Drew“who is hosting a rager at his place in Waitsfield, VT on July 28th and you’re all invited again” brings clarity to our musings on the dynamics of PR with, “…the outsourcing of a key marketing division.”

But what, exactly, are they outsourcing?

Most businesses in the industry retain their PR firms as “gear reps”, not unlike sales reps but whose “territory” or “accounts” are the media. For a product-driven company, gear rep/media relations/product placement PR is, of course, a huge part of your PR effort. Don’t stop.

However, brand building businesses employ their PR firms more like they employ their (really creative) law firms…professional representation to help them navigate their way through a complex, seemingly foreign and sometimes maddening court system. The difference is that PR operates in the court of public opinion; law firms in the court of law.

There are some new products that are so unique that the new product press release almost writes itself. But most new products are variations of an existing product and writing new product press releases for these kinds of products can feel like the 7th ring of hell. I mean how many ways can you announce a new shirt, if it isn’t Bluetooth-compatible and made from recycled organic free range bamboo? And to have to do it again and again every 6 months can drive you mad, at least temporarily, which is why PR people love Scotch.

Good PR people not only understand what’s newsworthy and how the news gathering process works, they are also creative in an ad agency kind of way. Coming up with new ways to get the media excited about seemingly mundane products will push their writing, selling and drinking skills to the limit.

Instead of pouring 2 more fingers, or maybe because of… our friend Drew took press release 2.0 about 5 steps further and rolled out his new Press Kit 2.0 platform - an educational, entertaining and brand-differentiating paperless press kit.

Using a blog publishing platfom, Press Kit 2.0 not only provides new product info, but also provides room to tell the brand’s story through good narrative, brand-appropriate images and links to fabric vendor’s sites and other related resources. It’s one-stop shopping for the media and it’s sweet.

We’ve always been advocates of “Press Release as Brand Communication Vehicle”, Drew’s Press Kit 2.0 is just that. It differentiates Horny Toad’s new products from the competition’s. It’s no longer just another new shirt; it’s a new Horny Toad shirt.

One suggestion: A “Swag now with 1-Click” feature that allows Rob Story to order right off the press kit.

Congrats, Drew.

During a recent bout of over-eagerness to promote, I was wrestling with a press release that had the potential to be a nonstarter, and I had to take a step back and ask myself, “So What?”.

We ask ourselves So What? a lot, because the answer to So What? is the filter that determines if your “news” warrants the time and effort involved with a press release. If you can’t come up with a really interesting, newsworthy answer to ‘So What?’ then you should either toss the release and go skiing or come up with a more interesting way to push the news. (Streaking is effective and newsworthy)

The media are pummeled with scores of press releases every day and most of the media have severe cases of ADD. So, right after the they read the headline of that sweet press release you sweated over for days, they immediately start thinking, “BFD”. The answer to So What? should turn that frown upside down and make the reader feel as though they will gain something from reading the next two paragraphs, and not feel like they just wasted 15 seconds (which doesn’t do you or your client any favors).

Write the lead/lede/led with the standard Who, What, Where, When, Why and then take a swig of coffee and/or beer and ask yourself “So What?” The answer should be the last sentence of the lead/lede/led paragraph.

The answer to So What? might provide:

• Market research insight
• Unique perspective on a trend
• Some deep internal information that will give your audience a better understanding of the business.
• An opinion
• Slanderous competitor bashing…

So, new products, new hires, new marketing campaigns, your new footwear line, a new sustainable/green initiative…the answer to “So What?” will make your release stand out.

As for the release I was wrestling with…I won’t be streaking but we are taking a different tack. I’ll post it when it’s done.

As the BikeTown Africa project expands in its second year, we’ve launched a MySpace page for the Kona AfricaBike project as a way to raise awareness about the program among a larger and more diverse audience, and sell some AfricaBikes…

Following the high consumer demand demonstrated during the Botswana launch of BikeTown Africa, last year, the Kona Bicycle Company today announced that they are making the AfricaBike available for sale to the general public through Kona dealers as well as consumer direct at www.konaworld.com (to be live in January).

In addition, Kona unveiled the new 2for1 AfricaBike sales program in which for every two AfricaBikes sold worldwide, Kona will donate one AfricaBike to Bicycling Magazine’s BikeTown Africa project or to other non-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) whose missions include helping to improve the quality of life in sub-Saharan Africa.

We’ll see how MySpace contributes to the effort. Should be interesting.

Here’s a sneak peak at the yet-to-be-named outdoor gear blog, supported by Backcountry.com, currently being stocked with posts on good gear ideas, bad gear ideas, movers, shakers, and late night party makers.

Rocky, the author, has a ‘bull in a china shop’ approach that will be refreshing and valuable in an industry that usually shies away from publicly calling crap, crap.

Any guesses on who will be the first to send Rocky a press release?

For what seems like the 10th straight year, the Nordic Walking Association (NWA) posse was holding Nordic walking demos, media camps, and other promo events at the Outdoor Retailer trade show in their seemingly never-ending quest to get specialty outdoor retailers to embrace the future of their business. (“It’s a slow build, like the snowshoe industry”)(Snews’ Outdoor Voice podcast on the “sport” nicely sums up the case the NWA make in support of Nordic Walking).

Some NWA estimate that there are 60,000 Nordic walkers in the U.S. We would surmise that the majority of these 60,000 are either over the age of 60 and/or women.

According to Leisure Trends’ data, walking is the most popular “recreational activity” among women. Likewise, the National Sporting Goods Association’s research shows that “exercise walking” remains the No. 1 participation activity in the U.S., a position it has held since 1990. The data contained in NSGA’s annual Sports Participation reports shows 86 million Americans walked for exercise in 2005.

That’s 86 million Americans who may potentially be looking to upgrade their walking experience. With those kinds of numbers, it’s no wonder that companies like Reebok, Leki, Exel and others keep pushing Nordic walking as the next big thing.

And, it could be. But, in order to increase awareness and demand among these demographics, you need a mass media marketing strategy. We’re talking real Suzanne-Summers-Home-Shopping-Network-can-you-believe-Matt Lauer’s-new-haircut audience that still gets the majority of their news and entertainment from newsstand magazines and network television.

If Nordic walking is to grow into something other than the butt of all jokes in the outdoor industry, the NWA needs to focus on developing exposure opportunities within these mass media channels.

So, here are a couple of ideas, without any budget limitations ( cause, damn, budgets can really limit creative thinking ) » Read More…

As the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) increased their lobbying activities in Washington, D.C. in support of appropriate federal land use regulations, they quickly realized that some cold, hard economic impact numbers were needed to give their concerns more gravitas and influence.

At the 2006 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market trade show last month, the Outdoor Industry Association released the results of a benchmark economic impact study that reported the oudoor industry contributes $730 billion to the U.S. economy and supports more than 6.5 million jobs across the U.S..

Business Week points out that the results show that the outdoor industries supported more jobs than Wal-Mart Stores, and, that the OIA needs all the help it can get in D.C. as the group spent $300,000 lobbying last year, compared to the $28 million spent by the oil and gas industries.

OIA had good media interest on the national scene with the Assoc. Press, Bloomberg and the Washington Post picking up the story, and as much as this news should get our national leader’s attention, perhaps the greater opportunity from the results of this study exist for local, state and regional advocacy organizations.

» Read More…