Case Study - Business 101
“The Burton Way” | Case Study: Burton Snowboards | | | | | |
Jake Burton
Hometown:
Burlington, Vermont
Key External Environmental Conditions that Influence Burton Snowboards
Social Environment
Burton has used the social environment to embody the values and attitudes of snowboarders world-wide. Burton has made snowboarding a way of life. While people were talking about the boards Burton created, the company concentrated on making the sport of snowboarding great and recognized by all. Burton spearheaded the effort in the 1980’s to legalize snowboarding at ski resorts. Snowboarding “way of life” came about as a natural response to the culture from which it emerged. There was a rebellion against the skiing culture and the view that snowboarding was inferior. Skiers did not easily accept this new culture on their slopes, but Jake Burton, Burton Snowboards and others continued to push through the stereotypes and were successful at making snowboarding what it is today.
Demographics
Burton concentrates on age and gender in deciding their target market. The core group that Burton’s target is aged 12 to 35, typically males. However, as demographics of the world changes, Burton has adapted to this and started looking at female riders and started doing more marketing to pull in both male and female riders. Demographics are always important because you want to be in touch with who will be the primary end user of your product. However, reaching outside of that target market can always open up a new area of untapped sales and widen that market beyond the limit.
Technological Environment
Product placement and design is very important to Burton. Burton has used the internet and other advances that we have today to improve their snowboard equipment. Burton uses computer simulation to do virtual designs of their product and be able to tweak snowboard designs. This is a great asset to use because many times, products are produced and when they are put out there on the
Jake Burton
Hometown:
Burlington, Vermont
Key External Environmental Conditions that Influence Burton Snowboards
Social Environment
Burton has used the social environment to embody the values and attitudes of snowboarders world-wide. Burton has made snowboarding a way of life. While people were talking about the boards Burton created, the company concentrated on making the sport of snowboarding great and recognized by all. Burton spearheaded the effort in the 1980’s to legalize snowboarding at ski resorts. Snowboarding “way of life” came about as a natural response to the culture from which it emerged. There was a rebellion against the skiing culture and the view that snowboarding was inferior. Skiers did not easily accept this new culture on their slopes, but Jake Burton, Burton Snowboards and others continued to push through the stereotypes and were successful at making snowboarding what it is today.
Demographics
Burton concentrates on age and gender in deciding their target market. The core group that Burton’s target is aged 12 to 35, typically males. However, as demographics of the world changes, Burton has adapted to this and started looking at female riders and started doing more marketing to pull in both male and female riders. Demographics are always important because you want to be in touch with who will be the primary end user of your product. However, reaching outside of that target market can always open up a new area of untapped sales and widen that market beyond the limit.
Technological Environment
Product placement and design is very important to Burton. Burton has used the internet and other advances that we have today to improve their snowboard equipment. Burton uses computer simulation to do virtual designs of their product and be able to tweak snowboard designs. This is a great asset to use because many times, products are produced and when they are put out there on the