What mechanisms are in place to gather employees ideas for new products or improving existing products?
Innovation is who we are, it’s what we are all about. Every company that wants to be around for the long term has to innovate. But it’s even more important for us at Johnson Outdoors because we don’t compete on price: we compete on price/value. So we are constantly focused on filling the new product pipeline. And it must be meaningful innovation where the difference is relevant and the value is clear to consumers. Almost everyone here is an avid user of our products, so it is relatively easy for us to stay on top of what the outdoor enthusiasts want. But not everyone is as experienced and passionate about the outdoors as we are. Most people want to try a lot of outdoor experiences, and aren’t looking to become expert at any of them. They are recreational users, and they are the focus of growth and the future for our industry. So our challenge, our mission, is to create products that invite recreational users to enjoy the outdoors experience, and we use sophisticated market research too
