Recently several companies have found themselves defending their logos and company names from this new creature called “the new media entrepreneur.” Logos are being bastardized and product knocked-off…all with the purpose of making people laugh, and then buy from these small start-ups.

Back in the day, big companies would bring in their crack legal team, and those guys would write a very nasty letter threatening legal action at the least, and  possibly “pain of death” if the action by the perpetrator continued.  My brother started a company called Bean Reef. Small tee-shirt company. Well, you guessed it. He got a “hang em high” letter from no other than L.L. Bean threatening legal action if he didn’t change the name. Now what L.L. Bean has to do with  a surf break off the coast of Puerto Rico…I’ll never know.

Things have changed. A couple of weeks ago, a large company directed its legal team to write a cease and desist letter, and the young guy  starting the company hired a lawyer, and went to the media and said “bring it.”  Fox News picked it up. So did new media. And the ball started rolling the wrong way for the  big brand.

Collateral damage in new media will hurt a company, even a large one, if they pick the wrong battle. Small companies who capture the fancy of the public by making products or creating marketing campaigns poking fun at a large brand  must be handled carefully. Otherwise, damage in the form of negative new media could end up in the millions of dollars.

With all due respect, lawyers are not trained to handle many new media problems. Marketing, public relations, and sales people are much better equipped to engage a small company in conversation. Perhaps there is a possible partnership. Perhaps this new entrepreneur could help bring the younger market to the larger brand.

But before the legal guns come out, companies should try a little conversation to learn the real extent of the problem. And work to find a mutual solution.

And it wouldn’t kill a brand to sometimes laugh at a funny new start-up, and do it publicly.

And this comes back to a bigger challenge for many large brands in new media, showing their humanity.

Just got back from San Diego and the annual conference of the outdoor leadership known as the Rendezvous. I was asked to speak on new media and so I built a session called Inside the Chatterbox. New media lawyer Andrea Anderson of Holland and Hart was my partner in the presentation. David Sweeney and Brad Werntz of Pemba Serves also were part of the program; David as an analyst and Brad presenting PembaServes’s new media strategy. Pemba is a rep group. Mike Wallenfels, president of Mountain Hardwear, also added valuable comments to our Hardwear section of the seminar.

Special shout-out to Darren Bush of Rutabaga, who introduced our event to the audience. He and the Pemba boys built a video to introduce me. Very funny and creative…it got the event off to a great start.

The audience was attentive and asked great questions throughout. Used Channel Signal as the monitoring and measuring tool for all of the case studies. The audience was impressed with the power and clarity of Channel Signal. We couldn’t have done the presentation without it.

I thank everyone; the sponsors, the Outdoor Industry Association, my partners and the audience for the seminar and the event. A real testimony to the men and women who work in this industry. We do not cut and run when it gets tough. We keep working at the problems. Good for us.

I also attended a gathering of new media folks in the outdoor industry before the Rendezvous. Informal, it was a great session where thinkers outside of the typical Outdoor Box expressed themselves about how new media could drive the industry forward. This group wants more of the passion to come back to the core group. They also admit that we need to reach out to more communities and groups to introduce them to the outdoors…but in a very organic way. Just like we were all introduced to it.

How? That is the question. New media is a central part of the answer. However, we do need to wrap it into our core personality and deliver. This is a problem that every vertical market faces. We are very fortunate to have smart passionate people who care more about the industry and the outdoor experience then the money.

That’s enough for now. I have so many thoughts in my head from these two events that I’m gonna walk away for a day or two. My sub-conscious will help to work through the terrific challenges coming up.