Brand Profile : B-Side

21 Jul 2008

Product Name:
B.Side
Company Name:
Lado Be, Lda.
Owner(s) Name(s):
Joao Rei & Nuno Viegas
Euro HQ Address:
AV. Duarte Pacheco
N. 200 – 8135-901
Almancil
Portugal
Web:
www.bsideproject.com
E-mail:
bside@b-side-boardriders.com


Give us the low-down on your company?
In the spring of 1999, we (João Rei & Nuno Viegas) met up after a surf session and in the middle of the usual discussion about who was ripping the most (laughs) we ended up talking about our mutual dream of creating a brand that would mix our lifestyle, our love for board riding and our view of art. In less than a year B.Side was a reality and today we are still having
meetings on the beach, but now, with our team riders, clients and all the friends we’ve met along the way.

Who is on the management team and what are their backgrounds?
Nuno being the economist takes care of the finances, production and distribution, while Joao is the artist behind all the concept of the brand, as well as marketing and sales. Both are surfers and while Nuno was studying economy, João started working in the board riding industry, organising events, shaping surfboards and getting involved with other international brands.

What was the company philosophy when you started? How has it changed from then till now?
We started with ‘Guerrilla’ style marketing, producing all POP by hand and presenting some hand-custom items in limited editions we painted on canvas instead of posters for promotion. Nowadays we have a bigger production budget but we still come up with those special items every season.

What are the most important lessons that you’ve learned about running a company?
Life is a constant learning process, and the more you experienced you are the more you realise that you can only predict so much. `

What’s different about B.Side, both in product and the way the company works?
We realised that if we wanted to offer the best quality product possible we should outsource the production to someone that had years of experience. By doing that we were able to focus more on the development of the product, brand building and distribution. Outsourcing services is a key factor when you’re starting, it’s paramount to achieve a flexible and light structure that will allow you to survive.

You’ve collaborated with various people included street and graffiti artists. Have these different concepts and designs been good sellers?
The fact that we do a lot of collaborations with artists and organise exhibitions just reflects on what we are, as Joao (www.cantsurfnaked.com) is an urban artist himself. We often team up with other artists mainly for promotion - not just products. But yes, every time we do a limited edition with them we have excellent feedback.

Why should retailers sell your brand?
Well first of all because it’s new, fresh and uses top Portuguese manufacturing quality. Second because we respect deadlines, that’s to say, we deliver our products on time, and we are very proud of it, because it takes enormous effort and focus for a small company to do so. We feel that retailers must have confidence with their partners so providing top quality product and excellent delivery is a solid base to start from.

What is the sales spiel retailers should use when telling customers about your products?
B.Side is out there supporting surfers, skaters, musicians and urban artists and on top of that it’s a real brand, made by real people that surf and skate, so anybody that wears it will be endorsing reality, spirituality and original values that are hard to find on most of the shelves of the global surfing industry.

How does your company support athletes, artists and boardsports?
We focus on the individual more then anything else, that’s why our team includes surfers, skaters, photographers, musicians and other artists. We support our community with events, exhibitions and championships and for several year’s we’ve been sponsoring the B.Side surf circuit.

You guys have done loads of marketing projects ranging from customising Vans trainers to supporting alternative music artists; does this broad base help you reach a particular consumer?
Everything we do in B.Side is more an expression of who we are and what we believe in rather than a strategy to reach out for this or that market or customer. By doing these multidisciplinary projects and events we end up by reaching people that weren’t our main target and we reached them the ‘right way’ not as posers but as a respected player. This particular project with Vans (www.bsideproject.blogspot.com) was an invitation from Vans Portugal to us as designers, and then we teamed up with Spanish magazine Staf and invited more artists to present at the WeLoveSneakers exhibition
(www.welovesneakers-portugal.blogspot.com).

What other marketing do you have in the pipeline?
We have a bigger exhibition due at the end of the year, but for the time being its still a secret (laughs). Our collaborations with the magazines are still in happening and we are collaborating with a publisher on the launching of a book about urban art in Portugal. We are also working with a movie production in Hollywood, it’s a small independent company but it’s where creative freedom is at large! The movie shows up the roots of the surfing and skateboarding world, even the actors and the director are surfers too. We hope it will be out at the end of this year.

What do you foresee for the future of the industry?
I see a loss of identity coming, more and more this becomes a reality as the big fish are appropriating and incorporating everything the small brands stand for. Because of that I see great opportunity ahead for the small independent companies that will be able to establish a business model allowing them to stay healthy and above all real.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to start a boardsports company?
Do it from the heart and stick with you’re image throughout the ups and downs, in the long run that’s what will make you’re identity and will separate you from the rest of the pack.

Which European countries are the most important to your brand?
We are based in Portugal, for the time being and this is most important, but we are distributing in other countries and simultaneously we are looking for partners in other European countries.

What does the future hold for your company?
We hope prosperity, good fun, good friends, and more hard work.