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Outdoor Eye is a specialist consultancy helping international fishing brands launch and scale across Europe. TTW spoke to co-owners Nathan Leney and Cris Caanen about how they are working with businesses just like yours…

 

TTW: When and why did you set up the company?

Nathan: After stepping away from Pure Fishing in late 2024, I could see other brands that didn’t have the same resources, struggling with simple things when entering Europe – inconsistent marketing messages, poor SKU selection, non-compliant packaging and noticing brands that don’t know what they are doing, relying on home grown successes to carry them, which isn’t the case at all. A lot of this came second nature to me, so I knew I could be onto something.

 

TTW: What are you aiming to do?

Nathan: Ultimately, we want to help the European tackle industry continue to keep striving forward with launching new and innovative gear. It’s not always evident that current brands bring that. There is a lot of complacency out there, owning the market out of legacy or longevity. Which is great, we need heritage, but not at the mercy of good products.

Brands from the Japan and South Korea for instance bring that and we want to be the catalyst that helps those brands come and bring new life to the European market. Competition is healthy and keeps everyone on their toes. Our research shows that customers are tired of new colours/names for the same product. They want fresh and innovative products and will seek them out if they have too.

 

TTW: Can you outline the experience you both have and what it brings to your offering?

Nathan: I come from a branding and product development background, gained through six years at Pure Fishing, plus 40 years as an angler! SO I have been taking products from idea to the shop floor. Overseeing branding and working with marketing departments also meant that the right customers were looking for these products. New product development covers a huge range of departments, so I had to become proficient in all. However, I needed a marketing specialist to help make Outdoor Eye complete – enter ex-Shimano man Cris Caanen.

Cris: I come from a background in strategy and commerce but, as an entrepreneur, I experienced what it really takes to build a business from the ground up. In Shimano I learned a lot about the tackle industry and how it's structured.

I had the chance to work side by side with product development, pro-staff and experienced local marketeers to align European strategy with local circumstances. That is a vital part of my current role in Outdoor Eye, where we bring brands into reality of Europe.

 

TTW: How does this approach differ to anything else out there?

Nathan: When it comes to new brands entering Europe, obviously there is much focus on distribution. Brands get interest from distributors, and the lure of that first order and marketing assistance is very appealing.

However, we’ve found that products are added to the distributors portfolio and then left to fend for themselves so to speak. The reality is that there is a lot of work to be done with brands before they even speak with a distributor, and that’s where we come in – we make them market ready.

We want to build brands that can generate revenues for years to come, not just quick wins with no foundation. Our services are split into four models, catering to niche (Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) rod manufacturers needing specific one-off regional advice to global heavyweights looking for a man-on-the ground to take care of full product range implementation.

 

TTW: What do you feel are the key issues manufacturers/brands face when trying to launch into Europe?

Cris: Most brands underestimate how different European countries really are. Europe has some of the densest cultural differences on the planet. And not only consumers differ but rules and regulations, market structure and fishing techniques too. But aside from the differences, in business it’s always about trust. Who can I trust to do business with?

Europe is a big place and you need somebody on the ground to help you navigate the landscape and find the right partners. Lastly, the market is crowded, and taking a piece of that pie is not easy. Europe counts about 30-40 million active anglers and total market size for fishing equipment is estimated to be about 8-10 billion annually. This attracts competition.

A lot of brands have local roots, faces and stories. You need a razor-sharp focus and a clearly defined identity to stand any real chance of winning in this market.

 

TTW: How are you going about solving these problems?

Cris: I like to see ourselves as a strategic partner for aspiring brands, purely focused on the success of that brand. That is a unique position because most partners are commercially involved and that makes them not neutral. A cheque for an initial order may seem tempting, but your products need to end up in the hands of anglers, not in a warehouse sitting and waiting.

Building a brand with traction is the way to ensure long-term value creation. If you are in Asia or the USA the gap between your local reality and Europe is so big, that without experienced brand builders and European anglers like us, you will most likely lose a lot of time and money in the process.

 

TTW: Are there any areas / regions which you believe would benefit more than others from Outdoor Eye?

Nathan: Outdoor Eye can really show its benefits to companies with a lot of separation from the European market: USA, China, Japan, southeast Asia, where there is almost no correlation between a brand’s home region and Europe.

However, we have come across brands from Germany and Spain that want to move into Eastern Europe and have no idea where to start, so I think we can offer something for everyone. Our connection base is global, with associates in China, Japan, USA and most of Europe so we can look at a brands origin region from within and understand how to make it work in Europe.

 

TTW: Which of your services do you think will be the biggest draw to brands?

Nathan: We have a four-tiered approach to entice clients to work with us. From our Eyes on Europe subscription service to our Full Brand Consultancy package. Whatever expansion stage a brand is at, we believe we have service that can suit their size, plans and budget.

But if I were to recommend one, it would be our Eyes on Europe Subscription. It contains a full angling trade report on the European landscape and a quarterly Eyes on Europe: Opportunity Radar newsletter, which covers current trends, opportunities, gaps, market highlights and feedback from the market.

Its insightful and can give a brand that is thinking of entering Europe a great deal of background information and ideas on where to start. It’s low friction and can be purchased through the website, you don’t even have to talk to us to access it!

outdoor-eye.com