In recent conversations I have been painfully reminded that many me-too brands in the Outdoor Industry are not building solid funnels but building buckets with holes and no bottom.

How? Well, these companies crow that they have a Web Site, Facebook Page, are on Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr.

And consumers are initially engaging…entering the bucket. But they are not directed or invited to go anywhere.  They  just sit in the bucket, quickly draining to the bottom…without direction.

And then an analyst from Channel Signal investigates. We find that they had good sign-up for the Facebook page, a decent  following on Twitter, and that YouTube and Flickr had good traffic, but that it fell off quickly.

Why did the traffic fall off?  Because these companies did not allocate the resources to engage. Employees were not assigned to respond to consumers, and direct them to the next point of interest. Consumer questions and comments went unanswered. They were not invited to go to Facebook or the Website, or YouTube, or a User Group. And because there was no natural momentum of engagement, no funnel, consumers were stranded and then took the easy way out….quickly out the bottom of the bucket. They were invited to the conversation and then nobody talked to them.

So they didn’t stick around. And  they took all of their knowledge about the brand with them.

A study by the Chief Marketing Council shows that 38 percent of the 480 executives in the industries surveyed say their companies have no programs in place to track or propagate positive word of mouth among customers. And only 29 percent rate highly their ability to handle and resolve customer problems or complaints

All that money to make products that attract consumers. All that money to sell into retail. All that money for advertising to attract consumers. All that money to set up conversation channels.  And then the pay-off…consumers responding online by engaging in one of the channels. And…

And silence. All that wonderful potential data about consumers and what they like and don’t like about your brand and products…out the bottom of the bucket. And all those potential Influencers, gone.

Never to be captured again.

Say goodbye to measuring ROI.

Recently I was in downtown Salt Lake and came across two people begging for money, clothing, anything. This time I looked closely, without the “go find a job” attitude that I normally carry. These were people who were looking for jobs. The signs were heartfelt, and I thought, authentic. I believed they would drop everything and follow me if I offered them a job. 

And then I started thinking about all of the excess inventory that the outdoor recreational industry dumps every year. Jackets, socks, pants, long underwear. Inventory that manufacturers try to hide from retailers by putting the stuff in the backchannels and then the product sells for dirt cheap. Or retailers try to hide excess inventory from the manufacturers by going online under another banner and selling stuff at a steep discount. (More about that in a post coming up.) 

Is there a better way?

I think so. Here’s an idea. 

Instead of dumping inventory into these back channels, take it and offer it to the out-of-work/homeless folks in ten major cities. It comes with a price tag. To receive the clothing package each person-in-need must sign-up for the brand’s environmental or humanitarian cause in that city.

Brand volunteers go out into a city and find the real people who want to work and contribute. These people get assigned to a project and are told where and when to show up. River clean-ups, parks, beach clean-ups…there are a millions projects out there. 

The projects last for a weekend. On Saturday and Sunday…breakfast, lunch, and a dinner will be served to the homeless at the project locations. At the end of that weekend the volunteers get a great clothing package from the outdoor manufacturer. 

Local retailers would volunteer and offer other types of support… and benefit by having their establishments featured in the local press. 

Can you imagine the public relations benefits of such a program? Every local television station would go “live” from a volunteer location. Radio and print would be all over it. And in ten cities. Get your PR folks to talk with the big guns…like The Today Show, GMA, etc. Would this appeal to them? Uhhhh, yea. A manufacturer giving back to ten cities and to the folks who need some help. Headline:  Manufacturer, Homeless, and Local Environmental Groups Combine To Make A Difference. 

And new media would take the story and run with it. Outdoor blogs. Green blogs. Political blogs. Big time. Bloggers would be wondering how else we can employ the unemployed for the benefit of all? Twitter would be on fire with the brand volunteers, press, bloggers, etc.  who witnessed these events. 

So, instead of dumping product, a manufacturer is putting that clothing to good use. And leveraging it by getting more publicity then that manufacturer has gotten in the last three years-combined.

Too expensive? How expensive is it to find a home for all excess inventory that disappears without profit, with no benefit to the company, and all the while contributing to price erosion?

So find a home for that excess inventory in a place of gratitude, work, and good will. Who knows, the company might change lives, and those are follow-up stories worth gold. 

Outdoor recreation has soul. I’ve seen it. Show more, and the benefits to the company will come in all forms.

Homeless person to a brand representative:  ”Thank you for the long underwear. I’d like to help further with the clean-up. Will you be doing this again?”

The last day of the OR Show is basically a throwaway. Many retailers are gone. Senior management is gone. Those still at the show are shopping for discounts and all are just waiting for three o’clock to break down the booths. Let’s open the Show to the public for the final day. Invite all of the bloggers, the influencers, and the public. Charge them 5 bucks at the door to see the new stuff. And then watch what happens. 

It will be jammed. Traditional media will cover the event, in advance, due to the newsworthiness of admitting the public.  Booths will be crowded with consumers asking questions. Athletes will be on hand to talk with the public and pose for pictures.  Bloggers and influencers will be asking questions, taking notes, and preparing to write reports as soon as they get home. And traditional media will be doing reports live from the show floor. The energy of Day 1 and 2 will not only have been restored, but doubled. 

And what about the retailers? They should be smart about this. Take the opportunity to invite all of their customers to the show for this final day.  Will customers get on a plane and get to the Show? Doesn’t matter. The very fact that retailers are inviting them as their guests on the Show Floor will only increase customer loyalty. And why not take the five top customers to the show as guests of that retailer? Work out the travel and lodging in advance. Make it work. Then take pictures of the customers on the Floor. Put it on the web site. And do you think those customers will talk about their experiences when they got back home?  Oh, and one more thing. Work a deal with the brands so that you can bring back some new product so all of your customers can get a sneak peak at next year’s offering. Make the OR Show a storewide event. 

Buy in from the companies will be automatic to this public day. Why?  Because it is their chance to talk directly with consumers. And consumers are direct customers because companies are now selling to them online. Influential bloggers should be identified in advance and personally invited to the booth for a product line review. Companies should know which of their best retailers are bringing guests to the booth and senior management should be on hand to greet them. Management, reps, pr, product development and marketing should be engaged all day long. Why? Because this is monster leverage. A company can create more marketing momentum in one day then in the previous six months. 

And OR? Its pr effort ought to be in high-gear pre public day. And then it should have the common sense to get out of the way. Let it happen. And then post public day, report the results. All good for OR. 

So, it’s time for all of us to face reality. Retailers can own the show for the first three days. On day four, open the doors and let the great unwashed in. The time for exclusivity is over. Over. The time for inclusion, openness, and a new business model is here. Every one of us will benefit.