[Originally posted on http://gavinmcwilliams.expertsandinsiders.com/ on April 28th, 2010 as part of a series for understanding a core consumer group.]




Dragon Boating
One hobby I picked up from living in Hong Kong was dragon boating.  What’s that?  Well, you get about 22 guys together to practice once a week for two hours in 110% humidity and the mucky hell of the South China Sea, sometimes just feet from barges who I swear were trying to play pinball with our boats.

And then you go drink.  Lots.

Explain that!  Going to exercise to get in shape to pull a 10 ton wooden boat 250 meters through the water and then negate the entire session by ingesting fourteen pints of beer.  What?  But I got into it.  The thrill of racing is unparalleled (I even have an entire theory on the effect of dragon boating on each participant.  Pouring your guts out for 500 meters — standard US distances — will take you out of your comfort zone every time, whether or not you’re in the first round and you clean everyone’s clocks or if you’re in a Final and you lose by a bench.  As we get onto the dock for each race, game-faced and ready for action, we pass those who have just raced, and their lives have been changed forever.  The experience they have just had has forced them to dig deeper into themselves than most people ever have the chance to face, and as a result, they have learned more about themselves:  what they can accomplish, what they are capable of, or even what their shortcomings are and what they need to do to overcome them.)

In Hong Kong, it was to race Stanley, the big, annual race, which fielded over 200 teams from all over the world.  It was generally lads, expats and anyone who wanted a laugh.  It was a national event too.  Aside from the festival itself being rooted in Chinese folklore about a missing maiden at sea and the forlorn attempts to find her, for one day in June, the Stanley race course is lined with yahts loaded to the gills with beer.

When I moved back to the US, though, the sport is different:  there are very few ‘lads’ and expats in Portland and Canada.  And most likely, those who are more physically gifted will play basketball, soccer, baseball, football, and the like.  The crowd who dragon boats in the US is quite mixed:  60% over 30 yrs of age, 70% are women, very loyal to their sport, in it for a long period of time, sometimes for decades – name any other sport (besides running) that won’t beat your body down so much were you can continue to play for thirty years, then email me.  Ping Pong doesn’t count.  Levels of disposable income are relatively high, as it would seem that team apparel or traveling to race sites seems to be commonplace.  There is also a strict training regimen:  practices aren’t just from March to June, like in Hong Kong, but all year round.  I could sound like I’m wearing a skirt as I write this and complain that the teams in Portland still go out when it’s around 35° outside, if it weren’t for the fact that dragon boating is even more popular in Canada, and I don’t even want to think about how cold it is when they go out.

Ok, but all of this is just background.  To tie this together to the topic at hand is that involving ones’ self in a sport or culture is the best way to learn and understand the consumer.  Some of you may never heard of dragon boating before (just like many of you have probably never heard of women’s full contact lingerie football, but I swear, it exists) and therefore think that the consumer base is very small.  So, some more more numbers:  The Wasabi Paddling Club of Portland, Oregon, the largest, but certainly not the only club on the West Coast, boasts over 500 members.  While many aren’t as large as Wasabi, there are hundreds of others with at least 200 members.  There are races each weekend, nationwide from March to October.

There are companies that can sustain themselves on this type of niche consumer base.  Typhoon 8, based out Hong Kong, was founded by Lister Woo during the SARS recession of 2003 after he got tired of me fumbling passes for easy layups on the basketball court.  I knew Typhoon 8 grew in Hong Kong from word of mouth and a tight paddling community, but it blew my mind when I came to paddle with Wasabi and found members wearing his patented padded shorts.  “Pretty awesome, List,” I thought.

Kialoa Paddles in Bend, Oregon, has only about two dozen employees, and they have almost cornered the market on outrigger paddles, and they make some amazingly lightweight hybrid dragon boat paddles too.

These are two examples of companies driven by people deeply involved in the community who understands their consumer base thoroughly and have created product that improves the paddling experience for them.

But what are they missing?  How could they expand their businesses?  Specialized footwear is one.  Many use Keen Newports, as they have a rounded rubber toe, which is very important, as pushing off with legs is extremely important in maximizing power on the boat, but the Newport was built to be a flexible sandal and non-supportive hiker.  Many use water socks or flip flops.  A way to specialize footwear would to continue to incorporate a solid rubber toe cap, but with a flat edge to prevent slippage.  Other ways could be to work with Clubs for team-specific product.  Or even with other non-competitive brands.  Imagine purchasing a Keen Newport with a Typhoon 8 or Wasabi Paddling Club logo on the heel.  Granted, most minimums on footwear orders are around 5,000 units, but customization can occur, and with the economy the way it is, companies are in dire need of expanding their consumer base.

There are other products, and each have their own challenges from a production or pricing point of view, but the challenge is to understand your consumer, your sport and know that even in a bad economy, people still need to do their sports.

San Diego Race, Oct. 2010

Kudos to the San Diego crew for putting on a good race this past weekend.  Despite the non-so cal weather, things went quite well.  And if they didn't, they adapted (on Saturday, when running an hour behind, they scrapped lunch to move things along.  Did that ever happen in Tacoma?  Salem?). 

Racing in 10-seaters (do I have to call them "Ten Man Boats?"  It's so paradoxical to hear "ten man women's boats" throughout the day...) was a true thrill.  This is why I participate in the sport: to race.  And those races were all-out brawls.  The boats respond to each stroke, each pull.  Teams gel and build chemistry quicker and easier.  They are truly fantastic.  So it is understandable why there is a push to make the 10-seaters an Olympic event.

Great job to Wasabi!  Some good racing, and, possibly, a way to finish off a tough season on a high note.   

 Also, check out Dragon Boat West's San Diego Redux for more opinions.