Welcome to the country of the most outdoorsy people in the world says JohnAre, and gives me a firm handshake as I step of the train in Lillehammer together with Donna and Henrik. After spending the first part of the week in Holland, we will spend our next few days getting an update on what is happening on the Norwegian market.

Evaluation trip
Our evaluation trip takes place right after the internal strategy meeting where the Fjällräven leadership team sits together to discuss the initial plans for 2012. After we have set the framework, me and Donna head out to the major markets to test our plan in reality, evaluate our development on each market and most importantly – get valuable input to our brand and product development. Often some other people join in on the Evaluation Trip and this time hardware designer Henrik is participating.

JohnAre Country Manager Norway presenting a SWOT analysis

The Norwegian Market
Having talked with Finland last week and the Benelux market in the beginning of this week we have now entered Norway. The country where people purchase most sport/outdoor equipment in the world compared to the number of inhabitants.

We really like Norway since Norwegian people seem like us. They value functional and durable equipment and they find that our products live up to these demands. Just to give one example, last year our Akka Shape tent was seen as the best tent on the Norwegian market and our Akka Dome was just nominated as the best dome tent on the market.

Akka Dome seen as the best dome tent in Norway.

Situation Analysis
JohnAre, our Norwegian Country Manager, introduced the meeting by presenting a SWOT analysis, covering our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This spurred off great discussions covering everything from distribution to product development. As Dag, who is not only one of our great sales representatives but also a very passionate hunter, held a presentation about the demands from the Norwegian hunters the discussion soon focused on the development of our Forest Collection.

Dag, sales representative and experienced hunter shares his knowledge

No office solutions
Discussing things is meetings are one thing, experience them in real life is another. That is why we make sure we head out from the offices to get inspiration from customers and end-users in every country. Also some of the best discussions are held outside the office, at best out in the wild.

The best ideas comes when out in nature. JohnAre preparing dinner.

Information from shop owners are crucial to get a feeling from what is working and what could be improved. At Revehiet we got some great feedback.

Inspiration comes from all sources. Such as the Maihaugen museum in Lillehammer.

Next steps
During the coming week we will continue our tour visiting our key markets. Once back to Sweden we will sit down and finalize the strategy for spring summer 2012. After that we will start sketching, test materials and functions and eventually develop prototypes of our new ideas that will be presented at our next Prototype Meeting in February 2011.

It is amazing how close 2012 really is.

Related readings:

- Prototype meeting Fall/Winter 2011.

Fjällräven product development process

At Fjällräven we follow the following process when it comes to product development:

Strategy Meeting – Leadership group set the direction for the coming season

Evaluation Trip – Feedback and SWOT analysis from all key markets
Prototype Meeting – Prototypes are presented

Kick-off – Sales samples are presented and then shown at fairs and to customers
Launch – Products can be found in outdoor shops.
Between all stages, materials and functions are tested, both in textile laboratories and by test groups.