 Poster: A snowHead
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I've spent the last few months setting up a little online only casual-wear brand for skiers called Sanglier. Just launched the website and would really appreciate some constructive criticism from the Snowheads collective on the site, our first batch of designs, anything you like really. Site is www.sanglier-online.com and is still a work in progress but fundamentally what we'll run with for now. Cheers 
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 16-12-14 16:55; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nick D, Well, I wish you well with it, but if those 19 clothing items are your range at £24 + each I think you might have a fight to enter what appears to me to be a very competitive market. I take on board that they are ethically sourced, organic etc. and appreciate that doesn't come cheap. However, with a number of the designs you are relying on the fact that people want to walk around advertising a previously unheard of brand rather than the more established main stream high end brand who would also sell T's and hoodies at those sorts of prices. That might be a tough one to crack.
I found the website worked well and what I clicked through all functioned. I found myself wanting a larger range of products, but obviously that might come in the future. Promotion I think will be your biggest problem to get to the point where the public understand what Sanglier clothing stands for and therefore that by wearing of it the user also stands for the same. It's all about branding - everyone knows that Schoffel is high-end high quality gear. You see someone wearing it and you know you are either looking at a certain class of user or someone with all the gear and no idea or more money than sense depending on your perspective , but in short it is a recognisable brand that people make certain assumptions about and that is why it sells. You need to arrive at a point where people have an 'expectation of Sanglier' before you reach that point I think you might be in a chicken and egg scenario. As for the description of Sanglier as a 'reclusive animal' I did smile when I discovered that it was a wild pig!
Will that do for constructive? I think it's a brave move and I do hope it works out for you.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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What does "ethically sourced" actually mean?
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feef, probably about a fiver a shirt? 
Nick D, I like the site, I like the designs too - the "holy trinity" one has a really nice vintage motorcycle quality about it. The only thing I didn't particularly go much on was the captions on the 'rotating' photos on the home page, they just felt a bit 'bloggy' or amateur.
Good luck with the company, you might just be the next 'Ben and Jerry'.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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rogg, the holy trinity one was also the one I particularly spotted - must be a good design/idea.
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A little boaring?
Ha couldn't resist. Like the designs, would echo concern on pricing.
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Another question.. and one where i see a lot of similar companies fall down. The cotton is organic, but what about the inks used in printing or the thread used in stitching the panels together?
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They look good, website works well, but I can't 'feel' the quality from a website, so I would be concerned that £24 was a little pricy without a guarantee that the tees aren't going to go shapeless after a couple of washes or fade.
You need someone to 'test' them out for you, and wear them around the resorts this winter.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Nick D, good luck with it.
I think the Fat Face and White Stuff guys started in a very similar way (funnily enough, both companies started by 2 friends in the alps) and, in the case of Fat Face, I think they eventually sold out and walked away with an obscene amount of money (£40m+ I heard)
Hells Bells, I agree, £24 (presumably + postage?) feels a bit hot. Below £20 and it's an impulse, over £20 and it becomes a decision.
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The site looks ok and the mobile site works nicely which is refreshing.
Would have to agree with rogg about the front page looking a little blogish, also having the product description displayed above the product picture (on mobile site) seemed a little strange.
Quite liked your T's designs, think the "POW" and small logo ones are my favourite. A few of the designs look like they're a bit too big for the size of the shirts to me.
Like a few other people have ave said more designs would be a big plus along with more colour options for the ones you have.
Personally I'd really like to see some thin cotton long sleeved T's, most of the ones you see are either heavy weight more like a sweatshirt or made from some kind of synthetic mesh ment as a technical mid layer.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I would have clicked to buy if:
1. There had been more colour options (black and/or red, not pastelly shades)
2. The motifs were not quiet so big
3. The price was sub £20
so, a bit more choice would be good
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Nick D, You'll probably be quite pleased that I did NOT like the Holy Trinity design. As rogg, said it has a vintage motorcycle feel to it. Not my scene at all! Anyway, at least that means you are appealing to a variety of different audiences.
Constructive comments:
I like your Sanglier brand.
The Go Ski sweatshirts look as if they are short sleeved. Is that correct? (Just realised they are, for some reason, the same photo as the t-shirts
The Go Ski photos are crap. Out of focus, poorly lit etc.
£24 is, potentially, a fair price for a well designed quality T-shirt, so I have no problem with that. However, the photos, and some of the designs, suggest that the product is possibly not up to that price.
Out of curiosity, I compared your prices/website/photos/designs with those of some friends/acquaintances of mine. Their products are aimed more at kids as they have a party business too, but they charge £15 for a tee-shirt and £25 for a sweatshirt. their quality and design are first class and they have already built something of a niche brand. Have a look .... http://www.sharkyandgeorge.com/
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| Quote: |
Personally I'd really like to see some thin cotton long sleeved T's
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good point. I struggled to find one in Chichester a couple of weeks ago - ended up paying around £30 for an "organic cotton" from Seasalt Clothing. The colours are nice (narrow stripes, I'm too old for logi  ) and it isn't round necked. I much prefer a V or scoop neck - I look awful in round necks and too many collections have no choice.
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You know it makes sense.
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Here is some constructive criticism:
- I like your "[...'s] moment" pictures, but they are too big - so the stuff you actually sell sits "below the fold" of your web page - not a great idea and will reduce sales. So make the pics just a little smaller.
- Also, I would put some "buy now" buttons on the catalogue view (instead of having to click through to the item before being able to buy) - your aim is to get to "sold" with as few clicks as possible.
- I would suggest you think about whether you want to call the action button "Add to cart" or "Buy now" - the latter is a stronger call to action.
- your shopping cart is too hidden away, and - though cute - the gondola is not an obvious "shopping cart". I would keep the icon but add "Cart" or "Shopping cart" and list "1 item" below or to the side of the words"Cart" or "Shopping cart"
- you should add some "terms and conditions"
- you should have a specific section / link that states your returns/refund policy - this helps build trust in your site (the "About us" section a good start, but this is also needed)
- you should add information about shipping/delivery times and costs (e.g. even if delivery cost is included, people want to know what is standard delivery times, can they pay to get it faster, etc)
- nitpicky, but do a spell and grammar check of EVERYTHING. e.g. in your "Mainfesto":
* "Sangliers simple aim" should be "Sanglier's simple aim";
* same with "Heres to a great winter season!" -> "Here's to a great winter season!"
Hope this is helpful, and good luck with your venture.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Like it, hope the brand expands as I'd happily buy something but not quite the designs you have, but not far off.
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Poster: A snowHead
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You could have picked any brand name in the world and you picked one where the .com domain name was already taken by "Sanglier a leading Private label filler of adhesives, solvents, paints and lubricants in to aerosols, bottles and cans."
I get that its the boar and thats the logo but it seems a bit foolish to go down this route when then only thing you really have to entice sales is the brand, the brand that will be on most of the clobber, but a brand that isn't destinctively yours with everything from the domain name up.
Sorry its not helpful this far down the road but it does seem a little daft!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I forgot to mention that I didn't feel the products were designed 'enough'. I'm sure there's a more technical word for that, but what I meant is that it looks like the T-shirts are simply a plain T-shirt with a design printed straight on top. I'm not plugging Sharky&George who I mentioned earlier, but if you look at their products you can see that the design is repeated on one of the sleeves and their trademark bite is taken out of the hem of all their products.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I like the designs. Compared to, say, Planks, you have more going on than just the logo/branding. The 'Earn your Turns pictoral' is pretty cool.
I think the pricing is about right, presuming the quality stand up. Under £20 makes me think iron on transfers and crappy 'Fruit of the Loom' bulk-bought t-shirts.
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Everyone thanks so much that's some excellent feedback, really appreciate you looking at the site. I'm out and about at the moment, about to make the drive back from Stoke to Suffolk but will answer properly later. Maybe an introductory SHs discount code would be of interest? 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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clarky999, I agree. I think the pricing is right, you want to promote your range as 'higher end', which always appeals to the younger market. Maybe some with more discreet logos would appeal to the older punters. I would definitely buy one for my son. Good luck. Oh BTW....love the name!
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I'd agree with most of the above. I might be tempted to buy something but not sure what it is that will tempt me...
Sorry to be a pedant but I spotted the following typo "Navy bllue hoody with a light blue print."
Good luck with it. I admire your enterprise!
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I like the main Snaglier (see what I did there - sossages delicious) brand/logo but looking at the portfolio of products it looks a bit like a shotgun appraoch to the name in different logos/typefaces rather than any consistency - baseball style/superdry style/cartoony. I've no idea whether this is deliberate to see what the public take to but it doesn't help in any brand identity. I'd have thought a few throwaways early season in seasonnaire bars would be best promotion - 10 tees times 50 bars across the alps and you've got 500 walking billboards for the season.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I'm a bit dubious about "POW" in capitals, makes it look like an acronym, but maybe that's just me. The front page of the web site seems to be all about the ''moment" photos, with a tiny little "buy stuff" top right - on my ipad I can't even see the pics of the clothes unless I scroll down past the huge photo, so I agree with others - the photos are too big.
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Nick D, good luck with this! I like them and I was going to buy one (honest). But how does the shipping work? It's referenced on the checkout page but doesn't get added as part of the Paypal process - am I missing something?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Also particularly like that you haven't gone parkrat/middle class gangster like most of your competitors.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I think I would echo the comment about the size of the pictures. I'm viewing a pretty huge desktop monitor here and I still have to scroll down to find the first item that is available to buy. Contrast that with someone like O'neil and every link on their first home page talks about buying something http://shop.oneill.com/UK/
I know when I opened Sanglier for the first time on my portable my first thought was 'well where are the products' I eventually spotted the 'buy stuff' link at the top of the page, but it still still didn't seem as instinctive as a big splash at eye level on the screen screaming 'Click me to buy!!' Or 'Be the first to own the new range' 'CLICK ME!!', also the word 'stuff' whilst in line with the irreverance of the products wasn't the usual sort of word I was looking for when search for the online shop link. 'Buy here' or 'Buy Now' would have worked better for me. At no point on the portable did it occur to me to scroll down the page to see what else what there, but a smaller height rolling banner of pics at the top would enable you to put the sales links on that same half of the page, or you could even put the scrolling pictures underneath the links and a little less high.
I agree with the comments above, yes, as I said it all seemed to work, but in terms of website design I do think you have grab folks in the first 8-10 seconds they look at your 'landing' page off of a web search and you might not be doing this as well as you could. Also I agree with the site domain name - at the moment you are not on the first page of Google if you search for Sanglier, so maybe a bit of SEO needed?
How about offering Dadmin a couple of T's for the Winter Competition which would also get you a bit more exposure?
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| Megamum wrote: |
How about offering Dadmin a couple of T's for the Winter Competition which would also get you a bit more exposure? |
Have you not noticed, there is no draw this year? It's a hell of a lot of work, time and expense for something that earns nothing: I was happy to justify it as generating goodwill but it got such a slagging off last year from people who hadn't won anything that I figured it wasn't worth the effort any more.
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You know it makes sense.
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admin, Boo hiss!!!! Grinch who stole Xmas etc etc
Actually I'm relieved - saves me the stress of ensuring I can access pms in the critical window for prizes which I can guarantee I haven't won. I thought the whinging about non-prolific posters winning big prizes was just sour grapes too.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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admin, Oh, what a shame. No, I hadn't yet noticed it's absence, I assumed that you were saving it until December. I used to think it was a great thing to organise, but I have to agree it was less than appreciated by some idiots last year so I can understand your perspective. People have a funny way of showing their gratitude. FWIW We all used to appreciate the fun here at Megamum towers.
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Poster: A snowHead
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like your name font and logo.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| fatbob wrote: |
admin, Boo hiss!!!! Grinch who stole Xmas etc etc
Actually I'm relieved - saves me the stress of ensuring I can access pms in the critical window for prizes which I can guarantee I haven't won. I thought the whinging about non-prolific posters winning big prizes was just sour grapes too. |
I think non-prolific posters winning prizes was the best bit of it... it might encourage them to post more.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Some people make the mistake of thinking that prolific posters are the only prolific users of snowHeads.
U don't need to post massively to feel involved, to enthuse about snowHeads to friends, to come on a bash, to wear a t-shirt, to sticker up your skis/kids/dog/goldfish or to know the intricate details of the ongoing travails Mr. Goldsmith's and the SKGB...
And as you say, new prolific posters have to come from somewhere.
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The only issue I have that no-one knows what Sanglier is, and it's very prominent on the T-shirts. I'd see it and think it was a place name somewhere (maybe it is!?).
I quite like the T-shirt designs - although the ski/eat/drink one should just be Eat, Sleep, Ski, Repeat - a la Fat Boy Slim!!
Get yourself on Amazon, that's the first place I'd look for a skiing T-shirt.
Good luck with it.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| HoneyBunny wrote: |
| The only issue I have that no-one knows what Sanglier is, and it's very prominent on the T-shirts. . |
As with any 'brand', what is the brand if it's not the brand itself?
What's a 'Sony', what's a 'Coke' except itself. Building a brand is a difficult, long and slow road (unless you get lucky and hit a niche at the right time with the right exposure).
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I agree with HoneyBunny, it does sound like a Place name though and it was my first thought as well - I went 'Sanglier? where is that?'. Of course it could also be easily confused with a drink - Sangria. According the internet (page 1 of a Google search) 'Sanglier' could also be a brand of wine, a breeder of Labradors, a particular hotel or lodge or an adhesive. This may not represent the best sort of association, but if the brand is now invested in printed merchandise, this must have already been thought through and deemed to not be a problem.
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The immediate associations I made were Moncler and Sangalard Sports. I guess the former isn't a bad association to have if you're trying to establish a premium brand but I'd be careful of it sounding like the Lidl version. The latter might get you a bit of grief in Chamonix. Probably not a problem until you're into the same type of goods.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Nick D, Where in Suffolk?
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FAQ
mode for a week) Very nice idea . . . there's a 'but' comming.
clearer confirmation of shipping rates etc.) and we are working hard on other areas of improvement. We'd be happy to share a discount code as a thank you if 