sports shop sells the brand.
To wrap up, an interview with Jack O’Neill and his love for surfing and innovation:
On the “BRILLIANT BRAND INDEX MAP” ®, I plot them as a “UNDERVALUED JEWEL“. The reason for this qualification is simple: a brand as authentic as O’Neill is almost hard to find these days. And with such a huge brand foundation, imagine what can happen if some real powerful marketers and leaders would shake up the humble company and put forward a vision to become the biggest, brightest, most modern surf&more fashion house; while keeping the brand integrity,authenticity, DNA…
Thanks for stopping by and reading this article! Let me know what you think – here, on twitter (@kurtfrenier), on facebook, or on LinkedIn. Kurt.
