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

Recently I wrote that the distribution of information had always been a funnel but it had now turned right side up.  The mouth of the funnel is wide open and consumers are publishing because it is easy and they have opinions.  The good brands are building these funnels, advertising their communication portals (Facebook,etc) , attracting consumers, collecting opinions, engaging, finding their voices and constructively inviting/channeling consumers further down into the brand storyline. During this process the brands are quietly measuring their effectiveness, learning, and becoming much better communicators as consumers elect to engage more deeply.  They are collecting excellent data on Influencers, athletes and active consumers as the information travels down the funnel.

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 got this research and statement from Gartner Consulting.

Media and advertising follow consumer attention, and consumer attention has shifted massively toward social media on the Internet. Social media currently reaches nearly half of the U.S. population, and usage has nearly quadrupled during the past two years, according to comScore Media Metrix.

Now, to be clear Gartner defines social media as all blogging and social networking. All interactive media. That means all blogs, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and all online traditional media like the New York Times and CNN. No matter. It is still a staggering stat.

Welcome to the new Sales Floor. It is the largest in the world. If Media Metrix is right then over 150 million people are on this sales floor, just in the United States alone.

150 million people buying, trading, reviewing recent purchases, talking with others about future purchases, talking about brands, praising or complaining about a brand’s customer service, discussing a brand’s message, passing information back and forth about pricing, reading the news of the day and expressing opinions. Feedback loops everywhere.

The architecture of this Sales Floor would be like combining all the major cities of the world into one road map.

And it is growing larger.

And every one of these people wants to be treated as an individual.

Media and advertising follow consumer attention.

If you want to grow your business, you should follow and engage this mass of consumer attention while learning to treat each as an individual.

We have a lot of work to do.

In a recent conversation with Brad Werntz of Pemba Serves we were discussing the new business models that would develop due to new media.

For some reason my mind came up with a funnel and I started talking about it. By the time I was finished it made a lot of sense, which wasn’t surprising to Brad but a shock to me.

So the communication funnel has been upside down for a long time. Why?

Until recently all messaging by brands went into strict portals like magazines, radio, television, newspapers. Went into the top of the upside-down funnel. Media would receive the messaging, charge for it, place it in their formats, and then distribute.  Advertisers and the media told the brands that they could reach more people more cost-effectively then any other method.

And they were right.

So, all of this messaging went into the top of the funnel, got processed, and then was delivered to the target markets, and hopefully to a lot of people.

With new media this has all changed.

The funnel is now right-side up. Meaning that anyone can publish and can do it at no charge. The top of the funnel is open to the public. Opinions, product reviews, customer complaints, brand messaging, sales pitches, you name it…is flowing into the distribution systems.

Now, all of this information gets seen, and if good, it gets passed around. And if really good, it gains momentum and readership as it moves down the funnel. It also gets directed meaning that many people are involved and directing this information virally to the target markets that would be most interested. People like them.

So, with new media everyone can publish, everyone can express an opinion, everyone re-channels, and in the end the good information gains momentum and hits its proper target market.

So, why do brands still believe they control the message?

First, I thought ORSM09 was a very positive show. Two things continue to happen. The stock market continues to move upward, reaching 9000 just before the Show. Second, this staycation thing is the real deal. People are staying home, taking up new sports, planning local family vacations, and the outdoor industry is benefiting.

It’s all working and our industry, although listing to port a little, is not capsizing. 

And I like the general attitude. “Yeah, things could be better, but we are still making some money, running a tighter ship, and we will make it through.” 

New media is growing in the outdoor space. Tweet-ups, constant tweeting from the Show floor, and many of the major brands looking at or engaging in the blogosphere. Outdoor Retailer is embracing new media and supplying more portals on the Show floor. All good. 

I still strongly believe that the Show should open its doors to the public on the last day. It will happen someday. It is inevitable. 

Now, to the darker side. I heard from several very reliable sources that a certain large retailer threatened several large brands if those brand did business with online powerhouse Amazon.

Let’s start with this. After too many years in the marketing business I must emphasize again that retailers and brands can not fight the market forces. For example, I remember about ten years ago, medium sized specialty retailers were running around the Show telling the brands that they would drop any brand who sold online. Several brands sought my advice. I asked this question,” where is your growth?” And they replied, “Online.” And I asked why? And they said, “Because we think that is where a growing percentage of the consumers will be.” 

Right direction. Right thinking. 

YOU MUST FOLLOW THE CONSUMERS. YOU WILL NOT LEAD THEM. YOU CAN NOT BULLY THEM. THEY ARE TOO BIG. THEY ARE IN CONTROL. THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IN CONTROL. AMAZON IS GROWING FOR A REASON. 

So, to this large retailer, I say, you must stop this nonsense. Brands will follow the money. They will sell to retailers who bring them customers and offer growth. They have no choice. Their shareholders have put a bulls-eye out there and told management to hit it. Unless, you, large retailer, want to guarantee the returns necessary to keep these shareholders happy, then you must do it the old fashion way.

You must compete. You must continue to create a unique position in the marketplace, buy creatively, attract more consumers to your doors and online, offer great customer service and sponsor customer loyalty programs. You will sell more, and order more merchandise. And the brands will support you more. 

And speaking of support…how can you, large retailer, threaten brands when almost 50% of your floor space is now your own branded products? You, at times, drive consumers into your stores using other brands as the bait, and then you offer your branded products at a lower price while your salesforce whispers that your product has the same quality only it costs less.  

So you are partners with the brands, you compete with them in your own stores, and now you threaten them because they want to grow their businesses. No wonder brands are confused and, at times, angry.

You are a retailer. A damn good one. Probably, the best.  You have been solidly on the side of “good”. You have helped grow the outdoor business. Now, others with a different business model, want to do business and help grow the industry. Invite them in.  And sure compete with them, hard. But also talk with them. Educate them about expectations. Talk to them about the environment, sustainability and participation. Show them how to be a force for good in the business. Both of you will profit. Why? Because you are both capable of bringing millions more consumers into our business. And everyone will profit. 

So, be the leader that you are, and stop baring your teeth.

Peace. 

Out.

I found the below graph from eMarketer (done by Ruder Finn)  very interesting. 

Overall, Ruder Finn divided online activities into six categories, listed from most common to least:

     * Learn

    * Have fun

    * Socialize

    * Express oneself

    * Advocate

    * Do business

    * Shop 

Men were more likely than women to go online for business, entertainment and to keep informed on news and current events.

Women, in turn, were more likely to use the Internet to advocate for a cause or issue, express themselves and socialize.

More than two-thirds (69%) of young adults ages 18 to 29 posted comments on social networking sites, 55% played games and 50% went online “specifically to rage against a person or organization.” 

Okay, much of this data doesn’t surprise me. What does is that 100% of the respondents are going online to “pass time”. Pass time? Who has got the time to pass the time? Once I got past feeling sorry for myself, then it started to become clear. 

The Internet has become an entertainment center, information center, education center, and a conversation center. It is becoming all things to all people. So, that monitor that sits in the house, or in the office…it truly has become the window to the world. 

So, if you are an outdoor business, then understand that your customers, consumers you want to reach, your vendors, your manufacturing partners, your environmental and social initiative partners, your reps, your retailers, your employees and their families are all looking “at the screen”. For many it is the first thing they do in the morning and the last thing they do at night, with many many visits in between. 

Brands better be presenting themselves there. And they should educate, entertain, sell, and dialogue.  

Ten years ago this was a dream. Now it is here, with all of its advantages.

Go.

                                  ”The biggest threat to companies is not disruptive technology

                                   or global competition but complacency.” Beyond the Brand by John Windsor

I’ve had several conversations with companies recently where the leaders have indicated that they are outsourcing new media to their public relations firms. I ask them, “how’s that going for you?” And they reply, ”Well, I assume okay. You know, I really don’t understand this stuff, but they tell me the pr people do.”

Dangerous position.

By outsourcing new media you put another layer between the company and your customers. Which means that you are further from the online conversation about your brand, products, and customer service. At a time when you need to be closer.

You want your customer service reps to be right on top of the customer conversations when praise is given and the pissed-off vent. Right?

And you want your product development people to be talking directly to influencers who have criticisms of a product. And to hear why the zippers are placed wrong on the jacket. And why the hood doesn’t work. And why the shoe laces are too long. Right? 

And your marketing people to listen to why a new brand message isn’t connecting or why the latest advertising is knocking it out of the park. Right?

For years and years and years…I’ve listened to leaders lament how they only wish they could measure advertising in some  way. They always said some variation of this: ” I know I have to spend the money but I sure would like to know what I’m getting for that money.” 

Well, now you can know, in real time. Instant feedback. A sensor placed directly into the marketplace. And you are going to outsource it???  You are going to have a third party decide what feedback is important and what isn’t? To package and then spoon feed you customer information critical to the development of your business?

Thousands of customers everyday are taking the time to talk directly to companies, most with sincerity and a real message. CEOs should shove aside all vendors who want to get in the way of that.

Go ahead Mr./Ms. CEO, get your companies up on the front lines. 

It will change your company, for the good.

Recently Outdoor Retailer brought out some cost-cutting measures designed to ease the price pressure for manufacturers and traditional retailers. Attendance at the shows has been dragging. So booth pricing was cut along with some other stuff. It’s a start, but it does not address the challenge.

Here is the challenge.

The distribution system has changed. The minute manufacturers agreed to sell online then consumers became the 800 pound gorilla in the distribution system. They wrote product reviews. They expressed opinions on blogs. And they twittered about their purchases. They now are directly in the loop and they like it.

Traditional retailers are still players in the distribution system, but not the only player. And that is what Outdoor Retailer apparently fails to understand.

Here’s the line-up in the distribution system:

1. Traditional Retailers

2. Online Retailers

3. Small online “sellers” that are in the shadows…selling product that manufacturers may not even know about. (More about that in another blog.)

4. Manufacturers selling goods online.

5. Large Product Review Sites…these invite consumers to review, then publish to the public with relish including online links to retailers offering the product.

6. Platforms that offer a mix of brick and mortar and online.

Five of the six players in the system offer feedback loops for consumers to respond with a product review. Millions are doing so.

84% of consumers list online product reviews as key to their purchasing decision reports SIA. And I have tons of back-up research pointing to about the same thing.

Until OR addresses the consumer by opening up the Show to them for the last day, all other cost-saving measures that they employ is window dressing.

Why? Because OR is about cost-effectively selling and buying product. (We’re all in one place.) It is not about saving money. And more product can be sold and more on-the-sport feedback received when the 800 pound gorilla is in the room.

And if OR doesn’t address the changes in the distribution system, then manufacturers will be forced to.

What does that mean?

Money away from Outdoor Retailer, which will now be known as the “traditional trade show”, and money into an outdoor consumer trade show that will grow so rapidly it will make your head spin.