- Joined
- Dec 29, 2017
- Posts
- 982
Bringing back this thread. What do you guys think abut Fischer dropping the My? They have essentially dropped the women's line and are producing skis for lighter skiers and skis for heavier skiers with pretty much the same graphics across the line. The same for boots. I am amused by the Ranger 102 which they did the opposite of shrink it and pink it. They made it bigger - and pinked it.
I talked to the guys at Blister about this for their next decade of gear predictions - women’s lines are moving in 2 directions, some really investing in their women’s messaging (Blizzard women2women, K2 Alliance, Rossi We Rise, Elan W Studio) and others rolling their gendered lines into one (Faction made the first move last season & is followed by Fischer & DPS). There’s a ton of momentum in women’s sports across all disciplines, but the Gen Z customer also really hates gendered products unless it’s totally necessary. It's going to be interesting to see how the women's market looks over the next decade - I think we'll be seeing more of this.
For Fischer's Ranger line, I definitely think it was the right choice. The MyRangers didn't sell well, reviews weren't complimentary. I never got the sense that Fischer really understood what women skiers wanted and never dialed in on those small tweaks that women like in an all-mountain-freeride line (like the subtle differences between the Secret/M5, Santa Ana/Enforcer, Sheeva/Rustler). If a brand can't afford that depth of market research and all of the associated marketing levers to move it, the strategy of "skiers are skiers" costs nothing and gets you 90% of the way there.