TNF and REI have just come out with iPhone applications that provide great information about ski and snowboard conditions at various resorts. Good idea. Both brands can benefit from providing a service and driving traffic to their branded apps.  You can learn the weather report, get snow depths, get directions, and view trail maps, all on your iPhone while driving to the lifts. 

And here is my problem: neither app completes the loop. Shouldn’t these apps help the consumer find where to buy products from these companies? Shouldn’t it be easy to do that? After all, aren’t both companies in the business of selling stuff, good stuff, to consumers? And shouldn’t this app help do that?

Why aren’t store locations on the resort main pages of the apps?  In order to find a store at a resort, you have to go onto their web sites, find the dealer locator, and plug in your location. A lot of steps.  

Let’s say I’m traveling to Breckenridge.  So I connect in with the app and get the resort information. High of 10 degrees F today. Now, what I really want is a pair of gloves because mine are too light for stinging cold. Hey! Right here on the main page is a nearby REI store where I can pick up gloves. Cool. Now, REI just supplied great information AND sold something to a willing customer. The loop is complete. 

Sorry to disagree with many in the New Media universe, but if New Media can’t connect back into selling stuff, then it will die. REI and TNF are not media companies who publish content and then profit from the advertising. They make money by selling stuff. So when they publish they must build a road back to selling stuff…or they are losing time, money and market share.  

Great idea on the app. Now REI and TNF…place your store locations or dealers on the resort main pages. And after that track who is using the apps, where they are riding, and start promoting the service and the stores in the target markets.

For the next few days my life will be filled with family. The Kirwin/Child clan typically is loud, talks all the time, and interrupts constantly. It is chaos. I grew up with it, love it, and will be in the middle of it for the next few days. 

I will also take time to spiritually express my gratitude to the greater power who blessed my life with such abundance. 

This year the Kirwin family lost our matriarch, my Mom. She was the center of the universe for our family. From head cheerleader to guidance counselor she was always there for all of us. Her voice is still strong. It only comes now in different ways.

Happy Holidays to you and all of yours.

Just read a great piece of research called Grounding the American Dream. Put together by Context Based Research Group and Carton Donofrio Partners, Inc.,  it makes some strong points that outdoor recreational businesses ought to examine.  Here’s a short entertaining video on the Grounded Consumer.

Here’s my take. 

1. “What you buy is not who you are.” Consumers are now realizing that purchases don’t reflect personal identity. So, purchasing is going through a tougher filter.

2. “Living on credit sucks.” Consumers don’t want that monkey on their back anymore. Enough and be gone.

3. ” Me is okay, we is better.” Consumers are beginning to balance what is good for them with what is good for others in their lives…family, friends, and social issues. 

4. “Too much stuff.” The late George Carlin had a great bit about “stuff”. Everybody needs places to put stuff. Well, consumers are realizing they have too much stuff. It costs money and much of sits idle.

5. “I want to change, but keep the stuff that is important.”  All of the above points lead to consumers making major decisions about lifestyle, personal identity, and social causes. 

What does this mean for the outdoor industry? Some good things, I think. People will take their recreational pursuits seriously. And they will continue to purchase outdoor recreational stuff because that part of their identities will stay in tact. They like that about themselves. 

In fact, Snowsports Industry of America is reporting that sales figures are up over last season: 6% for integrated ski systems and 8% for winter apparel. And the Outdoor Industry Association reports that October core store sales grew by 8% over October of 2007.

New media is helping here. Thousands and thousands of consumer reviews are being read every day by thousands other consumers. This viral link is driving consumers into brick and mortar or online and giving them the confidence that the product is a good buy, and well worth it. 

Another good thing. Our industry has over designed and over-enginnered the crap out of our hard and softgoods for so long that we don’t know any other way. We have two different technologies in our socks! So…our stuff is good stuff and it lasts a long time. 

Now, we need to go sell that through the new media channels. Why? Because that’s where many of these new consumers will interact about an important part of their revamped lifestyles.

I just read this morning that Sony plans on cutting 16,000 positions. This comes on the heels of the Tribune Media Company filing for bankrupcy and the Republic Window and Doors company in Chicago closing its doors. The Republic employees refused to leave because they are owed severance and vacation pay. Bank of America was in the middle of the problem. Employees expressed outrage because BOA got a federal handout and withheld critical funds to pay off the employees. Initially BOA believed that not extending the line of credit and just closing the business was good business. Now the bank has come forward with the money to pay employees severance, vacation, and a couple of months of health insurance. 

This is not a typical recession. The federal government is giving hand-outs to banks, the auto-makers, and perhaps other “critical” sectors of the economy. Once the government started with the 700 billion dollar program it opened the flood-gate for all businesses, and their employees to ask, why not me? Good question. Small companies make up 85% of the American workforce. Where do you draw the line?

Recessions mean lay-offs. And lay-offs mean disgruntled workers. With new media these workers can publish their opinions for the world to review and share. I believe as the recession deepens blogs, forums, and microsites will be flooded with negative material about the government, companies, and their leaders.  This will not help the overall economic situation and could even spiral the economy further down the drain. 

Many of these people will have a “beef”, but most of the time publishing an opinion will not help that individual. It will just sound like sour grapes, unless that fired worker’s cause is picked up by others and it gathers steam. In that case, there is probably some real injustice being done and the company now has a problem. 

Companies must communicate, in advance, with all employees about the economic state of the company. Timely updates clear up confusion and stop speculation in a work force. When employees are let go, companies should do it in a conversation, and then have programs in place to help with the transition. Companies are groups of people. And when companies forget that, humanity flies out the door.  And that may circle back in the form of negative new media. 

I promised to write about the Motrin incident, but there has been so much happening, that I am blending that topic with a couple of others: BPA problem and Mumbai/Twitter. 

Recently, Motrin run a tv spot about women carrying their babies with them wherever they went. Here’s the spot. 

Moms with babies didn’t like it. They thought Motrin was poking fun at them, snickering about having to always be with the baby. Motrin was making the primary point that Moms were having backaches, neck and shoulder problems due to lugging junior around. Mom’s were having none of that either. So some angry Moms deployed new media (especially Twitter), which caught on like wild fire, and led to more postings. And that led to YouTube videos. Here’s one Mom talking back.

Ouch! So, Motrin waited three days, three days, before responding to the outcry. Too late, the damage was done. So, the company wrote an apology. I didn’t see it, but several blogs reported that it sounded as if was written by a committee. Bland. Impersonal. More gas on the fire. 

This is similar to the BPA problem that struck the Outdoor Industry.  Bad stuff leaching into the water from the plastic in the water bottles had been living on the blogsphere for 2 years; however, when it caught fire it exploded. And that’s the point with both the Motrin and BPA situations…they can explode immediately or be ignored for awhile and then explode. The lesson for all outdoor companies? If you pick up a potential problem about your products or brand on online media, don’t wait. Early detection and action can make a small problem small. It can also make a potentially big problem small.

Now, quickly to Mumbai. Last Friday night I was monitoring Twitter on the Mumbai crisis. There was so much conversation “on the ground” that it was chaotic, real, unfocused, and confusing. Twitter was updating every twenty seconds. Posts like “heard another explosion”, ” more gunfire”, and  ”more troops coming.”  I’m sure these posts reflected the chaos that continued to unfold in the hot spots.

Millions are using new media to report, whether on news events or product performance.  And all companies are in the mix. Your company may not be in the conversation at the moment, but when your moment comes you need to be ready…for the good and the bad.