2005 Grand All-Star Columbia Sportswear

摘要

Gert Boyle is one tough mother, and Columbia Sportswear Co. loves her for it. Last year the company her German-immigrant parents founded in 1938 in Portland, OR, surpassed the billion-dollar mark in sales. Demanding the highest quality, Columbia chairman Boyle puts her firm's outdoor apparel, footwear and equipment through rigorous product testing. She spoofs her iron-clad policies in print and television ads that depict her forcing her son, company president/CEO Timothy Boyle, to test the products under extreme circumstances. "Our ads have gained a cult-like following," says Columbia Sportswear's public relations manager John Fread, who describes one all-time favorite ad showing Timothy Boyle strapped atop a car in new, water-repellant rain gear and sent through a car wash. "He had to do that shot over and over again," says Fread. It may be tough love, but the woman whose stern face peers from every Columbia ad wouldn't have it any other way.