Why Fox signed Bruce Irons

I heard the rumors about surfer Bruce Irons moving from Volcom to Fox, and followed up with new Global VP of Marketing Enich Harris to find more.

Enich confirmed that Fox, best known as a moto brand, indeed had signed Bruce and he answered some questions for me about how it came about and how Fox is remaking its surf program.

Enich worked at Billabong for more than a dozen years before joining Fox in October.

Why go after a Bruce Irons? How does he fit with the Fox surf program?

Who better to show that we are serious about reinventing our approach to surf than with Bruce Irons. Bruce is one of the most naturally gifted and talented surfers on the planet and does everything with style and flair. It is his raw edge that fits Fox perfectly. Bruce loves the style and attitude of Fox so it is a great match.

Was this something that was in the works before you got there, or did you spearhead this move in your new role?

With my relationship with the Irons family people might have speculated this was in the works before I came to Fox. But I brought the idea up to Pete Fox during a Saturday round of golf the first week I started. It has barely been a month since that day and Bruce is now at Fox. It is awesome how fast things move around here.

Was Fox competing with a lot of other brands for Bruce?

We went to Bruce’s management with the idea and they felt it was a perfect match. There was no long drawn out negotiation because everyone involved, including Bruce, felt like it was a natural fit.

I know Fox has a surf team already, but I don’t see Fox in a ton of surf shops yet. Will Fox be approaching the surf market differently going forward? If so, how?

We will be approaching surf differently moving forward. That is why Pete brought me here, and why I wanted to come. We needed to give retailers a reason and a point of difference on why and how we fit into their store. Bruce is a great step in that direction. We have also hired key staff in the areas of design, sales and marketing to help reinvent our approach to the core surf market.

Are any other big athlete signings or marketing initiatives in the works?

There are other signings and initiatives in the works but it is a bit too early to talk about them. We’ve got a lot of momentum rolling into the new year so we’re excited to keep it going…I look forward to sharing more news with you in the coming months.