User:EmilyBirdie

Introduction

Volkl has been producing skis and merchandise since the 1950’s where Franz Volkl (son of Greoge Volkl the original entrepreneur) sold the growing business to the Swiss group Gregor Furrer and Partner Holding AG. The copious amount of merchandise that is offered is high quality and handled with the utmost care. Even though the products are a bit more expensive compared to other name brands the customers are very pleased with Volkl

Marketing

Edoardo Artaldi was recently hired by Volkl in hopes to market the tennis division. Artaldi is from Milan, Italy and has experience in marketing and touring with soccer, tennis, basketball, volleyball, and rugby. Edoardo Artaldi is focused on marketing, events, team management, and player management. Paired with Klip America their goal is to ensure that promotion of the Volkl brand will expand even further (Edoardo Artaldi).

The Perfect Fitting System

Volkl designed The Perfect Fitting System which is formatted to offer clothing selections to every shape and size. For example women pant sizes are extra short, short, regular, long, extra-long and of course an option of waist measurement. The men also have a few different sizing options for pants like waist measurement, extra short, short, regular, long, extra-long, and length+6. Allowing the company to offer so many different sizes they can almost guarantee a fit for everyone. It does not stop there; the jackets also have the same options. Women jacket sizes range from XXS to 6XL, chest width and half of chest width. The men’s are quite similar just magnified slightly. Factor in the three colors that can be chosen form there are 300 different pairing options.

Factory

Originally the merchandise was made in Straubing, Bavaria, but once Volkl became international and branched out to the U.S in New Hampshire (Volkl Milestone). Once the merchandise is finished it is sent off to many countries around the world to be purchased through participating dealers (Factory Tour). Manufacturing the skis is an extensive processing system. After the technical computer processing work is finished, sheets of aluminum are cut and combined with wood cores. Then the skis go into shaping and are tested for deformities. There are other processing stations to ensure the safety of the products. Volkl builds their products from scratch and tests each item.

Skis

There are four main categories of skiing which are racing, frontside, freeskiing, and backcountry. Volkl has designed their skis with the Rocker System. When applying weight to a normal set of skis the entire surface touches the ground but when weight is introduced to a Volkl ski only the middle of the ski touches the ground forming a curve. This allows carving to be easier and more precise. The Rocker System can be found in every type of Volkl ski (Volkl International Ski). In 1967 Volkl introduced the Zebra stripped Ski. This was a new and bold image that was revolutionary. Loyal consumers flocked to a local dealer to purchase a set of these animal printed skis. It later became the trade mark of the company .

Tennis racquets

As the company advanced in new technology tennis rackets were developed and began to be manufactured by Volkl. Due to recent technology rackets are being made with “High Tec Nano Tubes” (Volkl tennis). This is a relatively new idea of energy absorbing material that is being placed in the rackets strings’. This organix nano tube material is light weight, but holds the strength and durability of any other high quality racket. The kinetic energy from the ball is forced back through the racket where the Nano Tubes absorb the impact and force it back to the ball applying 30% more force (Organix). The Zebra pattern was produced in the tennis rackets as well. This was another bold and unusual move by Volkl, but the consumers just could not get enough of the animal printed rackets and skis (Volkl Milestone 5).

Snowboards

Similar to the ski categories the snowboards are equipped to handle any terrain and any style. For example there are freestyle, racing, backcountry, and all terrain. These boards are meant to handle harsh eliminates with the slim tip construction and the shock absorbing technology for optimum control (Weinländer).

References

"Factory Tour ." Volkl” . Arrabiata Solutions , n.d. Web. 17 Nov 2011. "Volkl Hires Edoardo Artaldi ." Racquet Sports Industry”. Network Unlimited, 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. Volkl, Marker. "Tennis." Volkl International Ski. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec 2011 "Volkl Milestone."Volkl” . Arrabiata Solutions , n.d. Web. 17 Nov 2011. "Volkl Outerwear for Skiers of All Sizes." Skiing Business. 03 March 2011: 1-2. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. "Volkl Rocker Design." Volkl International Ski. Marker Volkl USA, 2011. Web. 6 Dec 2011. "Organix." Volkl Tennis. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec 2011. <http://vb-tennis.com/cms/front_content.php?idcat=34>. Weinländer, Michael. "Technology." Volkl International Snowboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec 2011.