Interesting trend that is happening over here in my vertical.  Last year, I spent the majority of my time building a base line of data, reaching out to endemic advertisers and doing anything I could to "attract" the larger more national advertisers to our outdoor audience. 

In that order, you go from a pat on the back to bringing home the bacon.  And to really nail it on the head, you have to have budget and data.  Like comScore data.  Super expensive and reserved for only the elite of outdoor brands.

Not so fast.  We own all of our sites and we have the data as well.  So in case you are curious as to what makes the "extreme sports outdoor enthusiast" tick, comScore has over 5,300 data points that they measure on this audience.  Its exhausting looking through it all ( this is why media planners quit after like a year on the job).

But indeed, as you know I'm a geek.  And I like data.  So I sorted the entire list and captured the top 10 things that is the Raison d'être for for Outdoor Enthusiasts.  Take a look at the list and see where you fit in. 

Just so you know what you are reading above.  With the sample size that comScore acquired from "outdoor" and "extreme sports" sites, the members most often cited the above as things they've done.  Thus in the industry we call this their lift index.  Some of this stuff is a no brainer, but anytime data can back up a hunch you are on to something.

Check it out:

#1 favorite thing for outdoor folks to do?  Shop online.  They crank in a 13.1x more affinity for spending money online.  Their #1 item is not gear, its software and electronics.

They are buying dog food like its going out of style.  Seriously.  A huge chunk of their budget goes for Spot and his four pals in the garage.

Skin cancer is on the rise, they are concerned about it and some are already on meds for it.

Our groups hits concerts like its their job.  Makes sense.  Let's hear it for Dave Matthews right?

Lots and lots of folks in the outdoor space are saving for weddings.  Wow.  How much?  $10K - $20K.  For who?  Not the outdoor dude or dudette, but for someone else in their family  Too funny.

When we go on International Business trips, its Swiss Air all the way.  Hmmm...funny how there is decent skiing over there as well.

Lots of nail fungus.  I'll stop there.

We love our drinks, and we love seeking counseling for it.

And then on an odd note, lots of issues with Alzheimer's Disease.  Not to sure about this one.