Marketing That Works: How Entrepreneurial Marketing Can Add Sustainable Value to Any Sized Company, Second Edition

1. Marketing-Driven Strategy to Make Extraordinary Money

Orvis Company—Excellent Entrepreneurial Positioning

The Orvis Company has done an excellent job over the years of capitalizing on a unique positioning in a very competitive industry. They sell “country” clothing, gifts, and sporting gear in competition with much bigger brands like L.L. Bean and Eddie Bauer. Like their competitors, Orvis sells both retail and mail order. How is Orvis differentiated? They want to be perceived as the place to go for all areas of fly-fishing expertise. Their particular expertise is making a difficult sport “very accessible to a new generation of anglers.”¹ Since 1968, when their sales were less than $1 million, Orvis has been running fly-fishing schools located ...