Academy Snowboards has increased its sales penetration into Japan this season by more than 100%, according to Execute Sports, the brands parent company, with an initial order of 800 boards through First MMT Co. Ltd.
Academy Snowboards' marketing director, Jeff Baughn commented that “We are extremely pleased to see the Academy Snowboards brand continue to gain traction in Japan, where snowboarding in general has such a strong and growing base of snowboarders.” There are an estimated 4.5 million snowboarders in Japan, representing annual sales in hard goods alone of close to $1 billion.
First MMT's brand manager Toru Kagaya added, “Academy Snowboards' continued commitment to producing the highest quality boards, supported by an award winning pro team including Transworld Rider of the Year's Chad Otterstrom and Mike Casanova enables us to continue to drive sales into the burgeoning Japanese market.” The Academy Snowboards line has won industry top ten honors on the Rhythm 157, Commuter 156 and the Merit 157.
Baughn stated further that “We are getting great feedback in the Japanese market on our partnership with Jason Lee's “Stereo” brand on the Rhythm boards.” Academy Snowboards teamed up with Jason Lee (a former pro skateboarder and current star of television's My Name is Earl and his Stereo Skateboards) to add the Stereo graphic onto the Rhythm line of boards. Toru Kagaya commented on the partnership, “The most popular brand in our market for 2006-2007 is Rhythm. Everybody is really stoked on the graphic, especially people who know about skateboarding, because Academy Snowboards is using the Jason Lee graphic and collaborating with Stereo. Fusing the skateboard brand with Academy Snowboards is one of the most forward-thinking marketing strategies that we have seen, and it is paying off.”
