Archive for May, 2009

Sales Meetings

May 28, 2009 | tags: , , , ,

It’s that time of year when brands spend an enormous amount of time preparing and presenting new product, sales material, and shifts in strategy to the sales force. It’s also a good time for building positive momentum that carries into the market place.

I’ve been to many of these and have always been struck by, in general, how well the event was managed. It seems to consume all facets of the company, including the top. Recently I’ve been communicating with executives and they have all been saying that “for the next two weeks I am out of pocket. Have the sales meeting coming up?

I have a suggestion on how to further leverage all those dollars invested in sales meetings

The Sales Meeting is still aimed at Sales Reps and their organizations. Not to minimize reps, but there are other forces at work besides the reps. Your online retail partners, powerful bloggers, athletes…all of these have growing influence in New Media.

Bring all of these forces together at once. Have each entity present to the group. Choose a rep to talk about challenges and potential solutions as they present, sell and clinic in the traditional distribution system. Have that rep talk about what rep orgs are diving into new media, and the results. (Pemba Serves comes to mind here.)

Also have a major blogger/influencer in the new media outdoor space address the group. One who is on board with the brand and its products. Have him or her talk about the trends…what’s working for brands and what isn’t. Give examples.

Same with a traditional retailer and an online retailer. Have each address their markets and what they are seeing.

Give each group 1/2 hour. Then at the end of the sales meeting set aside two hours for brainstorming about the brand and what it should be doing the following year. Have brand leadership in these meetings and taking notes.

Now, you have a sales meeting that is addressing the ever growing distribution system.

And leverage? All will be talking, blogging and tweeting about the exciting future of the brand.

Paul Kirwin

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

A Ride Down the Wrong Road

May 19, 2009 | tags: , , , , ,

I was sent a post the other day by Carson Stanwood, long time PR Guy in the outdoor and bike verticals. It was an article in the Competitive Cyclist about the bike industry and what Specialized and Trek were doing to dramatically reduce inventories of high-end bikes. 

Here it is in a nutshell. Specialized and Trek are both offering over $1000 in a cash back offer to consumers. Participating retailers will need to pony up at least $14,000 to buy the high-end bikes from one of the brands. And retailers are expected to kick-in 45% of the cash back to the consumers.

Bike retailers make about 6% margin on high-end performance bikes. So for this program, when you include buying the inventory, and the 45% of the cash back to the consumer…retailer margins will be somewhere in the area of 2-3%. Not a sustainable business model. 

I hope the rest of the industry will not go this way. Why?

1. We further educate consumers to not only look for huge discounts but to expect them. And there is a big difference in the two. 

2.  This short term solution to a long term problem is bad for business. Long manufacturing lead times are the problem. Sporting goods manufacturers must come up with a production model that can better react to a changing marketplace. Market dynamics will happen again, and again. And the short term solution to an inflated inventory? Deep discounts for an ever smarter consumer base.

3. Manufacturers and retailers need to talk more. What…retailers didn’t pick up on the signs of a recession in the Fall of 2008 when they placed their orders? And by the end of the year when the recession was at full throttle, manufacturers didn’t think to put some real heat on the retailers about their rosy orders?

Here’s a possible path to the solution. Pre-sell.

Manufacturers should get their high-end product protos and product information out there earlier to the retailers and to the public. Create demand. Get the protos into the shops and let the consumers touch and feel them. Let the salespeople get all goofy over these products. Retailers should then take advanced orders and tell consumers that there will be a limited run…so if you want this baby, put your order in now, with a down payment.

Retailer: “Our shop will only be ordering a very few of these bikes over our pre-order number.” Consumer: “Oh, you’d save one for me wouldn’t you?”  Retailer: ” Nope. That’s the reason for the pre-order.”

And manufacturers should use the blogosphere to create the pre-sell buzz. Show your influencers. Let them ride the bike. See all the product info. And they’ll publish. And consumers will read.

The resulting buzz will make it easier for retailers to get commitments from consumers…and retailers, in turn, to make commitments to manufacturers.

What is that I’m smellin. Is that the sizzle?

Paul Kirwin

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

You Tube for Your Brand? Really.

May 13, 2009

eMarketer is reporting that advertising and public relations executives will be spending more of their clients’ money on videos this year. The consensus is that video carries a wallop when it comes to messaging. Brand executives are pushing back saying they are concerned about targeting and reach. 

Bingo. 

Targeting. When a brand produces a targeted video for You Tube or another distribution channel (Vimeo, Daily Motion, etc.) it will not succeed by itself. The videos that thrive are circus videos…the spills, the weird, and the purely entertaining. Most of the outdoor recreation brands are putting product videos up on the distribution channels and getting anywhere from 1,000 to 7,500 views on average for the run. They are targeted to the enthusiast but they are not interesting to the masses and they generate no buzz…not even with enthusiasts. So, after a brand factors in the cost of production, is a viewing audience of 3,000 worth it?  I think not. And remember…it has no long tail to it. A product video is gone with the season.  

Reach. By definition a brand’s video will be targeted so the reach will be small. Again, You Tube is for the masses. The people have spoken and they want entertainment. 

So, what works?  This works.

 YouTube Preview Image

Why did that virally explode?

1. Was entertaining.

2. Was different. 

2. Was authentic. Real voices. Real people. 

4. Had a strong message. 

So instead of spending $40,000 to produce a wannabe video that looks not slick…but really is slick and fooling no one…here’s an idea. 

Outdoor recreational brands should buy 100 cameras. Outfit your athletes and your disciples. Tell’em to go out there to the mountains, oceans and deserts and make videos. No longer than five minutes. Has to be creative. And have a storyline where the brand plays a part. The 10 best videos will receive a thousand dollar cash award.

Cost=100 X $200 (for a Sony Camcorder)= $20,000. 10 X $1,000=10k. So, for a $30,000 investment a brand gets a 100 videos. All of them go up on You Tube. And the top ten are pushed through the web site, FaceBook, Twitter, and other social outlets. The great videos will virally explode. Publicity opportunities will be everywhere. 

And guess what? All the videos will be targeted, and collectively all will have reach. 

Now, go out there and get wiki.

Paul Kirwin

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

The Next Big Thing

May 7, 2009 | tags: , , , , , , ,

 

I read a short good article today in Junta42 about what will be the next big thing. And that is media becoming part of a brand. I started reflecting back on my Channel Signal presentations to some of the larger players in the outdoor recreational space in the last couple of weeks. That same question was asked by the company leaders. Maybe not in these exact words, but the dialogue is close. 

CEO: “So, where are we going with all of this? I get the importance of new media, but where is this taking my company?” 

Me: “You will become a media company along with a manufacturer.” 

Then I get the stare. 

CEO: “We know nothing about media, we make products.”  

Me: ” You make products and your customers now want to know how to best use them and perform better with them. And that means you publish that information as part of your product and brand offerings. 

CEO: “How do we get paid for that?”

Me: “The better the information and the better your distribution of that information, the more your brand and products spread throughout new media. And the more it spreads, the more consumers will learn and ask about your brand and products. Your sales go up.” 

CEO: “So, how do we distribute this information? I know we can develop the content, but how do we get it out there?”  

Me: “Find the influencers in your vertical markets?”

Another stare while this info gets processed. 

CEO: “What can they do for us?”

Me: “Spread your brand, product, and messaging faster and better than anything you’ve ever done in the past.”

A pause.

CEO: “If that is the case, then we need to think about the long term restructuring of this company.” 

 

And that leader is on his/her way to sustained growth.

“Ship to ship.” — Kirk, “Hailing frequencies open.” — Uhura,

Paul Kirwin

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

It Is Our Time

May 2, 2009 | tags: , , , , ,

TIME has just come out with its top 100 Influencers. Fine. Movers and shakers in their industries. National prominence. Operating in the stratosphere. Good for them. This has prompted me to consider their importance to the outdoor recreational industry. Sure, its important if Bono has an outdoor brand on his feet. But really, will that grow our businesses, in the long run? I don’t think so. What will?

Let’s start here. In the last few weeks I have been on the road presenting Channel Signal to major companies in the outdoor space. I have been struck by how open they are to new media, how they understand it as a new marketing/pr vehicle, and that they need to engage. Why? Because they get that our industry is made up of millions of enthusiasts, disciples, gear heads, adrenaline junkies, huckers…whatever you want to call them. Many are influencers and that is the point. They talk with lots of people. 

And many of these influencers use new media to communicate about new gear, a great new single-track, a new climbing route. Their friends listen to them. Influencers have reach in their universe and there are many influencers and universes out there. And these networks are becoming more and more local. 

Why is this so important right now? Because the recession has made backyard recreation option one. Traveling to the Santa Rosa area last week, I was struck by how many bikers, joggers, and hikers I saw. More than I’ve ever seen before. 

In Park City, Utah, where I live, the city is building new trails and can’t seem to keep up with the demand. People are staying home and they must find new ways to deal with the stress of everyday life. They look at the window and see a whole new world. 

Will a consumer spend a couple hundred bucks for running shoes if she thinks it will help with the quality of her life? Yep. Will a consumer spend a couple thousands bucks if he has a vision of himself taking long road bike rides with friends to get his mind off work? Yep. 

Is the family going to Hawaii? Nope. Florida? Nope. The Rockies? Nope. Are the kids enrolled in summer soccer? Yep. 

It is a perfect time for the outdoor recreational industry to find the local influencers, engage them, educate them about new products, new ways to improve performance, and new grassroots initiatives being undertaken by the company. 

You reach them through New Media. Twitter, Facebook, the Blogsphere. They learn and they text. Most charge up their phones at night and use that communication device all day and half the night.

Text Talk: 

A: Where r u?

B: On Flag. Gonna boulder

A. Wanna come but got Sally w/me. 

B. Bring her. We’ll teach her. 

A. Cool. See u in few.  

Get there. These Influencers have always been our bread and butter. Our biggest salesforce. And with the recession in full swing, get there faster. Local areas from North Carolina to Wisconsin to the Cascades are buzzing.

There is a there to there. It’s new media, and with it you can be everywhere. 

Get there.

Paul Kirwin

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal