In 2009, Volcom had revenues totaling over 280 million dollars(1). According to Volcom's CEO, Richard “Wooly” Woolcott, Volcom has set a goal of reaching half a billion dollars in revenue. Volcom gives a hell of a lot back to action sports. They sponsor numerous events, and they consistently advertise in many magazines. They’ve been pretty successful by being a "renegade" clothing company. Their tag line is “Youth Against Establishment”... and while some may laugh at the irony of a public company positioning itself as “Against The Establishment”, you certainly can’t argue with their success.
Volcom's CEO, Richard "Wooly" Woolcott. According to Yahoo finance, Volcom (Nasdaq: VLCM) is currently trading at just under $19 a share. This is about 60% off it's one-week high of $50.13 on the week ending June 25th, 2007. The funny part about all of this, is that their slogan is "Youth Against Establishment". I'd equate that to making myself the CEO of a healthy-living organization, and headlining a mass movement called "Skinny People Against Pizza and Cigarettes". It's obviously disingenuous, bordering on hypocritical. Photo from www.surfexpo.com.
As a public company, however, Volcom has to play by a number of rules on the stock exchange. They have to respect well-defined polices and procedures, or face some severe penalties... including the threat of being delisted from the exchanges. The problem, as I learned recently at the September Surf Expo... is that outside of the stock exchange, they appear to have very little respect for any of the other brands within action sports. I came away with the feeling that they’ve become "Brand Bullies". And for many who work in the business of action sports, it left a pretty bad taste in our mouths.
Why does this matter...? Isn’t reporting on trade shows sort of like reporting on what happens in Vegas? You know, "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas"...? Well, I felt that I owed it to the dozens of people who were bullied by Volcom’s actions, and are nervous to go public with their concerns and complaints. Bullies continue their actions only when no one speaks up. Well, I'm speaking up.
So: What did Volcom do that was so bad?! What it really came down to, was the music at their booth, and the wanton decibel levels that they had it playing at. They had eight blaring hours of techno music playing on Friday, which drove a lot of people crazy. It was so loud, that most of the booths around and in front of them couldn't even conduct business. For most of us, it wasn’t amusing... it was just obnoxious. Despite repeated requests to turn their music down, they just kept it blaring away. Adding to this was the sound system for the skate area. These two camps seemed to be in competition as to who could be the loudest. It made for a lot of strained voices.
Here's Mike's photo the Volcom booth at Surf Expo in January. But, the photo doesn't tell the whole story until you add...
... music! Listening to Mike talk about it on the phone, we sort of pictured something like this. It sounded pretty bad. He even sounded like he might have been permanently damaged by the ordeal...
So: To experience what Mikey did at Surf Expo, simply hit "Play" on the video clip... turn your sound system up to 50,000,000+ decibels... and then, [try to] resume reading. It's not easy, is it...?
Now, you can see why Mike might have been traumatized by the trade show experience.
Volcom were asked [by Surf Expo] to turn the music levels down for Saturday. They complied... for a while. But by 2pm, they cranked things up all over again. And that’s when I (and a lot of other people) snapped. It felt like you were being brutalized by the music (Yeah, I'll bet you were, buddy! -Ed). For some reason, the "renegade spirit" and the "sense of fun" that Volcom displayed in previous years was replaced with an indifference that many found hard to comprehend. By the way: This is the "politically correct" way to say that they just didn’t give a shit.
Volcom have a tremendous number of staffers at their booth. The one person who was not there, was Volcom's CEO, "Wooly". I'm not sure if he’s the one who directs the show from his HQ, but chances are that the Volcom managers are given some measure of leeway on how to conduct the company's business. No doubt, he was kept appraised of the situation. And, he probably thought it was just going down the way it always does.
As with many industries, people who are in positions of authority who possess some semblance of "institutional wisdom" (aka, they know how to manage things skillfully and diplomatically when the situation goes off the rails) are a rare commodity. It would appear that Volcom may have lost a couple of these seasoned managers. Volcom may want to recall those people, because whoever was managing their booth at the show was clearly out of his (or her) league.
With Volcom, it’s always a party out in front, and business in the back. And their "business" has become a pretty big empire. But the general disregard for every other booth in their vicinity means that they just aren’t who they say are.
Here’s something that probably won’t surprise you: Volcom, for as long I have been attending trade shows, has been acting in a way that drives people crazy. But generally, in a bemusing way. Most of the time, Volcom infuses their trade show booths with a great sense of humor, and vast amounts of creativity. Sometimes the mayhem gets out of control, and people get angry. For example, spraying people with ketchup didn’t win them any fans a few years ago (I remember this one! And no, I wasn't a fan of those fuckers at all -Ed). Volcom have been fined heavily for their actions at previous trade shows. Just like at the stock exchanges, there are rules at trade shows, too. But in every case, they’ve returned. More emboldened, and ready to cause another “scene” at the next trade show.
After a certain hour, Volcom usually gives away free beer at their booth. I guess the beer is a way to compensate people who have issues with their behavior. In one sense, it’s a way to say, “Hey, we know we’re crazy and stomp on a few toes! But, here! Have some free beer, and join the party...!” By and large, the policy works. And folks in action sports have learned to accept what they're all about. Until now.
Volcom actually has this "Brandifesto" in the "history" part of their website... which I found hysterical. Even here, I had to laugh at the duplicity of that they were saying. Paragraph One: "The company was founded on liberation, innovation and experimentation while remaining dedicated to the breakdown of established traditions...".
Paragraph Four: "Volcom was (and still is) a family of people not willing to accept the suppression of the established ways...".
So, which is it?! Damn the man! But, don't hold the man down? Either way, the really important message is: Buy From Us! After all: It's all about selling tee shirts.
Hey, kids: Screw all this crap, save a few bucks, support a damn good cause, and shop at Goodwill.
The good, the bad, and the ugly of Volcom’s actions always mean that people are always talking about them. But their notorious actions are nothing new. At one time, World Industries and Black Flys did stuff that got them banned from the ASR show. Their sales went up immediately.
But action sports have changed in many ways over the past few years. The industry has "grown up", and moved on. Attitudes that worked in the past are not always guaranteed to be a rousing success nowadays. Believe me, it’s still a fun industry with a huge amount of freedom and creativity. But, it’s not the same as it was in 1993. What was once amusing, now becomes a sad attempt at “building buzz” and "creating excitement".
By 4pm on the Saturday, I'd lost it. I was just pissed at Volcom’s total disregard for anyone and everyone. So, I did something highly unusual. I went around the back of their booth, opened up the door, and tried to find someone to vent to. Ironically enough, it’s pretty quiet in the back: You can actually conduct business. I found some random guy from Volcom, and told him that the company was hurting business on the show floor. That Volcom’s actions were infringing on the other companies' right to be there.
His response was pathetic. He felt that Volcom had a right to do whatever they wanted at the show, and that “Crappy little companies don’t mean anything... so who really cares about them being at the show?” The arrogance was astounding. Oddly enough, there are many companies within action sports who make 5 or 10 times what Volcom makes. And yet, they don’t behave like this. They keep their arrogance in check.
But with the economy in the toilet, things change. Even trade shows. People are worried about their jobs, and their businesses. For a number of booths, Volcom managed to hijack their attempts to conduct business. A number of people I spoke to said they were going to cancel future shows, and potential exhibitors told me they would not exhibit [at future trade shows] if Volcom was going to be there.
I did write to the Surf Expo show, and I was heartened to read their response. Here's a partial excerpt:
Like you and many of our vendor partners, we are upset by Volcom’s recent behavior and disregard of many requests to control their actions at our recent show.
We have already given notice that this type of behavior is not in the best interest of Surf Expo and/or its exhibitors and that we reserve the right not to extend future contracts to any exhibitor that cannot abide by the guidelines laid out in our contract or management’s onsite request. We consider our show to be a business first environment and work hard to bring controlled events and excitement to the floor. Our definition of business first, does not have a place for mayhem or rebellious disregard for others.
Many that work in this world of action sports due so because it’s fun. And we get to deal with all kinds of people: Skaters, shop owners, dreamers, entrepreneurs, and those who have "made it" in this "industry" of ours. It can be crazy... but most of the time, it’s a great time. Volcom, by their actions, really made me question their whole deal.
I have sent them a number of questions about the show. As of today, they have been noticeably quiet.
(1): http://www.nasdaq.com/asp/ExtendFund.asp?symbol=VLCM&selected=VLC
Bud Stratford contributed to this report by writing the photo captions, art-directing the piece, and picking the accompanying music. It's amazing what you find on YouTube when you search for "The gayest song ever"....
