At Surf Expo and at Slate, we spoke with the Ergo team about on how they have survived the rocky economy, their quest to break in on the West Coast, their new hires and their new look, and more.
Ergo has hired some industry veterans including Andy Crane as National Sales Manager, Joe McElroy as Creative Director and Dean Bradley as Art Director. Dean and Joe have helped Ergo update its logo packaging and push its existing Owl icon, which Ergo calls Owlstein.
Ergo Founder and President Rob Sickel and Art Director Dean BradleyStever Rapp of add-black has also helped with cut-and-sew design. Add-black is designing all of ERGO’s sportswear beginning in Spring 2013 and will continue to do so going forward, Vice President of Marketing Pete DiSpirito said.
While Ergo started on the East Coast, it has put down stakes on the West Coast as well with a design, production, sales and marketing office in Costa Mesa, where an in-house team also handles product development.
Its distribution center, company offices and backend functions are in Lakewood, New Jersey. At the New Jersey location, Ergo has its own print shop, which allows it to print its own POP.
McElroy, formerly global VP of Global Branding for Hurley, got to know the Ergo guys because his Ghetto Juice magazine has offices in the same building as Ergo in Costa Mesa.
Team skater Andrew Cannon and Skate Team Manager Joe Hammeke
While Ergo is a lot smaller than the brands he formerly worked with, Joe said he enjoys the creative freedom.
Both Andy and Joe said they are helping the brand, which has some great athletes on board, to focus on product, product, product.
“Quality, consistency, integrity,” Andy said.
Ergo had had good success in getting into important East Coast accounts, including BC Surf & Sport, Brave New World, Aqua East, K-Coast, 7-Ply and Skatepark of Tampa. It is also starting to break in on the West Coast at stores such as Emerald City, Rusty, Mitch’s, Central Coast Surf Shop, and Hi-Tech and Shapers in Hawaii.
Co-Founder Rob Sickel said some West Coast brands, which have a hard time breaking on the East Coast, have joked with them that Ergo has done the hard part already with the progress it has made in the East.
On Page 2, Pete DiSpirito, co-founder and vice president of marketing, answers some detailed questions about Ergo’s business.
What’s the quick story of how you guys started ERGO?
VP of Marketing and Founder Pete DiSpirito: Rob Sickel and I had an opportunity to create something that would take us away from a normal lifestyle and let us work in an industry we grew up supporting. We started off with 5,000 promo Ts and hit the East Coast hard in a wrapped RV for a year straight before we even had product to sell.
At the same time we were designing our first line, which was spring ‘08. We built a booth for Surf Expo and we ended up opening a number of doors along with a best booth award in the skate section. We were like, “Well I guess we’re a company now.” We haven’t looked back since.
Why the name? What’s up with the owl Logo?
Ergo’s updated owl iconThe name ERGO is shortened from the name we started with which was Ergophobia. About a year in we shortened it, but the meaning of the original name is the fear of work. We were not afraid to work, but more about pushing the message, “Follow your passion and don’t let anything stand in your way.”
The Owlstein logo was introduced as a T graphic about a year ago and the response was great. We felt we were missing an icon besides the word mark, so we started using it with the branding. We chose an owl because it represents wisdom, vision, initiation, change and detachment.
In terms of financing how did you guys do it? How are you financed?
Since our start in 2005 we have been a privately held company with zero debt. Besides personal funding, we recently started to factor our receivables to better manage our cash flow.
How is business? Have you grown since you started? How many doors are you in today?
The updated Ergo logoBusiness is good and steadily growing everyday. With our new team in place, the next year is looking promising for the brand. Right now we have approximately 125 accounts doing business out of 160 doors domestically and an additional 80 doors internationally.
What categories do you specialize in?
Our categories are printables, denim, pants, wovens, fleece, knits, boardshorts, walk shorts and accessories.
What makes ERGO stand out?
An Ergo topWhat makes ERGO stand out is that we are still here and pushing harder then ever. Many brands have come and gone since our start in 2005. ERGO is committed to the same plan and ideology since day one, which was maximize our resources and build the best team and product we can. We never labeled ourselves as an East Coast company, but I think working against the grain is what makes us unique.
The other thing that separates ERGO from other smaller brands is our resources, quality, fits, attention to detail, print campaign, web campaign, our skate team, our surf team and the level of talent that we have recruited to build the brand.
Recently you have made some big hires?
We have hired Joe McElroy as Creative Director to help with the look and feel of the brand as well as the brand’s DNA. Andy Crane was hired as National Sales Manager and has a strong background in merchandising as well. Dean Bradley was brought in as Art Director to boost the printable business and add a fresh look and vibe to the brand. Brandon Loeffler was added for development, sourcing and production.
Joe Hammeke was hired as Skate Team Manager to run our skate program and last but not least, we have brought in a pattern maker and fit models to make quality garments with consistent fits.
See Page 3 for more about Ergo’s plans for the future, its strategy
I know they said they have taken a pay cut because they believe in the brand…
If you work for a new brand, you cannot expect the same compensation as if you worked for one of the big guys. So yes, everyone here makes less than they are worth. At the same time everyone here believes in our brand and where we can take it, along with the financials and realistic goals that are in place.
They were also attracted to ERGO because we have that garage brand vibe and creative freedom that made them get into this industry in the first place.
How did you guys survive the economic downturn?
An Ergo T-shirt plays on the East Coast, West Coast themeWe took the downturn and flipped it into a positive. We were so small there was only one way to go and that was up. We added a factor to help with cash flow.
In some cases we partnered with retailers that helped gain visibility for our brand by working with them on terms and/or rotating product if needed. We started making smarter inventory buys, which were much leaner. We worked with vendors to reduce costs, as well as managed all costs better. We also cut some budget in ineffective areas while maintaining the budget where we thought it was more important in areas like product and marketing.
Which retailers are you in right now? Who are your main partners? I know you said you started East and are now moving west. Can you explain?
Ergo denimLike I said, we never labeled ourselves as an East Coast brand, it’s just where we started. We try to build strong partnerships with all of our accounts, but the standouts are Brave New World, 7-Ply, K-Coast, 7th Street, Fairmans, McKevlin’s, Skate Park of Tampa, BC Surf and Sport, Katin, Emerald City, Rusty Board house, Mitch’s, Surf Zone, Swell.com, and Tres Palmas.
What’s the marketing strategy highlights?
We have been able to build an amazing skate team under the direction of Joe Hammeke. It includes guys like Dan Drehobl, Andrew Cannon, Shawn Hale, David Loy and Preston Harper. They are all getting a crazy amount of coverage for our brand and we will continue to build on that.
An Ergo city themeIn addition we are planning a summer skate team tour to support our retailers along with a trip to Germany and The Bright trade show to work with our European Distributors.
On the surf end of things, we are working with Albee Layer who just put out an amazing video part, won punt of the month on Surfline and got nominated for XXL ride of the year.
We will also continue to advertise with Transworld Surf, Thrasher, The Skateboard Mag, Ghetto Juice and Low Card for print. For web, we are rolling out with a Surfline feature that will be starting soon along with online skate marketing. We also fly a huge airplane banner at major events. Last year we flew at the US Open, The Quik Pro NY and the Rip Curl Search event in SF.
