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  Kevin Flanagan with Ron Abdel of Jack's Surfboards at the SIMA Summit. Shop-eat-surf file photo.

Kevin Flanagan left Reef this week after his vice president of marketing position was eliminated.

 

I heard this news at Surf Expo, and Reef President Jeff Moore confirmed it late this afternoon.

 

Jeff said it was determined that a company the size of Reef did not need a senior level executive in marketing. Instead, Reef is creating a director of marketing job and is currently looking at candidates.

 

Some of the financial resources formerly dedicated to the senior marketing position may be used in other areas, such as product.

 

I spoke with Kevin on the phone this afternoon. He said working at Reef had been a dream come true after growing up in San Diego and watching the Aguerre brothers, who founded the brand, build Reef over the years.

 

Kevin said he tried to follow in their footsteps, as was always very passionate about the brand.

 

He worked hard, he said, and “it feels good to have left everything out on the field.”

 

When I asked Kevin what he would do next, he said he’s had a couple of calls from companies expressing interest.

 

“And I have some entrepreneurial aspirations as well that I’m taking a hard look at,” he said.

 

Reef has experienced several leadership changes in the past few years. Jeff is Reef’s fourth president in approximately six years. Previous president Jim Gerson left in July after about a year on the job.

 

See Page 2 for more about Reef’s strategy

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Reef’s focus

 

I also talked to Jeff about Reef priorities since he took over as president in September.

 

He said Reef has four key initiatives:

 

1. To be the product leader

2. To follow a clear segmentation strategy

3. To follow a clear athlete strategy

Tom Brown of 17th Street and Jeff MooreThursday at Surf Expo.

 

4. To follow a clear go-to-market strategy – to get more space in key retailers and present the brand holistically.

 

“We are going on the offensive,” he said. “We are going after space.”

 

With product, key focuses are:

 

1. Men’s hanging footwear – with a comfort emphasis and youthful approach.

 

2. To set a foundation in men’s apparel with the target customer Jeff describes as “modern gypsy” – someone who travels or dreams of traveling to exotic locales.

 

3. Recapturing greater space in stores for men’s and girl’s sandals.

 

Reef’s spring 2011 bookings were up 15% over the previous spring, Jeff said.