TROUBLEWEAR.COM is the very first company to create an extreme lifestyle apparel brand solely for the Internet (http://www.troublewear.com).

As one of the world's most technologically advanced e-commerce Web sites, TROUBLEWEAR.COM combines fashion and lifestyle, information and entertainment, manufacturing and retailing exclusively online.  In turn, the company is poised to change the face of Web and one-to-one marketing, as well
as substantially impact the extreme sports, affinity lifestyle apparel marketplace.

According to Don Kerkes, President, "TROUBLEWEAR.COM is focused on developing great designs and building an attractive, functional, content-rich Web presence that not only establishes a successful brand, but also provides a sense of community and belonging for the target market of 12 to 21 year-olds."  This is a group that's largely interested in apparel related to extreme sports, such as surf, skate, snowboarding, BMX, hang gliding, wakeboarding, free climbing and mountain biking. "We are the first company that is catering to them exclusively via the Internet, " says Kerkes.

"It's a very elusive demographic," says Rob Shively, TROUBLEWEAR.COM Vice-President of Marketing, "tough for marketers to reach, but we believe kids are up for building the brand, and will essentially market it themselves."  With this in mind, TROUBLEWEAR.COM began creating an image with logos, graphics, and colors, never losing sight of their audience, which is often deemed the 'Echo Generation' or 'Generation Y.' This target group (60 million strong) also includes fringe members of Generation X who relate to the lifestyle as means of extending their own youth or better connecting with their children. 

Many of today's active lifestyle companies that appeal to the Echo Generation are reluctant to stray from their existing distribution channels - traditional retail stores. This resistance has created a unique opportunity for TROUBLEWEAR.COM. Shively notes, "The fact that many of these companies wouldn't commit to an e-commerce channel of distribution offered a built-in competitive advantage for people like us with the experience and desire to create an apparel brand and sell it only through the Internet."

TROUBLEWEAR.COM style of direct-to-consumer digital merchandising offers consumers an unprecedented amount of choices and an opportunity to see the genesis of a design. Whereas in a department store a customer may be able to choose from 10 or 15 items from a single manufacturer,TROUBLEWEAR.COM offers hundreds. The product line consists of logo-driven sportswear, such as graphic T-shirts, sweatshirts and fleece, and baseball caps. Additional items such as sportswear, bags, backpacks, and an assortment of key chains, wallets and other small, logo-driven accessories are in the works.

Initially, TROUBLEWEAR.COM will run radio spots and ads in extreme sports publications and underground 'zines to build awareness and drive people to the site. They will also focus on grassroots marketing efforts in schools, on the beach, during concerts, at mountain bike races - all the places kids
are living or learning the lifestyle TROUBLEWEAR.COM stands for. These efforts will include loads of product giveaways and sponsorship of the Gravity Games, as well as ambush marketing at other high profile events, including the X Games and MTV Extreme.

Additionally, Team Troublewear will sponsor top-level athletes in extreme sports, as well as select young athletes, or "groms." And to further back up the company's extreme sports persona, Adventure Team Members and loyal TROUBLEWEAR.COM followers will stage radical, seemingly random stunts to grab additional - and free - publicity. Although representatives will not state specifically what these will entail, they do promise the events will be headline newsworthy; "so get your cameras ready, stay tuned to your local news, or check the site frequently to sample the latest."
 
 

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