Eminem - Survival

Yoooo, here's new Eminem song called Survival! Supposedly, this song will be on the Call of Duty video game as well as Eminem's upcoming album. Check it out and be on the lookout for more from Eminem!

Shift'D Mid-Summer Collection Video

We thought we should start putting some videos together of our Drops.  In this case it's the Mid-Summer drop.  We also threw in some other images in the video that went down this Summer.  Enjoy!

Snowboard on the Block

We are sooo stoked for this block party!  If you are in any way as much a fan of the sport of snowboarding as we are, then you need to go!  It will be beyond epic!  Here's the low down directly from the good folks of Snowboard Colorado:

Just a little over a month out for Snowboard on the Block on Saturday, 9/14 in Denver, Colorado. This is going to be an all day inside/outside event with three stages of bands and brand new snowboard videos showing all day long from Absinthe Films, Videograss, Think Thank, Burton Snowboards, Never Summer Industries, YES.,and so many more! We'll also have a core shop super sale, photography gallery and a competition featuring some of the best riders in the world! Don't miss it! Get your tickets now through Ticketmaster or TicketWeb http://www.blockfestival.com/tickets/

Battle of the Brands Dispute

Ok ok, so I am sure you have seen us post updates throughout this competition regarding the Battle of the Brands.  If you haven't then let's sum it up real quick:

Every year, Snowboarder Mag puts on a contest pitting the biggest known snowboarding brands against each other. The brands participating in the 2013 BOTB are: Burton, Bataleon, CAPiTA, Never Summer, DC, Nitro, Giro, DAKINE, Mervin Manufacturing, Arbor, ThirtyTwo, Quiksilver, Ride, Volcom, and Airblaster.  These fifteen brands will fight to the finish in a three day, bracket-style elimination rounds until a winner prevails at the end of the summer. Viewers will be able to vote for the video they like the best, however, voters will only be able to cast one ballot in each round, so they must choose wisely.

Now fast forward to today and we are in the final round.  It's Never Summer vs. Arbor!  Both of these brands are real legit, solid brands.  Never Summer has always prided themselves on making extreme quality boards right here in the good ol US of A, head quartered out of Denver and not focusing on excessive promotion and hype.  They have a very solid fan base and dub themselves as the NS Army.
Arbor prides themselves on using Eco-consious materials and being more Eco-friendly when making their boards.  They always have killer graphics and super dope wood veneer top sheets.  Their boards are great quality and have been known to be poppy and very playful.  They also have a solid apparel line!  Arbor makes their boards in Dubai but are head quartered out of Cali. 

Since the start of this final competition between these two, NS has been all about how they manufacture their products right here in the homeland with very little or no focus on the video or the riders involved (Seems like they are sticking to their guns on not focusing on excessive promotion & hype for the riders).  Their marketing campaign is strictly USA production and they also are really quick to share that Arbor is not manufactured in the USA, but in Dubai.  See image below from NS and their recent FB post:

Arbor on the other hand has been focusing on what the main point of the competition is, by voting for the best video! Here's an example of what they have been posting on their FB page:

Now, this is a contest regarding who has the better video, not who is made in the USA.  NS has made this a political movement of sorts based on roots and has strayed away on focusing on the core of the competition, which is the video.  All of a sudden, Never Summer's faithful is starting to get.... upset.  See their comments below:

 Wow, this is getting interesting, but, let's break this down a couple of ways.

1) This is a contest called Battle of the Brands.  What this means is that regardless of the video content people are going to vote for the brand they love most, right?  If you ask yourself, why do people like NS/Arbor?  The answer could be because they make great quality boards, or they are from Rado, or they are eco-friendly, wood veneer boards, whatever.. The brand that wins will take it due to their faithful and the product they stand behind, generally speaking.

but...

2) Being that this is a video contest, maybe it should be called Battle of the BEST Edit and not Battle of the Brands..  This way companies like NS can really start this project with the end result in mind, this being a solid video edit.

This will be interesting to see who wins.  They both are neck-in-neck and looks like Never Summer has just regained the lead.  However when Arbor tied it up, they started feeling pretty confident in themselves.. (Notice they are even calling it "Best Video"):

 
Here at Shift'D Union we are fans of both brands, and yes, we do ride both brands boards, but I do have to say that Never Summer may want to rethink their marketing campaign as it's very obvious they are killing off some of their fan base.   A lot of people don't care if they manufacture in Colorado, they just care about the quality of their boards.  If Never Summer loses, this could have a play in it.  However, if NS wins then they are smarter than everyone else by really engaging the brand core & values into their campaign, which no other brand did..  In a sense, NS is being different and doing something nobody else is doing...

An alternative marketing strategy for NS is really think about what the main point of the competition is, that being a solid, creative video edit, and yes, using excessive hype and promotion for their riders and not just where they are from.  The "A vote for NS is a vote for America" slogan and slamming Arbor because they are manufacturing in Dubai is something people aren't thinking to highly of.

On the other hand, Arbor is saying "Vote for the Best Video" which is the premise of the competition, and they are marketing as such.  But again, it's called Battle of the Brands. 
Regardless of the best video, you are voting with your heart and who you love more based on the brands products.

So what do you say, are you voting for best video edit or best brand?  Is Never Summer smarter than everyone else here??  We will find out Sunday night at midnight...

Watch both videos below and then VOTE HERE if you haven't.  I would say watch both video's to decide, but you will probably vote for the brand you like the most regardless of the video edit.  And if not, good for you for sticking to what the competition is about.  After all that is what this is about, or is it??
*Voting ends Sunday night at 11:59 AM.  




Battle Of The Brands 2013: Arbor from Snowboarder Magazine on Vimeo.


Battle Of The Brands 2013: Never Summer from Snowboarder Magazine on Vimeo.

35% off all Lids!

Yep, it's that time to freshen up and replace that crusty ol lid with some fresh and crispy Shift'D Union snapbacks or 5 panels.  All you have to do is enter in discount code: LIDS35 at checkout.  Enjoy and as always, thanks for reppin Shift'D Union!

We also have our popular Shift'D Union Camo'd 5 Panel in the mix:

If you haven't already done so follow us on Facebook or Twitter!

Team Shift'D!

Non-English Speaking Help

So this is really random but we need your help!  Here is what's going on.  Shift'D Union Clothing Co. is a part of a competition against over 500 other brands to be one of the featured brands at the largest fashion show convention in the world.  Yeah yeah, I know, we are not "fashion", we are "style" but whatever.  This event is for clothing brands!

We entered the brand in Skillshare under the tutelage of Jeff Staple (clothing brand icon and owner of Staple Designs).  Jeff's company will review our brand and everyone else and make the decision on 8/22/13 and determine who is #1.  One of Jeff's requirements is to have 5 people who are naturally non-english speaking to say your wordmark logo out loud and video record it.

So we need your help!!  

If you have a family member or a friend, or know someone who knows someone, hold up our logo and ask them to read it out loud all while video recording it.  (The goal here is to see how they pronounce it and how close or far off they sound.)  When you record the video, introduce yourself and the person who will say the logo out loud, then ask them to say it out loud and that's it.  Lastly, upload the video to You Tube or Vimeo and send us the link.  We only need 5!  Once you send us the link, we ship you out a free Shift'D Tee!

Side Note:  We feel that we have a really great shot to be the featured brand here.  We are the only real shred threads clothing brand out of all these other brands.  Everyone else is either hip hop or street wear similar to so many brands that already exist.  We feel we are the one of a kind, unique brand that can make a very LARGE impact and Staple Design team should recognize this.

THANK YOU for your help.  Stay Shift'D!

Top 5 Snowboarding Review Sites

A new shred season is upon us and you are ready to purchase that new set up, whether it be a board, bindings, or all new outerwear.  Problem is, there are sooo many choices.  All of this new tech and cool graphics got your brain spinning right??  On top of all this chaos, this shit is spendy so you want to make that right decision the first time, am I right?

Here at Shift'D Union, we spend a lot of time snowboarding.  For crying out loud, we RIP THE ROCKIES!!  It's just what we do.  It's part of the reason why the brand was created, therefore, I already had some good review sites in mind, but it never hurts to ask Google.  Below is what I found and is worth looking into before you make that big purchase.

*Disclaimer:  You might be thinking, "nonsense, I get my reviews from snowboard magazines like Transworld, or Snowboarder Mag, or Snowboard Mag, I'm good".  Go ahead and think that but where you are missing out on, is the rider tested and reviewed part.  An objective, honest review is completely different then a magazine who got paid by that brand to showcase their product and talk about the bullet points of the board.  Granted, some snowboard review sites can be a little biased but for the most part, they keep it real if they want any credibility in the snowboard industry.  People will expose that shit quickly which means they will no longer get eyeballs on their site/reviews.  Also, don't fuck with forums, they're just a colossal waste of time.

So let's get on with it!  Here are the top 5 snowboard review sites that we feel are worth checking out.:

5) Agnarchy:  These guys put in the effort and therefore they have to be recognized.  Agnarchy will start it off due to the fact they review boards and other snowboarding related products!  Their reviews are current and they have been doing it since 2009 which they know how to review and test products.  They're not riding and reviewing every brand out there but they are getting some turns in on some good products!

4) Shayboarder.com This is a dope site for the ladies!  Shayboarder.com is female owned and operated and she gets after it!  She includes great pics and clearly breaks down whatever it is she is reviewing!  She also will discuss different resorts and her travels as well getting in on some interviews!  Ladies, look no further than shayboarder.com.  Great content here, she is definitely Shift'D!

3) Angry Snowboarder:  The name says it all here!  Angry can be angry, but hey, with anger comes truth which can be a great thing.  After keeping my eye on these dudes and their reviews I feel they are worth looking into for boards and some outerwear.  Their review content isn't super extensive like our 2 and 3 spot but they are putting in work and pumping out some quality reviews for quality brands; and they are doing it right here in Colorado.  If at the very least you aren't feeling their reviews or product list, you can always check out their videos and their Facebook posts.  It's never rare to see them stirring the pot talking shit about someone or something.  They may even talk some shit about us putting them in 3rd...

2)  Board Insiders:  I have known about Board Insiders for a bit now and love their video reviews!  There is nothing better to me then watching multiple people talk about their experiences on whatever board they are reviewing at that time.  It seems that they get a lot of their reviews in during a resort's demo days so their selection is current.  Definitely a site to check out if you are searching for boards.

1) The Good Ride:  I came across this site with the help of Google and man was I pleasantly surprised!  They have so much good content and so many reviews!!  Their scoring system looks legit and they cover all the essentials that need to be addressed when reviewing snowboards or other gear items. You can also sort their reviews based on price, rider style, ability level, their favorites, and more!  On top of that, there are also "user" reviews just in case you didn't want to hear what Good Ride had to say!  The Good Ride is a great review site for everything from boards to gear.  Hands down, winner right here!


So there you have it.  Hope you found this post helpful and if you end up using one of these snowboard review sites to help with a purchase, let me know by commenting here or hit us up on the Shift'D Facebook page, or throw out a tweet to @shiftdunion.

Shred fast,
B-Shift'D