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How can your products better serve your consumers? What opportunities do we have to tell a deeper story through design? Can I implement a new product category without alienating my core audience? These might be the main questions bouncing around your mind, as they were for me during my first few months with my current company.

Creating new products in line with the type of gear your consumers already expect is one ball game, but leading a brand in a new direction through product development takes strategic planning, thinking outside the box, time and patience. When I took the helm, my company had a dedicated consumer base of ocean and beach enthusiasts, but there was something missing from its product line: performance apparel and technical materials. Salt water and sun are the common denominators that bind our audience together, and the two can be unforgivingly harsh without smart gear choices. From 2021 to 2022, we had an audience that was spending as much time as they could on the water, but minimal performance apparel in our collection. Our brand’s aesthetics were speaking to the ocean-lover’s style preferences, but there was a huge opportunity to utilize technical fabrics and fits to better equip our consumers for the salty settings they enjoy most.

I see lots of brands in a similar position—wanting to take their brand or product in a new direction without starting from scratch or alienating their long-time consumers. While every brand is different, here are a few key tips I learned while spearheading the performance category.

 • Think about your consumer. Who are they? What are they looking for in a product or service? From there, identify individuals who fit that mold and bring them into the conversation. For my company, that meant working with the best watermen and women we could find. Record-holding anglers, world champion ocean athletes, fishing guides, and surf and dive instructors help us design and test our products. If our gear is standing up to their lifestyle, it will meet the needs of our target consumers. 

• Don’t just ask. Watch how your target consumers use your products. For instance, we noticed upon releasing a fish or checking bait, nearly every angler looks for a towel. From that observation, we created shorts with a towel loop on the back right hip, solving that problem.

Determining the right pace for growth is different for every company. My recommendation is to move quickly and efficiently if you have a team and partners that you know can match the fast pace. If you are still building your team, it is best to grow slowly and focus on bringing in the right people first. This is how my company chose to operate:

• There are times to take things slow as a brand, but now was not one of them. In order to grow as a brand, we needed this new category and we needed it fast. We moved quickly and deliberately here for two reasons: We knew this was the “missing link” in our brand offerings, and we trusted our suppliers to deliver quality performance gear quickly. There would be other times, like when our product team developed an innovative, lighter weight moisture wicking fabric, that we took things slow and steady.

• The new category came with an adjustment period for both consumers and retailers. They were not used to seeing us in this space. We had to be patient, and it took about three to four seasons to get traction for our performance apparel.

Surveys and reviews are useful tools for gauging your consumers and the larger market. These should be utilized in conjunction with firsthand product testing. In my experience, you cannot beat sharing space with your target consumers and getting authentic product feedback face to face. Here are two examples of how my company listened to the market:

• As awareness of sun damage was beginning to peak, We launched performance styles with UPF sun protection. Consumers embraced the new styles, and we were able to speak to the critical need for better sun protection.

• We noticed that our audience still liked to throw on a soft cotton sweatshirt after a day in the sun, so we kept lifestyle apparel in our collections.

These steps were instrumental in helping my company tell a deeper, more meaningful story. Our performance category continues to grow, and our audience recognizes the difference that sun- and water-specific materials can make whether they’re working, competing or simply relaxing at the beach.

Product development is a process that involves designers, suppliers, marketers and more—there can be a lot of cooks in the kitchen! But by working directly with your target audience and listening to your consumers, you can achieve sustainable growth in new categories while simultaneously telling your brand story.

-Jeff Stillwell