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Easton Sports is Black and Yellow and Played All Over

Easton Sports wanted its brand and image to match up with the team sports it serves. So the Van Nuys-based sporting equipment manufacturer recently changed up a few things, made some adjustments, improved its form. Easton created a new logo and uses a new yellow and black color scheme that expresses boldness and confidence, said Chris Zimmerman, president of Easton Sports. It was inspired by serving baseball, hockey and lacrosse markets, especially. “We see it as a brand that is innovative and we felt the color scheme did a good job reinforcing that,” Zimmerman said. The rebranding campaign coincides with Easton Sports releasing new lacrosse, baseball and hockey equipment. The new lacrosse helmet reached stores in mid-November. The Stealth hockey stick became available in October, and new baseball bats were in stores in September. Easton Sports is the team sports division of Easton-Bell Sports Inc., which makes products for the football, cycling and winter sports markets. Easton-Bell is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RBG Holdings Corp., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EB Sports Corp., of which outstanding stock is owned by ultimate parent company, Easton Bell Sports LLC. Easton-Bell voluntarily reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. According to SEC filings, gain in market share and new products contributed to the increase of team sports sales in the third quarter. For the period ending Oct. 1, team sports brought in revenues of $116 million, a 13.9 percent increase from the same period in 2010. Total third quarter revenues were $212.5 million with $4.7 million in net income. Easton-Bell is among the major players in the sports equipment industry that brought in $26 billion in 2010, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. The association projects an increase by 1.5 percent this year to $26.4 billion for 2011. It was the addition of lacrosse to the Easton Sports offerings that brought about the company’s rebranding. In the past, Easton had marketed and branded its baseball and hockey products independently. But with the addition of lacrosse the company wanted an identity that encompassed all three, Zimmerman said. “We wanted a similar look, feel and personality across all the different products,” Zimmerman said. Creating consistency with products is a positive step for a consumer-based company to make because it creates an atmosphere that a buyer will remember, said Bruce Hammond, marketing and communication director for the National Sporting Goods Association. “Having that consistency across everything you do increases the likelihood of purchasing a different product based on a previous purchase,” Hammond said. CEO: Paul Harrington HEADQUARTERS: Van Nuys OtHER lOCATIONS: United States, Canada, Mexico, China and Taiwan Employees (Jan. 1, 2011): 2,710 Brands: Easton, Riddell, Bell and Giro Revenues in 2010: $772.8 million Largest customer: Wal-Mart, with 13.9 percent of net sales in fiscal 2010 Source: Easton-Bell Sports SEC filings Promoting Easton’s products isn’t limited to a new color scheme and logo. With much of its core customer base being high school and college students who spend much of their leisure time online or using portable wireless devices, the company has created video for YouTube as a means of communication. This summer, Easton had brand ambassadors — stand out college-level athletes — who appeared at tournaments to do demonstrations of Easton products. “It is not a full-time job but we will continue to have them in the marketplace to tell our story,” Zimmerman said. Taking on a rebranding campaign, however, can have its pitfalls. A company needs to understand its history and its core consumer base and any changes it makes must be airtight, said Steve Syatt, who operates a public relations firm in Sherman Oaks that has worked with consumer products and entertainment industry clients. A well-known logo or slogan carries with it a certain cache and a change must be done for the right reason and in a way not to upset that core consumer, Syatt said. “The right reason is to gain market share,” he said.

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