Outdoor Retailer Show: Big Winners and parting thoughts

Best Booth:  The North Face.  Partly because they have the money to spend and partly because they have a great brand.  The entire booth reminded me of a base camp on Everest.  The domed tent feel was fun and bright and screamed technical.  TNF always does a good job of keeping a modern but rugged feel to it.  TNF has been producing quality products for so long that it doesn’t have to be gimmicky and can stick to what it is.  The same feel is on the website.  Clean and technical.  They just do what they do and they really make you see it.  The booth had a mini theater in it and showed films of accents and descents, and put you in the mood to be at the base camp with all the storied climbers.  The booth had a great feel to it and visually was the most striking.

 

2^nd place: Columbia.  They did a really good job of opening it up this year.  There were two areas, one warm side and one cool side.  The warm side was to really introduce the Omni-Heat branding and they did a wonderful job.  The booth had a Columbia montage lighting above the warm side in red’s and oranges… really cool.  I talked to the lighting and audio coordinator and he said that Columbia didn’t want to mess around and wanted to make this feel great.  The warm side had a runway where models put on two shows a day and beers flowed freely.  The booth was a close second to TNF.  Columbia in general is a brand that wants to offer something for everyone while still making it quality.  Put it just below The North Face and above Eddie Bauer for outdoor quality appearance (I’m not saying performance).  The cool side continued to show images of families and the products to be used.  The lesser impressive of the two sides but still quite impressive all together.  Side note, Columbia owns Sorel which had the models last year, this year, Sorel right next to Columbia was scaled down quite a bit, small booth, less images but still a nice clean booth.  Mountain Hardware which is owned by Columbia was surrounding Columbia along with its other brand Montrail. 

3^rd place (and most fun):  Keen.  I’ve talked about them before but it had such a good feel to it, so I’m throwing props their way again.  Nice job folks.  The lounge, the trailer, the cabin.  Cool. 

Worth Mentioning: 

Ex-Oficio.  I see them around, I’ve looked at their products and honestly, I can’t put them in a category.  Adventurous Traveler is what they preach but it’s not technical nor is it cheap enough to just wear… oh well, I guess there is a niche for them somewhere.  Croakies:  Good for them, they’re still at it.  One big push for them is fishing.  They have a new sunglass leash that is designed for the fisherman that won’t get caught.  Under Armour  has moved heavily into that arena too.  Teva: at it again, trying to be cool.  The booth was a bit smaller and closed up and didn’t have the raucus party feel to it but the DJ was there spinning (I even got a CD from it).  I thought it was OK, I would have liked to have seen something better from them after last year.   

There seems to be shoe companies all over the place 5/10 is one of those… adventurous sports is what they claim.  We’ll see how they do.  Easton, the company divested its team sports side of things to Bell-Ridell and is now focusing on mountain products and hunting (mostly bow hunting).  The offerings are pretty limited, tents, snow shoes, and trekking poles.  The products are very high quality and the branding is getting there.  While speaking to people at the booth they feel that there is a ton of potential and getting it there will be the key.  The technology is really sound and the products have a “quality” feel to them.  It’ll be fun to see where this historic brand goes. 

Outdoor Retailer Show: Icebreaker and Smartwool Follow-up

Follow up to Icebreaker and Smartwool.  I have to say that the amount of renewable fiber companies is growing now.  People are starting to pay a premium for the fibers they wear and people are becoming more conscious about it too… all part of the green movement.  

 Icebreaker has done a good job of not blasting it in your face.  The imagery was toned down a bit although the half naked man muscled out with a ram head on walking around definitely garnered some attention.  I talked with Anna a sales rep from Australia that was flown in to help with the booth.  She showed me the ID tags they put on their products which allows you to follow your product from the sheep to the factory to the story to your hands.  Kind of cool, I’ll hand it to them.  It’s a great way to infuse their sleek brand with some home grown/earthy feel.  Overall, the booth was toned down but still was clean and had a good feel to it. 

They weren’t alone in their movement.  Smartwool had a nice looking booth just a couple of booths away.  Smartwool stuck to what they are.  They are a fun brand that is moving into larger markets by offering more products.  The booth was open with a walkway from one side to another inviting people in.  They had their products lining it and the bright colors and benches were a nice relief from all of what was going on.  They did an excellent job of maintaining their brand.  Good for them and nice work!

Ibex.  A smaller brand that’s been around for about 10 years went right in the middle of the two.  The company is a “merino wool” company but has some products that use other materials like polyester and spandex to make a shell or other parts of the clothing.  Ibex is a simple but quality brand that offers pieces as base layers or lifestyle.  They have a couple of pieces like a jacket and some ski pants that are designed exclusively for comfort and to wick away moisture.  They are not water repellent and don’t claim to be.  This Vermont company is still carving out its niche in the market.  I did like their branding.  They too went with an animal from the same sub species as the sheep.  They went with an Ibex of all things.  The logo is clean and evokes some sort of imaginative exotic feel.  Not a content or educating brand it uses its uniqueness and imagery to create the want for the brand.  It’ll be interesting to see how the brand grows.

Outdoor Retailer Show: Categories and Brand Impressions

Categories-  Some very distinct categories really stood out to me while I explored all the booths.  There were some interesting categories.   

The Earth category obviously but additional categories include:

Sleek and Technical Brands: Adidas Outdoors, Arc’Teryx, Baffin, Suunto, Wenger, Sierra Design, Helly Hansen, Columbia, The North Face,

Real surprises: Keen.  They had a great booth that was really representative to their brand.  It was a lounge, laid back and built for a “hybrid life”.  The booth reminded me of a cabin or lodge somewhere.  There was a trailer that was parked that had the products.  The rest of the booth was dedicated to the branding and really building the idea that Keen means lifestyle.  I enjoyed it.

Mountain Khakis:  The brand was true to its Wyoming roots.  It’s a cross of rough mountain men/ Carhartt and REI.  I appreciated the cowboy hats and the feel the booth gave me.  Funny thing, Arbor Wear which I see as the direct competitor was there too.  They had a two man saw that if you wanted to test your lumberjack skills.  A small booth, it still had a good feel to it.  Much like the MK booth.

Still not sure what they want out of their brands:  Kuhl.  I want to like it more, I should, it’s a local Utah thing but honestly, I can’t get into the brand.  The name throws me off, it should be a cooler or something.  They really tout their pants but when I look at them they look like stuff that Michael Jackson would wear.  The threads of the seams are bright white or visible, the rivets are big and shiny… they just don’t look like a low profile pant that you wear for functionality and not to be seen.  Also not sure about what they are pitching with the whole “Rebel’s yell” thing.  I was just confused with it.  Other brands that confused me.

Hot Chilly’s: First of all, I hadn’t heard of it, second of, all the booth was a beach shack/ bar that had very attractive models walking out and posing all day long.  Poor girls, I bet they were pooped.  I couldn’t stop thinking about Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett’s branded restaurants.  I guess they had winter clothing…  the model was wearing it.  The biggest problem was just the consistency, beach brand or outdoor brand, you just can’t tell.

True to who they are:  Patagonia, Wenger, Vasque, Hi Tec, Merrell, The North Face, Mountain Hardware, Outdoor Research.  All of them pretty much took their websites and translated them to booths with more of a mountain feel to them.  Especially Hi-Tec, they are in the middle of a rebrand and looking to really expand a stogy brand.  They brought in the creative group Frank out of Portland, OR to revamp the brand.  Still they stuck to who they are.  I remember my first pair of Hi-Tec boots in 6^th grade.  I think I could still find them online if I really wanted to. 

Vasque looked the same as last year which isn’t a bad thing.  Patagonia is a tough one to crack.  They are everything but nothing… The outside of the booth looked goodish, they had a metal shack that represented the original place Patagonia started which was a cool touch.  They just didn’t overwhelm me with the brand and really make me want to buy anything with it.  But… truth be told, that’s the branding.  It’s not flashy, it’s about old school getting things done in the outdoors.  They aren’t bright and glitzy, instead they are a smooth brand known for quality and a true icon in the outdoors.  If you see someone wearing Patagonia that person gets it, knows about the outdoors and the industry.  That’s what the booth screamed to me.

Outdoor Research which I’ve mentioned before was who I said they were (Thanks Dennis Green).  Not flashy at all, just has good stuff.  Mont Bell a Canadian brand, exactly the same thing.  BTW, they are probably head on competitors.  Yesterday I say two of my friends at the dog park.  One had a Mont Bell 800 fill mid layer and the other had an 800 fill OR mid layer. Go figure.

Ski Companies are their own thing. K2, Rossignal, Dynastar, Bluehouse, Viice, Voekl etc... I'm going to have to blog about them later.  They attract skiers whereas Merrell attracts all people.  I'll leave it at that.  And because of that they are distinct in how they can brand and what they can do.  Impressive but underwhelming, and surprisingly pretty empty... again, target markets.

Outdoor Retailer Show: Overall Impression

Overall Impression – for the most part I think it was a huge success.  I enjoyed the brands that I saw and the products for the most part were good and creative.  The one thing that was resonating was the “Green” overtones to everything.  I saw so many “renewable”, “recycled”, “Earth conscious”, “green” tags in booths that I really wanted to burn a couple barrels of oil just to off set it all.  Don’t get me wrong, I think we need to take care of the place but I’m completely burnt out on this marketing ploy.  It is exhausting to have to read it all the time.  Prana, Purr and others are just examples of this, even the Merino folks at Icebreaker and Ibex were touting their “renewable” resource.  Thanks but be more creative.  There were so many different kinds of brands starting with the legacy brands like Woolrich while moving to creative products like avalanche air bags (ABS).  I loved the one off companies that were selling frisbees, dog leashes, and other stuff that really didn't matter.  One big hit was the Slack Line booth, music and muchachos doing flips always attracts people.  The big brands were there and in full effect.  I'll write about them individually.  I even got to hang with Glenn Plake... well, he was walking around and had everyone gawking at the 2 ft Mohawk he was sporting.  Honestly, I shouldn't feel like I'm bugging him if he's gonna wear it he's gonna get attention.  But all in all great show and it introduced me to some new great brands. 

A different outdoors brand: Ruffwear

I am admittedly bias to this type of product.  I have a dog that I absolutely love and she is my adventure buddy.  Through all of our adventures I came to the conclusion that she needed some equipment too.  I started doing some research on what was the best brand for dogs and Ruffwear took the cake.  Ruffwear is a company that focuses completely on products for dogs.  It's an interesting game plan they have put together, lets take a look at it deeper.

Whether they like it or not, outdoors people love their dogs (I think they would all admit it).  They are also the owner of dogs that like them love the outdoors.  Sure there are breeds that are not "sport" dogs such as Danes, Mastifs, Chiuahuas, Greyhounds and Whipits.  The dogs you do see with their owners actively participating in the outdoors are Labs, Retrievers, Collies, Australian Shepards, Spaniels, Short Hairs, Weims and others.  Interestingly enough these dogs were all bred with one idea in mind.  They were dogs that had a purpose.  Hunting and herding, these dogs were high energy and "tough".  Consequently for someone who likes the outdoors these "tough" dogs are the weapon of choice and can run a lot, stand up to a lot and in the end love getting dirty.

Ruffwear has capitalized on the market that outdoor people are going to be outdoors with their dogs.  Their products range from durable frisbees to Vibram soled booties for your dog.  We own a life jacket for our little girl that allows us to take her boating and swimming in back country lakes and we don't have to worry about her getting pooped and drowning.  Ruffwear has done a great job with making quality and useful products.  It all begins with utility and they haven't missed much at all.  The company has also put a premium on their branding and established the name Ruffwear as the leader in products for active dogs.  Their branding is a fun yet sleek brand with bright colors and a Mountain Hardware meets Nickelodeon feel to it.  The products have been so well thought out that many other knock off brands are copying them in both look and feel. 

Even hunters have bought into the utility of the products and it's  not rare to see a short hair in a corn field hunting pheasants with some Ruffwear booties on.  While the initial focus wasn't to the hunting community it just made sense that hunters use the products because their dogs are usually the hardest working dogs bar none.  In a single day hunting pheasants a dog can run up to 20+ miles.  That's a lot of wear and tear on paw and the body.  A collapsable watering dish in the middle of the day makes sense too.  All in all the brand has done a good job integrating utility with a distinguished look and quality manufacturing.

Much like the other outdoor brands Ruffwear doesn't really need to advertise, the truth is that there is much more of pull marketing scheme than a push.  People are demanding the product and Ruffwear is filling the void.  As an overall presentation on the website it leaves a lot out and doesn't create an overall experience that makes you want to purchase the products for your dog.  It's not content rich but does show some good images.  In today's market the website is your brand and how you present it along with the overall experience is unquestionably one of the biggest drivers.  The presentation also works with CRM and retention.  By adding more to website preferably in scientific studies or even just opinion based studies the company could get even a larger following.

 
In the end I think the brand will continue to grow and with more feedback on the experience and a great product they probably won't see too much of a decline in sales.  I know when I visit the site, I want more and I want to be excited to buy the product.  Fortunately for me I have some products, a pack and life jacket and I know the quality and utility.  I'll buy the product but not because of the marketing.  The brand is good, but the marketing could be better.  I do like it and think it will be okay in the future.

Update: 1/26/11  I spent a bunch of time at the Ruffwear booth.  The folks there in Bend Oregon are doing a pretty good job.  The booth was pretty good and was true to the brand, the products themselves are very niched (obviously, they are for dogs).  We had a chance to talk to a couple of the guys there.  Greg F. was really helpful and we even got to put some booties on our dog Layla.  (See video).  I enjoyed the atmosphere.  Take a look.

National Champion Macots

After last night's national championship game I started thinking about all the implications of the names flying around.  First of all you look at the teams involved: Auburn Tigers and the Oregon Ducks.  While I want to pay homage to the football gods for at least giving us a game where we have something that we all know (animals as opposed to a flower, a buckeye or wagon a sooner).  It's pretty easy to say "I'm cheering for the Ducks" or "I have the Tigers by 3".  All of this plays into a brand that the schools unknowingly assumed a hundred years back when they decided on a mascot. 

I mentioned in a previous post that mascots were part of the branding of a team and that it didn't really matter what you chose because sports are a completely different breed.  I even used The Oregon Ducks as an example of this.  The good thing the Ducks have going for them is that they are the only real team with any significance with that name.  The Tigers on the other hand have numerous other schools and professional teams with the same name.  LSU Tigers, Detroit Tigers, Missouri Tigers... you get the picture.  Auburn has adopted something else called the War Eagle which is the mascot in waiting.  They don't have a team that the the name but it is basically a war cry or moniker to differentiate them... now that is branding and a better brand than just a tiger. 


I guess that’s why it’s easier to just say Auburn or Oregon then there is no fall out with the mascots… oh well, sports and mascots.  Gotta love the brands.

The Anatomy of a Bowl Game

Onward to the game.  The championship game is rotated between the 4 BCS games and is a fifth game played.  Tostitos has the sponsorship for this one.  Some people might ask what it means to sponsor a bowl?  Well let me start with what the sponsor pays for:  The sponsor pays to rent the stadium, they pay for promotions to go on around the game, i.e. team activities, they pay for the payout mostly( the NCAA is involved somewhat with this).  They get their name attached to a game that everyone is going to be watching.  They get ad space around the stadium wherever the logo is posted and all of this has to make sense for them.  The company (Frito Lays) has to assume that they are going to boost their revenue with the advertising by more than $17-20MM with all of the publicity.  They can use some of it as a tax write off but don’t let them fool you, it’s not about providing a great atmosphere for deserving student athletes, nope, it’s all about the Benjimans.  Wow, that was cliché. 

Schools benefit also from these deals… sometimes.  Take for example the New Mexico bowl.  UTEP vs. BYU.  Each school receives about $250K that is disseminated back into their respective conferences.  The team keeps a larger portion but then it is split up among the teams in the athletic department.  Take BYU who makes $250K, they give up about $100-150K to the conference.  Lets just say $100.  So they take home $150, they have to pay for a chartered flight from Salt Lake City to transport everyone and everything ($15K), they pay for hotels and accommodations for all ($15K).  They buy all the tickets allotted to them and have to sell them, if they don’t sell them they eat the cost.  If you think about it the BYU program maybe saw $10K from playing in a bowl game this year and that’s even a stretch.

UCONN ate about $1MM by playing in the Fiesta Bowl on the tickets.  They couldn’t sell them.  When it’s all said and done the lesser bowls and now even the bigger bowls end up being about endorsements and who sponsors them.  The companies doing the sponsorships are getting great face time during bowl season and their name attached to that game.  It’s target market specific and ESPN will broadcast your game to the world!  It’s a pretty good deal for the teams.  That’s why you see some of the most random sponsorships like: The BBVA Compass Bowl, The Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, Advo Care 1000 Independence Bowl… and the list goes on and on.  The lesser sponsors ride the coat tails, give free products to the players, and get some relatively cheap advertising.  What a crazy world we live in.  My hat is off to the bowl people, they know how to make money, make other people money.  That is the anatomy of a bowl. 

The Flawed Brand of a Champion: Cam Newton

 People sometimes don't realize it but they are creating brands of themselves.  Heisman Trophy winner Scam or I mean Cam Newton has developed quite a brand for himself.  Not many people want to see him succeed because of it.  He is a physical specimen at 6'6" and 250 lbs he runs incredibly well and has a very strong arm.  He was a man playing among boys during this college year.  That doesn't take away from what he's done as a person.  He started playing football at Florida.  Rode the pine behind some guy named Tim Tebow.  He was kicked out of school because he was in possession of a stolen laptop.  Did he take it or not?  Well, it's a lot like what happened next in his career.  He went to Binn College, played really really well and had his dad pimping him out to the highest bidder.  He told Mississippi State that he wanted "$180,000" for his son to go play there.  I highly doubt that, it started out higher and then ended up at that some.  The point is he had "plausable deniability".  He basically said that he didn't know anything about it... right.  No harm no foul.  The only difference was that he had the laptop in his possession.

He goes on to lead the SEC in rushing and passing efficiency and wins the Heisman Trophy.  Some people say that it's going to be Reggie Bush all over again because of the chaos surrounding him.  Regardless the brand that he's created isn't pretty.  He has a black mark next to his name.  When someone talks about him they are always going to think about the incidents and what it means to his success.  Interestingly enough one place that isn't as forgiving as college football is the NFL.  The NFL loves "character guys".  Guys who come in and bring the morale of the locker room up, guys who the coach never worries about.  Tim Tebow was a great college player, and is yet to be determined on the NFL level but got himself picked in the first round because he is a "Character Guy".  Look at former #1 overall draft pick Jamarcus Russell, #2 Ryan Leaf.  Physically gifted, blessed, given an incredible amount of talent but NOT character guys.  Out of the league in 3 - 4 years and never coming close to meeting their potential.  The NFL is leery of these guys and Cam Newton may have won the Heisman, National Championship, and have some incredible tools but at the end of the day his brand is flawed.

Another example of a non-character guy is Vince Young.  VY had/ some eerily similar  skill set as Scam.  He went in the first round #3.  VY had his ups and downs in the league but ultimately didn't play like a #3 pick.  He'll land somewhere else but he's not going to be around Tennessee anymore.  The interesting thing with VY was his lack of endorsements.  Spalding was one of the only major brands to pick him up.  He appeared in one commercial and that was about it.  His initial endorsement deal was with NetSpend a prepaid debit card company.  Basically they all just dried up.  VY wasn't holding up his end of the branding deal.  Known as a powter in the locker room VY didn't help himself with the way he handled situations.  It's a tricky game, the celebrity has to put on a good face to get good publicity which drives his or her appeal which earns him or her more money.  That didn't happen for VY and the results are pretty much a total loss of endorsement deals. 

It will be interesting to see how Cam Newton's career progresses.  If he's a winner in the NFL and keeps his nose clean he'll get some deals, if not, well he already has the cards stacked against him.  His father obviously didn't do him any favors but from the beginning the kid had some question marks.  He's no Sam Bradford or Ndamukong Suh who came out of college looking like angels and pretty much have the world at their finger tips.  Both will make more money with initial contracts (partly because of the new CBA that we hope is put in place) because of "character".  It's too bad to see it go to waste but we ultimately pay for bad decisions we make along the way.  In Cam's case, he pays with millions he's lost or will lose with the endorsement deals.  Cam Newton, a Flawed Champion.  What a shame.

Steel Horse Smiles Campgain

I had a great opportunity to work on a non-profit campaign this past summer that turned out to be a huge success.  I was involved with the Humanitarian Endeavors Foundation out of Roosevelt Utah.  The foundation consists of a bunch of do-gooder health care professionals along with some huge hearted men from the area.  The goal was to raise between $50-$75K to go towards dental care for under served areas of the state.  The Ute Indian reservation was/is a major focus for the Foundation along with other reservations around the West.

The campaign consisted of donations of $25 earning the opportunity to win a $25K motorcycle.  People could buy as many tickets as they wanted and in the end the campaign raised $55K.  I created the name (Steel Horse Smiles... a steel horse is a motorcycle), the logo, the tagline (helping Utah's children smile brighter), and the marketing materials. I also worked with the HEF (Humanitarian Endeavors Foundation) to create high visibility locations to sell tickets aside from word of mouth.  This included booths at local activities, radio spots, and posters strategically positioned.  I also created the website as a reference point.  It was a great opportunity to give back and to put my branding skills to work.  I look forward to next year's campaign and working with them more.  Here is a look at the poster and the logo:

Warren Miller Street Team Marketing Plan - Wintervention

I recently was a part of the Warren Miller Street Team.  This basically meant that I would volunteer my efforts to market the movie Wintervention if Warren Miller supplied the fliers and posters along with a video.  I have to say it was fun to approach it from a very professional point of view.  Brian Hauser wrote me back after I proposed my marketing plan and said "This sounds awesome!  Very professional like you've had some experience before!".  I obviously didn't tell him that I was a marketing professional and that I was doing everything out of the love of the sport (skiing).  Here was my marketing plan I designed for Warren Miller:

Brian,

I'll need 12 posters, I will need 250 handbills, I wear an XL shirt and My market is the greater Salt Lake City area.

I'm making signs to post on lawns with them, also I have access to various apartment buildings along the Wasatch Front, AKA the Salt Lake market.  I'm going to strategically place them on friends lawns and then have mobile signs to walk around with at large sporting events such as University of Utah and BYU football games.  I'm making a mobile sign (laminated w/ magnet back) to put on my car and going to REI and parking in the parking lot for a day.

I'm also having lawn viewing parties of past Warren Miller films (that I get through netflix) and showing the preview of Wintervention.

The big push for us is the scene from Southern Utah, we really want to promote Utah as an amazing ski destination and along side a close associate of mine who is a producer and director we plan on really using that part of the film as a spring board to gain some momentum leading into the season.

I plan on doing word of mouth marketing along with the mobile signs at ski swaps that are being held in the region.

The focus is the target market, if someone is at a ski swap and REI there is a good chance that they are the ones who are going to be attending the movie.

Park City is another target market, I have meetings regularly in Park City and will take 15-20 minutes talking to each ski shop making sure they have info on the movie... using fliers and wearing the apparel.

I'm focusing on high volume areas where the results will be the greatest.

My brother in law is a college student and a strong proponent of WM films and is very excited about the film... he is targeting the ski and snowboard club at BYU to distribute the fliers and the good word.  He will also sport a poster turned magnet on his car in a very outdoor centric university.

We plan on having a booth (a table) at upcoming social events in the valley, such as dances.  Games and outside of public events like corn mazes and haunted houses (for this we sill use a 4 runner that has a system, we'll have fliers and posters for this).


I have 7 events targeted : Oct. 23 U of U football game (tailgate type high visibility event), Oct. 9 BYU football game (High visibility tailgate event), Oct. 23 BYU football game (High visibility Tailgate event), Oct. 14,22, Park City High School Football games, and two other events to be named along with other smaller social events.

A strong word of mouth and Facebook push will be a focus for the local campaign.

Thanks,
 
Ryan

I didn't make it to all the events, winter storms and family life got in the way of some of it but I did do quite a bit of it and if I had a full team under me we would have knocked this thing out of the ball park.  Wintervention was a huge success and most all of the theaters were full across the area.  It was pretty gratifying to see this happen.  I'm going to wear my Street Team shirt with pride now.... the things I do for the love of the sport.