Mood Boards

Sierra Today - Who do you want to be?

Sierra - Where the brand needs to be:

Simplify your life

The simpler side of life

Brand Positioning Statement

Every outdoor experience is different from the last, but to an outdoor enthusiast, their sole purpose is to connect with nature and leave behind the stresses of urban life. As an award winning manufacturer of alpine equipment, Sierra Designs enables alpine athletes of all levels, to experience the peacefulness of sleeping under the stars, kayaking through shimmering lakes, or hiking to beautiful mountain meadows. Sierra Designs engages the nature lover to enjoy the simpler things in life and to protect the places where they play, in a way that is safer, dryer, and greener.

For the outdoor enthusiast every mountain experience should be better than the last. Sierra Designs is more than just an award winning designer of alpine equipment. They inspire alpine athletes of all levels to experience and protect the breathtaking places where they play in a manner that is safer, dryer, and greener.

SIERRA DESIGNS - Brand Pillars

What are the most important messages that need to be communicated about Sierra Designs:

• Participates in a cause that is relevant and contemporary. Sierra Designs is seeking the world and partnering with the experts to produce environmentally friendly products and bring about environmental change.
• Strong sense of community - very engaged with the target market and works to be inclusive of a wide range of athletes that includes the extreme alpine athlete to the weekend warrior (Evident in the Adventure Stories, Green Partners).
• Build exceptional tents and sleeping bags and have sourced new markets to sell their products (Military).
• Thought through the adventure trip and engineered products to meet the demands of the outdoor enthusiast.
• They are the target market. They live their personal dream of connecting with the outdoors.

SIERRA DESIGNS - Conclusions

Based on the SWOT analysis here are the key conclusions about the Sierra Designs brand:

• Move from being perceived as a middle of the road brand (SD is neither cutting edge or bottom of the pack)
  
• From the outside looking in, the Sun Capital Ownership does not appear to be a good fit. SD is just 1 in a 100 plus companies where profit is the #1 driver. It gives the perception that SD has lost sight of it's target market.
• Move from just being another "Green" company to a motivator of change; protecting the places where they play and connecting green high performance products with high performance athletes.
• Move from being perceived as the cheap underdog to a technical innovator of the best outdoor products on the market - tents and sleeping bags are getting accolades, but the SD apparel is not all that highly regarded. GORP and Apparel Review

SIERRA DESIGNS SWOT

Sierra Designs began their journey in 1965 when George Marks and Bob Swanson, from Richmond, CA, designed the original 60/40 parka and double mummy sleeping bag. Over the last 40 plus years Sierra Designs has focused their efforts on highly technical tents and sleeping bags, and apparel for the outdoor enthusiast. Today their big focus is towards manufacturing products that not only technical are but also environmentally friendly. For example, all polartec fleece is made from recycled pop and water bottles, hard shell jackets use solvent free membranes and PVC-free tape. This is getting them accolades from the outdoor community, with awards from National Geographic, Rock & Ice Climbing magazine, Outside magazine, and Backpacker magazine. 

Strengths

• Egalitarian focus - they create and design products for high performance adventures, but they want to inspire others to experience places untouched by man, like hiking to spectacular mountain vistas or poking your nose outside your tent to a shimmering alpine lake.
  
• Protect Where We Play - to practice and promote a harmonious relationship between their business and the outdoors. Living and working so that they don't jeopardize social, economic, and natural resources. They are accomplishing this in the design and manufacturing of their products, their business processes that reduce cost and waste, and the promotion of environmentally friendly programs & organizations.
• Awarded & Recognized by the outdoor community - people love can't say enough about their tents & sleeping bags. They are winning over the sustainability supporters.
• Owned by a large corporation - Sun Capital - a private equity company that owns 100's of brands, including Kelty, Royal Robbins, Slumberjack, & Wenzel Co. - enables them to have access to a larger pool of funds for R&D and international manufacturing facilities.
• Endorsements - their products were used by thrill seekers like Eric Larsen for his summit to the top of Mount Everest. Over the last 5-years they have been the key supplier of outdoor equipment to the US Armed Forces.
• Affordable - price points are typically middle of the road.

Weaknesses

• Ownership - created an enviroment where profitability is a key driver. Resulted in a more volume based focus, which decreases their ability to be creative and innovative. Because Sun Capital owns so many companies from varying industries, Sierra Designs just gets lost in the shuffle. 
  
• Perception - by the outdoor enthusiast is that Sierra Designs is weak and watered down (sold out to profits), not the best brand out there.

Opportunities

• Really leverage their Green Effects Program as they appear to be one of the few companies who are really pushing green construction.
• Of all the brands they are considered middle of the pack - not the most technical and not the least technical either. They have an opportunity to raise the bar and at least be considered better than North Face.
• Authentic - Are they really? Owned by a large organization and forced to be profit focused. They have an opportunity to renew the confidence of outdoor community that they have remained true to their brand, while being egalitarian.

Threats

• Declining economy may place Sierra under profit scrutiny by it's owners.
• Counterfeits and copy cats.