Tag Archive for "Snowsports Industry Association"

Posts Tagged ‘Snowsports Industry Association’

Breaking Through the Clutter

Nov 11, 2011 | tags: bike industry, Channel Signal, Grass-roots marketing, New media, Outdoor Industry Association, Outdoor Recreational Industry, Outdoor Retailer, Snowsports Industry Association, Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association, Strategy

Bots(robots), affiliate marketing sites, discount sites and link farms are all making the conversation very crowded for brands trying to get their message heard online. All the entities have one purpose and that is to sell product. Some of it is discounted. Some of it isn’t. Some are names of sites you have never heard of, and some are names like Amazon.

Recently, we were asked by a leading brand in the outdoor and ski markets to search for it and see what we find. Well, it wasn’t pretty. Channel Signal search engines, which have blacklisted over 10,000 authors and sites, still came up with a ton of junk surrounding this brand.

Why? Because the company had not delivered good online content and sales pitches (selling primarily discounted product) had taken over the brand’s identity.

We searched Twitter…could barely find any content about the actual brand.
Blogs…junk everywhere.
YouTube…better content here.
Online traditional media…not much.

To be clear, all of this sales noise is not all bad. A retailer, Amazon, posted 1,900 customer review ratings in the past year on a product produced by the brand with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Now, if you figure 20 percent of the customers who bought from Amazon wrote a review, that means about 10,000 sales in one year. Not bad from the online retailer.

However, the brand is being drowned out by the sales pitches. Can’t really call it noise because it does move product.

What to do?

First a brand must sharpen its identity online. Advertise to your target market about where to go…on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, your blogs, etc. In short, drive consumers to where you want them to go for your content. Then…

Fill these places with good content. Not content that sells stuff, but content that educates consumers. How to layer? Why a hat is important. Goggles and what they can do for you. Breathable socks. And make this information directly applicable to your product lines.

And then, build online relationships with your retailer partners.

1. Support online retailers with content they can push out and reprint on their own sites.

2. Train retailers to understand how to do things like embed a YouTube video, update their blog and utilize basic search engine optimization techniques.

3. License content correctly for reprinting/republishing through retailers with photographers, writers, video producers.

By building a grassroots content strategy through retail partners, brands can deliver better content online, serve their customers and drive sales with key accounts.

So, break out of the noise by building your content and building your partnerships with retailers.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

An Orca Sparks a War

Mar 3, 2010 | tags: Channel Signal, Grass-roots marketing, Marketing, New media, New media. outdoor recreational industry, Outdoor Recreational Industry, Snowsports Industry Association, social media, Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association

A few days ago I got a call from a lawyer who has ties with Sea World. Not direct ties but close enough to be concerned.

So the conversation goes like this…
Lawyer: “Are you aware of what happened yesterday at Sea World?”
Me: “Yup. Read about it.”
Lawyer: “I want to suggest that they call you because this is an incident that could blow into a crisis. They need Channel Signal to monitor this.” Me: “Thanks. We would love to help. Based on a little searching around it looks like its heading into crisis now.”

Well, we didn’t get the call, and the message was, thanks we have it covered.
Good for them. Hope it goes well.

It’s not.
All major news outlets carried it. Predictable. Major animal rights sites were on the offensive. Predictable. And Sea World and animal entertainment advocates were on the defensive. Predictable.

And here are the unanswered questions which brought heat to the debate:

1. Why was this whale in question (Tilikam) involved in the shows after killing other people?
2. Is the use of predators for entertainment just a game of chance?
3. Why did the shows resume so quickly.
4. And are these predators merely prisoners for fun and profit?

Pick your side and pull out your firearm.

CNN sponsored a raging screaming match between an orca trainer and an avid environmentalist. Other news talk shows followed. Actors and actresses got involved. PETA has set up a Free Willy Facebook Site and already has over 6,000 followers.

Twitter, Facebook, and the blogsphere lit up about the poor handling of the situation.

And standing in the middle of this traditional and social media storm is Sea World.

A couple of things to remember here.

When an incident blows into a crisis, immediately start monitoring…on both sides of the issue.
1. Learn what is critical to answer and answer those questions…rapidly.
2. Address and even attack false statements rapidly.
3. And have people available 24/7 for all questions from all quarters.
4. And don’t stop listening, and responding until the crisis is past…well past.
5. And no attitude.

Now, I realize that, according to reports, the Sea World team is tight and losing a trainer to another family member (Tilikam) has to be devastating.

But, that is why you bring in a communications team that knows what they are doing. To protect the Sea World team. Provide guidance. Get to the facts. And appoint an authentic Sea World spokesperson.

And some of these people on the communication team should have news training because first and foremost this is a news story. The facts…that’s what reporters want. And if they smell that facts are being withheld, then they will dig harder and look for angles.

And reporters will then report those “angles” and that information will be picked up by the blogs. And mis-information becomes fact.

Sea World finds its very business model now being questioned. Will parents risk a show knowing that something terrible could happen? Will people find it detestable that these carnivores are kept in tanks for life, when in the wild they travel over 100 miles a day in open ocean? And is this just about money, since the show opened 3 days after the tradegy?

Free Willy has taken on a whole new meaning for Sea World.

And some of this could have been avoided with a communication strategy laid out in advance. And a new key to that strategy is 24/7 monitoring of the crisis so that opinions are quickly uncovered, and then covered with facts.

Before Social Media, you could count on a crisis having a limited shelf-life. After all, the media had new things to cover and its attention was taken elsewhere.

With Social Media, every crisis has a long tail. So, Sea World and its handlers will be dealing with blogs, tweets, YouTube, and Flickr for the forseeable future. And with every new fact about the story will be thousands of opinions.

“We’ve got it covered.”

Clearly, Sea World underestimated “it”.

And what it would take to “cover” it.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

The Wrap-Up of #ORWinter

Feb 3, 2010 | tags: Channel Signal, Influencers, New media, Outdoor Industry Association, Outdoor Retailer Show, snowsports, Snowsports Industry Association, social media, Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association

By Channel Signal Analysts James Mills, David Sweeney and Paul Kirwin

At the 2010 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market boosters of specialty products and services had a unique opportunity to participate in a conversation about the show, brands and events. Broadcast over the #ORWinter Twitter feed hosted and monitored by Channel Signal, even outdoor professionals who couldn’t attend the event were able to login and share the flow of information
“From my perspective, it was great to be able to participate with OR, without being there,” said William Roth (@williamroth), social network coordinator of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyoming. “I liked seeing twitpics with new/conceptual products. I was able to learn about #guerillapanel and build my outdoor industry base of twitter users. It also made me realize just how much I need to be attending OR in the summer.”
By simply including #ORWinter in their entries of 140 characters or less Twitter users shared photographs, videos and abbreviated links to blog web sites. Anyone on the planet with Internet access could see and follow the comment stream in real-time throughout the four-day event, including the on-snow demo. And on the show floor, exhibitors and key industry influencers were able to use the power of social media to generate excitement and drive traffic to their booths.

Those brands that hosted exciting industry events generated the most traffic. Teva’s live music party on the 2nd night of the show raised the conversation quotient among Tweeters with large followings, posting 29,250 social media impressions at the show. For each Tweeter who shared information about Teva, an equal number of their total followers got the word. Keen Footwear also had an impressive showing with 24,241 impressions during the show. In-booth promotions to benefit Haitian earthquake relief as well as several videos posted to YouTube were likely contributors to Keen’s success. The brand encouraged its fans to become engaged throughout OR and for a few days afterward
“We wanted to keep it simple and authentic so that people could have real-time interaction with our brand, “said Keen spokesman Chris Enlow. “ We wanted to come up with creative ways to reach our fans and not just the people at the show. If we just focused on ‘Orwinter’, the hash tag, we would have missed out on an opportunity to build our community.”

But it wasn’t just the big brands that did well in the social media rankings. The company Naturally Bamboo was ranked 4th with 18,754 impressions. Owner and exhibitor April Femrite aggressively used the #ORWinter channel to talk up her business and she enlisted the help of others. For example this message was posted by leading outdoor industry social media influencer Sara Lingafelter AKA @theclimbergirl: “Wardrobe change thanks to @naturallybamboo. This dress is so incredibly comfy, I feel like I’m running around naked. #orwinter” Original messages like this one about @naturallybamboo were shared repeatedly across the Internet. It’s likely that a conversation about a naked @theclimbergirl was passed around peer to peer with more than a few chuckles. And with each re-tweet was also sent and received a message about the comfort of a dress made by Naturally Bamboo. “I hope this proves to be a social media success story,” said Femrite. “I don’t have a huge marketing budget. All I have is social media, Facebook and Twitter, to build buzz and bring my brand to the attention of my customers.”

Two of the most talked about exhibitors weren’t brands but non-profit organizations, 1% For The Planet and The Conservation Alliance. With the help of key influencers who support these groups the issues of wildlife conservation and environmental conservation became top-of-mind.

“Social media makes the connection between brands, causes and adventurers clearer than ever before,” said Emily Nuchols, an industry influencer and a principle at Under Solen Media. “It’s not about who gets the most action on Twitter, it’s about who uses their social media to take action on things that matter. We believe in the power of social media to make positive change, and we believe in people who are passionate about their causes — be they businesses, advocates or adventurers.”
Nuchols posted information about the groups bi-annual breakfast meeting and spread the word on several promotional fundraising events held on the Conservation Alliance’s behalf at the booths of many different exhibitors.

On the other side of the issue, Malcolm Daly, founder of the climbing equipment company Trango has been attending OR since the 70’s and is a self-described skeptic. “I have high hopes but low expectations for the #ORWinter channel,” he said in a blog post a week before the show. “It’s already inundated with 140 character versions of the 40 year old press release, posted (tweeted) up by people and companies who don’t get it. Why would I bother to take notice of those if I never even bothered to take notice of them before?”
To Daly’s point if users of social media employ traditional techniques of one-way communications to connect with their audience very little of the conversation will change. But those brands and individuals who actively engage in a dialog, sharing and responding to pertinent and compelling information, can indeed use networks like the #ORWinter feed to their benefit.

Many will likely ask: “Was the #ORWinter experiment a success?” That’s like asking if a conversation at a cocktail party was successful. The more pertinent questions are: Was the discussion lively and informative? Did you discover anything new? Did you come away with the knowledge that you were not only heard but also listened to? Would you engage in this kind of conversation in the future?
Social media neither succeeds nor fails, it simply is. In the free exchange of ideas one will only get out of a conversation as much as he or she is prepared to put into it. Those who created meaningful content, those who responded directly to the questions or comments of others and those who shared what they discovered with the conversation at large will inevitably be the most successful users of social media.

Below are the top tens in both Brands and Influencers.

Note: Possible impressions= the number of mentions of that brand by unique users (X) their followers. This number excludes retweets, ( people who were passing a tweet along).

Top Ten Brands Impressions

@TevaMeansNature (Teva) 29,250

@keen_shoes ( Keen Footwear) 25,241

@conservationall (The Conservation Alliance) 21, 252

@naturallybamboo (Naturally Bamboo) 18,754

@DfaDogs (D-fa Dogs) 9,981

@hardwear (Mountain Hardwear) 9,633

@1PercentFTP (1% For The Planet) 7,276

@haikubags (Haiku) 6,780

@montrail (Montrail) 4,917

@chacousa (Chaco) 4,045

Total generated by the Top Ten 118,375

Top Ten Influencers Mentions Followers

@theclimbergirl 15 3,370
@PembaServes 12 1,123
@Eliz_Castro 11 1,662
@undersolen 10 461
@wude72 10 11,181
@saralingafelter 9 549
@canoelover 9 461
@RepGirl 8 215
@TheGearJunkie 7 3,191
@highsteph 7 1,758

Total number of Followers 23,971

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

Outdoor Retailer, The Recession and ROI

Mar 31, 2009 | tags: New media, Outdoor Industry Association, Outdoor Retailer, recession, ROI, Snowsports Industry Association, social media

Let’s start with this. Many of us have been going to OR for 20 years or more. A lot of business has been done. Thousands of relationships established. And many good times had. The Show remains relatively healthy despite the economy’s downturn.

Now, let’s address the new situation. Winter Market was not full. Tens of thousands of square feet lay vacant. Everybody, even the best friends of the Show, knew that the announced 5% decrease in attendance was a joke.

Many retailers did not come to Salt Lake City due to travel costs, and the simple fact that they don’t need to come to the show. Why? Reps will gladly come to their stores and present the lines. In fact, reps have been on the road showing the lines to both retailers who attended the Show and retailers who didn’t.

Media is also cutting back so coverage is thinner.

Consolidation is another force at work. The larger manufacturers continue to buy the smaller brands in hopes of filling holes in their product offerings. Often the larger manufacturer is seen as not authentic in a certain area, and thus the bucks fly.

Retailers are also in the act, buying up smaller retailers to either eliminate competition or expand into other geographic areas, or both.

What does this consolidation mean? It means a chance for manufacturers to cut down on booth space. It also means a chance to scale back on the number of people going to the show, which both brands and retailers are doing.

Just last month that very conversation about booth space took place at one company that had purchased a smaller brand. Should we consolidate into our booth, but give them their own identity? Or should we continue to have that brand autonomous and have them keep their booth space? Well, dollars and cents will settle that debate. And that probably means consolidation into one booth.

Another company opted out of WSA. It figured that each rep appointment with retailers would cost the company $1,000. No way to recoup those costs.

Trek and Specialized have pulled out of Interbike. Cannondale did too and used the savings to bring retailers to the factory for several days of hands-on product introductions, business discussions in a calm setting, and entertainment.

One of the largest line items in any manufacturer’s budget is Outdoor Retailer. OR charges a lot. And it says it delivers a lot. And it does. Show starts on time. Runs smoothly. Great programs. So far, the value falls on the side of OR. However, during a recession hosting a smaller group of retailers and presenting empty space or the perception of empty space means trouble. That leads to further examination of the return on investment. With a dwindling return comes manufacturer and retailer defections and that eventually will lead to failure, ala NSGA and the Super Show.

OR needs new excitement. New energy. It needs to update and expand the business model and increase the return on investment…for everyone.

We present that idea next time on Channel Signal.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

The Muscle of New Media

Mar 22, 2009 | tags: New media, Outdoor Industry Association, Outdoor Recreational Industry, Snowsports Industry Association

Came across this video that captures the breathtaking growth and power of New Media.

Here it is.

What does all of this mean? It means that at no other time in our lives is there greater opportunity for those willing to risk, and no greater risk for those who seek safety.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

Why Storytelling Matters in New Media

Mar 11, 2009 | tags: brand storyline, brands, myths, New media, Outdoor Industry, Outdoor Industry Association, snowsports industry, Snowsports Industry Association, Storylines

Strong storylines have been the backbone of the great religions, kingdoms, and peoples throughout history. They were the glue to unity, cooperation, and belief. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell maps out a compelling case for this.

As we entered the industrial age, brands also became big players in society. Some brands have adhered to a strong storyline and have prevailed. Others have had no storyline, and consequently have been whip-sawed by every turn of event in the road.

Here’s why strong brand storylines are important as we enter into the New Media era.

1. An authentic brand story leads to a credibility that resonates with consumers both

online and offline.

2. The brand story puts a human face on your company, which allows many others to associate.

3. A well told story is viral. It travels nicely through all channels of New Media.

4. The story is the critical starting point for all great communication initiatives.

5. A solid story is timeless, and therefore cost-effective.

6. A brand story demands continuity no matter the management team.

7. A brand story sponsors loyalty which means many will defend when under attack.

Develop your brand story. It will pay huge dividends as we move into the future.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

Skittles Uses New Media and Gets Torched

Mar 3, 2009 | tags: Branding, facebook, Marketing, New media, Outdoor Industry Association, Outdoor Recreation, skittles, Snowsports Industry Association, social media, twitter

Skittles, the candy company, is trying something different, again. When you login to the web site www.skittles.com up comes the Skittles Facebook page.

Last night Skittles pulled the first idea, which was to have the viewer go to the Skittles Twitter Page when visiting the home page. Well, that lasted for about a day. At first, consumers inundated the site with solid and fun stories about Skittles. “My dog loves them.” ” I love the Skittles rabbit!. “I take them with me everywhere.” Stories that fueled the brand forward.

Then the chatter turned negative. Pranksters got going on the site and it became unmanageable for the brand. Too much negative and not enough positive to shine a good light on the candy.

So, now you automatically go to the Skittle’s Facebook site. True, tighter security here and the community will police itself better.

But let’s look at what the company is really doing…going straight to the online conversation. It’s like the company says, “you want to know something about Skittles? Here. Here’s everything being said about Skittles at this very moment. Join in.”

Interesting approach. Surpass all of the boring brand messaging about the company and just jump into the Skittle mosh-pile. Skittles put all of its brand messaging in control of the consumers.

And it backfired. How long can people talk about Skittles? It’s fresh now, but will the rapid-fire comments keep coming? I doubt it. And in a week or two when this is over and the conversation dies down, or worse turns negative, then where is the juice?

The Twitter initiative really failed because it was not authentic. Certain consumers sniffed that out and they went on the attack. Others piled on. In short, consumers will not play ball all day long if they think they are being used, and in my view that is what happened.

Now if Skittles complements this new Facebook initiative with well placed, well timed authentic content, and that content fires up more conversation, well now we have something.

What kind of content? Producing more company sponsored YouTube videos, creating a contest in every state to find the most interesting character who loves Skittles, publishing new company green programs or sponsoring grass roots events. And use many distribution channels; Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, etc.

Pump content into the new media channels. Make it real. Make it fun. Make it interesting. And make it brand building.

Consumers are still in control, but the brand is now a big authentic player in the conversation.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

Silence and the Consequences

Feb 23, 2009 | tags: Authenticity, New media, Outdoor Industry Association, Outdoor Recreation, Smartwool, Snowsports Industry Association, social media, The Corporate Voice, The Smartwool Experiment

Okay. I’ve thought a lot about this post. The Smartwool Experiment. If you don’t know what it is go to Beck Tench’s blog, The Smartwool Experiment .

You should read up. Why? Because if companies don’t learn this lesson it will happen to them in the outdoor recreational space.

First, SmartWool is a very good company. Have followed it for years and have had personal dealings with many in the organization. Good product. Well managed. Environmentally progressive. A star in the Timberland Group. The company thought it was handling everything with the Smartwool Experiment just right. And then BOOM…things went wrong in a hurry.

Here’s the short story. A young woman, Beck Tench, is a SmartWool fan. She buys the socks. Pays the price. Recommends them to others. However, she did notice that her socks were wearing out faster than she thought appropriate for the 18 dollar price tag. She started a blog and called it The Smartwool Experiment.

She writes a song.

Flickr Video

She writes SmartWool. Someone in customer service writes back saying the socks should last about a year. Good response. Honest. To the point. And then SmartWool writes another post to her, apparently from the product development or marketing department.

“The SmartWool Experiment is a very interesting project. It feels good to see this work reinforce what we’ve observed, and validates all we’ve done in recent years to produce both more comfortable and more durable SmartWool socks. We’re going to try and do a better job at REALLY answering the question, “How long should my SmartWool socks last?”

(EDITED BY KIRWIN HERE)

“Ultimately, we could never predict how long any sock will last, as there are so many people using our products in different ways, with different habits, with different feet, with different shoes, in different climates, with different washing machines. . . you get the picture.

Here’s a list of things we’ve found can impact how long it takes to wear out a SmartWool sock:

Wearing them outside without shoes – Not recommended (though we’ve been caught doing it ourselves occasionally)
Wearing multiple times without washing in dusty environments – the grit they pick up will wear the fibers faster
Long toenails – This one is a killer, keep them smooth and trimmed
Wearing socks with footwear they are not designed for – Look at the wear pattern above the back of the heel in the “Evidence” video. These socks were designed with a heel zone that is much more durable than the portion of the sock above it. We see this type of wear when people wear socks that don’t match up with the footwear profile. A classic example of this type of mismatch would be a Converse All Star high top where the tight fitting top of the shoe is higher than the heel reinforcement in the sock. A sock and a shoe are a system, they need to work together properly.
Bleaching – Don’t do it. They’ll never feel the same again.
How often is it worn? – We wear our favorites more often. That means we wear out our favorites more often. We guess you will too.
Does the shoe fit? – Loose shoes will create more friction as you move.
Body chemistry – pH varies from person to person and during exercise”

(EDITED OUT THE REST OF THE RESPONSE)

Personally, I thought this response was fine. Explained why the durability of socks rests with individuals and their habits.

Beck Tench replied in a video saying that she felt manipulated. In its first response SmartWool wrote that the socks should last a year. Now the story has changed and its up to the wearer. She said SmartWool made her feel like she should take responsibility for the socks wearing out. And she should buy Smarwool’s new PHP socks for 19 bucks, which last longer.

As far as I can tell SmartWool did not respond and basically became passive. And this is where the problem started. Beck was hoping for some kind of a response. Post. Email. Pick up the phone. Again, as far as I can tell the company fell silent.

And The Smartwool Experiement continues to grow. Beck has published her 10th Episode in which she tries out Bridgedale socks that have been sent to her. Darn Tough socks have already arrived in the mail. Beck has published some consumer defenses of Smartwool, but the damage has been done.

SmartWool had an opportunity to strongly participate in the Smartwool Experiment. Should have sent Beck socks and had her test them. Made her a part of a consumer product testing team. Hell, made her chairperson of it. Had her get others on board and build the team. Had the team report back about durability, design, comfort. What a golden opportunity.

Why did Beck feel manipulated? Why did she take it personally? Because she had a personal stake in SmartWool. She had bought many pairs. Had recommended them to others, and no doubt had many discussions about the socks. She believed. And she wanted to talk to her sock company about durability.

Had SmartWool continued the dialogue, engaged Beck and explored durability together, the company would now have a disciple with a growing blog. An influencer who is spreading the good word about SmartWool.

If your a good brand, sing out for all the world to hear.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

What Does Selling to Ourselves Mean? It Means Change.

Jan 28, 2009 | tags: Grass-roots marketing, New media, Outdoor Industry Association, Outdoor Recreation, Outdoor Retailer, Snowsports Industry Association

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.

And the consequences?

Ever accelerating decrease of sales for manufacturers and retailers. (Once you start circling the drain, its tough to stay out.)

And the solution?

More grass-roots local events to get communities involved in hiking, snowshoeing, boarding, skiing, etc. Take the sports to the people. Make it local. Make it family. Make it authentic.
Build a new media marketing program that loads smart relevent content into the blogsphere so influencers and consumers can learn, become intrigued, and react.
Build relationships with influencers so they take your brand to their consumers.
Make all marketing programs interactive.

In the spirit of this article being a short-read, I’ll need to stop here. However, the point is that companies can employ grass-roots event marketing to cost-effectively engage new consumers. (Do it where they live.) And companies can engage new media to carry powerful brand and product content onto America’s home computers, causing conversations in a much bigger consumer market.

How does it all start?

By listening to what’s out there now.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal