64°
18°
°F | °C
Sun
Cloudy
53 | 66
11 | 18
Mon
Cloudy
53 | 66
11 | 18
Tue
Chance of Storm
51 | 66
10 | 18
Wed
Cloudy
50 | 68
10 | 20

Language

English French German Portuguese Russian Spanish

Currency Converter

Amount:
From:
To:

Sean O’Driscoll

A new trend?

Sunday, 05 September 2010 19:29
Print PDF

There appears to be an underlying movement (and I’m not sure when or how it started) to make fishing funky – along the lines of skateboarding or in-line skating.

Different terms are being bandied about to sum up what it is all about, but I guess the best is ‘urban fishing’. Basically it’s all about trying to get youngsters involved in the sport for a couple of hours a day, particularly on the inner-city rivers, canals and waterways.

They pretty much fish lures on short, stiff rods (not too dissimilar, I imagine, to the bass rods found in the US and Japan). There appears to be a little confusion as to what these kids might want to wear – trendy hoodies, baseball caps and trainers or a slightly more uniformed look akin to baseball tops. The probability is that they won’t want to be seen dead in the more conventional fishing gear that us seniors are more comfortable with.

Of course, it has great potential and it will be important for the more trendy of our consumer angling magazines to engage these ‘new’ anglers and offer some form of education and tuition on the dos and don’ts of fishing.

The last thing that we want to see is groups of kids buying into fishing, but then because they may have a lack of understanding as to why people fish or for the environment and fish welfare they leave a trail of havoc behind them.

This looks like a great opportunity and, given the poor start to the year that a number of companies are reporting, then I think it is one that we should take seriously.

 

ICAST and beyond

Just short of 9,000 people are set to head to Las Vegas in July as ICAST opens its doors again to the world. Looking at the history of the event there certainly has been a steady rise in the number of international attendees in recent years – getting on for 1,000 in 2009.

As the world appears to get smaller every day and travel (despite recent volcanic problems) gets easier I do believe that truly international shows are going to become increasingly important, no matter what industry you are in. Of course, as a business you have to justify any trade and for sure the American market is not the easiest one to crack. I think for us at Tackle Trade World it took three years before we started to make inroads into the country, but now we do very nicely out of it and work very closely with a number of American companies.

ICAST is not an easy show to do. Vegas is a long way for many. It’s also a very big show and the Las Vegas heat can be a killer. Having said all that, though, the organisers do a great job in making it as comfortable and as easy as possible.

One of the other things that can always be found at ICAST is that one product that really is different – its new-product showcase is by far and away the best in the industry, so you are always in with a fighting chance of getting one over on your competitor. And that’s always got to be worth a few dollars in the till.

Enjoy the show.

Distribution shift

Sunday, 05 September 2010 19:29
Print PDF
I have to start this month by thanking all those companies that have supported this edition of Tackle Trade World, making it the biggest edition in our 10-year history. The 196 pages are crammed with suppliers looking to increase their business globally and it’s reassuring to know that, month after month, TTW continues to deliver results.

As I look back over the last 10 years I am aware of how our industry has altered. Back in 2000, the wholesaler/distributor route was the chosen path for most brands or manufacturing firms. How things have changed! These days there is not the wide choice of middlemen between maker and retailer that the industry once enjoyed. Look around most of our mature angling markets and instead of having dozens of wholesalers and distributors to choose from, the reality is that if you have half a dozen good ones then you are in luck.

As I have said many times before, it is so difficult to define just what a true wholesaler even is these days. Many historically established wholesalers now base their operation around their own brands… and who can blame them? Over the years I have been left totally gob-smacked on hearing that a certain manufacturer has decided to dump a particular wholesaler after what I and many others had perceived to have been a highly lucrative alliance. We have retailers claiming to wholesale and, to be fair, a number do, plus we even have reps/agents laying claim to be the link between manufacturer and retailer and, again, some are! So this particular market is nowhere near as clear as it once was.

So not only have we seen the blurring of what a true wholesaler or distributor is, but we have also witnessed an increasing number of brands going direct to retail.

As the industry has changed, so has our Tackle Trade World database. Back in 2000 the very first Tackle Trade World was sent to less than 5,000 companies around the world. Less than 500 of these were retailers. This issue will be sent to more than 10,000 dealers around the world.

The change in the route to market is just one reason for the shift in our distribution. Look at the various countries that enjoy a fruitful tackle industry. Barr the odd one or two, most territories do not enjoy the benefits of having their own trade magazine. Getting your global message to retailers can be very difficult. Use a wholesaler, distributor or rep/agent and you can find that by the time it has been passed down, the message has ended up being diluted or not delivered at all. Try sending the same message, at the same time, across the world and you can be left frustrated that some will receive it on time, some late, while others will miss out totally.

Our increase in our retail readers will help those in the export market get a clear and concise message out to the trade simply and effectively… and it will not get watered down!

I have no doubt that the next 10 years will see further change in the distribution route, and you can be assured that Tackle Trade World will be there to help your business through any transition. Once again, thanks to all those that have supported this issue and to the many companies that have been with us from day one!

What makes a good trade show?

Sunday, 05 September 2010 19:29
Print PDF

There has been much discussion about this year's China Fish exhibition and how poor some people perceived it to be. A lot of the comments are from people who are familiar faces on the show circuit, so they know what they’re on about and their views should be listened to.

I didn’t attend the 2009 event, so I can only talk about this year’s in relation to the 2008 event and previous ones. Personally I enjoyed the show and saw many old faces and a few new ones.

We had a booth at the event so in many respects we were ‘waiting’ for people to visit us, and they did. We made some important new contacts and wrote some good business so, as a small exhibitor, we were happy.

By all accounts visitors were up on last year, but I’m never overly concerned about numbers. It has to be about the quality of the buyers and, based on this, each exhibitor makes its mind up as to the success of the show.

Obviously it’s down to the organiser to ensure that the show attracts a sufficient amount of quality buyers. And it’s this critical matter that I feel exhibition organisers sometimes lose sight of. It’s no use selling acres of floor space and having record sales if you don’t increase the visitor numbers by the same ratio; otherwise, it’s the same number of visitors being spread around more exhibitors.

Of course it’s very easy to go down this road because of the extra revenue that is generated. This is all well and good in the short term, but it’s short sighted. Cap the exhibitor numbers until you have a solid visitor base, then look at increasing the numbers gradually.

The problem you have if a show is thought of as being just okay is that, all of a sudden, other factors are taken into account that turn it into a poor experience: not enough taxis, too hot, too cold, expensive hotel, poor food… the list could go on and on as we have all heard these before.

This year’s China Fish has attracted extra criticism, with the choice of venue and hotels appearing to be unpopular with guests. In my case I just got on with it and treated it as an experience. Others I know walked into the main hotel and promptly booked a Western one further away. It’s their choice, their money – so no issues with that.

However, those people who constantly moaned about the venue irritated me. What was the point? Nothing was going to change this year!

It got me thinking how some of these people might have coped with the Far East 30, 40 or 50 years ago when the real sourcing pioneers began the journey for less expensive product lines?

I’m sure some of them would have been having a right chuckle at some of us moaning about the ‘hardships’ that we faced this year.

But back to my main point about ensuring that the outside influences like hotels, food, transport etc do not influence how good a show is or isn’t. It’s vital that the organisers take this into account when booking a venue, because a poor hotel might be the only thing that’s remembered about China Fish 2010, and that would be a sad state of affairs.

Turning Japanese?

Sunday, 05 September 2010 19:29
Print PDF

As I write this I am waiting with editor Nick Marlow to board a flight from Narita Airport in Japan to Beijing for the big China Fish show. Our first venture into the Land of the Rising Sun has been a true eye-opener. We took in one of the country’s big consumer fishing shows and visited three of its largest manufacturers, Marukyu, Daiwa and Fuji. Although every visit was a different experience there were common threads that ran through each. The courtesy and respect afforded to us and Tackle Trade World magazine was an experience that neither of us will forget.

There also appeared to be a culture of business based on trust, respect, honesty and spirituality that were evident with everyone that we met. Added to this, each of these successful organisations were first and foremost totally dedicated to delivering what their customers wanted, but ensuring that delivery was done in an ethical and environmental way that can only portray angling in a positive light.

And it’s the environment that these Japanese companies see as integral to growing angling. All are at the forefront in pushing the positive environmental benefits that angling brings to Japan, be that in being guardians of its waterways and surrounding areas, or highlighting the strong social rewards that those involved in angling generally have.

It would be nice to think that those of us in the West have some of the business attributes of our Japanese cousins, but all too often it is just about the bottom line and what is in it for ‘me’ today. I’m not saying that it’s all of us because I am also acutely aware of some of the tremendous environmental work that is being undertaken in the US, where there are strong initiatives driven by the American Sportsfishing Association and the American Fly Fishing Tackle Trade Association. This has been embraced by a number of key suppliers, but there are many that don’t do anything.

I would suggest that in Europe there is very little being done by individual suppliers in the way of supporting environmental issues and there is far more focus on making the business as profitable as possible.

My trip to Japan has shown me that you can achieve both – profit and giving to the environment – but it has to be an ethos that everyone buys into. This must come from the top, so it really is up to our heads of industry to take the lead and lay the foundations of such initiatives so that others can follow.

With more and more suppliers starting up as sourcing from the Far East becoming easier, it strikes me that angling could just become all about making money. It isn’t. We have a responsibility to future generations to ensure that angling is seen as a wholesome sport that teaches us how to respect one and other and the beautiful environment that surrounds us all.

If I needed a reminder of that, I certainly found it in Japan.

Keep inventing

Sunday, 05 September 2010 19:29
Print PDF

Sean O’Driscoll emphasises the importance of innovation and gives his views the International Fly Tackle Dealer Show.

Flicking through one of the business magazines that are delivered to my desk every month I was intrigued to read that a certain media guru, going by the name of Margaret Heffernan, was claiming that innovative products are pointless if the price is too high.

Of course she is partly right because it’s no good inventing the very latest super-duper rod or reel and trying to sell it at a price that the market is not comfortable with.

She then suggests that the old way of segmenting markets is changing – the top’s gone, the battle for innovation has faded and the old battle over price has come back with a vengeance.

So there we have it. We might as well all forget about trying to improve our products and just them sell on price. What a load of old baloney!

I am really baffled that someone who professes to be in the media can argue this point. But she does and continues: “New technologies mean that cheap imitations are now very good and the Internet makes it easy to find them. With good quality cheap products available, and consumers and businesses fleeing from debt, the deluxe version isn’t compelling.”

This lady must walk around with her eyes and ears closed to the constant bombardment of innovative products that are fed to us every day by TV, radio, magazines, newspapers and the Internet. Does she think that it’s me-too products that drive the media? No, it’s generally products that target people who are looking for something that will give them the edge.

Thankfully the tackle trade thrives on innovation, and we are blessed with one-man operations and product managers at the bigger companies who are all striving to bring the latest technology to the table.

Of course there’s a percentage of our trade who are all about me-too products, where the main reason for buying is price, but I would have to say that percentage is in the minority.

There’s no doubt in my mind that those companies that continue to offer innovation and push the boundaries with materials and components are the ones that are growing our sport – and long may they continue. Without them we will just die and big-box stores and supermarkets will ultimately just gobble the tackle shop up.

 

Fly fishing show shenanigans

Readers by now will be well aware of the mess that the fly fishing world has got itself into with the International Fly Tackle Dealer Show. I haven’t passed comment yet because the last time I openly questioned the running of the show by the guys at Nielsen I was given the cold shoulder by one or two of its staff. I think I also got the blame for the poor attendance one year as they criticised the total lack of international publicity for the event. I never realised I was so influential!

The truth hurts sometimes and the old show was struggling. Nielsen was unable to make the sort of money they needed to make it work, so they didn’t really invest in it. For a worldwide show its yearly advertising budget was less than some of its exhibitors spent in a month!

Once all the shouting has settled down it is vital that the fly fishing market is serviced by an international trade event because it is the only true global form of fishing that we have.

 

More Articles...