Branding snowboarding lifestyle

A case study of Burton Snowboards’ brand narrative of gender equity

Laura Muukka

Department of Media Studies / Centre for Fashion Studies MA Thesis 30 credits Spring 2018 Supervisors: Dr. Andrea Kollnitz and Dr. Philip Warkander Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to find out how snowboarding lifestyle and gender equity are visible in Burton Snowboards’ branding on their Instagram accounts as well as in their retail stores. Thus, the research questions were “How is (snowboarding) lifestyle and gender equity visible in Burton Snowboards’ branding on their Instagram accounts and in their retail stores?” and also, “How does branding differ in the two accounts and in the four stores?”

The theory part of this thesis looks into consumer theories, such as branding and marketing communication. Also, the theory part concentrates on theories from social sciences mainly from the point of view of gender studies. In addition, the study is deepened by theoretical connections that are relevant for the overall research.

The empirical part of the thesis is a qualitative study, which was carried out by mixing two different research methods. First, an extensive visual analysis of Burton Snowboards and Burton Girls Instagram accounts was conducted. Secondly, in-store observations were carried out in four different Burton Stores, three of them in the USA and one in Finland.

Based on the findings of the study, Burton Snowboards’ is advancing gender equity by building and developing a lifestyle brand where actions and expressions are actively oriented towards reducing gender stratification.

Keywords: Burton Snowboards, lifestyle, fashion, gender equity, branding

1 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 2

AIMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 5

METHODOLOGY, MATERIALS AND DELIMITATIONS 6

PREVIOUS STUDIES 11

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 14 BRANDING 14 LIFESTYLE 15 GENDER AND GENDER EQUITY 16

OUTLINE 20

CHAPTER 1: BURTON’S LIFESTYLE CODES AND TANGIBLE ELEMENTS 21

CHAPTER 2: INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS 29 BURTON SNOWBOARDS 29 BURTON GIRLS 34 CONCLUSION 38

CHAPTER 3: STORES 41 BURTON FLAGSHIP / HEADQUARTERS, BURLINGTON 41 BURTON FLAGSHIP, BURLINGTON 44 BURTON FLAGSHIP, NEW YORK 46 BURTON STORE, HELSINKI 49 CONCLUSION 51

CONCLUSION 54

BIBLIOGRAPHY 58

Introduction

I’m the happiest when I'm active, I enjoy doing yoga and all yoga-related activities but what I love is snowboarding. It is the only activity where I’ve ever experienced the flow feeling. I feel that inside I'm a very anxious person, but it is snowboarding that makes me feel very grounded. My friends have told me that I mostly talk about snowboarding - the trips I’m planning and the snowboarding clothes I’ve recently purchased. Soon I will be in slopes wearing them! Truly, it is more than just the riding, it is the whole snowboarding lifestyle.

This narration of my passion depicts well how emotionally invested one can be to a lifestyle. It is here where many brands have taken hold of, as “firms do not produce goods as such, but instead produce worlds in which goods exist.”1 This notion by sociologist Maurizio Lazzarato’s could easily have been the vision for the snowboarding brand Burton Snowboards, if only Lazzarato would have said it in 1970s when the brand was founded by Jake Burton Carpenter. Indeed, not only has Burton Carpenter pioneered in creating ground-breaking snowboarding products and pushing the sport to even higher levels, literally, he and the company have also made some branding history.2

Burton Snowboards, or in short Burton, is an American snowboarding company which manufactures and sells globally not only snowboarding gear and tools but also its extensive range of fashion goods. A large part of the products is categorised under the brand’s name Burton Snowboards. However, the brand also has a separate line for goggles, helmets and related accessories such as neck warmers and helmet hoods, called Anon Optics. Also, Analog Clothing, an extension for the men’s apparel line is part of the company’s brand portfolio. The company has its offices in Australia, Austria, Canada, California, China and Japan, while the headquarters are in Burlington, Vermont, USA. The brand has altogether 31 retail stores world- wide: eleven flagships, nine outlet stores and ten importer-led stores, and also one surfing

1 Celia Lury, Consumer Culture (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2011), 102. 2 Burton Snowboards, “Who We Are,” accessed October 24, 2017, https://www.burton.com/it/en/about-us.

2 focused store in California. Around half of all the stores are located in the states while the rest are in major Asian cities and central European ski destinations, with the exception of a store in Helsinki, Finland.3

Burton’s core values and vision builds on a set of plan the company labels ‘The Stance’. Citing directly the Burton Snowboards webpage:

At the heart of The Stance is the understanding that riding is not just a sport. It’s an attitude, a mindset, and a culture that extends far beyond the mountain. This is a year-round lifestyle, a way of being, and a way of doing without seasons, borders, or limits. By rallying around this understanding, we’re able to keep progressing and strengthening our community on and off the mountain.4

Indeed, the point for Burton Snowboards’ existence is not solely to sell snowboarding goods but rather to create a style of living around snowboarding. Having its origins in extreme sports, the company has started to enhance not only the role of lifestyle but also, and more importantly, gender equity in their brand narrative. Turning to journalist Annie Fast: “Burton’s focus on gender equity arose in 2003 […]. It was Jake who realised during a global directors meeting that of the 25 people at the table, only three were women.”5 After this Donna Carpenter, the wife of Jake, returned to the company, first taking on the title of founder and director of Burton Snowboards Women’s Initiatives and later the title of CEO of the whole company. As Donna Carpenter explains: “We were pulling from the ski, skate and surf industries, and we kind of took on this male-dominated culture that we hadn’t planned for”.6 This led to the realisation that “women don’t feel welcome in this company or the snowboard community”, Carpenter

3 Burton Snowboards, “Where We Are,” accessed April 10, 2018, https://www.burton.com/it/en/about-location. 4 Burton Snowboards, “The Stance - These are Burton’s Core Values,” The Burton Blog, accessed December 12, 2017, https://www.burton.com/blogs/the-burton-blog/innovation- leadership-and-fun-these-are-burtons-core-values/. 5 Annie Fast, “Burton Ceo Donna Carpenter Prioritizes Gender Equity on and off the slopes,” Rei Co-Op Journal: Stories of a life outdoors, accessed December 12, 2017, https://www.rei.com/blog/snowsports/burton-ceo-donna-carpenter-prioritizes-gender-equity- on-and-off-the-slopes. 6 Fast.

3 continues. 7 Not only has this understanding changed the company’s hiring practices but importantly their image too. Consequently, leading the brand to increase their product range to fashion goods for men, women and children. Therefore, in order to bring the lifestyle of snowboarding alive, the company’s branding approaches must have expanded in order to endorse these new products.

For Burton, alike most brands today, Instagram is a fundamental platform to captivate the consumers’ attention. However, having a recognised brand enables the company to maintain and develop their own stores too, which is rare in today’s retail market. This is an advantage as the consumers can physically visit these stores and actually feel the brand. In agreement with scholar Holly Thorpe:

Certainly a central issue in the contemporary snow field is branding. Today, more than a hundred companies provide snowboarding-specific clothing in an abundance of styles. Snowboard clothing carries status based on understanding the nuances of the culture. To the initiated member, decoding a combination of clothing and equipment graphics and other visual signifiers is an automatic process.8

7 Ibid. 8 Holly Thorpe, Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice, (Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Mcmillan, 2011), 128.

4 Aims and research questions

The purpose of this thesis is to find out how (snowboarding) lifestyle and gender equity are communicated in Burton Snowboards’ branding. I aim to understand and thereby explain the portrayal of gender equity as well as the role of lifestyle in their branding narrative. I will be looking at the phenomena in the brand’s two main Instagram accounts; Burton Snowboards and Burton Girls, as well as in four Burton stores; Burton flagship and headquarters flagship in Burlington, Vermont and Burton flagship in New York and also Burton Store Helsinki. Thus, I will look into these research questions:

-How is (snowboarding) lifestyle and gender equity visible in Burton Snowboards’ branding on their Instagram accounts?

-How does branding differ in Burton Snowboards and Burton Girls Instagram accounts?

-How is (snowboarding) lifestyle and gender equity visible in Burton Snowboards’ branding in their retail stores?

-How does branding differ in the four Burton Snowboards’ retail stores?

Also, my study is guided by the hypothesis that Burton Snowboards’ can achieve gender equity by building and developing a lifestyle brand where actions and expressions are actively oriented towards reducing gender stratification.

Given these points, and in order to delimitate my research, I will follow the same guideline as scholar Belinda Wheaton, citing directly:

It is not my objective to contribute to debates about nomenclature as numerous comprehensive commentaries on what lifestyle/action/alternative/extreme sports are, their histories, and how they at least initially differed from more traditional sporting forms and cultures already exist.9

9 Belinda Wheaton, “Introducing the consumption and representation of lifestyle sports”, in The Consumption and Representation of Lifestyle Sports, ed. Belinda Wheaton (Oxon, UK: Routledge, 2013), 3.

5 Methodology, materials and delimitations

The empirical part of the thesis is a qualitative study, which will be carried out by mixing two different research methods. First, an extensive visual analysis of Burton Snowboards and Burton Girls Instagram accounts will be conducted. Secondly, in-store observations will be carried out in four different Burton Stores; two in Burlington, Vermont, USA and one in New York, USA as well as one in Helsinki, Finland, Europe.

As a method, I will use visual analysis in order to find out how Burton Snowboards communicates the lifestyle of snowboarding and gender equity in their branding. To be more specific, as a model for the research I will use ‘A basic model for analysis’ by Theo Van Leeuwen and Carey Jewitt.10 There are four stages in the model; at the first stage, the observer will look at the data as a whole and take notes. Next, at the second stage, the researcher will do an inventory of all the images “around categories that reflect and assist [the] research goals”.11 The third stage is all about statistics, such as counting and comparing the images. This will be the structure of the analysis. The fourth and final stage is searching for the meaning of the data and revealing this in writing in the conclusion. To extend the analysis, I will study both the photo content, that is the physical appearance, poses and body position as well as facial expressions and emotional displays, and the photo context, that is the visual space in which the photo appears, namely the caption.12

Critical visual analysis offers researchers an interdisciplinary method for understanding and contextualising images [...]. If marketing depends upon images, including brand images, corporate images, product images and images of identity, then research methods in marketing must be capable of addressing issues that such images signify.13

10 Theo Van Leeuwen et. al., The Handbook of Visual Analysis, (London, UK: SAGE Publications, 2001), 39. 11 Van Leeuwen et. al., 39. 12 Adrienne Trier-Bieniek, et al., Gender & Pop Culture: A Text-Reader, (Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers, 2014), 164. 13 Jonathan E. Schroeder, “Critical Visual Analysis”, in Handbook of qualitative research methods in marketing, ed. Russell W. Belk (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2006), 303.

6 Since Burton’s online marketing revolves around the imagery they produce on their social media, using visual analysis is valid. Also, posts on social media are a way for the consumers to engage with a brand, or like Theo Van Leeuwen and Carey Jewitt puts it “images can also offer us an identity.“14 As Van Leeuwen and Jewitt continue: “This is a transient sense of identity consequent upon looking at the image, engaging with and enjoying the messages and meaning it then gives to us.”15 Since one of the purposes of this thesis is to explain the portrayal of lifestyle in the context of branding, visual analysis remains logical. According to Van Leeuwen and Jewitt: “Visual content analysis is a systematic, observational method used for testing hypotheses about the ways in which the media represent people, events, situations, and so on.”16 Hence, my study hypothesis is well-founded.

As stated above, Burton Snowboards and Burton Girls Instagram account posts will be the material for the visual analysis. In early March 2017, there are approximately 3780 posts on Burton Snowboards main Instagram account, while the Instagram account of Burton Girls has around 1700 posts altogether. Given the fact that it is not my objective to look into progress and development of these accounts, I will only look at images posted between 1st of March 2017 to 1st of March 2018. Since the material for the in-store observation research will be collected in the beginning of March 2018, having the end point at March keeps the overall research cohesive. Additionally, a one full year is a sufficient timeframe in order to reveal branding patterns and giving a comprehensive sample. When studying the brand’s main online marketing platforms; the Burton Snowboards and Burton Girls Instagram accounts, the focus will be on fashion. After the tentative research, I will single out specific images that I will investigate more comprehensively according to the visual analysis. This way I will be able to demonstrate how the lifestyle is showcased and if there is a significant difference between the two accounts, especially in the portrayal of gender. In fact, I will only investigate every photo where there are either people or just clothes depicted. Additionally, the images that I will select are not only credible examples of demonstrating the lifestyle and gender equity but above all displaying fashion. I want to observe how the images in these accounts and contexts demonstrate gender equity and snowboarding lifestyle and also how the content differs in the different accounts. Also, in order to delimitate I will not look into the posted Instagram videos,

14 Van Leeuwen et. al., 89. 15 Ibid., 89. 16 Ibid., 14.

7 nor the stories. Since, for the most part, the videos posted depicts snowboarding tricks and are used to showcase snowboarding as a sport, they won’t fit to my selection criteria. Also, given the temporal and spontaneous essence of the Instagram stories narrows their branding impact. The amount of video posts for Burton Snowboards’ account is almost half of the total posts number, while for Burton Girls the number isn’t that high.

Another study I will conduct, is the in-store observations that will be carried out in four different Burton Snowboards’ stores by using observatory field notes. Since the key concepts of the research, lifestyle and gender equity, are very abstract, I find observational study to be the most fruitful. In agreement with researchers Chris Gratton and Ian Jones: “Observation is generally more suitable for descriptive research rather than for explanatory research.”17 In fact, in this way I’m able to observe the phenomena in their natural settings, in stores, where they are supposed to be visible, and not in ‘artificial’ surroundings such as an interview or a questionnaire, where the data might be limited or not truthful.18 The study is grounded on ‘the practical model of fashion brand management’, a concept by Leslie de Chernatony and Francesca Dall’Olmo Riley. 19 De Chernatony and Dall’Olmo Riley’s present six tangible elements of a brand:

These include the logo and signage associated with the brand, the design, functionality, packaging and labelling of its related products, the visual theme of marketing initiatives used to promote them, and finally the design of points of customer interaction such as websites and retail stores.20

I will identify each of them within the case of Burton Snowboards, emphasising on the retail space, and its value in the matter of building the wanted lifestyle as well as gender equity. Furthermore, these tangible elements will be deepened by theoretical connections that are

17 Chris Gratton et. al., Research methods for sport studies, (Oxon, UK: Routledge, 2010), 177. 18 Gratton et. al., 180. 19 Stephen M. Wigley et. al., “Making the Margue: Tangible Branding in Fashion Product and retail Design,” Fashion Practice 5, 2 (2013): 253. 20 Wigley et. al., 249-250.

8 relevant in consumer culture theories, such as ‘the construction of Lifestyle Brands’,21 a concept by Stefania Saviolo and Antonio Marazza. The model illustrates lifestyle brands according to three key elements: the background, the manifesto and the expression, which I will clarify further in the thesis by analysing Burton Snowboards’ brand within the concept. Turning to Saviolo and Marazza:

The store is key from two points of view: from a consumer point of view for the necessity to fully perceive the lifestyle proposition, interact with the brand, meet peers and access new products; [and] from a brand point of view for the essential role the sales assistants have in the narrative, through the description of product characteristics and the dissemination of stories and anecdotes that have the power to capture the consumer’s attention and emotional involvement.22

I need to be aware of problems while recording the data. As Gratton and Jones explains: “What to actually look for, and how to ensure that nothing of importance is missed are key issues in observational research.”23 The pitfall in using visual analysis and in-store observations is, that “it is often impossible to prevent interpretation from seeping into description”24. It is clear that my Nordic background will show in my interpretation of an American brand like Burton Snowboards is. Even though Europe follows America; its culture and brands, very closely, the European point of view most likely differ from American. That is, we read the images and advertisements in another way. For example, I might perceive the typical American aesthetics as striking and unique or even exotic since the Scandinavian aesthetics is typically very minimalistic with clean lines. According to Stuart Hall: “Cultures consist of the maps of meaning, the frameworks of intelligibility, the things which allow us to make sense of a world which exists, but is ambiguous as to its meaning until we’ve made sense of it.”25 As a result ‘conceptual maps’, which members of a culture or society share together, are created. In

21 Stefania Saviolo et. al., Lifestyle Brands: A Guide to Aspirational Marketing (Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Mcmillan, 2013), 121. 22 Ibid., 75. 23 Gratton et. al., 181. 24 Schroeder, 305. 25 Stuart Hall, “Representation and the media,” Media Education Foundation Transcript, accessed May 18, 2018, https://www.mediaed.org/transcripts/Stuart-Hall-Representation-and- the-Media-Transcript.pdf.

9 addition, not only the cultural differences European and American consumers have, but differences even inside a culture can affect the interpretation of the images and the intentions of ads might not reach the customer as was planned. Schroeder argues: “Most consumers are not necessarily visually literate, and art historical references and conventions may not consciously inform their viewing of an ad.”26 As advertisements are polysemous, meaning they can be read in multiple ways and even though advertisers attempt to transfer a specific meaning in them, they cannot dictate how the viewers will interpret the messages. 27 However, this interpretation issue will be taken into account while researching.

26 Schroeder, 319. 27 Trier-Bieniek et al., 55.

10 Previous studies

When it comes to previous research, the subject of my thesis is very fresh, as I will study the lifestyle market within snowboarding. Even though, this research is not about fashion as such but about the aesthetic aspects of the lifestyle market, it will still be a contribution to fashion studies. Indeed, there is still a huge research gap in studies that focuses on fashion in sport. Previous sport fashion related research has concentrated mainly on textile development and/or high-fashion brand collaborations with sport brands. To give an example the book Fashion and Sport by author Ligaya Salazar has done just that.28 Another trending topic is the active-wear- as-a-street-wear trend. An article by researchers Grant Anthony O’Sullivan et. al. studies female’s active wear consumption in Australia.29 The most relatable study to my research was a study about Patagonia and its paradoxes.30 In the study scholar Sharon J. Hepburn illustrates how the brand’s message of so called ethical consumption actually increases the overall consumption. However, as in my case of Burton Snowboards, no direct attempt has been made to portray how a lifestyle company can visually demonstrate gender equity through branding.

Although snowboarding has been researched from multiple points of views it is still very understudied subject from the perspective of fashion studies. In fact, I have not encountered any study that concentrates on snowboarding and fashion. The literature I have found is very much linked to social sciences, namely and logically to sport studies. Like fashion studies, sport studies is an inter-disciplinary academic field that constantly grows as an interesting research field of scholars worldwide.31 However, in agreement with Belinda Wheaton, the focus on the previous research “[…] tend[s] to draw on narratives of colonial adventure, re-inscribing the

28 Rhiannon Harris, “Book review: Fashion v Sport by Ligaya Salazar (ed.) (V&A Publishing, 2008),” Fashion Theory 14, 2 (2010): 257, accessed March 20, 2018, doi: 10.2752/175174110X12544983515475. 29 Grant Anthony O’Sullivan et. al., “Women’s activewear trends and drivers: a systematic review” Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 21, 1 (2017): 2, accessed March 20, 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-07-2015-0059. 30 Sharon J. Hepburn, “In Patagonia (Clothing): A Complicated Greenness,” Fashion Theory 17, 5 (2013): 623, accessed March 20, 2018, doi: 10.2752/175174113X13718320331035. 31 Wheaton, Introducing the consumption and representation of lifestyle sports, 1.

11 dominant historic version of the (often European) hegemonic male adventure hero subject as ‘white heterosexual, bourgeois, athletic, courageous, risk taking, imperialist, and unmarked’.”32 Also, another important notion in studies related to snowboarding, is the extensively researched subject of resistance towards the dominant (ski) culture. In agreement with Belinda Wheaton: there is a “[…] need to move beyond simplistic understanding of commercialisation as co- option and resistance, to capture the complexity and messiness of the process, and of the relationship between cultural industries, participants and consumers.”33

Scholars such as Belinda Wheaton, Holly Thorpe and Leslie Heywood have done valuable research outside the male perspective, however these female scholars’ research has mainly been focused on the female body and the image society has created for it. Such as Leslie Heywood’s study on surfing girls and ‘girl-power images’ that are used in marketing towards young girls.34 According to Leslie Heywood: “female athletes are no longer ‘deviant’, they are normalised, serving as ‘role models’, the ‘can do’ girls who have gotten it right.”35 Similarly, Holly Thorpe has studied femininity in snowboarding culture. Not only she has published a book about it Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice36, but also an article that uses a Foucauldian perspective that shows “ways in which power is enacted and contested in snowboarding culture”.37 Nevertheless, all of the previous studies have resulted in opening a dialogue between different academic disciplines but also broadening the field of future research, especially in gender equity. As Heywood cites another sociologist: “Anita Harris makes the argument that since the 1990s, a convergence of neoliberal and feminist discourses has emerged to radically reshape the categories of, and social ideas about, girls.”38

32 Ibid., 15-16. 33 Ibid., 9. 34 Leslie Heywood, “Producing girls: Empire, sport, and the neoliberal body,” Physical Culture, Power, and the Body (2006): 101-120. 35 Heywood, Producing girls: Empire, sport, and the neoliberal body, 113. 36 Thorpe, Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice. 37 Holly Thorpe, “Foucault, Technologies of Self, and the Media: Discourses of Femininity in Snowboarding Culture,” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 32, 2 (May 2008): 199. 38 Heywood, Producing girls: Empire, sport, and the neoliberal body, 103.

12 As it shows, a great deal of research progress has been made in the last few decades. As Belinda Wheaton explains: “[…] lifestyle sports are important arenas where feminist questions emerge, and thus for exploring the potential of sport to be a politically transformative space in relation to gender, sexuality and ‘race’”39. As a sport scholar Wheaton is naturally concerned about sport, nevertheless it is the truth for lifestyle brands too. Not only is the female perspective important in a socio-cultural aspect but also because of its relevance for economic value. Belinda Wheaton continues: “In many lifestyle sports the female consumer has become one of the most valuable and targeted commodities.”40 Indeed, there is a relatively new master’s thesis concerning this in snowboarding by Hailey Ronconi that touches upon the same principles, branding communication and gender differences, as I will in my study.41 Ronconi’s study is based on a survey she conducted in USA, focusing on women snowboarders’ consumption practices and the choices of brands they make. However, the study is not very comprehensive, instead it has a rather limited focus on the local snowboarding females.

To sum up, in previous studies the main research topics have been identity, subculture and lifestyle sport. In fact, since sport studies has been an academic field for a longer period of time than fashion studies, there is plenty of research on the matter. To demonstrate that the study is grounded and not coming out of the blue, the research in this thesis is based on the premise that snowboarding is the basis of lifestyle brands such as Burton Snowboards. As will be demonstrated later, lifestyle brands consist of fashion, sport and other factors. With this in mind, I will study Burton Snowboards’ branding of gender equity by looking at their Instagram accounts and retail stores.

39 Wheaton, Introducing the consumption and representation of lifestyle sports, 12. 40 Ibid., 5. 41 Hailey Ronconi, “Gender Differences in Snowboarding: An Empirical Analysis” (UVM Honors College Senior Theses, School of Business, University of Vermont, 2015), 4.

13 Theoretical framework

I will use some different theories but mainly the same ones, for both of the individual studies. For the study on the Instagram accounts, I will use exclusively the sociologist Erving Goffman’s conceptual framework of gender advertisements. However, the extensive guide for lifestyle branding by scholars Stefania Saviolo and Antonio Marazza will be used for both the study on Instagram and to the study that concentrates on the retail spaces. Also, ‘The practical model of fashion brand management’, a concept by scholars Leslie de Chernatony and Francesca Dall’Olmo Riley will be applied to both of the studies. Likewise, in the final analysis, ‘a model of stability’, a concept by Janet Saltzman Chafetz will tie together the complete research. Additionally, relevant concepts from consumer theories will be applied to both of the studies in order to deepen the analysis.

I will start by describing the central terms of this thesis, that are branding, lifestyle, and gender equity. Since these terms can be seen as abstract, I find it beneficial to define them in the context of my thesis. Throughout this thesis when referring to the terms branding, lifestyle, gender, and/or gender equity, the definitions are as stated below.

Branding

The practise of branding, where a trade name is associated with a set of marketable characteristics to a product, 42 is a modern consumer culture mainstay. As Andrew Reilly explains: “The concept of branding is important because it creates a connection between the product and the customer and differentiates one product from another.”43 Most importantly, customers are loyal to brands, which reflects on greater sales numbers. Also, branding is not only about specific products, instead it helps to construct an identity and set a vision for the company.44 Branding is “created through advertising, promotional materials, visual display and

42 Kate Scully et. al., Colour Forecasting for Fashion, (London, UK: Lawrence King, 2012), 180. 43 Andrew Reilly, Key Concepts For The Fashion Industry, (London, UK: Bloomsbury, 2014,) 111. 44 Reilly, 110.

14 customer’s experience with the brand that align to create a specific image.”45 Corresponding to consumer demand, branding started to focus on lifestyles and sought out niche-markets.46 It is like economist John K. Galbraith argued in his theory of consumer demand, the “production […] creates the wants it seeks to satisfy”,47 or in short the Dependence Effect. As in the case of Burton, by creating and promoting the desirable lifestyle, the brand changed their dependency process. Now the advertising and marketing of the Burton lifestyle creates the customer demand, not the products the brand offers. As the example shows, in contemporary consumer culture, producing lifestyles where the manufactured goods can be used, has become the primary manufacturing method, rather than the simple method of just producing goods. In agreement with professor Colin Campbell: “[…] the old production-style criteria such as occupation, educational qualifications or income […]” 48 have given space for the new categorisation that is by lifestyle. Turning to scholar Celia Lury: “a greater emphasis [is] on choice and product differentiation, on marketing, packaging, and design, on the ‘targeting’ of consumers by lifestyle, taste and culture rather than by categories of social class […]“49

Lifestyle

The term lifestyle is extensively used in contemporary marketing since it allows a brand to further expand their product portfolio. Furthermore, as said above, the term is very abstract; it is well-known but also somewhat difficult to explain. However, commonly it is like the name implies, a style of life that includes not only a specific (sporting) activity but also a way to dress and behave. It does not have to dominate the consumers’ life, it can also be just a hobby. The scholar Belinda Wheaton describes it the best: she uses the term lifestyle since the participants themselves describe their activity as a lifestyle rather than a sport.50 It must be remembered that “lifestyle brands are not made to please everyone, but to be adored only by those who recognise

45 Ibid., 111. 46 Ibid., 120. 47 John K. Galbraith, “The Dependence Effect,” in The Consumer Society Reader, ed. J. B. Schor, and D. B. Holt. (New York: USA: The New Press, 2000), 23. 48 Colin Campbell, “The Sociology of Consumption,” in Acknowledging Consumption, ed. Daniel Miller (Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 1995), 110. 49 Lury, 86. 50 Wheaton, Introducing the consumption and representation of lifestyle sports, 3.

15 themselves in the proposition and intend to join.”51 In fact, what awakes the motivation in the participants to practise snowboarding lifestyle is the particular and exclusive social identity it provides.52

Getting in to a lifestyle is a process. When examining snowboarding it seems the falling in love with the activity happens rather quickly. It takes time to learn how to snowboard, consequently leading to investing in it and thus it becomes a lifestyle. Researcher Holly Thorpe explains this as the becoming of a ‘cultural sponge’; absorbing information from various sources, as well as learning from the occasional ‘cultural faux pas’.53 As Thorpe continues: “Numerous qualities underscore the social hierarchy in snowboarding, for example, geographical divisions, commitment, equipment, ability, and age.”54 However, even though boardsports used to be considered as alternative sports they are now fully-incorporated as part of popular culture.55

Gender and gender equity

As sociologist Janet Saltzman Chafetz points out, gender is a term used “to distinguish between males and females”.56 Moreover, scholars Anne Cranny-Francis et. al. add: “Gender is the culturally variable elaboration of sex, as a hierarchical pair (where male is coded superior and female inferior).”57 Indeed, it is not the biological sex that construct and support the gender bias but rather the marginalised status women have not only in the (extreme) sport discourse but also in the sociocultural context by large. Having and accepting this as a starting point, helps to guide the direction of the thesis.

51 Saviolo et. al., 66. 52 Belinda Wheaton, ”Introduction: Mapping the lifestyle sport-scape”, in Understanding Lifestyle Sports: Consumption, Identity and Difference, ed. Belinda Wheaton (New York: Routledge, 2004), 4. 53 Thorpe, Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice, 112. 54 Ibid., 127. 55 Catherine Palmer, “Death, danger and the selling of risk in adventure sports”, in Understanding Lifestyle Sports: Consumption, Identity and Difference, ed. Belinda Wheaton (New York, USA: Routledge, 2004), 55. 56 Janet S. Chafetz, Gender equity: An Integrated Theory of Stability and Change, (Newbury Park, USA: SAGE Publications, 1990), 28. 57 Anne Cranny-Francis et. al., Gender Studies: Terms and Debates, (New York, USA: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), 4.

16

In the improvement towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, sport is a good platform, since it “[…] provides a space in which women challenge stereotypes about physicality, can renegotiate concepts of femininity and masculinity, and demonstrate to their communities what they are physically and mentally capable of achieving.”58 It does not matter what sort of a sport it is, but as long as taking part and getting involved is nevertheless equally possible. Turning to Trier-Bieniek et. al. “This message is especially significant for young girls who need confident, strong female athletic roles models in order to get involved and maintain their involvement in sport.”59 Indeed, in lifestyle-sports promotional imagery, women are characterises as ‘good consumers’, meaning “fashioning self-reliant, self-monitoring, individualistic, and flexible consumers, marring the discourses of liberal feminism and neoliberalism.”60

In the case of snowboarding, it was the masculine look that initially provided women another alternative to the prominence of femininity in other sports.61 It was in the late 1990s, when the snowboarding industry noticed the opportunity in the then niche market of female snowboarders, starting to produce snowboarding related equipment and clothing for them.62 However, for a long time, and I might argue that still in many today’s snowboarding brands, “the ‘shrink it and pink it’ mentality”63 is very much evident. The ‘shrink it and pink it’ mentality, labelled by Holly Thorpe, refers to the issue of not seeing women as their own group of consumers but as the marginalized participants. What is more, is that: “‘Too many of these companies rely on male perspectives of what women want. I don’t want butterflies, flowers and birds on my snowboard - and everything doesn’t have to be pink’”, citing a female snowboarder in Holly Thorpe’s study.64 As Thorpe continues: “Certainly many young women, particularly novice boarders, appreciate the opportunity to purchase clothing and equipment designed specifically for their technical, physical and/or cultural snowboarding needs.”65 Indeed, in

58 Trier-Bieniek et. al., 154. 59 Ibid., 167. 60 Wheaton, Introducing the consumption and representation of lifestyle sports, 8. 61 Thorpe, Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice, 124. 62 Ibid., 69. 63 Ibid., 70-71. 64 Ibid., 73-74. 65 Ibid., 73-74.

17 today’s snowboarding market the wisest and most successful companies have realised the need of targeting and producing female specific clothing and other goods according to the snowboarding women’s needs and wants. At the same time, fashion has been seen as a women’s thing, that is not important or is second-rate. This contradiction between fashion and its bad reputation still diminish the female (snowboarder’s) status. However, if fashion gets women involved in sport, it should be used as an advantage since in the long run, it will weaken gender stratification. For instance, “[...] female athletes involved in masculine sports use a variety of methods to ‘feminize’ their appearance […]”66 When it comes to snowboarding women might find for instance, long hair, clothing and its colouring a priority in achieving this.

To define gender equity, I turn to Janet Saltzman Chafetz, who has established a model called ‘a system of gender equality’.67 To point out, my aim is not to not give a full-scale and detailed explanation of each of the concepts, but rather a short statement of the main points of the model. According to Chafetz, the gender inequality system is built on two bases: the coercive and the voluntaristic, which maintain and reproduce gender stratification. The coercive bases are further expanded to the concepts of the division of labor and the resource power. Whereas, the voluntaristic bases broadens to social definitions and the maintenance of gender equality. The coercive bases are the aspects of gender system maintenance, that take place both in micro- level within the family and meso- and macro-level outside the household.68 The fundamental issue in the coercive bases is that men have a superior role and possess more power in relation to women (or in micro-level from husbands to wifes) in most gender-stratified societies. Whereas, the women’s responsibility is mainly on child rearing and household work. Part of the meso-level is that “the characteristics of social roles create the characteristics of role incumbents.”69 Also, as an example, Trier-Bieniek et. al. underline this, since the characteristics generally linked within sport are socio-culturally defined as masculine; including strength, power, dominance, competitiveness and aggression.70

66 Trier-Bieniek et. al. 160. 67 Chafetz, 16. 68 Ibid., 45. 69 Ibid., 54. 70 Trier-Bieniek et. al., 159.

18 The voluntaristic bases include the learned attitudes through social definitions of gender ideology. Turning to Chafetz: “Gender ideologies are more stable and resistant to change, because they are typically embedded in yet broader belief systems, especially religions, along with overarching socio-political and cultural views of the world.”71 However, according to Chafetz gender stratification can be decreased: if one of the central targets changes, that constitute the most essential support, then the entire system most likely changes to the desired direction.72 Based on these aspects, Chafetz has created ‘a model of stability’ which I will apply to Burton Snowboards further in the thesis.

71 Chafetz, 65. 72 Ibid., 99.

19 Outline

The remaining part of the thesis will be divided into three chapters. The first chapter serves as the base of the overall research, where the fundamental lifestyle codes and tangible elements are established. The other two chapters covers each one of the methodologies used in this study. In the second chapter, I will apply visual analysis to Burton Snowboards and Burton Girls Instagram accounts. Both of the accounts will be evaluated and reviewed independently, after which a comparison between them will be conducted. Following this, I will focus on the in- store observations I did at four different Burton stores. Each of these stores will be analysed and discussed separately. Next, the chapter will be concluded by connecting the findings of the stores, in order to highlight the lifestyle codes of the brand. Additionally, theoretical concepts about gender equity will be used in both of the chapters, in order to broaden the research.

I will finish the thesis with an overall conclusion, by disclosing the thesis’ aims, that are: how are (snowboarding) lifestyle and gender equity visible in Burton Snowboards’ branding on their Instagram accounts and in their retail stores. Also, the thesis’ hypothesis that Burton Snowboards can achieve gender equity, by building and developing a lifestyle brand where actions and expressions are actively oriented towards reducing gender stratification, will be uncovered.

20 Chapter 1: Burton’s lifestyle codes and tangible elements

As explained in the theoretical framework, the term lifestyle is very broad, and it has been used quite freely in previous advertising strategies. In this thesis, I’ve decided to illustrate the term through Burton Snowboards, or more specifically through their brand cornerstones. The lifestyle brand cornerstones are, as the term implies, the starting components of `The construction of Lifestyle Brands’. 73 This model created by Stefania Saviolo and Antonio Marazza, expresses the methods for a lifestyle brand to succeed. These corners or key terms are labelled the background, the manifesto, and the expression. Each of the terms are further expanded by components which have different functions.

First, the background that expands to credo and stories of the brand, Saviolo and Marazza describe credo as the “values that express the unique and original point of view of a brand”74, particularly the foundation and principles of the brand’s culture. For Burton, everything is based on the already introduced set of plan ‘The Stance’. Additionally, for the Burton motto ‘Durable Goods’, which truly aggregates the essence of Burton products and their quality. Also, must be remembered the Burton Snowboards’ pioneering status in helping to grow snowboarding not only as a sport but also as a lifestyle. Another important element in the background is the “stories and anecdotes that have the power to engage the audience and fuel the mythology of the brand”. 75 The stories are practical and solid reflections of the brand’s credo. 76 It is immensely important for a lifestyle brand to raise interest and be memorable among the consumers. Burton has a well-known slogan ‘riding is the reason’, which has become the hashtag (#ridingisthereason) not only for the Burton ambassadors but also the consumers, to use when sharing experiences from the mountains on Instagram. Social relevance is a key factor for a brand to be able to get the consumers engaged. Most importantly, it has a boosting and sustaining impact on a brand’s image and reputation.

73 Saviolo et. al., 121. 74 Ibid., 121. 75 Ibid., 121. 76 Ibid., 63.

21 Erving Goffman has theorised the social encounters humans have to a dramaturgical framework in his book The Presentation of self in everyday life. According to the theory, people ‘perform’ differently in different social settings or specifically in ‘front stage’, ‘back stage’ and ‘off stage’.77 At front stage, the person or in Goffman’s theory, an actor acts as he/she knows he/she is being looked at, while at backstage he/she has no roles to perform and off-stage, the actor meets independently the audience without the rest of the performers at the front stage.78 A part of the theory; ‘The arts of impression management’79 can be applied to Burton’s organisational culture, which is a text book example of internal marketing. The company’s basic principle is to create a pleasant work environment for their employees. For instance, the company organises “in-house yoga sessions, an annual holiday party, summer BBQs, an annual mountain cleaning day, and avalanche training”80, all more or less showcased on the brand’s marketing platforms. Also, the company has ‘the two-feet-rule’, that is if it snows more than two feet, the office will be closed, so everyone can go snowboarding.81 In a way, Burton has created an imitation of the ‘backstage’ for their employees where the in-group solidarity is high, “to the degree that team- mates and their colleagues form a complete social community which offers each performer a place and a source of moral support[…].”82

The second part of `The construction of Lifestyle Brands’ is the manifesto, that is divided into the lifestyle proposition and the lifestyle codes. Turning to Saviolo and Marazza:

The manifesto, as a public declaration of principles and intentions, is something different from the vision and mission. The vision describes the purpose, the reason for existence

77 Ashley Crossman, “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life: An Overview of the Famous Book by Erving Goffman,” ThoughtCo, accessed May 20, 2018, https://www.thoughtco.com/the-presentation-of-self-in-everyday-life-3026754. 78 Crossman. 79 Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, (London, UK: Penguin Books, 1990), 209. 80 Burton Snowboards, “Work For Us,” accessed October 24, 2017, https://www.burton.com/it/en/work-for-us. 81 Burton Snowboards, “The Stance – These are Burton’s Core Values”. 82 Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, 209.

22 and the ultimate goal of an organisation. The mission materialises the vision into a concrete goal.83

Rather, the manifesto is the foundation of the specific codes that make the brand instantly recognisable, and also proposes the lifestyle the consumers can identify with.84 For Burton, the lifestyle proposition is their commitment for building a rewarding, collaborative and high- performance community where leadership, respect, honesty, collaboration, learning, accountability and recognition are the leading values.85 However, since vision and mission are basic terms in business economics, I find it necessary to state those in the case of Burton too. The Burton Stance is the foundation of the company’s operations and it serves as the vision and mission, however what drives these has been specified. The drivers are the innovation and design, as well as being the leading brand in every marketplace in every product category. Additionally, supporting and sponsoring not only the world’s best athletes but also the local snowboarding communities and dealers as well as operating as sustainably as possible. Equally important is to advance the sport together with spreading the Burton’s year-round lifestyle.86

Moving on to the other part of the manifesto, that is the lifestyle codes. According to Saviolo and Marazza the lifestyle codes are: “logos, shapes, patterns, materials, colours, details or even specific types of product.”87 Leslie de Chernatony and Francesca Dall’Olmo Riley have created an even more developed model; the six tangible brand components: including the logo and signage, the design, functionality, packaging and labelling of its related products, the visual theme, and the design of points such as websites and retail stores.88 To fully understand the lifestyle codes of Burton Snowboards, I have decided to use both of the models.

83 Saviolo et. al., 65. 84 Ibid., 121. 85 Burton Snowboards, “The Stance – These are Burton’s Core Values”. 86 Ibid. 87 Saviolo et. al., 70. 88 Wigley et. al., 249-250.

23

Picture 1. Picture 2.

Burton Snowboards is the largest and most recognisable snowboard brand even though they had a few difficulties in the mid-90s to early 2000s, when they re-branded their logo multiple times, mainly changing the initial letter B to various variations.89 Salt Lake City hosting the winter Olympics in 2002 gave a boost for Burton to promote the sport and brand. The company decided to redesign the logo once and for all. “Burton’s solution was to create a bold, iconic mark that would define the brand for years to come. The idea that was put into place was the ubiquitous Burton Arrow.” 90 (Picture 1.) Since then the brand has been on top of the snowboarding business, implementing the logo in their every product, cementing the brand’s visual identity. In addition, the brand has a mountain logo, which is well presented in the brand’s marketing. (Picture 2.) Mountain can be seen as a “Symbol of transcendence, eternity, purity and spiritual ascent. [It is also] associated with immortals, heroes, sanctified prophets and gods.”91 Not only it is an expected symbol for a snowboarding oriented brand, but also it corresponds well with the Burton values. According to the store manager in Burton Store

89 Printwand, “How Burton Snowboards Logo Reinforced Their Business,” accessed October 24, 2017, https://www.printwand.com/blog/how-burton-snowboards-logo-reinforced-their- business. 90 Printwand. 91 Mark O’Connell et. al., The Illustrated Sourcebook of Signs & Symbol, (Leicestershire, UK: Anness Publishing, 2013), 110.

24 Helsinki, the brand has decided to cut down the text ‘Snowboards’ off their logos, just leaving the simple ‘Burton’ text. The reason behind this is the move from the extreme sports to the lifestyle brand, where the company is not only selling the sport but everything that is involved in it. Additionally, the fact that Burton is such an acclaimed brand, coupled with the world- wide pronounceability of the name, makes it even more approachable a brand.

As presented above, Saviolo and Marazza widens the lifestyle codes to shapes, patterns, materials, colours and details, while in de Chernatony and Dall’Olmo Riley’s tangible elements these codes are simplified to design and functionality. Since one of the points of this thesis is to find the lifestyle codes of Burton, I will explore these in detail further in the analysis part. Burton does not have a distinctive print and/or fabric that are used in their designs year after year. However, the constant innovation of the technical fabrics and the craftsmanship that goes into making the garments are savoured in Burton’s lifetime warranty. Clearly, an acknowledgement for the lifestyle brand’s need for producing high quality and weatherproof products. Or in other words, Burton’s way to commit to the technical performance aspects of the line, i.e. product functionality.92 Citing Wigley et al. “developing a functional aspect to the brand’s collection is a significant means of expressing brand credentials.”93 According to the Burton Store Helsinki manager, the most iconic and recognisable Burton products, outside of the actual snowboards, are the simple logo t-shirt and the popular luggage and backpack range. However, the store manager pointed out that the logo t-shirt has lost its fashionable place from its prime years of 1990s. However, over the years, Burton has developed a few collaborations with “brands that carry the same attitude, influence, and dedication to progression.”94 These collaborations are labelled Burton Coalition. One of the most popular and exposed coalitions is L.A.M.B x BURTON, an annually produced snowboarding clothing collection in collaboration with Gwen Stefani’s fashion line L.A.M.B. (Cover picture.) The collection has a unique style, and it is designed clearly for daring women. The price points are slightly more expensive than other similar Burton products. However, since the essence of the coalition is distinctly original, the pricing seems appropriate.

92 Wigley et. al., 254. 93 Ibid., 254. 94 Burton Snowboards, “Burton Coalition,” accessed April 5, 2018, https://www.burton.com/it/en/c/coalition.

25 Packaging and labelling are part of the tangible elements, granted that they are obvious platforms for branding. In every Burton garment and product there is a tag that has information not only about the brand but also, of course the price and barcode for the purpose of identifying each product. In addition, Burton uses branded stitched labels that can be found in both outside and inside of every garment. These label designs vary from the Burton mountain logo to the simple text ‘Burton’, and even sometimes adding a small note, usually Burton motto ’Durable Goods’, “suggesting that these are products for people” who are active and thus need products that endures and suits to their on-the-move lifestyle.95 Secondary packaging, the carrier bags, which every customer gets after a purchase, are branded with the mountain logo. At the same time these paper bags serve as a symbolic sign for Burton’s value of sustainability. Inside the paper bag there is a note on the bottom that says:

Burton Sustainability: Our commitment is to make Burton as respected for our environment and social impact as we are for our products. In doing so, we will help make the sport we pioneered – and our lifestyle – sustainable well into the future.

The note has also a link to Burton’s sustainability webpage, pointing out another characteristic lifestyle code for Burton.

The third and final part of `The construction of Lifestyle Brands’ is the expression, that is how the brand communicates its manifesto. According to Saviolo and Marazza, these three components are the store and its products and services.96 Since the central objective of my thesis is to find out how Burton Snowboards expresses their brand narratives of lifestyle and gender equity, this part will be the content of the next two chapters. Also, the visual theme of marketing initiatives and the design of websites and retail stores are important parts of the six tangible elements model. Similarly, these elements form the next two chapters.

Also, according to Saviola and Marazza, in order to succeed, a lifestyle brand must have a visionary leader: “a Visionary Leader is an individual with a charismatic profile, a higher sensitivity and a strongly assertive and original perspective that he/she is able to express

95 Palmer, 57. 96 Saviolo et. al., 71.

26 through a product and a brand”97, clearly, so is the case for Burton. In fact, the brand has two leaders; Jake and Donna Burton Carpenter, even so much that they are put on a pedestal by their

Picture 3. Picture 4.

followers. Indeed, Burton employees and sponsored snowboarders refer to them as legends, for instance when posting on Instagram, as has done a Burton Team rider Kelly Clark (Picture 3.) It is elemental for the leader to be daring in order to attract admirers who will become the ambassadors of the lifestyle brand. As Saviolo and Marazza explain: “Subsequently you need an organisation of supporters that shares, keeps alive and develops the same principles by giving structure to the original intuition and helping to translate it into products, communication and experience year after year, even in different categories, and in all markets of the world.”98 Must

97 Ibid., 79. 98 Ibid., 78.

27 be remembered, it is the responsibility of the visionary leader “to personify and represent the brand credo, to create stories and anecdotes that can continuously feed into the brand mythology and to maintain the brand manifesto as authentic and relevant over time.”99 In fact, both Jake and Donna are presented as the spokespersons for communicating inequality not only in communities but also when discussing gender equality. When the Burton US Open competition was established in 1982, the brand made history by setting an equal amount of prize money for both men and women.100 Also, Burton Snowboards’ has founded an organization called Chill Foundation that is supporting marginalized youths or at the verge of becoming ones, by giving them a choice for better recreation. The foundation offers coaching for boardsports and provides the means and equipment, in order for the youth to be able to participate in the activities. (Picture 4.)

99 Ibid., 80. 100 Burton Snowboards, “2020 Sustainability Goals. Our People,” accessed May 16, 2018, https://www.burton.com/it/en/sustainability-people?regionSelector=true.

28 Chapter 2: Instagram accounts

Before starting the analysis of Burton’s Instagram accounts, I find it beneficial to briefly define the platform of Instagram by using Erving Goffman’s concept of picture frames. In his book Gender Advertisements Goffman separates images into two categories: private and public pictures. Logically, the private pictures are photos that are meant to be displayed within the social circle of the people presented in them.101 While, turning to Goffman: “the public pictures are those designed to catch a wider audience”, namely commercial pictures such as advertisements.102 However, Goffman touches upon the concept of snapshots, a part of private pictures, that can be taken as a contribution to ceremonial life, for instance when commemorating weddings, vacations, shop openings etc.103 Also, Goffman refers to personal publicity pictures, that are flattering portraits designed to bring before the public. I argue it is here in the middle of snapshots and personal publicity pictures, where the foundation of Instagram is, possibly a hybrid one could say. Indeed, as the name implies Instagram is a social platform where photos can be instantly posted (telegrammed) for others to be seen. As can be expected, technology has developed since Goffman’s work was first published. This evolvement has enabled platforms for social media to be established but also the habit of sharing images to grow.

Burton Snowboards

When writing this thesis, Burton Snowboards Instagram account has around 1.1 million followers. The first Burton Snowboards’ Instagram post was on 26th of August 2011. Now there are over 3800 posts such as images and videos on the account. During the sample period for this study, that is from 1st of March 2017 to 1st of March 2018, the total amount of posts is around 500. This means, the brand posts daily, sometimes two times a day, on the account. Around 150 posts of the sample period are videos, which will not be investigated. There are

101 Erving Goffman, Gender Advertisements: Communications and culture, (Hong Kong, China: Macmillan Publishers, 1979), 10. 102 Goffman, Gender Advertisements: Communications and culture, 10. 103 Ibid., 10.

29 less than 20 images illustrating solely scenery. Some 90 photos are depicting snowboarding in active play. To be precise, this excludes photos where a snowboard is being for instance carried. As explained previously in the thesis, I will use visual analysis in order to reveal my research questions. I’ve selected three images that I will analyse more closely. These photos are selected not only as the prime examples of showcasing the lifestyle and gender equity but above all demonstrating fashion.

Firstly, I will analyse an image posted on 16th of June 2017 to the account. (Picture 5.) In the image, one of the Burton Team riders is depicted sitting at a wooden dock, looking at a distance. Erving Goffman has theorised this to ‘licensed withdrawal’ where, as opposing to men, women do not look directly to the camera but rather off into the distance.104 As can be seen, in this case this is not excluded to women. The image background consists of a murky looking water on the left and on the right a worn-out dock, both greenish brown. The man is sitting in the middle of the image dressed in a pink and red summer attire that consists of shorts and a t-shirt. The caption states: Not everyone can pull off mixing pink and red, but then again, not everyone is @mikkel_bang. Shop all colors of #DurableGoods shorts and pants using the link in our bio. Even though the caption at first seems like a paradox, as a matter of fact it assures the viewer can accomplish the look too. Indeed, here Goffman’s theory about ‘ritualization of subordination’ can be used, as he argues that “it is a common view that women spend much more of their time and concern in shopping for clothes and preparing for appearances than do men, and that women set considerable store on the appreciative or depreciative response they produce thereby.”105 However, the post in fact proves that more or less men consume fashion too. That is to say, fashion has always been a vital component in reducing gender stratification in snowboarding.106 Moreover, as “colours may be considered masculine or feminine, [---] using colour in an unexpected context can make it look fresh and new.”107 As already discussed earlier in the thesis, Burton Team Riders are used as the models in the brand’s marketing. “Their roles as snowboarding superstars derive from a combination of athletic skill and marketability”108, as in this particular image, where the Norwegian Burton Team member’s heavily tattooed arm is shown. The contrast between the masculine full-sleeve tattoo and the

104 Trier-Bieniek et. al., 67. 105 Goffman, Gender Advertisements: Communications and culture, 51. 106 Thorpe, Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice, 131. 107 Scully et. al., 152. 108 Thorpe, Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice, 92.

30 feminine pink and red clothing constructs a confident and free-spirited individual. Indeed, having a distinctive identity is crucial for a snowboarder to be able to pursue a professional career within the snowboarding industry.

Picture 5. Picture 6.

The second image I will analyse was posted on 13th of July 2017. (Picture 6.) It depicts three of the Burton Team riders, two men and a woman, whom take on the most part of the picture. All of them stand on what seems like a grassy field close by a forest and mountains, an unmistakable lifestyle code of the brand. The woman is situated in the foreground on the left side, while the men are more on the right, slightly in the background. The facial expressions and the body positions of the three shows that they are at ease and thus familiar with each other, suggesting a friendship between them. Goffman uses this also in his theory on ‘ritualization of subordination’, when people are, for instance standing close then “no differentiation of role or rank [is] being in itself conveyed.”109 The woman’s gaze is directed straight to the camera,

109 Goffman, Gender Advertisements: Communications and culture, 54.

31 whereas one of the men looks down on the ground and the other sees something intriguing straight in the distance. Goffman’s theory on ‘licensed withdrawal’ can be employed here, where the point of visual focus is drawn from the scene at large.110 Although, in Goffman’s case the person doing this is a woman, here it is the complete opposite. The caption highlights the purpose of the post, that is showcasing the new collection: Our newest Fall #DurableGoods collection is out there. Shop men’s and women’s new arrivals using the link in our bio. #NoBadTrips. Both of the men are wearing the same shade of grey, one has a sweatshirt and the other a zipped hoodie, while the woman wears a furry bone-white jacket. By carefully choosing a palette where the colours complement each other will speak to the consumer and hopefully drive sales.111 Additionally, creating an unembellished canvas where the furry coat’s texture comes alive, boosts the more high-priced product. The tag #NoBadTrips indicates the lifestyle code of an adventure, which is a meaningful part of Burton Snowboards’ branding. Indeed, modern consumers make conscious purchase choices as they express their identity not only with their clothing, but also with their other activities too.112

Next, I will investigate a picture that was posted on 4th of December 2017. (Picture 7.) The image portrays three of the Burton Team riders, all men, sitting on a fence and bound to their snowboards, seemingly having a break from snowboarding. Indeed, the photo caption is referring to this: Don’t just sit there, shop men’s and women’s snowboard pants in our bio link. Because even if you have time to chill, there’s never time for sub-par pants. Even though, there is no mention of the Burton slogan ‘Durable Goods’, the last part of the caption most likely refers to this. Goffman’s ‘ritualization of subordination’ theory applies here. The men are sitting closely and comfortably with each other, implying they are friends. Also, the men are positioned so that their knees are bent. Part of Goffman’s theory is ‘the bashful knee bend’, that refers to a position many women have in pictures.113 As can be seen, in this particular case the position is gender neutral. According to Goffman, sitting in a picture is one such practise, where social status can be visible.114 In this case, the men have very similar sitting positions. Also, what

110 Ibid., 64. 111 Scully et. al., 12. 112 Joanne Hollows, Feminism, femininity and popular culture, (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2000), 133. 113 Goffman, Gender Advertisements: Communications and culture, 45. 114 Ibid., 76.

32 highlights the equality between the men, is the fact that there is no difference in ‘relative size’. As the distance between the camera and each of the men is the same, as well as their height. In addition, Goffman’s ‘licensed withdrawal’ can be identified within the image, as none of the men are looking at the camera. The man on the left is looking up at the falling snow, while the man in the middle is looking down at his snowboard. According to Goffman, by looking away and having the focus on something else can be interpreted as submissiveness.115 Obviously, Goffman has noted this is more common with women, but as can be seen in this case, this behaviour does not exclude men. The men are wearing neutral and earthy tones, which match with the surroundings of the image. In fact, “colour is a shortcut that conveys a message quickly and directly without the time-consuming use of words or complex images.”116 Additionally, modern consumers buy commodities by incorporating them actively to their lives in order to give meaning to them.117

Picture 7.

115 Ibid., 65. 116 Scully et. al., 18. 117 Hollows, 112.

33 Burton Girls

At the time of writing this thesis, the Burton Girls Instagram account has around 177 thousand followers. The first post ever on Burton Girls Instagram was on 27th of September 2012. Since then more than 1700 images and videos have been posted on the account. On the sample time period, that is from 1st of March 2017 to 1st of March 2018, the total amount of posts is a bit over 400. This means the brand posts once a day on average. Of the total sample around 20 are video posts, which I will not analyse further. Approximately 30 images of the total sample portray exclusively sceneries. Also, a bit less than 50 of the image posts are action photos, where snowboarding in play is depicted. Same way as above, I will use visual analysis in order to reveal my research questions. Similarly, I’ve picked three images that I will investigate in detail.

The first image I will analyse was posted on the account on 13th of March 2017. (Picture 8.) The image depicts a woman and a man having a carefree stroll at a cotton-grass meadow next to a woodland, while in the far background mountains rise. The vivid colour scheme consists of orange and yellow at the bottom, as well as green and a mixture of grey and blue at the top. Judging by the posting date and the colours in it, the image can be dated to early spring. Erving Goffman’s theory on ‘relative size’, where differences in size correlate with social weight fits to the picture.118 However, in this case it is the woman who has superior social status. The woman is in the foreground, taking the right side of the space, just as the salience of the image too. While the man is more on the left side, behind the woman, thus filling less the image. This is because of the woman’s position; she is in the middle of softly kicking the plants, causing the fluffy cotton pieces to spread out. The photo caption Just kickin’ it. P: @gabe_lheureux #DurableGoods, underlines this, likewise the Burton logo #DurableGoods points to the apparel showcased in the image. To demonstrate, the woman is wearing a grey Burton script hoodie together with sports trousers and biker boots. Comparatively, the man wears a jean flannel shirt as well as semi-loose trousers and a backpack. The choice of clothing indicates that the woman is more active, so does the body position. Also, the fact that the woman is leading the hike while the man follows and carries whatever is needed on the trip, emphasises the higher status of the woman. This also refers to another theory by Goffman, that is ‘function ranking’, where one of

118 Goffman, Gender Advertisements: Communications and culture, 28.

34 the individuals depicted has the leading role, usually the male. 119 However, as already established, in this picture it is the woman who has the power. Neither looks at the camera, but down at where the leg hits the cotton-grass. Additionally, both have a friendly smile. This can be applied to another Goffman theory, ‘ritualization of subordination’, where for instance a smile signals that “the other’s act has been understood and found acceptable”, as in this case the playful kicking.120

Picture 8. Picture 9.

Next, I will investigate an image that was posted on the account on 11th of September 2017. (Picture 9.) The picture portrays four female Burton Team riders or as they are labelled Burton Girls. They are sitting on a boat, two of them in the far background, one in the bottom right corner and the fourth one in the foreground steering the boat. Here Goffman’s ‘relative size’ theory can be applied, as the woman in the front, quite naturally is relatively bigger than the rest. Her straight position as well as the sharp and concentrated gaze implies that her authority status as a captain gives her more social weight. Additionally, this extends to another Goffman’s

119 Ibid., 32. 120 Ibid., 48.

35 theory, that is ‘function ranking’, where “the man – it would seem – is likely to perform the executive role.”121 However, here, as can be seen, the normally male position is performed by a woman. The woman steering the boat is not smiling but the woman next to her is, which even more underlines their difference but also functions as the ‘ritualization of subordination’, where “women smile more, and more expansively, than men.”122 However, as in this case there is no gender differentiated behaviour. As a matter of fact, a proof of this is in the girl who smiles, as she is sitting in a wide spread, arms resting at her knees; a very typical male sitting position. Behind them, a blue lake shimmers and a partly snow-dusted mountain rises. We’re on a boat. That is, until the lake freezes over. #BurtonGirls states the photo caption, pointing to the coming winter and starting of the snowboarding season. While the off distance looks of the Burton Girls’ are part of Goffman’s theory on ‘licensed withdrawal’ it also serves as a metaphor for the caption. It is as if the women are staring at their next destination that is the winter season. The woman who drives the boat as well as the two in the background are wearing a very similar outfit: an unzipped jacket that shows a flannel shirt and a beanie, while the woman on the right corner wears a full-zipped fleece jacked without any cap. Indeed, modern fashion allows to reform between masculinity and femininity, and question what it means to be a woman or a man.123 In a way the clothing highlights the power of the woman steering the boat, as if the women behind are imitating her and as if the woman in the right corner is immune to her dominance. However, I still argue that all the women pictured are equal and there is no power play between them. In fact, the essence of branding is “to show a sparkling version of that product in the context of glamourous events.”124 Indeed, the women are positioned to the image, so that the colours of the products are balanced and in harmony with each other.

Next, I will analyse an image that was posted on 23rd of November 2017. (Picture 10.) The image depicts four Burton Girls, three of the same as in the previous case, laying together on a wooden dock. According to Goffman’s theory of ‘ritualization of subordination’, grounds are connected with dirt and people who sit or as in this case lay, on the ground, might be seen as incumbent persons.125 However, on a positive note: “a recumbent position is one from which

121 Ibid., 32. 122 Ibid., 48. 123 Hollows, 137. 124 Goffman, Gender Advertisements: Communications and culture, 26. 125 Ibid., 41.

36 physical defense of oneself can least well be initiated.”126 Only one of the women has her legs straight against the dock, as the rest have their knees bent, and one has lifted her other leg up. Interesting point can be applied here as: “one female in a picture may perform the gesture and another serve as the support that allows the performance. So a two-role formula is at issue.”127 However, Goffman is referring to a very feminine pose that is ‘the bashful knee bend’, Although, in this case knees are bent too, the pose is done in a gender neutral way. The closeness of the women suggests they have a unity between them, so does the caption that states: So much to be thankful for. #BurtonGirls #GetDownRiseUp. Goffman has theorised this closeness as ‘the family’. Although, he refers to a more generic unity that is the nuclear family, he does however acknowledge that there might be different types of unities too.128 Also, this can be extended to ‘licensed withdrawal’, where snuggling and adults laying are part of the theory. For Goffman, snuggling takes place between a mum and a child, and the laying between a man and a woman, usually in a sexual nature.129 However, as in this case, these activities can occur between close friends too as a symbolization of a special, platonic bond. Here Goffman’s theory of backstage performance is applicable. As according to Goffman: “Since back regions are typically out of bounds to members of the audience, it is here that we may expect reciprocal familiarity to determine the tone of social intercourse.”130 Showing the performers, as in this case the models, behaving in an intimate way, as if no one is observing them, emphasise this sort of ‘region behaviour’. Two of the women are looking at the camera and smiling, while the other two gazes their friends with a less of a smile. This can be theorised as ‘licensed withdrawal’, as when a woman and a man are pictured in a euphoric state, the female is more likely to display a more pervasive expression than the male.131 Even though, in this case the portrayed individuals are females, this irregularity is interesting. However, to validate Goffman’s theory, another similar image was posted a few months later, to be specific on 26th of December 2017, portraying the same Burton Girls where all the four females are laughing. (Picture 11.) Saviolo and Marazza have divided product experience into three elements: aesthetic pleasure, attribution of meaning, and emotional response.132 Viewing pictures is one

126 Ibid., 41. 127 Ibid., 45. 128 Ibid., 38. 129 Ibid., 75-76. 130 Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, 129. 131 Goffman, Gender Advertisements: Communications and culture, 69. 132 Saviolo et. al., 76.

37 practise leading to the aesthetic pleasure after which the attribution of meaning follows, as in this case, the Burton’s style philosophy of mixing prints and colours communicates stylistic inspiration. By illustrating the ideas in multiple ways, in one picture, creates a vision for the consumers to pursue and be inspired of. As a result, emotional response occurs as the desire to purchase, which then most likely shows in the company’s sales results.

Picture 10. Picture 11.

Conclusion

As has been established, social media, and especially Instagram is a meaningful platform for a company to build their brand. Passion and involvement are necessary in expressing the brand communication, which “can be achieved only through a direct interaction with the consumer, be it virtual or physical.”133 In fact, Instagram offers a space where consumers, regardless of their whereabouts, can follow and consume the brand’s communication. Since Burton Snowboards intents to appear as a gender equal (snowboarding) lifestyle brand, its social media presence must endorse this. Turning to Wigley et. al. “by focusing on tangible elements of the

133 Ibid., 74.

38 brand and by letting fashion practitioners express their creativity, a business is most likely to create the intangible brand elements that consumers appreciate.”134

After the tentative research, characteristics displaying the wanted lifestyle could be established in Burton’s main Instagram accounts; Burton Snowboards and Burton Girls. As can be seen in the detailed analysis, Burton plants a great deal of their branding on enjoying life and especially on being adventurous and active. Seemingly, it is the ‘individualist hedonism’ that is the backbone for promoting the lifestyle.135 The most frequently occurring activities, obviously after snowboarding, are hiking and camping. This is the case on both of the accounts. Presenting these sorts of symbols such as leisure and sporting activities signifies self-expression and individuality, characteristics consumers aspire to pursue.136 Obviously, outside activities like rowing and fishing are showcased in outdoor situations, but so are activities such as yoga and spending time with friends. Along with winter scene imagery, there are abundance of pictures depicting nature in all of the other seasons too, indicating the awareness of environment’s diversity. Another significant characteristic is the portrayal of close connections between the illustrated people, which are comparable to family unities.

In the past the “coverage of female athletes [...] focused primarily on femininity and heterosexuality whereas male athletes are presented in an array of narratives that highlight their athletic abilities, strength and competence.”137 Seemingly, the behaviour in the images on both of the Instagram accounts is more gender neutral. As the physical appearance, poses and body positions, facial expressions and emotional and camera displays are similar for both of the sexes. However, women are still pictured more often closer to each other. Women are displayed by hugging and holding hands, whereas the men might just sit closely to each other. I still argue that this is not necessarily an intentional strategic move by the brand, since on both of the accounts there are a lot of images for instance of events, that are taken as snapshots. It seems that women feel more natural to be closer with each other, than men. Alternatively, without

134 Wigley et. al., 261. 135 Heywood, Third-Wave Feminism, the Global Economy, and Women’s Surfing: Sport as Stealth Feminism in Girls’ Surf, 66. 136 Belinda Wheaton, ”Introduction: Mapping the lifestyle sport-scape”, in Understanding Lifestyle Sports: Consumption, Identity and Difference, ed. Belinda Wheaton (New York: Routledge, 2004), 5. 137 Trier-Bieniek et. al., 162.

39 going much deeper into it, part of the western culture is, and our societies have created a belief, that men can’t be shown that close to each other.

Importantly, there is a visible difference between the two Instagram accounts. Interestingly, the Burton Snowboards account has more referrals on their captions to go buy products. Even though, the Burton Snowboards account has more followers, the nature of it is less though-out. The variety of the posts is generous; from tricks to competition videos, and product shots to persona profiles, all of which are frequently posted, in effect the lack of curating is evident. Whereas, the year younger Burton Girls account has considerably fewer posts, but also more coherent character. For instance, the account has less posted videos, but the ones that are, are more marketing orientated, so are the quality of the posts overall.

To sum up, as established both of the accounts have a different approach to brand lifestyle and gender equity. However, what is identical is using the Burton Team riders as the models for showcasing these aspects. Turning to Saviolo and Marazza: “One person (or more likely a small group of people) is needed to transform the brand manifesto into a reality by designing and building day after day not just the product/service but also the communication and the ways of interacting with the consumer.”138 Indeed, what can be a more authentic way to demonstrate having a snowboarding lifestyle than to use actual snowboarders.

As established, in modern times social media is a tool to engage with consumers all over the world. However, according to Saviolo and Marazza: “the digital channel will never be able to completely replace the physical distribution because of the need to create a human relationship with those who want to join the lifestyle proposition.”139 Thus, the need for retail spaces is obvious.

138 Saviolo et. al., 81. 139 Ibid., 76.

40 Chapter 3: Stores

As already mentioned, in this chapter I will look into the retail stores, a part of the tangible elements model by de Chernatony and Dall’Olmo Riley. Four of the Burton Snowboards’ stores were physically visited in early March 2018, together with taking observatory field notes and photos. By utilizing the gathered information, I will be able to discover and demonstrate how (snowboarding) lifestyle as well as gender equity are visible in each of the stores. In establishing these signs, I will particularly pay attention to the ‘Lifestyle Codes’, from the `The construction of Lifestyle Brands’ concept by Saviolo and Marazza, introduced prior in the thesis.

Burton Flagship / Headquarters, Burlington

The Burton headquarters is located at an industrial area, a ten-minutes’ drive from the city centre of Burlington, Vermont. As can be expected, the flagship store at the Burton Snowboards headquarters is not only the largest but also has the most extensive product range. In order to reach the store, the customers need to use the actual headquarters entrance. However, the entrance hall is very open without any clear restrictions for the visitors. Contrary for many American companies140, this impression of having almost no hierarchy, gives a symbol of transparency and approachability. The lifestyle feeling can already be grasped in the entrance hall, inviting the customers to linger in the foyer, feeling casual as at home. A burning fireplace next to leather sofas and a wooden table enhances the welcoming. On the table, there are hand- made scrapbooks filled with fan letters, pictures and drawings sent from all over the world to Burton. Also, a small exhibit on the wall charts the history of the company’s snowboard models. As it shows, creating “new ways to keep brand narrative alive both inside and outside the organisation” is essential in bringing the brand manifesto alive.141 The already introduced performance theory by Goffman can be applied here. As Goffman explains: “By invoking a backstage style, individuals can transform any region into a backstage.”142 Indeed, with the

140 Hierarchy Structure, “American Corporate Hierarchy,” accessed 20 May 2018, https://www.hierarchystructure.com/american-corporate-hierarchy/. 141 Saviolo et. al., 82. 142 Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, 130.

41 home like atmosphere, Burton is creating a stimulated backstage to what is actually the front stage.

At the actual store entrance, there is a vitrine depicting a winter scene, that has mock snow and two snowboarder styled mannequins of opposite sex in it. A text decal stating: ‘proven performance, unmatched style’ is on the window, pointing to the brand’s styling approach by mixing different prints together to create a look. In fact, the carte blanche emphasis “on choice, differentiation, self-expression, creativity, fitness, health and the body, [are common] characteristics reflected in lifestyle sport’s cultures.” 143 High-ceilings and exposed pipes enhance the store’s industrial feel. Hard-wood flooring through-out the store softens the contemporary building, so does the huge wooden room divider, that sets the space for the cashier. Interestingly, the divider is very Scandinavian styled, almost minimal.

Picture 12. Picture 13.

In the far corner of the store, next to the binding set-up table, there is a living room-esque sitting area with two couches. The huge oriental rug, wooden sofa table, and Burton pillows, not to mention the TV on the wall reinforce the feeling of being at home. (Picture 12.) According to

143 Wheaton, Introduction: Mapping the lifestyle sport-scape, 6.

42 Goffman, the front stage is a combination of three things, that are ‘setting’, ‘appearance’ and ‘manner’.144 By being able to create a state of affairs, where the consumers feel as if they are at home is compelling. All over the store, the wooden features mixed with metal, reflect the outdoor orientation of the merchandise. For instance, these include the shelves for all the binding options, the hangers as well as the framed snowboarding themed pictures depicting both male and female Burton snowboarders. (Picture 13.) What is quintessential for Burton is that the brand builds its authenticity using world famous snowboarders; The Burton Team snowboarders, as the models in their advertising. Citing directly the webpage “The Burton Team's work embodies the Burton life. Yes, they're world champions, innovators and leaders in the sport, but they're also the perfect ambassadors for all things Burton. Providing crucial feedback on all our products while traveling the globe, they're our experts at making the most out of every day.”145 Surely, this approach of using actual top snowboarders in the brands marketing, illustrates the snowboarding lifestyle in an undeniably real way. What is more, there is similarity with Pierre Bourdieu’s argument about constituted taste: “It is precisely because a cultural object is the objectification of the already ‘constituted taste’ of the producer, homologous to the taste of his or her consumer, that it is spontaneously adjusted to the consumer’s demand.”146 In the case of Burton this structure goes even further; the Burton Team snowboarders are not only the consumers but also the “creative agents”147 who create and/or refine the products at Burton rider roundtables according to their ‘constituted taste’.148

The store’s layout is separated to men and women’s sections. The men’s products are in the very beginning, and in the area behind the cashier. The women’s much smaller collection is more in the back. Here the “struggles over gender appropriate embodiment”149 is noticeable, as “women should only be included in the niche media when they perform to male standards.”150

144 Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, 39. 145 Burton Snowboards, “Who We Are”. 146 Agnes Rocamora, “Fields of Fashion: Critical Insights into Bourdieu’s sociology of culture,” Journal of Consumer Culture 2, (2002): 351. 147 Rocamora, 352. 148 Ibid., 352. 149 Becky Beal et. al., “Chicks dig scars: Commercialisation and the transformations of skateboarders’ identities”, in Understanding Lifestyle Sports: Consumption, Identity and Difference ed. Belinda Wheaton (New York, USA: Routledge, 2004), 39. 150 Thorpe, Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice, 97.

43 To demonstrate, Becky Beal and Charlene Wilson explain the female boarders’ awareness: “[…] that their acceptance [is] contingent upon maintaining the delicate balance of proving their skills on masculine-based standards without forfeiting their feminine or heterosexual identity.”151 Even though, Beal and Wilson’s research deals with female skateboarders, it does nonetheless occur not only in all board sports but also in many male dominated spaces where normative masculinity is embraced.

Burton Flagship, Burlington

Burton Snowboards’ Burlington city centre store was not opened until 2015.152 The city centre location serves well for consumers who are not familiar with the brand and/or wouldn’t necessarily travel to the headquarters’ store. College Street, where the store is on, is one of the main streets in the small centrum of Burlington. Also, it is adjacent to Church Street, a pedestrian shopping street in the city. Surely, this city centre locale performs as an image building store. As Holly Thorpe explains: “In a highly competitive industry, it is not simply products but the corporate image itself that becomes essential.”153 Indeed, image building is a serious activity in contemporary branding practices.

Right on the entrance, there is a dog bowl. This is a clear signal of Burton values, since part of the company’s culture is allowing the staff to bring their dogs to work. Indeed, according to Beal and Wilson: “core values can be expressed within a commercial context.”154 The interior follows the aesthetics of the brand: hard-wood flooring through-out the store, wooden details mixed with metal such as rail-like clothing rags, many warm coloured oriental rugs, an exposed brick wall as well as huge wooden framed images depicting snowboarding. Also, poster-sized images of the products and snowboarders tie in with the ethos of the brand. Turning to Holly Thorpe: “Manufactures and retailers hire riders on the basis of physical skills, personality, and

151 Beal et. al., 39. 152 Dan D’Ambrosio, ”Burton opens downtown Burlington store,” Burlington Free Press, (November/2015), accessed April 14, 2018, https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/money/2015/11/21/burton-opens-downtown- burlington-store/76172730/). 153 Thorpe, Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice, 54. 154 Beal et. al., 41.

44 attitude that reflect positively on the company. The perceived marketability of a snowboarder is also very important”155 Indeed, in the contemporary consumer culture, the boarder figure has an iconic status, while part of their habitus is to “look happy, healthy, and strong in a flexible way.”156 Even though, Leslie Heywood refers to the surfing culture, the same principle can be applied to snowboarding, as Belinda Wheaton explain: “The special relationship between snowboarding, surfing and skateboarding has been described as a ‘love triangle’ (White Lines magazine 1996) due to similarities in motion, attitude and dress.”157

Picture 14. Picture 15.

The relaxed atmosphere of the store creates an accessible feeling, similarly does the open and simplistic cashier counter, emphasising the company’s imminent branding strategy of being transparent. The counter’s backdrop is full of images depicting not only snowboarding imagery but also memories from the company’s history. The eye-catching wall mural on the store’s back wall depicts several Burlington and Vermont related subjects, such as an ice cream cone (salute

155 Thorpe, Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice, 57. 156 Heywood, Third-Wave Feminism, the Global Economy, and Women’s Surfing: Sport as Stealth Feminism in Girls’ Surf, 70. 157 Wheaton, Introduction: Mapping the lifestyle sport-scape, 10.

45 to Vermont founded Ben & Jerry’s) and the city’s landmark the city hall. Also, the mural states ‘Welcome to BURlingTON’, acknowledging the cohesiveness of the names. Clearly showing that “what is being sold to the consumer is not merely a sport or leisure activity but a complete style of life, one which is saturated with signs and images that emphasise many of these aspirations of postmodern consumer culture.”158 (Picture 14.) Opposite the mural wall is the ladies’ collection, while the men’s products are in the store’s front part. Placing and keeping the men’s products in more central spots, maintains the norm, where “the male side of the equation is generally coded as the positive one, and so becomes the standard by which all others are judged.”159

The store is missing the binding set-up table, a common feature in many stores. However, there is a colourful vintage table with chairs and a computer for the customers to order products that aren’t in the store.160 A corrugated sheet metal wall highlights street-wear quality of the brand’s products. (Picture 15.) Next to it, is a storage room transformed to mimic a ski-lift shed, uniquely nodding to the lifestyle. Another sign of the aspiration on building the brand’s image in the store, is the separate ‘Factory showroom’. A corridor leads to this space where Burton’s bindings and boards are showcased. The space reminds of an old English study room, that is clad in woodwork: the walls, floor, stands and build-in shelves, even the fireplace mantel. As shown above, “by using a highly aspirational language, generally based on image aesthetics” communicates the adjusted and preferred lifestyle proposition. 161

Burton Flagship, New York

Burton flagship on Greene Street in New York is not the first Burton Store location in NYC. In 2016 the store moved from its original place, the corner of Spring and Mercer Streets, just a block away to its new location, both on SoHo district. According to the sales personal, the reason for the move to a smaller space was in the high rental cost. Still, the store spreads across two levels, making it almost as big as the headquarters’ flagship. However, the changing seems convincing since the street holds an extensive range of iconic brand flagships. In fact, right

158 Ibid., 6. 159 Cranny-Francis et. al., 2. 160 D’Ambrosio. 161 Saviolo et. al., 72.

46 opposite the Burton store there is Patagonia’s store, and farther can be found for instance the stores of Louis Vuitton, Longchamp and Acne Studios.

When entering the store, there is a small foyer-like area with a few minimalistic chairs and a Burton branded tree stump side table. In the background, a Burton Snowboards memorabilia wall stands out, with a painted text stating VT to NYC. VT as in Vermont: an homage to the home of Burton Snowboards. Since there aren’t any products near, such as shoes to try on, it is clear the sitting space hasn’t been designed to be functional but rather as a modest welcome to the world of Burton and an instant showcasing of the lifestyle. Nearly the whole upstairs is dedicated to men’s products. There is a corner for ladies as well, logically situated next to the stairs, since nearly all the apparel for females are downstairs. The issue with the store layout is profound, since in contemporary societies people, and especially children are heavily exposed to gender differentiated behaviour. This sort of consistent gender content that can be identified for instance in décor and clothing, will further reinforce the engenderment process.162

Picture 16. Picture 17.

162 Chafetz, 73.

47 The rest of the upper level follows the Burton lifestyle codes, which help “make the manifesto immediately recognisable.”163 (Picture 16.) All the materials from shelves to hangers and from clothing rags to tables, are various types of wood mixed with metal, mainly steel. Just as the simple binding/snowboard set-up table, a fundamental feature in many Burton stores. Oriental rugs can be found in many spots in the store, which makes them another distinct Burton lifestyle code. Similarly, the walls are all white, excluding a huge wooden mural over the staircase depicting a version of the Burton mountain logo. The massive piece of art catches the eye instantly and communicates effectively the powerfulness of the nature and its mountains. A clear showcasing of the snowboarding lifestyle. (Picture 17.) Overall at the store, pictures of smiling Burton riders are used in the store’s interior to reinforce the brand image. As it shows, the snowboarding value system is based on not only having fun, but also progression and the support and fellowship between men and women, instead of winning and competing.164 Again, Belinda Wheaton refers to the windsurfing culture, but due to the ‘love triangle’ quality of these sports, the same principle can be applied to snowboarding too.

According to Saviolo and Marazza: “communication of a lifestyle brand should comprise of a dynamic combination of characters, events and environments, tied together by situations that have the power to affect the target of the communication as well as fuel the authenticity of the brand.”165 As a matter of fact, in the Burton New York store, the most characteristic aspect that expresses the desired snowboarding lifestyle is the bar set-up downstairs, which quite appropriately is called Downstairs At Burton or in short DAB. This après-ski-esque wooden bar is used as a backdrop for Burton events such as for new product launches or Burton snowboarder meet-ups, for instance. A way to engage with the consumers and fuel the mythology of the brand.166 The same Burton lifestyle codes decorate the space: oriental rugs, wooden and metal installations to display the products as well as a mounted TV displaying snowboarding. Interestingly, there is a simulated camping area under the stairs consisting of a tent, assortment of free riding and camping gear and mock snow. This stimulating creation emphasises the lifestyle status of the brand and “the growing ethos of neoliberalism within

163 Saviolo et. al., 121. 164 Belinda Wheaton, ”New lads: Competing masculinities in the windsurfing culture”, in Understanding Lifestyle Sports: Consumption, Identity and Difference, ed. Belinda Wheaton (New York: Routledge, 2004), 149. 165 Saviolo et. al., 72-73. 166 Ibid., 121.

48 North American, Australasian and many European societies. It is argued that action-sports industries promote values such as individualism, self-responsibility and a DIY ethos – values that are at the core of the economy, so furthering neoliberalism as a cultural and economic movement.”167

Burton Store, Helsinki

Burton Store Helsinki was founded in 2012 as a franchising business by the local importer of Burton Snowboards products. The Burton store in Helsinki is the only Burton flagship store in northern Europe, the next stores are in Switzerland and Austria. The reason for the northern location is quite simply in the fact that the brand sells well in Finland. Being the only store in the radius of thousands of kilometres has its perks. The store does not function on a drop-in basis, on the contrary, the customers visit the store purely for the sake of the brand and even travel there from outside the capital. Another aspect of being the only store is in customer purchase behaviour; when making the effort of actually coming to the store, their purpose is to buy the products. In addition, the store’s location in Helsinki is not in the city centre but in the old industrial area of Kallio (eng. hill); a budding neighbourhood that is becoming increasingly popular among the trendy seeking and hip youngsters. Wigley et. al. points out the importance of thinking through and emphasising “[...] the significance of the geographic location of the store and the corresponding impact of that location’s urban landscape, and social and cultural heritage.”168 Indeed, it wasn’t just because of the high rent costs in the city centre, the Burton Store Helsinki was opened in Kallio, in fact the primary reason was in the landscape the Kallio district could offer. Mentioned by the store manager of the Burton Store Helsinki, Burton was the first brand in the area with commercial activity in mind, showing the potential of the area for other entrepreneurs too. Again, a brave and pioneering move the brand is known for.

167 Wheaton, Introducing the consumption and representation of lifestyle sports, 7. 168 Wigley et. al., 259.

49

Picture 18. Picture 19.

The Burton Store Helsinki is situated in a corner of two streets, on the bottom of a small hill. For this reason, on the one side, the store is slightly lower than the outside ground level. Having the store entry a bit higher, the whole space directly opens up when walking inside. (Picture 18.) When entering the store, women’s lines comes first, whereas the products designed for men and children are in the far back of the store. Highlighting the women’s line in the store layout might encourage female participation, as Heywood argues: “sport’s function as a site where traditional gender formations are continually challenged, a space where girls and women are not only supported in demonstrating achievement, competence, and strength but are required to do so given the nature of the activity”169 On the other side, there are the full bag range and also all the snowboarding gear. The interior has been designed expressing the “selection of materials that are appropriate to the brand”170, namely metal and mixture of wooden materials in different tones. The rail-like clothing rags highlight the snowboarding theme, likewise do the wooden shelves for each snowboarding boot model at the far end of the store. All white walls with a few exposed brick wall sections intensify the simple and straightforward lifestyle snowboarding is synonymous for. Also, the euro-pallet stands point out the brand’s unpretentious and durable character. The store has two separate lounge areas,

169 Heywood, Third-Wave Feminism, the Global Economy, and Women’s Surfing: Sport as Stealth Feminism in Girls’ Surf, 71. 170 Wigley et. al., 259.

50 where if wanted customers could sit down and relax or for instance browse Burton catalogues. Of the two lounge areas, the one with two leather armchairs, seems a more appropriate for lounging. Not only is the area shaped by an oriental rug, giving it more space but also since there is a wooden table, making it functional. (Picture 19.) The other lounge area has a more staged feel to it. First of all, the simplistic sofa looks a bit cramped between clothing rags but also since on top of it is a small oriental rug as well as a Burton bag taking space from sitting. However, creating this sort of environment that is “furnished with ‘lifestyle settings’”171, is meaningful in illustrating a cohesive style of living.

Conclusion

At this point, is it clear that the stores are important for branding, since in these spaces the consumers’ can physically feel the brand and its lifestyle codes. In the same way as Wigley et. al. has identified in their research, Burton too has managed to build a distinctive brand theme in their marketing communications that are recognisable even without displaying their distinctive products and trademarks.172 As Wigley et. al. pointed out “tangible components can be created, evolved, and manipulated to reflect whatever image is desired”173, like for Burton the desire is to sell snowboarding lifestyle. For instance, the company’s stores are set up in locations where original and cool vibes resonate in the same way as the brand itself has echoed since its founding days in the 1970s. By living the lifestyle and thus setting a genuine example for the customers to look up to has strengthened the strategy greatly.

When visiting and analysing four Burton Snowboards’ stores, consistent characteristics, that support the branding, could be identified. For a snowboarding oriented brand such as Burton is, the outdoor orientation of the materials used in the store designs does not come as a surprise. Indeed, the interiors of the stores express the middle-America look, consisting of wooden and rugged details. In addition, combining the metal elements, that signify the obstacles for manoeuvres performed on snowboard emphasise the desired lifestyle. One of the most visible characteristics is the oriental rug, that was found in every Burton store. I argue that the

171 Lury, 157. 172 Wigley et. al., 253. 173 Ibid., 249.

51 symbolism the rugs depict are not necessarily the reason for the rugs being in the stores. Rather, it is the warm colouring as well as the mental image of a remote, cosy cabin with a fireplace that these rugs create. As Saviolo and Marazza explain: “communication for lifestyle brands is primarily the art of storytelling and inspiration.”174 All of this together reflect the quality and the laid-back atmosphere of the brand and the lifestyle. Given these points, the emphasis is on the experience the consumers get when visiting the stores, after which the purchases, preferably, will follow.

However, an iconic brand like Burton, still needs to constantly evolve and rethink their branding approaches, especially if it wants to stay ahead of the game. As a matter of fact, there are differences in the stores, partly because of variations in the actual store spaces but more importantly in displaying gender equity. An interesting discovery is that in Burton Store Helsinki women’s products came first, while in the USA it is the complete opposite. In all the visited three stores the men’s merchandise is in the front, while the women’s line is either in the back of the store and/or downstairs. The fact that the women’s lines are not showcased but are practically hidden, reinforces the attitude that snowboarding lifestyle is not only dominated by but also for men. It seems the importer-led stores in Europe has realised this; as mentioned by the store manager at Burton Store Helsinki, the collection for females has always been smaller but it sells the best.

Scholar Krista Comer has established a ‘strategy for managing sexism in athletics’ or in short ‘blended GenX/Y’.175 As Heywood cites Comer: There is “[…] a shift within the attitudes of generation X (born 1960 to 1980) to generation Y (born 1980 to 2000) female athletes, especially in terms of their methods for negotiating gender.”176 Even though they refer to surfing, the concept can equally be applied to snowboarding. When generation X adopts a more classic approach to fitting into the snowboarding community, by having a masculine attitude and behaviour as well as physique and style, in contrast to generation Y whose take on is more blended, by embracing the feminine aspects while at the same time aiming to the so-called male

174 Saviolo et. al., 72. 175 Heywood, Third-Wave Feminism, the Global Economy, and Women’s Surfing: Sport as Stealth Feminism in Girls’ Surf, 74. 176 Ibid, 71.

52 standard.177 Also, there seems to be a change in the attitude towards sexual images of female snowboarders in the media. Even so that many of the young female snowboarders’ praise such images as honouring female sexuality.178

To sum it up, Burton stores have a coherent visual theme where the brand’s lifestyle codes can be discovered. When consumers enter the flagships they instantly sense the world of Burton Snowboards. Then again, there is a noticeable difference between the American stores and the Finnish one, mainly in the merchandise layout. I argue that this is due to the fact that European identity has traditionally been based on gender equity. This might have led to a more gender equally thought-out layout of the store. All in all, Burton Snowboards’ branding follows an acronym SUCCES, where “the story must be Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and full of anecdotes (Stories)” by becoming a memorable and convincing concept.179

177 Ibid., 71. 178 Thorpe, Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice, 103. 179 Saviolo et. al., 73.

53 Conclusion

The aim of the conclusion chapter is to disclose the general themes and patterns that were found in the complete research. The aim of this thesis was to find how (snowboarding) lifestyle and gender equity are communicated in Burton Snowboards’ branding on their Instagram accounts and in their retail stores, and if there are distinctions between the two accounts and also between the four stores. The findings will be summarized here into the conclusion. Also, the thesis’ hypothesis that Burton Snowboards can achieve gender equity, by building and developing a lifestyle brand where actions and expressions are actively oriented towards reducing gender stratification, will be uncovered here.

As established in the analytical chapters, Burton Snowboards and its branding can be understood through brand cornerstones, which are the background, the manifesto and the expression. The manifesto is further expanded to lifestyle codes, which is a fundamental part next to the expression, in order to answer the research questions of this thesis. As are the visual theme and design of points of sale, which are part of the tangible elements. Ultimately, it is ‘The Stance’, on which Burton’s operations and branding strategy are set. The brand’s social media presence is a valuable part of spreading this message and also engaging with the consumers. Generating content that emphasis the company’s community-minded character and for instance their internal marketing efforts, are aspects of their branding actions. As Saviolo and Marazza explain: “the brand must have its own vision of the future and set out to achieve a positive impact on the lives of its customers.”180 Also, the research findings show that setting the social situations to outdoor environments not only on the Instagram accounts but also in the retail stores stresses the essence of the lifestyle. Obviously, the main activity that is snowboarding takes place on mountains, but the gravity of the nature depicted images and the design of the stores highlights the essence. Another key point in highlighting the visual theme of nature is displaying the value of sustainability. Likewise, are the close unities between the people depicted on the Instagram pictures as well as the staged living room-like atmosphere of the retail spaces. Creating an illusion of family and home is the basis of Burton Snowboards’ branding. Furthermore, in social media the brand’s answer to gender equity is operating in a

180 Ibid., 12.

54 gender-neutral way. This can be seen in the poses and body positions, facial expressions and emotional and camera displays which are generally speaking similar for both of the sexes. Even though, the brand’s actions are not rigorously gender-neutral, as is especially visible in the retail stores, where the women’s sections are never in the front, excluding the Helsinki store, in agreement with Goffman: “advertisers do not create the ritualized expression they employ.”181 As a matter of fact, if anything they conventionalise the already set conventions.

As made clear in the analysis, the “consumption as an active practice through which people construct meanings and create a sense of identity, […] is no longer necessarily seen as a feminine activity.”182 Indeed, the understanding of this has diversified the branding habits. According to Chafetz, ‘the model of stability’ is a tool towards gender equity. The model introduces four key targets to reduce the level of gender stratification; the gender division of labor, superior male resource power, gender social definitions and gender differentiation. These terms are already defined earlier in the thesis, so the purpose here is to apply the model to Burton Snowboards in order to show how the brand can achieve gender equity. Starting from the coercive bases, that are the division of labor and the resource power. Female disadvantage is produced, because males have superior resource power and thus shape the division of labour to their own advantage.183 As Chafetz continue: “The gender division of labor is also the single most important factor in producing gender differentiation.”184 Indeed, for moving towards gender equity, both sexes “must perform work that is equally rewarded and provides equal opportunity for future rewards.”185 Although it is vital that both sexes devote the same time, attention and energy to perform the domestic work, the crucial focus must be on the work outside home. In view of Burton, not only is the CEO a woman, but so are half of the senior team and 40% of the leadership positions. 186 Moving on to the voluntaristic bases which broadens to social definitions and the maintenance of gender equality. The issue with the social

181 Goffman, Gender Advertisements: Communications and culture, 84. 182 Hollows, 129. 183 Chafetz, 105. 184 Ibid., 80. 185 Ibid., 106. 186 Burton Snowboards, “Burton CEO Donna Carpenter on the role of power and privilege in her career,” The Burton Blog, accessed May 21, 2018, https://www.burton.com/blogs/burtongirls/burton-ceo-donna-carpenter-role-power-and- privilege-her-career/.

55 definitions, is that they “tend to devalue femaleness and what women do, and value male attributes and work.”187 Turning to Hollows: “The characteristics associated with ‘maleness’ in media images are those which have been defined implicitly as the goal for women in media images”188 This means, the process of gender equity would either not function at all or the development would be very slow. I still argue that the process can be speeded up by replacing ‘negative’ images from the media with ‘positive’ images of working women, as the images should be a reflection or representation of society.189 As established, Burton’s gender-neutral way of practicing branding is a positive course of action towards the right way. However, as established, the primary way for women and men to be equal, is for women to get in direct control of their power resources.190 This means the women must get incumbency in elite positions and thus get a sense of ownership.

Many companies use the term lifestyle in their marketing because it does not rule out anything, and it lets the company to sell their products all year round. As in the case of Burton Snowboards, if sticking to selling one product, for instance snowboards, the market rapidly becomes very small. The same principle can be applied to market segments too; if only targeting for example men, the potential of finding buying consumers diminishes. As such, there is nothing wrong with only selling a product or target to just one sex. As a matter of fact, it is very sustainable. However, to be able to establish but more importantly maintain and grow charities; as in Burton’s case the Chill Foundation or for instance, raise awareness towards climate change; the greater power and thus followers the brand has, the more good in can make, especially in a short amount of time. Also, in the point of view of the consumer; as the modern practise of consumption is build, to a greater extent, on lifestyle. As the consumers identify themselves according to their specific styles of life, a brand that is able to sell this as a whole is in fruitful position. Also, it must be remembered that globalisation has let the subculture styles to become more synthesised. “Thus while each lifestyle sport has its own specificity; its own history, (politics of) identities and development patterns, there are commonalities in their ethos, ideologies as well as the consumer industries that produce the commodities that underpin

187 Chafets, 80. 188 Hollows, 22. 189 Ibid., 21-22. 190 Chafetz, 220.

56 their cultures.”191 Previously surfers, skaters and snowboarders had their own distinctive looks, originating from each of the sports geographical roots. However, there is another side of why the branding of lifestyle has momentum these days, especially within fashion brands. Surprisingly, it is about the survival in the competitive market where consuming habits have changed from the desire of commodities to the craving of experiences.192 Indeed, it is the same phenomenon Burton is part too. In the future, this development will certainly affect many brand’s narratives and make or break their rebranding efforts. However, taking into account the stability Burton has showed in its 40-years-of-age, there is no doubt the lifestyle brand won’t make it. After all, it is durable goods.

All things considered, this thesis accomplished to show that gender equity can be reached, by building and developing a lifestyle brand which actions and expressions are actively oriented towards reducing gender stratification. Analysing Burton Snowboards as a case study served as an adequate demonstration for this, simultaneously offering an epitome for the phenomenon and also contributing to the field of fashion studies. There is still a long way to fully achieve gender equality, however, albeit slowly, things are looking up.

191 Wheaton, Introduction: Mapping the lifestyle sport-scape, 11. 192 Jani Niipola, ”Suomalainen muotibrändi haastaa mallistoajattelun: kolme uutuustuotetta ulos joka viikko,” Kauppalehti, August 29, 2016, accessed May 21, 2018, https://www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/suomalainen-muotibrandi-haastaa-mallistoajattelun-- kolme-uutuustuotetta-ulos-joka-viikko/mmqWzYL4.

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61 List of pictures

Cover picture: L.A.M.B x BURTON display. Burton Store Helsinki. Photo Laura Muukka.

Picture 1: Detail of the Burton logo. Burton Store Helsinki. Photo Laura Muukka.

Picture 2: Detail of the Burton mountain logo. Burton Flagship, Burlington, Vermont, USA. Photo Laura Muukka.

Picture 3: The Kelly Clark Instagram. Photo of legends. Screen capture Laura Muukka.

Picture 4: Chill Foundation Instagram. Photo of Chill Ride Day. Screen capture Laura Muukka.

Picture 5: Burton Snowboards Instagram. Photo of Mikkel Bang. Screen capture Laura Muukka.

Picture 6: Burton Snowboards Instagram. Photo of Fall collection. Screen capture Laura Muukka.

Picture 7: Burton Snowboards Instagram. Photo of snowboard pants. Screen capture Laura Muukka.

Picture 8: Burton Girls Instagram. Photo of kicking it. Screen capture Laura Muukka.

Picture 9: Burton Girls Instagram. Photo of boat trip. Screen capture Laura Muukka.

Picture 10: Burton Girls Instagram. Photo of friends. Screen capture Laura Muukka.

Picture 11: Burton Girls Instagram. Photo of friends closer. Screen capture Laura Muukka.

Picture 12: View of the Burton HQ flagship store. Burton Headquarters Flagship, Burlington, Vermont, USA. Photo Laura Muukka.

Picture 13: Detail of the Burton HQ flagship store sitting area. Burton Headquarters Flagship, Burlington, Vermont, USA. Photo Laura Muukka.

Picture 14: Detail of the Burton flagship store mural. Burton Flagship, Burlington, Vermont, USA. Photo Laura Muukka.

Picture 15: View of the Burton flagship store. Burton Flagship, Burlington, Vermont, USA. Photo Laura Muukka.

Picture 16: View of the Burton flagship store New York. Burton Flagship, New York, USA. Photo Laura Muukka.

62 Picture 17: Detail of the Burton flagship store New York mural. Burton Flagship, New York, USA. Photo Laura Muukka.

Picture 18: View of the Burton store Helsinki. Burton Store Helsinki, Finland. Photo Laura Muukka.

Picture 19: Detail of the Burton store Helsinki sitting area. Burton Store Helsinki, Finland. Photo Laura Muukka.

Stockholms universitet/Stockholm University SE-106 91 Stockholm Telefon/Phone: 08 – 16 20 00 www.su.se

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