Brand Focus - Automaton Snowboards

Automaton Snowboards might be a company that you’re not familiar with but Brenton Woo and his loyal army of ‘Agents’ have been doing their thing, just under the radar, for over six years now; longer than companies like Signal and Omatic. Anyway, although Automaton rarely benefit from exposure in popular magazines and in the years big video releases; Brenton and his loyal followers have been stirring up quite a bit of controversy online with recent blogs on the Angry Snowboarder and Shay Boarder (our bitter rivals…..only kidding!). Brenton started Automaton as a way of turning his love for snowboarding into a career and although it’s been a slow process Automaton are finally making a small profit and, perhaps more importantly for Brenton, getting their message out there; that snowboarding is all about having fun and that ‘snowboarding saves lives’. Not from a physiological point-of-view but from the perspective that it’s relief from an otherwise boring and sometimes meaningless existence. Snowboard-Review managed to corner the tireless Mr Woo for twenty minutes and ask him ten questions about Automaton:

What is Automaton? Is it run by robots, as the name would suggest? Or is it a self-operating machine?

One of my goals with Automaton was to create an autonomous entity; the first open-source snowboard company. We listen to ideas from all directions and we work with snowboarders to realize our visions. Snowboarding is bigger than Automaton. It’s bigger than just snowboards. It’s a culture, and this culture is what Automaton is aiming to help rebuild.

Why are Automaton boards made all the way over in Austria when thereare factories in Cali, Colorado, Utah and Oregon?

Manufacturing is a huge topic and there are many reasons why Automaton is made in Austria.

A. Most of the US factories are exclusive to their brands and aren’t too open to producing other brands. I think the US factories have to decide whether they are a manufacturer or a brand, because it seems that they want to be both. It’s very difficult to pull this off in an industry as small as snowboarding. Initially I contacted several US snowboard factories and they turned me down, they didn’t want to produce an outside brand. This was back in 2003 so maybe attitudes have changed since then.

B. Where a product is made makes no difference to its “quality”. Labour is labour; whether the guy is pressing your snowboards himself is irrelevant, what is relevant is his level of craftsmanship. The guys designing your board, yes, they need to love and understand snowboarding, but for the guys building it’s not necessary. I think most people would agree that an iPhone is way more sophisticated and complex than a snowboard, but Apple doesn’t make iPhones, they source iPhone manufacturing through Foxconn in China. If you think Chinese manufacturing is bad then stop buying the stuff you buy, ‘cause most of it is coming from countries like China.

C. That said, Austria in Europe is the world’s largest snow sports market. Snow sports is part of their culture, as opposed to an expensive vacation to Americans. So having product made in Europe does have some brand value for a snowboard company. The managers at Elan definitely get their time on the snow!

D. The product is better. Being the oldest operating factory on the planet means the Elan factory is the single most experienced snowboard producer. This experience is why their craftsmanship is number one. They’ve produced boards for nearly every single major brand that’s ever existed and continue to do so. They experience the lowest warranty return rate in the industry. Elan knows snowboards, Automaton has a good relationship with them, and I currently don’t see any reason to alter it.

E. Price; in our first 2 seasons, Automaton boards were made at a US factory. Because these factories are smaller than the ones in Austria, they simply don’t get the price breaks in supply and labor. It blew my mind at the time, but it’s more cost effective to produce snowboards at a large foreign factory than a small domestic one.

Rumour has it you started Automaton as a ‘one man band’.....have you got any more employees six years down the road?

I did start Automaton solo, but can’t do everything myself. Even if i could survive without sleep, there’s just too much to do. We do have artists that work with us, friends that do shipping and logistics. Like I said, I aimed Automaton at being an autonomous entity. Our agents do their part for sure, and agents aren’t limited to those that shred hard. Agents are people that believe in what Automaton is doing, and think snowboarding needs to get better. Today I still bear the full legal and financial responsibility of the company. So, from a legal standpoint; no, automaton doesn’t have any employees. We’re not issuing w2 forms every yea. but Automaton is a collective of like-minded individuals, and we couldn’t exist without them.

Does Brenton Woo ever take a day off work?

No. Another goal of mine was to blur the line between career and life. I don’t want a job! In a job there’s too much time in the day when your career and life are the same, as a result there’s never enough time in the day to really live your life. I know what vacations are but i don’t understand why people need them; if you live a life you’re truly at peace with then why would you ever need to escape it through a vacation? I understand the need to see new things. I’m a traveler myself, but there’s a difference: a traveler is searching whereas a vacationer is escaping. I enjoy having my career and life as a single thing and I hope others can do the same in their lives.

When did you consciously decide to make snowboarding your life?

It was back in 1997 when I realized that snowboarding saves lives. I decided life was too short to spend 1/3 of it doing nothing; 8 hours a day at a job you hate = 1/3 of your life! I decided that I’d rather spend my days outside in the sun, snow, and surf rather than in a life that meant nothing to me. This isn’t to say that i don’t want to work, because that’s the opposite of me, I just prefer to work every waking moment. Work meaning forward movement, and of course a big trick is to earn dollars while doing it.

Do you still have fun with it?

Yes and no. Automaton ended-up being an experiment for me and an introspective study. Automaton keeps me sane, that’s for sure, but it’d be a lot more fun if it was more financially rewarding. If the revenue I earn is divided by the hours I spend doing Automaton things then I’m definitely earning less than the minimum wage!

What do you say to people wanting to start a snowboard brand?

Do your homework! Study the market before just jumping in. Most things that end-up doing well are because there was a solid plan behind them.

Recently you’ve been mouthing-off about the state of the industry…..is Automaton really doing anything different to any of the other brands out there?

Absolutely:

Our team; we’re not hyping up “pro” shreds that don’t deserve the attention. Pros should be in ads because they are famous for their riding, not famous because they’re in ads. If the time is right, and the right shredder comes along, sure, Automaton will have our first pro. Our agents are people that have expressed interest in Automaton and actively spread the word, they’re not paycheck leeches.

We’re not pushing ‘new tech’ that doesn’t really do anything but costs consumers more. Recently the flavor of the month is banana; does it work? who knows….. but if a person likes it, then it works for them. If they don’t, then it doesn’t. Automaton is known for having a tight, focused product line. It’s easy to identify the proper Automaton experience for everyone. Simplicity is key.

Automaton focuses on what all snowboard brands should be focusing on: our culture. NOT our product. Hell, even skaters learnt this decade’s ago. For example, snowboard mags are now essentially no more than monthly buyers guides full of adverts. Of course certain skate mags have product sections but most of the magazines content is about skate journeys and style.

Almost nothing pisses me off more as much as when I see a company that has the fire-power to make a change for good, but doesn’t use it. Automaton may not have that much clout in the industry, but at least we’re sticking to our vision.

How did you put your team together? Are they just friends, artists and riders that are stoked on the product?

Agents find Automaton. I kinda got the idea from the Matrix where anyone at any time can be an agent of the system, and that’s true. You see all sorts of kids that are brain-washed into wearing whatever style their favorite brand is pushing at the time, but some kids are different than others. Some dress the part and some shape the part. The ones that shape tend to be the more active, and they eventually find us. The majority of people are not shapers, and it’s only a fraction of the small part that do find us end-up working with us, but that’s just math.

Where can our readers buy an Automaton board?

First good place is our online shop! Another is solsticesupply.com, and if you’re in the bay area sfo on Haight Street! In terms of snow demos, we’ve been working with Sierra at Tahoe, so there are several Automaton snow swords in their fleet if you want to try before you buy.

 

Posted by Tom Ewbank in Features.

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