Maybe I'll get to keep my name after all..

[Toby]

From what I know they brought someone in to make Best a stock listed company...and that guy went behind the back and things went down.

With the old team of 3 founders alone it only went up.

[Toby]

Why it is not called ION (interview with Till Eberle)

You own the ION brand from which ION Club is derived. Why is the new brand not called ION Kiteboarding?

This is something that we discussed internally at length. However, we came to the conclusion that from a brand positioning perspective it is better to keep ION as an independent brand; even Cabrinha kiters or Slingshot fans can identify with ION and purchase these products. Our principle, when we created ION was not to offer any hard goods under this name, rather to create a neutral brand, which specialises in accessories – as a complement to ours as well as other hardware brands. For that reason, ION isn’t a perfect fit for our original idea of creating a new kite brand. Duotone is not a new name.

[GraemeF]

I think if you have lots of money for marketing, you will succeed.

Look at Best...back then...Alex Shogren funded it and was smart...they became big.
Then those guys with titles entered...and messed up.
If Best would still be in the same hands, it would be No 1,2 or 3 of the world.

North has a change here...with good product, good price and big marketing.

Their team looks good...now we have to see how the products and prices are.

Again, gonna be interesting!

I think you are rewriting history here. Best would have failed miserably under Shogren, much much sooner. He was good for the initial launch, but the only reason they got in new people was that he fucked up. The transition from startup to an established company is hard and he wasn't the man for it.

Agree with that Shogren was as close to being a crook as it was ever possible to be and get away with it. All he did was give away thousands of kites to 'buy up the beach' they were not making money, it was a ponzi scheme.

[tautologies]

Why it is not called ION (interview with Till Eberle)

You own the ION brand from which ION Club is derived. Why is the new brand not called ION Kiteboarding?

This is something that we discussed internally at length. However, we came to the conclusion that from a brand positioning perspective it is better to keep ION as an independent brand; even Cabrinha kiters or Slingshot fans can identify with ION and purchase these products. Our principle, when we created ION was not to offer any hard goods under this name, rather to create a neutral brand, which specialises in accessories – as a complement to ours as well as other hardware brands. For that reason, ION isn’t a perfect fit for our original idea of creating a new kite brand. Duotone is not a new name.

I dunno this sounds like fogging the reality. It would seem to me that unless Eberle owns both brands 100% I'm assuming a merger between a new brand (now duotone) and ION would lead to a much more complex owner structure and the negotiation would be hard. If Eberle owns both it is a matter of ION not being valued as much for both product lines as two companies are on their own.
I wonder if the companies have completely separate employees or if people are essentially getting paid from one company while actually doing multiple jobs for two companies?

It would also increase the risk of both brands, though the ION brand certainly would provide a bit of floatation for the transition from North.

[coupdevill]

How to make a small fortune in Kiteboarding?

Start with a big one!

coup

[Dan-at-Duotone]

Tautologies-

I think you might misunderstand the situation. Ion and Duotone (and North Kiteboarding) are not companies. They are brands. The company behind Ion and Duotone (and North Kiteboarding for the past 15 years) is Boards and More, of which Till is the CEO, so you can say that he owns both Duotone and Ion.

As far as how we run those brands, yes they have separate design teams, though they are both on the same floor of the same building, and ideas are often shared between the two. That said, there are brand managers for both Ion and Duotone and each runs their brand independently, sometimes competing within the same company for budget/sales.

There have been significant changes in the corporate structure/employee base of several large kite companies this year of which surprisingly little public fuss was made. The irony is that Boards and More is unchanged, the designers, graphic designers, materials and factories used, marketing team, sales team, team riders, etc putting out 2019 Duotone product is the same as the one that put out 2018 (and all previous iterations) NKB product... but as we are putting out our kites under a different brand name, we are the ones who people think have changed. We haven't. It's the same old Ken, the same old Sky, the same old Ralf, the same old Till, and the same old Dan. We just have a sick new logo.

I completely understand the confusion about what is happening. If anyone has any questions you're welcome to PM me (or ask in public). Or I'm available to chat on phone or skype if anyone would like more insight.

-Dan

[windsuks]

Interview with Mike Raper at North ...the new one
https://gleiten.tv/index.php/video/acti ... /page/244/

[PinkNorthPride]

Tautologies-

We just have a new logo that makes everyone sick

FTFY

[PinkDuotonePride]

Tautologies-

We just have a new logo that makes everyone sick

FTFY

You bitch.. I like their new look..

[foilholio]

Good luck Doo ooh tone