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Day Six: SmartWool

So it turns out you can do amazing creative work for a killer international brand and still live in paradise. Today I met with Carol Davidson, the VP of Marketing for SmartWool, an outdoor apparel company based in Steamboat Springs, CO. This fun, unpretentious business based at the local airport boasts a 65 percent marketshare in the outdoor sock category. Who knew there was such a thing as an outdoor sock category? But these guys have mastered it. They can trace each pair of socks to the individual New Zealand sheep that grew the wool, through the entire production process to the store where it is purchased. And their customers are absolutely devout. How many other companies get regular “love letters?”

SmartWool has been so successful in the sock universe that they are branching out into other outdoor apparel with the same attention to detail that has helped them grow from $38M to $91M since 2005.

It’s another example of a company that is as much about its place and people as it is about its product.

“This company couldn’t exist if it weren’t for Steamboat Springs,” explained Davidson. “It’s the kind of community that attracts amazing creative talent who want to be able to work with great brands without sacrificing lifestyle.”

And the Steamboat Springs lifestyle is idyllic. A lush valley surrounded by mountains, it is a ski town with all variety of outdoor adventure at its doorstep. Biking, swimming, hiking, fishing (which Johannes is doing now as I write in the Jeep)…and on powder days it isn’t uncommon for folks not to show up to the office till 11am.

Coming from an agency background, Davidson admits it’s been a challenge grabbing onto the marketing reins for such a dynamic company. Some days her head swims with silos of information about everything from supply and sales to staffing and budget. But she ties it all together with strong marketing strategy.

PR has been a big part of that strategy, as has in-store displays. Building awareness and capturing that impulse buy has helped fuel their phenomenal growth.

“People don’t go to the outdoor store just to buy socks,” Davidson noted. “We work hard to capture them while they are there so that when they do buy socks, they buy SmartWool socks.”

Walking around the HQ, sock displays, piles of socks and outdoor creative decorates the walls, tables and occasionally floors. There are stories from Outside magazine and similar outlets in nearly every corner.

Based on the numbers alone, it’s pretty clear Davidson has figured out a a way to manage the depth of business data with creative and effective marketing strategy. I can’t wait to see what they do with apparel.