Brand Focus - Contract Snowboards

Designed and made in the Eastern European country of Poland, there can’t be a fresher or more ground breaking snowboard brand on the planet than Contract. In their first season, despite a miniscule marketing budget and a pro team consisting of little know Polish rippers, people in the snowboard industry all over Europe are starting to hear good things about this small brand coming out of Poland, mostly because they’re producing some really tight gear, but also because it’s a really intriguing story. Snowboard-Review.com caught up with Maciej aka Magic, head of marketing at Contract Snowboards to discuss all things Poland and Contract.

Hi Magic! Is it true that the Polish wake up with a shot of Vodka every morning?

Hello Rich! It’s obviously not true – the minimum of a glass is a must to keep you going everyday!

From previous conversations I know that you’re a super keen snowboarder yourself. How often and where do you ride?

I was lucky enough to spend almost whole my life in places in places from where it takes not longer than a 2 hours drive to get to the slopes. I try to spend almost all my free time on the hill. On weekends I shred in our local resorts – usually in Szczyrk, where the oldest and most famous polish snowpark is located (and there are some really nice backcountry spots there, too). For some more extreme snowboarding I go to Zakopane. Located in the Tatra Mountains it offers perfect freeriding terrain, and thanks to being the most popular polish resort, you get some crazy nightlife too. Of all the European spots I think Les 2 Alpes is my favourite, the days you spend at the glacier are always epic, so it’s hard to choose the one and only favourite location.

So where are Contract situated? and how many people work at the company?

We operate from Bielsko – Biala city (freestyle translation of the name: Whity – White), located in the middle of Beskidy mountains, southern Poland. It only takes 30 minutes drive to be in Szczyrk – the resort I mentioned before, so we have the perfect setup to test our boards. If we have an idea to make a better snowboard, we can build the prototype board and take it up to the mountain to see how does it works and work out what we need to tweak. Thanks to our location we’re able to develop and introduce new ideas and technological innovations in our snowboards in a short space of time. Besides, it’s also quite inspiring when you see mountaintops form your office. In the office there is 5 of us, the Factory hires over 50 people.

What ever possessed you guys to start a snowboard company?

We simply wanted to be rich and famous, ha ha ha!

This is the first season that Contract Snowboards have been available to buy, but how long have you guys been working on the project and how many people work at the company?

Contract snowboards are the result of 15 years spent testing, producing and developing new technologies. Before Contract was started the team were all working for other brands. Our heads were full of ideas but didn’t get an opportunity to implement them. When the opportunity was presented we decided to join together and form a new company and build a new brand where finally we could use our ideas. From the moment we decided to create Contract it took us two month to prepare the patent for snake transition technology, build the moulds, put together the graphics, run a stand at ISPO and produce some samples. The only reason this was possible was because Contract had been in our minds for a really long time. Contract became a reality because we are using experienced people form a Polish factory, where they produce really high end products.

So what’s the deal with the factory? Is it a new setup or are you using an established manufacturer?

NBL Sport (our factory) has been producing high end products for the biggest names in snowboard and kiteboard industry for the last 15 years.

It just wouldn’t be possible to build high end high quality boards in a new and inexperienced factory, especially in the short time period we’ve managed to put Contract together in. NBL Sport has all the necessary machines, tools and experience so we didn’t have to worry.

Snowboard-Review.com managed to get a good look at the boards at the UK board test. They appear to be loaded with crazy technology, are we seeing a European Mervin in the making (Mervin are famous worldwide for their crazy snowboarding innovations)! What revolutionary technology will Contract snowboards be featuring for the coming 09/10 season and which of these technologies are exclusive to Contract?

SNAKE TRANSITION is our flagship technology, we’re super proud of it. We designed a unique 3D wave between bindings area, which gives the snowboard a totally new ride characteristic. We introduced the Snake Transition in our soft, freestyle models; it gives the board all-mountain capability exactly when you need it. Created by Contract, the 3D waves stiffen the board while riding on the edge or up the walls of the halfpipe (the edge literally bites the slope) and gives it amazing grip and increased torsional performance. It doesn’t change the longitudinal flex of the snowboard. What’s more, SNAKE TRANSITION gives you more pop and completely irradiates the vibration you get when you’re straight lining, awesome when approaching big kickers. SNAKE TRANSITION is Contract’s exclusive technology (pending patent), no other snowboard company in the world use it (and no one will?). For more technical features please visit our website – contract snowboards website .

So being a European Mervin, will Contract be using lots of ‘made in Poland’ marketing?

“Made in Poland” marketing has a big potential – just to mention worldwide famous Wyborowa Wodka (yes, it should be “W” in wodka), the world’s bests kiteboards – Nobile, the Fiat 500 is manufactured in Tychy city – just 50 kilometres form Bielsko – Bia?a, and Joanna Krupa and Iza Wyrwal.

What we want to underline in Contract Snowboards’ marketing message are the advantages you get with the SNAKE TRANSITION and the premium quality and technological advantages of our boards. And you know what, you get all this from Contract because we’re produced in Poland. Another important part of the message is also our contribution to the snowboard scene. Initiatives like Contract’s ‘Support Young Shredders Program’, we will be supporting talented young riders, so they can progress and become better rippers.

To summarise we will be featuring made in Poland signs on our boards because we’re proud of our country, but it won’t be our main marketing point. The performance of our boards is a better reason to buy Contract snowboards than the fact they’re made in Poland.

 
From a marketing perspective, is it difficult to be taken seriously coming out of Poland which has a really young and developing snowboard scene that gets minimal exposure in the world wide snowboard media?

There are some Polish names like Paula Ligocka or Jagna Marczulajtis who are definitely worth watching out. I hope we’ll see Jagna at the Olympic Games in Vancover. I have to admit that Poland is not the strongest country for snowboarding but I believe we’ll improve that exposure very soon.

The truth is: it’s really difficult. Poland is well know for it’s beautiful girls (amen to that!) and good wodka (always “w”), but I doubt anyone will immediately associate Poland with snow sports industries. On the other hand, we offer great products, which have been tested on many international events across Europe, and offer proven quality. And I believe if you’re really good at something, you won’t fail to grow big – like Robert Kubica (A world famous Polish Formula 1 driver). Poland isn’t really associated with motor sport, but this guy really rocked the F1 scene last season. Also, people are always into new brands and products, so that’s helpful at the beginning. My point of view is; it doesn’t matter where we are from but what we do.

What are the benefits of running a brand from, and manufacturing the boards in Poland?

There are quite a lot of them. Thanks to our location in central Europe, it’s easier to influence and to manage to the whole European market. Of course Western Europe is extremely important, but you cannot underestimate the potential of the CEE (Central Eastern Europe) and Eastern European markets. The Polish, Czech and Slovakian winter sports markets are still growing rapidly. It’s the same situation in Russia. I believe that thanks to our location, and cultural similarities (sealing business deals with Vodka?... sorry Wodka - Rich), we have a better understanding of these local markets than any of the snowboard brands based in Western Europe.

Contract snowboards are high end, high quality products. Manufacturing in a Polish factory NBL Sport gives us huge advantage of using experienced team of engineers and craftsman with impressive skills and experience. We decided to produce in a European factory while many others have migrated their manufacturing to China. I believe they will regret this decision in the future.

Our location is also ideal from a logistic point of view right at the heart of Europe. We can deliver our gear in extraordinary time to any place in Europe. It doesn’t matter if you have shop in Chamonix or in Moscow, if you want our snowboards, we can get them to you in no time.

Excuse the pun but being your first season, Contract has a fairly big mountain to climb. Where do you see Contract in the next 3 years?

Our plan is to merge or acquire most of the snowboarding brands and become the leading snow gear manufacturer in the World, hahaha.

No seriously, the mountain is pretty big, but we’ve got some pretty hot snowboards to ride it. We’re working really hard, so within the next 3 years the Contract Snowboards brand will be fully recognizable in Europe and USA, as Polish manufacturer of high quality, technologically advanced and innovative snowboards. Our strategy is to show up at as many tests as possible, so people can try our gear and see for themselves how good it is. It’s also very important for us to listen to their opinions about our snowboards, so we can improve the product making it better and better. Additionally, we plan to support local riders and non – mainstream events, to keep snowboarding fun and as close to it’s roots as possible.

Are there any Polish riders that we should be looking out for who are going to be blowing up big time in the next couple of years?

Polish snow scene is growing bigger year after year. As society is getting richer, more people can afford to get plenty of time snowboarding. There are plenty of crazy kids, who shred whenever it’s possible, and I think quite few of them have a chance to become big in next few years. At Contract we keep watch over the up and coming young rippers, and if they’re talented and passionate enough we’ll try and support them in many ways through our SYS program. If have to choose one male and one female rider, who are about to rock the EU snow scene in next couple of years, it would be Adam “The Mouse” Myszkowski – 14 years old talented ripper, progressing enormously year after year, and Diana Sadlowski – this girl is already doing amazingly in the biggest EU female competitions. I believe those two will be the ones dragging “made in Poland” snowboarding to the next level

.

How can we get hold of Contract snowboard over the coming season?

Please visit our website http://www.contractsnowboards.com, where you can find updates on how and what we do, and our blog for the freshest snow industry. You can also join us on Facebook or Myspace.

Posted by Rich Ewbank in Features.

Next entry: Jeremy Jones leaves Rossignol to start Jones Snowboards Previous entry: 2010 - The Year of the Fish?