We reach everybody from young skateboarders to middle class parents with disposable incomes and a thirst for an adventure. What’s interesting is that extreme and adrenaline sports have huge appeal across a wide range of age and socio-economical groups. We do have a presence in a diverse range of markets so from the outside looking in it may not look like there’s a strategy behind it, but I can assure you there is!Įxtreme has the look and feel of a youthful brand for adrenaline junkies – is that your key customer group? We look whether there’s a gap in a market somewhere and assess if there is an opportunity to create something. How do you identify the new sectors you want to expand into? Whether it’s Natalie working on licensing and commercial side of things, whether it’s Ryan, who’s on the marketing side of things or Pippa, who is running all the events part of the business.Įvents, our sports theme park concept, branded fashion and apparel, drinks, hotels, video gaming, electronics – so quite a few! We have a small, very tight knit team and that’s working very well. You don’t need this huge team of people to do what we’re doing. We are, in terms of the areas that we’re working in with partners, but in terms of the core team, we’re not. That’s why – from the outside looking in – we look a very big company. So we partner with companies in different areas and sectors to create Extreme-branded products, events and services. What we do is manage the brand and develop it into multiple areas using a partnership model. How would you describe Extreme as a company in its current form? Since those early days the company’s grown into a number of sectors. The reason we weren’t in the UK earlier was that Sky was being very difficult about it all. It was quite funny, trying to convince my friends that I was the boss of a cable TV channel. We first launched the channel in the Netherlands in 1998 and had Extreme TV up and running in 18 countries before we began broadcasting in the UK. It took around a year to secure the money and the channel started broadcasting in 1998. It did rather well and we started to plan the launch of a TV channel. TV distribution was our core business for the first three years. We started by managing athletes and having a TV distribution business – and built it from there. When did you set up Extreme and how did it grow in its early years?Įxtreme will celebrate its 20th year this year. It was all about wanting to make my passion my job. Instead, I worked and travelled until the age of 24, when I finally thought “right, I’m going to set up a company and try and build something I really love”. I had no A levels and never went to university, which was a source of frustration for my parents. From an early age I was into surfing, snowboarding and skiing. My career and life in general has been shaped by my passion for sport – and especially the extreme side of sport. It already has a strong presence in the drinks, fashion, men’s grooming, electronics, apps and gaming sectors.Ĭould you describe the journey that lead you to founding Extreme Its most recent venture will see it enter the hospitality sector, with three Extreme Sports-themed hotels planned in Russia, Switzerland and Cape Verde. The company’s business model is to work in partnership with companies across a wide range of markets, licensing its brand and delivering distinctive products and experiences. Through its Extreme TV Channel – which broadcasts in more than 60 countries – it has had a major role in overseeing the growth of BMX, skateboarding and wakeboarding from niche sports to mainstream activities. Marketing itself as “unapologetic, irreverent and anti-establishment”, the company has been at the centre of the popularisation of the adrenaline and adventure sports. Starting out as a company sponsoring athletes, the group’s founder, Al Gosling, has developed the Extreme identity into one of the most recognised brands in the sector and grown its turnover to US$50m a year. Since its launch two decades ago, The Extreme Sports Company has been a pioneer in the alternative sport sector.
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