Summary of Jackson Kayak- a transparent
company that is committed to keeping our customers in the know
August 25, 2004
I can honestly tell you that Jackson Kayak is
a different breed of company in today’s society of creative
advertising and marketing. We are taking every rule of building
a brand and throwing it out the window. We are giving our competitors
every piece of information that they could ever want to try use
to compete against us. We are exposing the “trade secrets”
to you, the customer, and to your dealers as well. As a customer,
you are likely as educated on Jackson Kayak in every way, as your
dealer, if you stay up to date on this website.
What makes us different?
1.
We are setting the new world
record for making the most whitewater boat models in a single
year- 12! (in fact we will be making 12 boats in 9 months!)
What benefit does this have for you?
a.
We make your sized kayak (and
your kids too)! 6 Fun sizes, 3 All-Star sizes, and 2 River Running
Creek boat sizes, and 1 Creek boat size.
b.
You don’t have to wait
for the best boats to trickle out over several years.
2.
We are making the purchase of
a new whitewater kayak affordable again.
a.
Our brand new designs are only
$795, $895, and $995 compared to as much as $1150 and more.
b.
The resale value of a cross-linked
kayak, like ours, is upwards of $600-$700 after a year of use.
c.
The cost to buy a new Jackson
Kayak each year is around, $300 per year, compared to boats
that sell new for $1150 and sell used the following year for
$450 costing as much as $700 (more than twice as much) per year
to keep current.
3.
We are making the business of
selling whitewater boats profitable for dealers again
a.
A dealer won’t be in business
long without making money, and the more money they make the
better service they can provide you.
b.
We discounted our boats to the
dealer and to you so they don’t have to discount them
to sell them.
c.
We don’t require our dealers
to order an obscene amount of kayaks in the fall, receive them
in the winter, and then try to sell them in the spring. We allow
our dealers to simply buy them as they need them. This means
that we aren’t tying up their buying dollars, instead
we trust them to buy enough Jackson Kayak boats to make sure
you can have the model you want. We don’t allow our dealers
to buy a pile of boats at once and hoard them, instead, we spread
them around to the dealers in the order that they order them.
4.
We aren’t trying to convince
you that an apple is an orange. Our marketing is simply educating
you on our product, period.
a.
Our brochure, and website has
the boat’s “WEIGHT” on it like everybody else
does, the difference is that our marketing materials don’t
outright lie.
i.
Look at the “medium”
sized kayaks from all companies- the advertised weights range
from 31-35- the actual weights range from 34-45 pounds with
the average amount of “fudge factor” in the advertising
being 5 pounds or more!!!
ii.
Our kayaks are within the
advertised pound or under the advertised weights.
1.
We have constantly been changing
and adjusting the density of the foam walls, etc. to make the
best boat we can as we move forward. Our advertised weight verses
actual, right now is: (this is dry, weighed at the shop)
a.
Fun 1- ad 22, actual 19.8
b.
2 Fun, ad 26, actual 26.8
c.
Fun, ad 28, actual 28.6-28.9
d.
4 Fun, ad 30, actual 30.5
e.
Super Fun, ad 33, actual 32.8
f.
Fun 1.5- ad ?, actual 23.5
g.
All-Star, ad 28, actual 28.9
2.
Engineering and a minimalist
approach is what makes the difference (materials like cross-link,
and composite help)
b.
Another Example: The Fun series
IS a river running playboat and IS EASY to paddle, that is why
we call it a river running playboat.
i.
Easiest boat to roll in history-
take one out and compare to any boat ever made!
i.i
Stable, non quirky, easy to
maneuver, a relaxing paddling experience, but…
iii.
Fully rodeo ready- loops, BIG
blunts and backstabs, all of the new school moves, etc.
iv.
Not the ideal boat for flatwater
cartwheels- you can do it, but rodeo boats are easier.
c.
We don’t have a meeting
in a board room with top level executives, that don’t
paddle, to decide what the “image” of the brand
should be for 2005 and then launch an advertising campaign,
marketing campaign, etc. to try to convince people that the
boats are now different or the company has changed. Jackson
Kayak is simply the Eric Jackson and family kayak company that
designs boats, makes boats, paddles the boats, and sells the
boats all under one flag, with one simple theme- Make the best
boat and make it available to the public.
d.
Our message is consistent- This
website is our bible- it comes directly from me, and it is as
current as I can keep it, and it is the truth, whether it is
good news or bad.
5.
We don’t skimp on our
product- and that costs us a lot of money, but we save money
on other areas to make our business profitable.
a.
We use cross-linked polyethylene
to make our hulls.
i.
We can make 12 boats maximum
out of each $25,000 mold. If we were using linear we could get
18 boats out of the same mold using the same staff each day.
This is a huge amount of extra money we spend to bring you cross-linked
boats.
ii.
A-Schulman is a plastics supplier
that has sales reps. The Southeast sales rep does good business
with kayaking. They sell to all of the major southeast companies
and want to sell to us. The names that kayak companies use to
describe their plastic was made up by their marketing departments.
The same plastic is available to each manufacturer and the sales
reps offer me the same thing that they offer the other companies.
Any company that goes out of their way to try to convince its
customers that using linear polyethylene in their boats is because
it has better properties than cross-linked is, to put it nicely,
fibbing. Did you know that companies that make rotomolded fuel
tanks, by law, have to use cross-linked polyethylene?
iii.
You can stretch cross-linked
material twice as far linear
before it breaks. The coefficient of friction is less, keeping
more plastic on your boat, less on the rocks. It has memory,
so if you do bend it, simply heat it, and presto, you are good
again.
iv.
Recycle? Yes- we have our scrap
boats ground up and they are SOLD to an asphalt company for
filler.
b.
We are using a composite beam
in our boats- extruded thermoplastic composite- 70% fiberglass,
30% thermoplastic, with a polypro overmolding.
c.
SAVING MONEY- our shipping and
assembly facility is only 735 square feet, costing $35,000 for
1 acre with the building. Our administrative offices are in
my house and the business doesn’t pay any rent for them.
Our staff is lean and mean- Kristine’s mom is office manager,
Kristine is sales manager, I am President, CEO, R+D manager,
Team athlete, marketing, sales, tech rep, etc., etc. We have
5 full-time production people in the assembly and shipping facility.
We are operating below budget in our sales and marketing, and
operations. The only place we are over budget is in the cost
of materials for building the boats- but that is the way it
should be- You can’t paddle an ad, our money goes into
your boats.
d.
Try to imagine the amount of
money that companies spend on advertising (5%-10% of sales)
and SALES REPS (6-10% of sales) alone- just take 15% off the
cost of MSRP if you want to adjust the boat for those two factors
alone. So a $1,150 boat would be $977 MSRP. I am focused on
making boats that will sell themselves, so that advertising
is a waste of money.
6.
We want you to know what we
do at Jackson Kayak. We want to keep you informed, so that there
is no misinformation- ask the other guys their numbers and see
how far it gets you. Why would you want the numbers? It is your
sport isn’t it? You should be privy to what is going on
in your sport at all levels. American Whitewater keeps you informed
on river conservation and access, and kayaking accidents. Kayak
companies should keep you informed on the sales of their kayaks,
but that is just my opinion.
a.
We have about 680 boats left
to sell in 2004 to hit our planned numbers for this year of
2500 (that means we have sold 1820 or so) in 2004.
b.
We aren’t trying to put
the other companies out of business- our competitors sell as
many as 9,000 whitewater boats in a year.
c.
We will sell about 4,000 boats
in 2005 with our 12 models.
d.
David Knight and I design the
boats- Clay Wright will help with the creek boats as well- so
if you don’t like something about my boats- tell me.
e.
We will redesign the Fun family
in 2007- that means discontinue the current line and replace
with the new Funs.
f.
We will redesign the All-Star
family in 2006 or 2007, still up in the air, but you will know
as soon as I know.
g.
We will come out with our creekboat
and river running creekboats this winter, then redesign them
in 2008, any questions on that? Simple.
h.
I own 65% of Jackson Kayak.
i.
Tony Lunt, my partner, a kayaker,
owns 35%
j.
We are totally financed by sales
or loans from Tony Lunt, no banks, or people who can put the
screws on the company, we act completely for the good of Jackson
Kayak, there is no dark power hanging over our head that we
have to answer to, that can tell us to cancel boats, or cut
costs, or anything that is against our philosophy.
7.
Our entire team paddles our
“demo” boats, including myself. They aren’t
special lightweight versions of the retail boats. You have a
better boat than I do. I have never understood how a company
can, in good faith, make a good boat for its athletes, and then
sell an overweight lower performing boat to its customers. Ask
any team member from any manufacturer, if they would be happy
to paddle a normal weight version of the boat they are in. The
answer is a resounding “no”. My All-Star is 29.5
pounds that I am competing in Team Trials in this week- it is
1 pound too heavy and is a demo because of it.
8.
We believe kids can paddle too
a.
The Fun 1 is for 40-80 pounders
and is alone in the marketplace- Dane is a happy kid because
of that boat, now no kid is going to be left out because the
equipment for kids is non-existent.
b.
The Fun 1.5 is for 80-120 pounders-
I added this boat to the lineup because there was too many kids
who wanted a boat for them but could really playboat the 2 Fun
and couldn’t fit the Fun 1. $60,000 later, we bring you
the Fun 1.5 (it costs us an average of $60,000 per boat we create,
just FYI)
c.
The Star is only one week away
and it is the first truly “little people” rodeo
boat.
d.
The 2 Fun handles the bigger
kids from 110-150 pounds.
e.
Since the announcement of the
Fun 1, at least 10 manufacturers of paddles, and gear have started
to prototype kids equipment- the ball is rolling!!!
9.
Jackson Kayak is designed as
a company to pass on to my kids- we are not building for a sell
out.
a.
Look at all of the companies
who’s owners cashed out- never has the company developed
a better culture or product.
b.
If I work hard now, perhaps
my kids will have the opportunity to live their kayaking dreams
as well as I am and be players in the industry, if they want
to, by running Jackson Kayak. Certainly they will be more knowledgeable
about kayaking than just about anybody else when it comes to
kayaks, designs, etc. etc. by being born into the trade, and
full time paddlers themselves.
10.
Finally- we are approachable-
you can email me directly at eric@jacksonkayak.com
or call my cell phone at 931-224-1198 anytime during the day.
I like to hear from kayakers, and will respond. I may write
a sentence back to you or a whole letter, but I will respond,
and you keep me informed about the good and the bad you find
with Jackson Kayak.
Right now I am parked in Watertown, NY and training
most of the day for US Team Trials. We aren’t calling on your
dealers to order more boats. The other kayak companies are giving
minimums orders that they are required to get from each dealer as
preseason orders to their reps. The reps jobs are on the line- get
bigger orders or you are in trouble. The dealers are getting out
their crystal balls to try to figure out how many of each model
to order and are trying to put off the task of making such a huge
financial commitment to the big kayak companies. They are getting
pressured to get on it and make the orders good. If the dealer puts
in the order and doesn’t order the right stuff, they will
be force to try to convince you, the customer, to buy what they
have in stock. There are many kayak shops with no Jackson Kayaks
in stock right now because they don’t want to order any, because
if they do, their customers will buy those, and the dealer will
still be stuck with the boats they can’t sell. This is not
good for you, and not good for the dealer. I am patient and not
worried because if the dealer doesn’t have the boat, they
can find a dealer that does have it and get it there.
That is enough about Jackson Kayak for now.
More about the upcoming All-Star, Fun 1.5, Star,
and Super Star soon! Get your orders in now if you want them quick,
the dealer will sell out of them overnight!
