ASR Blog

New Year's Thoughts on Greenwashing

From an editorial in the Outdoor Retailer pre-show issue (mailed Dec. 18):

A year ago, I thought that by January 2008, a rah-rah piece about the importance of shifting to sustainable business practices would be passé. I was certain that every company in the progressive, eco-sensitive, hyper-aware outdoor industry would be so far ahead of the curve that the whole concept would be old news.

That’s not the case. There are still oodles of opportunities in the outdoor world for a brand to gain a concrete marketplace advantage by greening their brand, their products and their practices. That’s not my opinion as a business consultant for outdoor brands, it’s my opinion as a consumer of them.

Why has so little changed?
...
Greenwashing, the vogue term for environmental hypocrisy, is a divisive label that goes beyond a call for truth in advertising with the zeal of a mob. Light beer still makes you fat, extra strength medicine still leaves you coughing, but a greenwasher is tarred and feathered and escorted to the edge of town.

Click for full article...
Via Pale Morning Media's Wicked Outdoorsy blog.

What issue mattered most to you in 2007? What changes do you hope 2008 will bring?

Happy New Year everybody!

How To: Streamline Your Web and Retail Presence

From Internet Retailer:

When e-commerce was a novelty, it didn't much matter where the web team fit within a retail chain’s organization chart. But now it matters a great deal, not only because of the growth in online sales but because of mounting evidence that consumers often make their in-store buying decisions based on what they see on the web.

...

Another retailer that moved away from a standalone web team and toward integration about five years ago is Recreational Equipment Inc., a co-op chain that sells outdoor gear and apparel. "We realized customers don’t want to discriminate between REI as the store and REI as the web site and REI as the telephone," says Brad Brown, vice president of e-commerce and web strategies. "We need to make that seamless."

Click here for more...

Have you intergrated the web into your business? What has worked for you? Let us know in the comments.

Texas Hunting Numbers Buck the National Trend

From the Lufkin Daily News:

Russell Meyer has seen a lot of trends during almost 30 years in the feed and ranch supply business, but he still was caught off guard by the explosive growth of spending on wildlife management and hunting-related improvements during the past 10 years.
...

Nationwide, the number of hunters declined by 10 percent since 1996 to 12.5 million, and the amount they spent fell, when adjusted for inflation, by more than 13 percent to $22.9 billion.

Texas hunters defied that trend, spending about 22 percent more in 2006 than 10 years earlier.

When what hunters spend is combined with what is spent by landowners and leaseholders to prepare for the outdoor activities, it adds up to a considerable amount of economic clout.

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Can Your Brand Handle a 'Leak'?

Via Base Camp Communications:

In the Feb. 08 issue of Wired Magazine, [Talking Heads singer] David Byrne interviews Radiohead front man Thom Yorke about Radiohead’s recent experiment in new album release strategy. In a nutshell, Radiohead “leaked” the album then let fans choose how much to pay for the right to download it. The interesting part of this isn’t the commerce side, it’s that Radiohead was tired of the new album release “games” and knew they had the fan base to try something different.

Read the following excerpt (it sounds remarkably similar to the strategy “gear reps” in the outdoor, bike and action sports industries prescribe)…and think about if your brand/band has the fan base to try something similar:

Byrne… OK. I’ll start by asking some of the business stuff. What you did with this record wasn’t traditional, not even in the sense of sending advance copies out to the press and such.

Yorke: The way we termed it was “our leak date.” Every record for the last four — including my solo record — has been leaked. So the idea was like, we’ll leak it, then.

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Retailer Seminars at OR Winter Market

From OIA:

The field of sales has seen some dramatic and far-reaching changes in today's business environment. Today's salesperson, as well as today's buyer, is better educated; more informed and has more options than ever before.

To help develop the salesperson for the future, Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) will present a two part seminar series at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market to provide retailers with the tools to better train and educate staff to realize increased sales. 

On Wednesday, January 23, Dan Mann from The Mann Group will present Replace "Training" With "Development" – "101." Dan will discuss streamlined approaches to store training (development), tactics for the trainer, the understanding of why you are the best person to teach and using "Experiential Learning" as a method.

Click for more info...

How To: Use Online Chat to Keep Customers Happy

From the Wall Street Journal:

Small online retailers are chatting up customers to get them to stick around on a site longer -- and buy something.

A case in point: Backcountry.com, a seller of high-end outdoor gear and apparel. The retailer's staff regularly talks live with customers online about the site's offerings, as well as provides buying tips and addresses any service issue.

Click for full article...

Has online chatting worked for your business? If not, how do you reach out to your customers? Let us know in the comments.

Consolidation Nation: SNEWS Acquired by AIM

From SNEWS:

SNEWS®, the leading insider trade news source for the outdoor and fitness industries, has been acquired by Active Interest Media, the publisher of highly influential consumer magazines such as Backpacker, Yoga Journal and other healthy living publications. The acquisition, which was sealed Dec. 21, creates a powerful communication hub that will reach both consumers and the trade, as well as all avenues of outdoor and fitness, wellness, yoga and nutrition. SNEWS’s fiercely independent reporting style and insider savvy will not change, nor will its role as an industry watchdog. Key senior editorial staff, including partners Michael Hodgson and Therese Iknoian, will continue to oversee the operations in their current roles and location. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Click for more...

What do you think about the merger between these two outdoor news sources? Is media consolidation a concern? Post your thoughts in the comments.

Live Music at Winter Market: Michael Franti and Spearhead

Avalaunch, "a social and environmental movement that celebrates live music, film, and snow while promoting avalanche awareness and environmental stewardship" will celebrate it's "launching" party at The Depot featuring Michael Franti & Spearhead and more.

The Depot, Salt Lake City
January 25th and 26th
$33/$35 each night.

Hunting Shops Are Having a Slow Year. Why?

From Slate:

This fall should have been an excellent time for companies that cater to well-heeled hunters and fishers. The farm-based economies of the Great Plains and Midwest are roaring. And the onset of the presidential campaign season, during which you often find city slickers posing as big-game hunters, usually provides a boostтАФfor retailers and comedians alike. President Bush, in what now looks like foreshadowing, went out to shoot for doves during his 1994 gubernatorial campaign, and instead brought down a killdeer, which was protected by state law. John Kerry's duck hunting in the fall of 2004 failed to sway rural voters. More recently, tough guy Vice President Dick Cheney bagged a septuagenarian, and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney bragged about his long history of hunting varmints.

But this fall has been a terrible one for those in the business of making and selling rifles and shotguns. And for the dwindling core of optimists who believe the American consumer is doing just fine, the stock charts of companies like Cabela's, Gander Mountain, and Smith & Wesson should cause them to check their scopes.

Click here for more...

Steep: Without Risk, There Is No Adventure

Have you heard about Steep, the new skiing film from Sony Pictures Classics?

From LandmarkTheatres.com:

A breathtaking look inside the world of big-mountain skiing, from its beginnings in the 1970s in the mountains above Chamonix, France, to its future in remote Alaskan and Icelandic peaks. Highlighting the best of the best of this rare breed of men and women who attempt ski descents where the slightest mistake can mean death, director Mark Obenhaus tells a tale of bold adventure, exquisite athleticism and the pursuit of a perfect moment on skis.

In addition to many of the sport's greatest athletes—Stefano De Benedetti, Eric Pehota, Glen Plake, Shane McConkey, Seth Morrison, Chris Davenport, Ingrid Backstrom and Andrew McLean—we meet the man who is often described as the greatest big mountain skier in the world: Doug Coombs, who twice skied to top honors in the World Extreme Skiing Championships, opened up Alaska's Chugach Range to high-adrenaline heli-skiing, and founded his own steep-skiing school.

The movie comes out in NYC, LA, and select cities this Friday. Take a look at the release schedule to see when Steep is playing in a town near you!
Check out the trailer here.