Q&A: Brew Moscarello And The Vew-Do Balance Board

mike lewis

• November 11 2008
• 1,136 views
• 25 comments

Unlike other sports, there’s not a lot of options out there to help riders train for boardsports other than just doing them. Most shreds don’t want to go the gym and get jock-pumped, but you can’t always ride. Enter Brew Moscarello’s idea for the Vew-Do Balance board. Brew came up with the idea in 1990, after close friend and roommate J.G. from Burton and he were clowning around with one of Moscarello’s old Bongo boards. The inspiration behind the product came from Moscarello’s desire to help riders work on their balance anywhere and he’s certainly achieved that with many of his customers - including Burton’s Learn-To-Ride students.

Now, nearly 18 years later, Brew’s Vew-Do has become a staple in boardsports retailers as an accessory, training tool, and some would even say a sport unto itself. But the bigger story is its growth in the larger fitness arena as a strength and balance training tool for sports as widespread as baseball and Lacrosse.

Transworld Business caught up with Moscarello to find out what’s new at Vew-Do.

TWB: Are you one of the founders of Vew-Do?

BM: Yeah, actually I designed and got the patent on the project in 1992. I started working on the project in 1990, and have been doing it ever since.

TWB: Was it originally a business venture for you or just something you thought of?

BM: You know, at the time I was working for Burton Snowboards. I was doing sales and marketing and then I got into the instruction end of things - so the need to teach people balance before getting them on the snow. It was pretty lame and the boards were pretty lame back then, as you know. So I figured, let me work on something that I can teach people on dry land before getting them on the snow. Well I had an old bongo board as a kid, in the 50s or so  -I’m not that old. I had fun with it but it was limiting; it was like a dinosaur. One day, me and my buddy JG from Burton - we were roommates for many years -  broke out the bongo board and he started riding it and doing things like grabs and ollies on it. And I was like “Holy shit, I’ve gotta make a board that allows us to do that.” So that was the inspiration, it was purely out of the necessity of teaching people.

TWB: So you guys make all the boards here in the states, right?

BM: We do. Originally I’d set up a manufacturing company here in Vermont. We were here for about six years and then went to Asia for about four years, and I realized that’s certainly not all it’s cracked up to be. So, I brought it back …

TWB: Was it a quality issue?

BM: Quality issues, service issues and also having to deal with the Chinese New Year and all that other stuff. The company I was dealing with was hungry for business when we originally got into bed, and then eventually they grew too much and I wasn’t as much of a player in their product mixes as I used to be. But certainly, the service went down hill. I went over there a few times and was saying “what am I doing this for?” I called the state of Vermont and said I want to make them back here again, help me out. And we found a way to do it. Actually, we are making them in Maine now. It’s really been a good success story and we’ve got our act together again since bringing it back into the states.

TWB: I understand that you’re using sustainable materials in the products?

BM: We use mostly all wood components, and environmentally friendly finishes, too – water-based polyurethane. It’s been a major selling point for us and it’s at least making me feel good about what we’re doing.

TWB: And I hear sales were up this year by 40%?

BM: As of now, yes. Year to date sales – part of that is from last year. I brought in a VP of Sales and Marketing, Steve Kohn, he’s been on for almost a year and that’s really what’s driven our sales. There is a lot of things I would attribute to the rise of our sales, but that is certainly part of it. There is a cohesiveness to our sales and marketing now and all our efforts, and its led by Steve. Everything from POPs to DVDs, YouTube, Web sites - all that stuff is really making  a big difference for us. We are actually ready to launch a new Web site by mid-November.

TWB: Can you talk about some of the other things you feel are responsible for growth in sales?

BM: One thing in particular, you know I’ve been at this since 1990 so there’s some brand recognition. I’ve been preaching balance training for all the sports since then, and now there’s really a viability to the category of balance boards and balance training, and to our brand. You know, people are starting to understand you can learn a lot from dry land training on a balance board before going into your sport whatever that sport is. Also, we are always improving upon our product line. We are never satisfied. We always want to make it better and we certainly have been the leaders of the category. We’ve seen a lot of companies come and go and they haven’t done it right. At the same time, given the current economy, we’ve been keeping our retail price the same over the last few years - even this year included. Our premium boards sell for like $135 but our Magic Number boards are the $99 boards, and that I think has been a success for us as well - keeping a quality, U.S.-made board under $100. There’s no one thing that’s making us grow the way we are, it’s a combination of all of the above.

TWB: Is the growth in same accounts or is it from branching out into new accounts outside of specialty retailers.

BM: As the viability of the category becomes more mainstream, places like Orvis, EMS, and things along those lines, outside of the mom and pop accounts, have been are starting to take recognition and say hey let’s carry this product. So that’s been tremendously helpful. The other thing is that the product appeals to a wide variety of users. We aren’t pigeon-holed into one category. Snow, skate - we have all of the above using them. We have NFL players to ballet classes to snowboarders riding them, all for their own reasons. We have a line of boards that can meet the needs of fitness oriented people  to snowboarders. That’s been big for us.

TWB: What are your goals for the next couple years as far as growth?

BM: We have some specific goals relative to past experiences. Our goals are to continue to build the brand within our core market, which is the snowboard industry, obviously. But we are making our way into other action sports, such as surfing and kiteboarding. Our plan is to create integrated growth without a quick, shotgun approach to marketing, and stick with board-oriented sports because when we’ve gone outside of those realms it’s been difficult. The other thing is to continue to educate the consumer on the importance of balance and balance training by offering new and innovative products. I have a whole line of balance related products that we haven’t brought to market yet. As the brand grows and the demand for product grows, so will our product line. I can’t wait to launch some of this stuff.

TWB: Are you referring to the Progression board?

BM: Yeah, the Progression is certainly one of them. Burton came to me a couple of years ago and said “Bro we love your boards, they’re great for training kids on snowboards, but for our Learn-To-Ride programs they are a little too aggressive. We have to monitor and spot people too much. Can we do something that can teach specific aspects of snowboarding - toe and heel edging, nose and tail rotations and torsonal flexations?” So I said yeah let me work on it. I came back to them with something they were freaking out over. They love the Progression board. We made a sample for their Learn-to-Ride program and now their on their second round of boards they are ordering from us. What’s nice about that, the agreement I have with them, it’s co-branded in the Burton LTR programs. Outside of that will be the VewDo branded progression which will be available to the entire snowboard market. But also we reconfigured a deck that’s relative to the fitness market, which lends itself to somebody who would not generally get on a Vew-Do board regularly because they think it’s too aggressive – this thing is for everybody.

TWB: Sounds like a lot of interesting stuff going on.

BM: Yeah you know, I’ve been at it for such a long time, and I’ve never lost the faith in the product or the desire to do what I feel I’ve been put here to do. To create awareness of balance training and it’s a lot of fun, too.  We’ve certainly been paying our dues all these years and now we’re on the cusp here of blowing this thing out, and it’s exciting. It feels good.