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There are several sports-related clothing brands that reach far beyond the realm of sports and have acquired a level of name recognition that can only be described as every marketer or CEO's dream. For example, brands like Nike, Reebok, and Adidas are found everywhere (not just in sporting goods stores) and their clothing is worn by all kinds of people, whether they play sports or not. From the company's viewpoint, this is of course a good thing. Such widespread acceptance just adds a lot more zeros to the bottom line. It is also a good thing for consumers. They don't have to know anything about sports or any Nike-sponsored athletes to know that a shirt bearing the famous swoosh logo will be accepted as "cool" by almost everyone.

But what about clothes from brands and sports that are slightly outside of what would be considered mainstream? Is it best for these brands to capitalize on their cool factor in order to reap profits, or is it better for them to stay small and cater to their original market base? Let me explain what I mean.

Take a brand like Quicksilver. Unless you are a surfer, you probably didn't know that the brand was created specifically for participants in this sport. It was started by two surfers from Australia in the early 1970s, and has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Now, Quicksilver is a publicly traded company (NYSE) and lots of people, even non-surfers, know of or wear this brand. If you go into any Pacific Sunwear store at the mall, you will see plenty of Quicksilver items -- even if the mall happens to be in Chicago, where there is no surfing for a thousand miles!

This probably sounds just great for the company, and especially for the two founders. But what about the surfers who bought the clothes and made their success possible? I've heard many surfers complain about "posers" wearing Quicksilver clothes. To athletes, a poser is someone who doesn't participate in a particular sport, but owns a lot of clothing or accessories associated with that sport. A lot of surfers think that posers somehow diminish the cool factor of what was once their favorite brand. Does that sound silly? To an outsider, it might; but this kind of sentiment is something that smaller clothing brands have to deal with in their respective industries all the time.

In fact, some companies that are involved with the sport of motocross are facing similar challenges right now. Fox Racing, for instance, got its start by creating and selling motocross jerseys, pants, gloves, and casual wear. They have enjoyed great success in the sport, and remain one of the best-known brands in that industry. Fox Racing also happens to have one of the coolest logos I have ever seen. It's actually just a very basic drawing of a fox head, but for some reason, it really stands out. People who aren't involved in motocross in any way have noticed the logo, too. I guess when one of the Backstreet Boys wears a Fox jersey on stage at a concert; it is going to be noticed! But I'm sure you can guess how hard-core motocross riders reacted upon hearing this news.

These days, Fox Racing casual wear can be found across the country in stores like Pacific Sunwear and Hot Topic. I have many friends who are motocross riders, and they are not at all happy with this development. They explained it this way: Before, when Fox was smaller, when they saw someone wearing something with the fox head logo, they could go up to that person and start a conversation about bikes, knowing that the person was a rider. Now, more often than not, the people they see wearing Fox clothes are mere posers who don't know the first thing about motocross.

What does this mean for these kinds of niche companies? Well, a lot of my motocross friends have sworn off Fox racing and have moved on to smaller brands that are not yet mainstream. Since Fox probably rakes in enormous profits from their mall sales, they might not notice the loss of a few customers here and there. I doubt they will stop selling to the so-called posers, who represent a much larger customer base, just to appease a few hard-core motocrossers.

While I personally don't wear sports-related clothing unless I either participate in or am a die-hard fan of that sport, I don't mind when others do. I think that all companies and all sports strive for growth, and who would really want to limit their profits or exposure? I think people need to stop with the whole poser business, anyway. Since when are there qualifications for wearing casual clothes? I would also never call a company a sell-out for selling more of their products. After all, that's the whole plan, isn't it?