Web 2.0 and Organizational Strategy

Found some great articles this weekend regarding Billabong's Web 2.0 foorprint and strategic performance in the field. I know my chosen company is Von Zipper, but since they were an acquisition of Billabong all facets of advertising, media, and tech related material resides with the company itself. From a consumer standpoint, Billabong does great business in forms of advertising their product lines. To put it simply, Billabong is a sports wear and casual clothing manufacturer that specializes in innovation through alternative methods of production and promotion. 


As I opened their US regional website  I was greeted with an awesome video revolving around the strange connection between Billabong and organic cotton farmer's in the mid-west. As I watched and learned, I bridged the gap as a result of of the surf and snow company using strictly organic cotton products in all t-shirts the the product line. This is just one example of how they use innovation in their everyday production and sales. 


If it wasn't for their extremely accessable and user friendly website, I probably would have never learned about their process for producing clothing. A long quote taken from their Digital Marketing Manager reads, 


 "Billabong Australia has taken another step into the digital marketing realm by launching a fresh web­site template to be rolled out globally in the next six months. The brand portal engages Web 2.0 principles and encourages the user to interact through messaging, social networking, blogging, email, widgets, video and mobile phones.

Simple HTML promotes faster download speeds and a user friendly one click navigation system gets you anywhere in the site with one move. 'This version three web platform truly engages the Web 2.0 principles and meets the user where they are at,' said Digital Marketing Manager Stirling Howland. 'The main focus is to engage, entertain and con­verse with our user, giving them more control over their experience when dealing with Billabong in the digital space.'

'Version three of the Billabong portal will be driven by high quality, interesting and engaging content de­veloped around our product, events and athletes.' The site also better serves the user who is visiting the site primarily to view product with a new rating system, google maps store locator and Billabong’s largest online product range to date.

On the back of the revamped site launch comes a strengthened brand move into the multi platform realm of social networks and mobile phones."  


This was stated exactly two years ago in 2009, but although out dated the content is extremely relevant. After analyzing their web footprint as well as mobile availability, Billabong has successfully grasped the concept of Web 2.0 technologies and this can be seen through their great success with the changing environment. This footprint is extremely external, with no real content describing the internal software systems used. I'm sure to  keep track of all the programs and sales Billabong uses a complex system, but to date I could not find which one is used. 


 I also was able to find a blog with great information on Billabong's status as a media company. Some of the worthy snippets include, "Billabong is not just a surf brand, it is a media company, says the person in charge of producing the hours of surf-related content.

'This just ups the ante,' says Scott Wallace of the deal announced last week with Sony. 'We are turning into a media company as well as a clothing company.' The strategic partnership between the companies marries Sony’s expertise in video technology with Billabong’s street cred cool. Sony gets access to Billabong’s audience of tech-savvy surfies and followers while Billabong gets help in creating the content and getting it to as many people as possible",

and,

"The surf label produces up to 35 hours of high-definition video a year, drawing on events around the world – there’s almost one every week – and its small army of athletes as the subject.

'We use everything. We cut it up and use it for the web and then we use it for phone content.'

Each week Billabong produces 40 minutes of material to be used on mobile phone networks. When asked if it was working, Wallace is unable to share any figures but says: 'It must be okay as they keep asking for more.'"

An example of Billabong riders filming themselves from the water in epic surf:

And here is a Billabong produced HD video from the beach showing the highlights from their latest contest, the Billabong Pro Pipeline Masters:

That being said, Billabong is really stepping up their game compared to competitors. Todays generation expects nothing less than 1080p, so with that strategy in mind they are able to not only capture video from the shore, but in the water with surfers as camera men. It is truly amazing, some of the quality of shots taken these days that even a couch potato in Idaho can get a basic feeling of what it's like to sit deep in a 10 foot barrel. 

Billabong teamed up with Sony Vaio and introduced this laptop: