Who do you roll with? 08/23/2010
 A couple of months ago I remember talking to an up and coming marketing manager about branding. We were knee deep in ironing out a media buy when he says to me, "....why don't I just slap this up on Google Media?" Of course, for a struggling brand, this is not a bad option. But the one part that always amazes me is when larger companies do this without a care in the world as to who they are sharing the bed with. A key part to branding on the web is having some control over where your ads are placed. This is the first part (think closed network, above the fold). The second question every major brand should be asking is, "...great, I'm on board. Now who else will be running in my rotation?" Not an issue for print. You get your slot. Not so with digital media. Unless you buy enough impressions, someone ELSE is rotating in your position. So what happens if you are a cutting edge brand ( think Patagonia ) and you are sharing your space with a media buy from GM.....or BP.....or Pizza Hut. You get the point. If you are serious about your brand, you should be serious about who you are rolling with online. Here is an example I pulled off of BNQT:  So here on the main landing page for a "lifestyle video and young male portal" you have three players. Converse holds down the skin, Mountain Dew grabs the leaderboard and PlanetEarth hangs out in the ATF Square. All of these players get "it" I could easily see a guy, aged 16, drinking a Dew, wearing his PlanetEarth Hoodie and rockin' Converse shoes. All three play well together and its obvious that the team behind the BNQT also gets how important it is to preserve brand identity on their content ( speaking of which, I need to give these guys a call, I like their style). So the next time someone tells you to buy on an open network, Google or some rag that is just scraping by, remember that because its cheap you may be sharing your branding "Joe's Tasty Chicken". And that my friend is something to be avoided.  Funny thing about North Face. Many outdoor marketers may not realize this, but TNF really drives a lot of cool innovations for online marketing and often these innovations have a trickle down effect on the market. Over the last three years, I've seen this consistently where TNF drives a new concept online and then the other players join suit. In this case, TNF is ramping up their efforts at Geo-Fencing. The technology comes from Placecast as is quite compelling. Target your outdoor enthusiast with a text based ad when they are "near" a store that carries your product. The end user has to opt in to have this enabled, and if they are lucky they score a coupon or a textual call to action to get them inside the store. Ahhhh....hear that? Like a cool glass of water after hiking all day in the hot sun. The ever so illusive "last mile" in online marketing so many out there strive for. Link to the article that goes into the details is found here: North Face Embraces Mobile Ads – Location-finding technology provided by LOC-AID For brands with a limited footprint in the retail front, using something like this could certainly drive more sales, more happy retailers and a more engaged consumer. Excellent use of technology and innovation from North Face.  Yeah I'll admit its odd to fall out of your chair when you see a new outdoor campaign on the net, but this one was more than an eye opener. I've been following Life is Good now for a couple of years. They are local to our shop, actually just down the road. So it always peeks my interest when not only do I see the "first" example of digital media from them in the wild, but a GEO target no less. No idea if this was generated in house or who controlled the media spend. The ad has been splashed in a nice sample of websites in around the Boston area, mostly on event publishers. I've only seen it a couple of times, but its worthy of some comments. First off, if you've ever been to the Life is Good site, you have a good understanding how their brand is reflected in the overall design of the site. The same pastels that color their shirts dictates the design. The font is super branded. KEEN is also good at doing this type of work. Keeping you brand in mind when you are designing your creative is key. So, for Life is Good I'd give them an A- on this. Here is where it gets interesting. I've never been a huge fan of the font they use, so in this case when they have an astonishing amount of text in their ad, the font really takes over. Take a look. At first glance of this skyscraper ( 160x600 pixels ) right off the bat you know its Life is Good. But that is where it ends. There is so much text on this, your eye has a hard time focusing on what is important. Remember, as an outdoor brand you have less than a second to draw a person to your ad as they scroll the content on the page. Comparing the design to their landing page, it really is missing the bold graphic, young people / dark blurry background we've all come to expect from their branding. So on contextual design, I'd give it a B. Now for the message. If you've been a reader here for a while, this is the BIGGIE. The "Call to Action" Every digital ad needs one. And with this one, there are no less than three. First, learn about the event. Then they squeeze in a teaser for a free gift, then on top of that another call to action to join the fund raising effort. I'm scoring this with a C. With our testing, this could have been avoided. And the solution isn't rocket science. The main focus is the date and location of the event. That IS the call to action. What they should have done is have three different ads designed, and then used some variate testing to see which had the highest CTR in a test control. Their end result may be a factor of limited budget for the design, or its possible the media buy did not allow for multiple ad units to be rotated through the same position. Like I've said earlier, I've only seen the skyscraper, so there could be a leaderboard or small rectangle out there somewhere. Score :: Matched branding with Digital Creative : A- Contect : B Call to Action : C Back in action 07/29/2010
What can I say? It's been too long since my last post, there is new stuff to talk about, the oil spill is (almost) over and some of us....are thinking about the upcoming snow season. Where have I been? Out. In the wild. Deep in the woods. Hiking so much its insane, camping, using all sorts of new gear, kayaking, surfing, kitesurfing and the newest venture is being more into mountain biking. I've traveled up to Acadia, down to Bethany Beach, DE, the GUNKS, Seabrook Beach and even a short stay in Cape May New Jersey. But what does that have to do with online media for outdoor enthusiasts? Using the gear. Living it. For all of you marketing managers out there, this is me standing on a soap box and getting the word out. Working 8-6 M-F in an office does nothing for understanding your customer. I've had so many in depth conversations with consumers, from the "guy living in a van" and mountain biking the state parks, to the newly minted internet millionaire surfing his brains out on the shores of the Cape. The conversations are a bonus, but its seeing the gear in action and seeing how people are using the new technology that matters most. Which.....brings me to something special I've been sharing with a few select clients Chitika. These guys are charging forward with a simple interface that has allowed some of my customers to see a 3x increase in CTR for their branded online media. The price is right, the technology is sound and for now, the company IMO is still off the radar. Peck around their site and tell me what you think. And if you are thinking about the fall or winter media spend ( as you should be ) give me a call and I can go over some ideas.  Losing sleep over internet pricing 06/17/2010
For once it would be nice to know that I am not the only one who can toss and turn at night, frustrated that I can not fall asleep, and the reason why is internet pricing. If anyone out there loses sleep over pricing for your outdoor brand, please let me know! Reason being is one of the partners from my old days at Powerline Sports reached out to me once he heard that I was back on the job market. And it was the same old same old. He was getting crushed by internet retailers beating him on price when he was there offering support for kitesurfing brands. Here is what drove me absolutely insane when I owned a retail boardsports store: Consumers have no clue that retail is a luxury. Stores these days exist for one reason and that is to help consumers get questions answered, try on product and then once they know exactly what they want, off to Backcountry.com or some other internet retailer the consumer goes to get the lowest cheapest low cost shipping deal on the planet. Here is an example. My neighbor pops over yesterday to show off his new Kayland hiking shoes. I am in love with this brand. And for years, they have been super hard to find despite some outstanding awards- "Kayland’s Zephyr hiking boot was honored as a recipient of a 2009 Backpacker Editors’ Choice Award. The women’s Convert hiking boot was bestowed the Women’s Adventure Editor’s Choice Award and, most recently, the Vertigo Light was named Outside Magazine’s Gear of the Year award in the hiking boot category" So my buddy is dialed in about how awesome Kayland is, but I have to say it. He is a total 100% penny pincher. But to the point of being ridiculous about it. He had spent the last month, traveling around the state, trying to find the shoes, trying different styles, getting the sizing right, and asking a million questions ( he went into this with me in great detail). I think it is the hunt for the product that gets him so jazzed. And in the end, once he had his style down and sizing, and after wasting considerable time with retailers, he went online. For another hunt. The hunt on price. A sale, a coupon, free shipping, a gift basket. Can someone please give this guy an award or something because he is now a buyer? Seriously, you can see how this makes me crazy. Consumers act as if local retail support means nothing. And yet, brands and local retailers have yet to figure out a way to correct this problem. Here is where I have some love for brands who can walk the line with retail and the internet:
Any other ideas out there on how to keep the consumer in the store? I'd love to hear from you. Collecting Brands on Twitter 06/02/2010
So I'm a gear head through and through. I collect bikes, camping gear, kitesurfing gear, helmets, mountainboards, surfboards, snowboards, wetsuits....I have a ton of stuff that I am so proud of. I'm very excited about the idea that I now have so much gear in my basement that I may have to get a storage unit so I can move it all out and make room for the kids stuff. And over the years, through posts here and hanging around the Outdoor Retailer show, I've collected quite a following on Twitter. To say that I have some top brands in the Outdoor Industry following my tweets and reading my blog is also something I am very proud of. Check them out!
Digital Retail Agency 05/26/2010
Here is an idea that struck me on the head this morning. Typical media planning activities for agencies who cover the outdoor market tend to focus on print and online media. We all know that outdoor enthusiasts spend a considerable time online, so in order to reach them you need to make sure your media planner has the correct sites dialed in for the engagement. While at NameMedia, through the couple hundred campaigns we ran for outdoor brands, one sticking point was that "last mile" And its a doozy. How can an outdoor brand advertise online without upsetting their brick and mortar channel? On the one hand they are driving online sales, and yet their main focus is on the open to buy dollars floating around for each pre-season from established traditional retailers. I'd like to take this concept one step further. Let's say you are a super large brand, and your media planner (located in NYC) is in charge of the mechanics behind your media buy. Lots of research, lots of planning. To me, that is like spending a ton of time in college and grad school and then applying for a job. The person interviews you and asks what real world experience you have. Case in point with the media planner. How many outdoor brands can interview the agency and ask what type ( or how many) outdoor activities does the media planner engage in? Because without this, the planning is done purely on market research. Where is the tie-in with the consumer at the retail level? I'm sure there is a ton of value on the media planning side that I am missing here. That is fine. Outdoor Mojo is no PHD. But we do have is another company called Powerline Sports. This started out as a bricks and mortar shop for kitesurfing. Over the years, the biggest keystone sales came from the softgoods and clothing. So the natural migration should be into companies like Patagonia, Life is Good, Rail Riders...etc..etc. And here is where this goes. What is the media planning from Outdoor Mojo was somehow tied into the market research behind Powerline Sports? This is to say, a media plan could be developed and then feedback and results could come from the retail side....in real time. And what if you were a small outdoor brand who couldn't afford a full license from Leisure Trends to get at this data. Like this:
This Outdoor Guru Needs a Job! 05/26/2010
So I wake up one morning and head into my job at NameMedia like it was any other day. Almost two years to the date, where I had been in charge of marketing and sales for a group of owned and operated outdoor enthusiast sites ( Rockclimbing.com, Dropzone.com, Basejumper.com...etc...etc), they call me into HR and mention that they are reorganizing the business unit. Read : Laying off several members. You never see stuff like this coming, but as they say change is good. I'm super proud of what I accomplished at the Outdoor Channel, and now its time to hunt down my next opportunity in the outdoor market. As many of you out there know, we all love the outdoors. And we will all fight tooth and nail to make sure that we stay employed in the outdoor market. It's who we are. It is what we do when we are not working. And above all, the majority of members in the outdoor space are the kinds of folks you want to work with, or head into the mountains with. It's that simple. Living on the East Coast ( Massachusettes) presents some challenges. I'd say 80% of the jobs out there are best suited for those living in CO, UT or CA. So to give you an idea of where I am hunting, I put together a list of "target" companies where I will be sending my resume. So while I hunt down some consulting gigs in the shortshere I'd like to ask a favor from the outdoor community. If anyone knows a contact in HR, Marketing or Sales from the following companies, or even knows of a current opening with one of them let me know! Also, the list I have here is really just from some initial research. I may be missing some key players, and if so let me know so I can add them to the list. Here they are: MASSACHUSETTES 66 North US Inc. , Newburyport MA ADC FOOTWEAR, Reading MA ADVENTURE OUTFITTERS , Hadley MA Aline , Marblehead MA Alps Sportswear , Lawrence MA Avalanche Wear AV Sportswear , Lynn MA Bemis , Shirley MA Boston Vertical , Everett MA Common Soles, Wellesley, MA CITY SPORTS , Boston MA Clarks , Newton Falls MA Earth Inc , Waltham MA Essential Gear, Greenfield MA GoMotion Inc. , Wareham MA Green Market Services Company, Brockton MA IllumiNITE , Hudson MA Karhu North America , Beverly MA Marmaxx Group , Framingham MA MICHELIN FOOTWEAR , Pembroke MA New Balance Athletic Shoe, Boston MA New England Rope, Fall River MA Polartec LLC , Lawrence MA Reebok International Ltd. Canton, MA Saucony Inc. , Lexington MA Stride Rite, Lexington MA Swix Sport USA Inc , Wilmington MA The New England Surf Co, Beverly MA Tweave LLC , Norton MA Vibram USA , Concord MA MAINE 32 North , Biddeford, ME Acorn , Lewiston ME Delorme, Yarmouth, ME L.L. BEAN , Freeport ME RSN Resort TV , Portland ME Sterling Rope Co , Biddeford ME NEW HAMPSHIRE All Terrain , Sunapee NH BAILEYWORKS , Portsmouth NH BROOKSTONE , Merrimack NH Eastern Mountain Sports , Peterborough NH ECCO , Londonderry NH Eco-Mills , Portsmouth NH Golite Footwear , Portsmouth NH I.C.E., Inc. , Kingston NH Jetboil Inc. , Manchester NH Life is Good , Hudson NH MBT, Portsmouth, NH Minus 33 Merino Wool Clothing , Ashland NH NEMO Equipment Inc. , Nashua NH New England Footwear, Portsmouth NH Simply Birkenstock , New Hampton NH The Timberland Company , Stratham NH Trailtex LLC , Portsmouth NH Xterra Footwear , North Hampton NH Is this advertising Lucid? 05/24/2010
 "Page level transparency" & "Brand Safety" What does this mean to you as the brand manager for an outdoor product? Does it mean that your ad is on rice paper and the customer can see safely right through your pitch? Not exactly, but to be serious the whole internet advertising game is moving at light speed, so let's hope you are as well. Lucid Media is an interesting meta network. Translation: Place your outdoor brand ads on the net and Lucid will help you target customers based on activity type and page content. It is like having a report from an outdoor magazine ahead of time, telling you where the best page would be to match your advertisement to your customer. And let's not forget about brand safety. All this means is that when you buy online media, you can be assured that your ad for a high tech tent will not appear next to an article on "5 best ways to keep your house clean while taking care of a newborn" These meta networks are new news. Not even a year ago, to place media on the net, you first had to find the reach, then get a handle on what sites to choose that best match your target demographics. This was by far a manual process. Tons of different insertion orders and different media specs. At some point during your campaign, reports would be sent to you showing which ads performed best on which site. This all occurred after the fact. You could optimize the placement going forward, but those first few weeks were more of a test than anything else. So Lucid is here to the rescue. Or not. What they bring to the table is a very robust taxonomy of websites, broken down by activity. So while you may be used to targeting outdoor males, Lucid will help you target those males who are more into climbing and less into say disk golf. Here, let me show you:  Lucid has tons of channels. For us, we're most interested in "Sports and Recreation" For those of you with an agency, this is what the media planners are doing in order to prepare your campaign. They are finding websites with the demographics you need and then negotiating the media spend at the site level. But here is my problem with this. Actually, I have several issues. Look at the categories above. There are 21 sub categories for this channel (and hundreds of sub sub categories). So Lucid is making the assumption that you know the relative value of pitching your campaign to a group of golf lovers over a group of camping junkies. Seriously. Who knows this? Maybe you've had a long term license with Leisure Trends and know a little bit more about the types of activites your customers love to do when not using your product, but for many of the smaller outdoor brands the cost of this data is too high. That is where an experienced digital marketer can help out ( hint hint). I've built and managed hundreds of outdoor media campaigns, and I know much more about the inner workings of targeted media, and how it either matches up or bucks the trend when it comes to baseline comScore stats. Sometimes what may seem obvious on the surface isn't so obvious in the details. For instance, I recently had an outdoor brand come to me with a line of travel hammocks. They knew little about what their activities their customers liked to do, but they were sure it was light travel. The campaign was set up to run across several websites, but I knew ahead of time that outdoor fishermen and skydivers would do better than say campers. This came down to lifestyle patterns and income levels. I also helped them match up the media spend based on focused DMA markets as opposed to a national sweep. But still, I think the Lucid solution is a step in the right direction. At least you can target your customer at a high level contextual match and then refine moving forward. The guess work about CTR and ROI results has been slightly reduced ahead of time. The brand safety is nice as well. But this would need to me monitored, in real time, in order to assure your ad dollars were being used to their best potential. If anyone would like more info on this, drop me a line and I'd love to walk you through it. Getting Naked in the Outdoors 05/17/2010
 How can you not love the thought about eating granola without any clothes on? Seriously? When I first heard of this company, I was floored with all of the double entendre marketing potential. A clear bag, sustainable packaging, passion for granola, a key halo alliance with the National Arbor Day Foundation....these kids were on fire. What I love most about the marketing behind Bear Naked is that for decades, the granola market was super saturated. I mean big names, like Nature Valley. Here are two very smart young adults, living the dream in Darien CT telling their friends and family, "....hey, we just love granola and think we're on to something. Who cares if we're up against General Mills? Who are they?" And that is the point. How often does passion and nimble strategy trump the big players? Case in point, I came across a new job opening for Bear Naked ( yes, after two years with NameMedia in their Outdoor Channel I'm on the hunt for something new) for a summer position as "In-Market Tour Manager" that was cooked up in the kitchen of Onboard Entertainment. So the plan for summer? Why change what has already been working? Grab some free spirited college kids, toss them in a van, and make it their mission to hunt down every outdoor, running, water based, gym vibe so-you-think-you-are-core type of event in specific DMA's and run with it. I love their job posting: Brand Ambassador Responsibilities • Position is temporary. Approximate dates range from (May 1 – September 30, 2010) • Represent with integrity the Bear Naked brand, and accurately communicate key messages • Act as the Bear Naked Ambassador by representing the Bear Naked brand with positive and enthusiastic support for the product at all times • Research and negotiate key opportunities in market (i.e. marathons, mountain bike races, triathlons, retail partners, and everyday athlete hot spots) to enhance overall campaign, consumer experience, and increase positive exposure of the Bear Naked brand • Manage production elements as needed, i.e. permitting, routing, vehicle maintenance • Manage all aspects of on-site product sampling • Oversee and maintain all operations of the customized vehicle • Initiate and develop retail partnerships • Submit weekly recaps, reports, photos and timesheets in a timely manner • Implement social media initiatives (frequent posts on Face book, twitter, etc.) • All regional travel arrangements must be approved in advance by On Board Entertainment • May require travel outside of market I also love the fact that they are not leveraging all the "new" things (read expensive with little chance of + ROI ) with social media when their hand-to-hand combat via van style with free samples has been working all along. For some reason, Granola works in the Brand Ambassador model. Say you're at an event, someone comes by with a quick sample, it smells good, you are hungry....its an easy sell. For all the outdoor brands out there, I have to ask. What types of product are better suited to the college kid in a van model and which ones are better off under the creative control of in-house marketing or an agency? And why is it that Bear Naked can hit so much scale with this approach when there are more brands out there, with more ad budget, who can "barely" make a dent? |  Andrew has over 12 years experience in the outdoor marketplace, from running his own retail store, to helping outdoor brands market online. An active kitesurfer , hiker, camper and snowboarder...the outdoors are his passion.
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