See the Changes                                            

 She has seen me changing

It ain’t easy rearranging

And it gets harder as you get older,

Farther away as you get closer.

Words and Music by Stephen Stills

I’ve had people contact me about what “Selling to Ourselves” means. So I thought I would elaborate as it pertains to the outdoor recreational industry, and then address the changes that are necessary. 

Selling to ourselves means:

• Manufacturers selling to the same retailers in the distribution system.
• Retailers buying from the same larger brands as a safety net during a recession.
• Brands employing the same marketing tools to reach the same outdoor enthusiasts.
• Retailers marketing to their tried and true set of customers.              

 What happens then?

• No new retailers (brick-mortar & online)  entering the outdoor recreational space.
• Fewer new innovative small manufacturers. Money is hard to get, expensive and tough when the market isn’t growing.    
• New consumers are not attracted to the market because it is shrinking
• Interested new consumers have fewer places to buy.
• New consumers have less choice when they do shop.

This is a video I recorded today at the Outdoor Retailer Show. We must not fall into the trap of complacency. We must do things differently. 

  Over a thousand people gathered at the Sundance Film Festival to watch the inauguration ceremonies. Located at the bottom of Main Street in Park City, Utah, large screens were set up for all to see and hear. And when at noon, even before the swearing in, Wolf Blitzer of CNN announced that Barack Obama was now officially the 44th President of the United States, the crowd went wild. I caught the tail end of it in this video.      

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Obama’s speech was uplifting. The whole day has just been a big positive except for the collapse of Senator Ted Kennedy. Best wishes to him. 

The crowd was attentive, enthusiastic, and emotional. Probably much like it was all over the country. What a day.

With the recession comes more people losing their jobs and having time on their hands. The is already competing with television as the leisure time activity of choice. As more people get laid off, there will be more of us online.

According to Harris Interactive at-home online usage is far outweighing at-work usage. In my view people are online finding jobs, searching for additional training, reading about the economic climate trying to get a handle on the future, or just killing time entertaining themselves with things that interest them. 

Here’s the yearly rise in at-home usage:

Take a look at how the U.S. ranks with other countries in leisure time spent online: 

Now this data was recorded basically before the recession. I think these numbers are going up on a daily basis as people find themselves out of work. 

With all of this online activity one can only imagine the overall positive impact on companies with a vibrant online presence. People are online, they are fishing around, and many will land on what is interesting. These are big numbers we are talking about. A company that is publishing strong content will attract a percentage of this population; again, big numbers. The interest in a brand will grow, the buzz will grow, and sales will grow. Will sales grow immediately? No, due to people cutting back. However, impressions last a while, and when people get back on their feet they will remember the solid information provided by the good brands. 

Is this a good thing? Yes, if you are a company engaging in new media. 

Recently the news has been full of references to the new president-elect fighting to keep his Blackberry. Apparently Mr. Obama likes the instant unfiltered communications he gets from his family, team members, trusted friends, and consultants. This worked particularly well for him during the campaign. He’d be in Boston and could receive an immediate update about how things are going in California, or about a problem in Florida. He was in the loop…in fact, the center of the loop. 

He’s a new media guy and likes the instant communication. It keeps him grounded.  Now the secret service is telling him that because of security reasons it’s back to the bat phone. He is now forced to  operate in a cocoon where all of the information is filtered and often biased. This new president wants information from all angles, unlike his predecessor who liked one page briefs from the inner circle. 

If I was the CEO of RIM, the maker of the Blackberry, I would get a message to the White House and tell them I am willing to send my top team of technicians and work with the secret service to make every message from Obama’s Blackberry secure. How? Don’t know, but I bet there’s a way. 

The bat phone mentality will only frustrate this new president. He won because he was connected, totally, with his team, and his team with the American people. For him to effectively lead, he can not be cut off from the strum and drang of America. He thrives on it. So do many of us, and that’s why New Media needs to be worked into the presidency. It will be good for democracy.

Let’s say a company has 200 employees. And the company itself has no New Media strategy or presence. Well, that company has a presence by default because it is likely that at least 40% of those employees are on Facebook, My Space, Twitter, posting on Blogs, have their own Blogs, etc. And what do they talk about? Themselves, which means they talk about work at least some of the time. They carry a message into the marketplace about the company, for good or bad.  

What is the best approach for engaging online? Decentralized where employees carry the New Media load or centralized where the company carries the load with a strategy and an execution plan.  

1. Decentralized: 

        a. Employees are personally engaging online and, at times,  represent the company. If all employees are loyal well-trained ambassadors of the company this can be good. A lot of voices saying generally, the same thing. 

        b. And it can be bad. An employee with an ax to grind about compensation, vacation policy, or management can create a problem, especially if it gets picked up by others and becomes viral. 

       c. There is no way to measure this kind of unsupervised activity, no metrics for the company. 

       d. The brand called Me. Employees are not employees when online for personal reasons. They are ever mindful of branding themselves for a variety of reasons, one  is furthering a career. Nothing wrong with it. Just don’t expect the company to compete with that. 

2. Centralized:

        a. A company has a strategy in place, an engame for New Media conversations.

        b. An employee or department is responsible for the company’s New Media Presence. H/she has the power to engage other departments and solicit help with responses.

        b. Metrics are assigned in the pursuit of a meaningful ROI for the effort.  

        d. Employees who have their own online presence know the general strategy of the company and are mindful to perpetuate it when addressing work or the company.

        e. The branding, product, and service conversations are all real-time feedback for the company. 

3. A Mix of Decentralized and Centralized

       a. This is probably what is happening with many companies who have embraced new media. 

       b. The companies have a strategy, execute the strategy, assign responsibility, engage in the collective conversation, and measure. 

       c. Most all departments are touched by New Media, so many of the employees are tuned into the company strategy, have engaged as a company rep, and now take it personally when a blogger’s sentiment is negative about the company. “Hey, that’s my department he’s talkin’ about!”

It’s not hard to figure out that I’m on the side of a centralized approach to New Media. When the company engages, employees engage. Often, on their own time and in their own voice… to the benefit of the company. Can’t get much better than that.