5 Questions with Jon Muir, GM of Wilson Racquet Sports

Q. You're calling from Hong Kong, after spending a few days at the Australian Open, where Wilson is the official ball and it appears that Roger Federer will swoop up another title. What's your take on tennis in the region?

Exposure for tennis is growing in the region with the Australian Open TV coverage and local countries looking to showcase more professional events. The governing bodies in Korea, Japan, and China are working to build a stronger infrastructure for growing the sport and I think they are looking at the strong impact the USTA and TIA have had in the U.S. as to how you can build long-term for the health of the sport.

In the mid-1990s, the first cohesive industry effort to increase tennis participation was launched as "Play Tennis America." The press conference was jammed with reps from all brands and organizations in an impressive, if uneasy, presentation. While the program has undergone name changes, the coalition exists now as the TIA. How's it working?

That began years ago and it continues today. I feel very good about the atmosphere. Even though we compete on some level in our business, we come together to support the efforts of the TIA and the USTA to develop more players. Everyone knows that if we can do our best to support the TIA and USTA, we'll all be better off.

Everyone shares the same goals. I feel very good talking with Dave Haggerty, Doug Fonte and Kurt Kamperman, and the other board members. I think everyone feels we need to think about the next generation--not just developing players, but also the infratructure of the industry.

Tennis specialty retailers and tennis professionals are the ambassadors of the sport. They're the ones who work locally in the community level to grow the sport and we need to continue to think about how best to support their efforts as well to grow our sport.

What's the outlook at Wilson for 2008?
Our marketshare--as of November '07 because the final numbers aren't in yet--hasn't been this high in over six or seven years.
Talking about the U.S. only, [K]Factor has definitely had a very positive effect. We're very proud of nCode (which preceded [K]Factor) because it's the technology that led the industry the past three years. But we also were ready to launch something new that is focused on greater control for all player levels. We had the largest launch of a tennis product in Las Vegas (at the 2007 Tennis Channel Open). We had 300 worldwide customers--600 people--there. We won seven of the eight Grand Slam singles titles in '07.

Any breakout categories?

We've also really grown as a string brand and string continues to be a focus for us going forward. We're very confident in our position and our future.

Jon, to what do you owe Wilson's success?
What's unique about Wilson is the strong history of people who have built this brand. Most of us have been at Wilson for the long-term; Wilson was my first career opportunity. Our passion for the game and the brand is there--we're all tennis people. What I really value is that our people have a passion for the sport and the brand. That's something I'd like to believe has fueled our achievements in the past and will for many years to come.
It's the same for our other racquet sports: squash, badminton, racquetball, and paddle (or platform) tennis. We're No. 1 in squash and No. 2 in badminton. We have a business/marketing director for each sport because we want to make sure our brand and people are authentic--that they live and breathe that sport specifically.
It always comes down to product. If you have great product and continue to innovate, people will continue to buy the product (not just for the brand.) I think the product fuels the brand as much as the brand drives interest in the product.

From TennisWire

February 17, 2008

5 Questions with Jon Muir, GM of Wilson Racquet Sports