In reply to design crisis:
You have to give people a reason to deviate from the known.
This has to be either
a) Price
b) Function (Innovation comes here)
c) Form
Then, you have to market well. In the outdoors market, this seems to be typically done by;
a) Sponsoring professionals
b) Classical advertising (Magazines, Online, UKC)
c) Trade shows
d) Giving freebies to gear reviewers (UKC, Outdoorsmagic, AKP e.t.c)