My friend has a pair of Elan's, they're bombproof on rails, and that's pretty much all he likes about them.
Elan need a complete re-vamp of their twin-tip line. When people buy new twins now, Elans are pretty much never considered. Unless your a gaper family.
The company's freeski-division's image. You guys need a new image. Look at companies like K2, Salomon, etc. Their freestyle skis are marketed completely seperately and differently from their carving skis. There's Salomon Freeski. There's the K2 Factory Team. Atomic Freeskiing.
Start by picking up some newer kids. Honestly, the only person I can think of who is active on the newschool scene is Mirjam Jaeger, and even she is 25. You guys need younger faces to represent the company. People who do compete in events like the US Open, WSI, etc.
2) Throw all your current twin tip designs in the garbage. You guys don't even have a single symmetrical twin, as far as I'm aware. How do you expect to cater to the real freeskiers when there are companies out there who offer multiple models of symmetrical skis? Elan's current freestyle line features skis which sidecuts are pretty much the same as carving skis. Design some new park skis. Maybe 3 models, one of which is not symmetrical.
3) Be innovative. Create something new. Something that people will want to try. Explore with flex patterns, sex enhancing sidewalls, bindings that you can take off and re-attach in the air, I don't know, that's for you guys to do come up with, just one ski that will really catch people's attention. One that can be a marketing tool.
Long story short, sign new skiers, design new skis, create a new freeski division (Team-Green... hahaha...WTF?), then advertise.
I don't know what buttons you are able to push at Elan, but try and sign a couple skiers this summer/fall. One that can help you design the skis, someone that knows the current youth and their needs. You can test throughout this coming season and by next spring you'll hopefully have yours skis & skiers figured out, and have a completely new image by the fall of '09, ready for the 09/10 season.
