By Lou Dzierzak


Debbie Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer, an Internet market trend research firm in New York City, reports that 44 percent of all American Internet users will visit social networking sites regularly this year. She alsopoints out, “Seventy-seven percent of teens will look at social networking sites. It’s become the way young people want to interact with their friends and communicate with each other. They explore the Internet through the prism of the social networking sites they use. Since teens and young adults are spending so much time with social networks, brands need to look at social networks as a place to put advertising. That’s where their audience will be.”


eMarketer estimates marketers will spend $1.6 billion on advertising on social networking sites in 2008. Although accounting for just a fraction of that total, outdoor brands like Timex, ClifBar, ProBar, La Sportiva and Timbuk2 are exploring ways to use social networking to reinforce consumer relationships and leverage other marketing efforts.


Kevin McSpadden, chief marketing officer at San Francisco, CA-based Timbuk2, believes consumers are ready for brands to approach them through social networking. “When you are in a product category where people are passionate, they want to share, they want to find people just like them and they want to get advice and give testimony. The Internet allows them to do that without borders and without time restrictions. It’s a great way to tap into the natural passion people have in the category you are in and the products you have,” he says.


TImbuk2 is using social networking to enhance product design and improve customer service. CEO Perry Klebahn explains, “We’ve been very open with our customers in our product development, particularly in our new luggage line. We are asking customers for their input at the very beginning of the process. We put our best end-users in a position of incredible power at the beginning of the product development cycle for Traveler, very much like a wholesaler would go to REI to ask for their input. We got input from 20 key customers at the very beginning and now we can go back to those customers and allow them to test the luggage. It gives us an incredible connection to the marketplace.”


When a consumer uses the Timbuk2 website to post a question, the query is distributed to everyone in the company. Klebahn reports, “We made public what is traditionally part of customer service. Now, with the forum getting broadcast, it’s hard for me to go through a week without an interaction with a customer directly. It’s a very powerful tool. It does change the kind of day I have because I have to engage directly with that community.”


McSpadden notes, “If you are clear about who you are as a brand and what your product stands for and how it competes, then allowing customers and fans to participate broadens your perspective. It’s about creating a sense of dialogue, involvement and participation and a kind of co-creation of the product.”


Research into social networking use shows one-third of 9- to 17-year-olds reported spending at least 10 hours a week on social networking sites.


Pia Baker, brand director of Timex Outdoor in Middlebury, CT, observes, “It’s definitely been explosive. It’s something that probably a lot of us have dabbled with in our personal lives, and a lot of companies are getting involved with it.”


Baker continues, “‘Social networking’ and ‘social media’ are vast terms. Rather than pushing a flat message out from manufacturer to consumer, we’re trying to shift that to having a conversation and actually talking to consumers in a way that they hear and perpetuate the message. It’s very intuitive. If you hear about a product from a friend or a family member, it’s much more trustworthy than hearing from the company directly. If you can get people to participate in sharing your message, it really is an effective tool.”


Williamson agrees. “Information spreads from person to person and friend to friend,” she says. “The connections are very important. Marketers are exploring how to take advantage of those connections and how to interest one person so they will pass it on. In a social network environment, it’s an ongoing conversation. If someone raises their hand and says, ‘I want to become a friend of your brand,’ you have to keep interacting with them to keep their attention. It’s no longer about putting a banner ad on a page and hoping someone will click on it. It’s about putting an application in front of someone so they interact with it and send it to their friends.”


This summer, Timex launched a web-based initiative called “Return to the outdoors.” The campaign consists of six short films that use outdoor industry personalities to promote outdoor recreation. The first three films feature mountaineer Conrad Anker, rock climber Steph Davis and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard.


“The idea behind the campaign came from the insight that people are spending less time outside,” says Baker. We thought Americans were de-prioritizing getting quality time outdoors. It was an important issue for us as a brand. As fewer and fewer people connect with the outdoors, that would impact our business. The films were meant to inspire people. We hope the relationship will continue after the films are watched. We focused more on inspiring people and getting credible wonderful icons from the outdoor industry to participate in the film. One of the key points of this was to raise awareness for the work the Conservation Alliance was doing.”


A contest element invites people to contribute stories about their own outdoor experiences. “It’s a conversation starter. After seeing the films you want to learn more, share the films with your friends, and go to the website and share your own story. It’s a little bit longer of a relationship than a single one-hit impression. We invite them to come to the website to share their stories about why the outdoors are so important to them,” explains Baker.


La Sportiva is also using social networking tools like Facebook and YouTube to distribute brand-oriented video content, and the company’s sponsored athletes have posted photos and videos.


“These are amazing communication platforms,” says
La Sportiva marketing manager Laura Fryer. “Younger customers demand immediate interaction. They want to feel like they have an intimate relationship with each brand. Social media allows them to be involved with La Sportiva directly without any editorial filter.”


La Sportiva’s website has a page hosted through YouTube that includes a dozen videos ranging from athlete spotlights to product commercials. In late February, Beth Rodden, a La Sportiva-sponsored climber, redpointed a new climbing route. Fryer sent out an e-mail blast to the company’s customers and Facebook account. “The buzz and noise it generated in social media was enormous. Other websites picked up our post and passed on the information,” she reports.


Kendall Card, social media director  at Basecamp Communications in Jackson, WY, believes that building connections with bloggers can spread brand messages in dramatic fashion. When ProBar introduced five new flavors, Basecamp found vegan bloggers who were very active, and 50 agreed to test and write about the bars.


“We were able to see a large return in the number of people who were talking about the brand. We were able to hone in on a small niche of the customer base. You are creating people who are so passionate about your brand that they become an extension of your marketing,” Card says.


Moreover, Card believes that feedback generated through social networking conversations can be used to tailor marketing messages. “Because you are able to enter the conversation where people are finding their information and participate with them, the measurement aspect of it is much more precise,” he says. “We’re promoting the brand, reaching people who are interested in our message, and they are responding. We have the ability to better understand how the brand is perceived and is resonating with consumers, and to work backwards and build messaging that speaks directly to what consumers envision the brand to be.”


DIFFERING OPINIONS


Social networking blogs and forums open lines of communication between company and consumer. The discussions can range from professions of love for a brand to harsh criticism. Williamson says, “In a social network environment, there is only so much control that you, as a marketer or retailer, have over how your brand is perceived and talked about. Marketers have to walk a fine line between guiding and fostering conversation about their brand, but at the same time know that they have to step back if the conversation turns negative. It’s open communication. Getting an understanding of how people talk about your brand, good or bad, in a social networking environment can be very valuable.”


McSpadden adds, “The reason people get upset is because they care. It is the root of intense loyalty to your brand. If you work as a staff to hear, respond and involve that person or group in the solution, then you are going to have some of your best salespeople out in the world. It’s only a moment in time. A brand that is strong will endure. Other posts will be layered on with other comments that are positive and constructive.”


Baker is also careful to put networkers’ opinions into perspective: “Social networking and social media offer some huge benefits to a brand, but you have to be aware that you have a lot less control, as a brand, over your message than you do with traditional media. That comes with the territory. You have to be honest with yourself and ask if this is something you want to do with your brand.”


BUILDING A COMMUNITY


Social networking plays an important role in building communities of people who share common beliefs, goals and interests. In May 2008, the Outdoor Industry Women’s Coalition launched an online membership community to connect its 1,100 members who work in the outdoor, cycle, snowsports, paddlesports and adventure travel industries.


Sally Grimes, executive director of OIWC, reports, “A few years ago, we asked our members what they wanted OIWC to deliver. We heard overwhelmingly that they wanted to connect with other women so they could network with other women, learn from them and find mentors. We also found out that quite a few people didn’t attend trade shows, so they didn’t have the opportunity to attend our events at trade shows and meet other women.” OIWC allows members to post a profile and connect with other members based on geography, job title or functional work areas.


The Conservation Alliance is launching a social networking community called ConservationNEXT at ORSM this month. Conservation Alliance executive director John Sterling explains the impetus for the new offering: “In the last couple of years, we noticed more people in the industry wanted to get involved in the Conservation Alliance and with our grantee organizations, but the structure of the organization does not allow individual participation in what we do. We really didn’t have a portal for individuals to come in and be more involved in what we do, and with the organizations we fund.”


ConservationNEXT will give people a way to engage with more than 130 organizations that have been funded by the Conservation Alliance over the past 20 years. Sterling says, “We’re going to invite every one of them to be part of this and provide updates on the work they are doing with Conservation Alliance funding, and provide timely actions that other people in the community can take to further that effort.”


Like most online communities, people who join ConservationNext will be able to create personal profiles to document their conservation efforts. The site will also feature profiles of Conservation Alliance grantees, and daily blog written by conservation movement leaders.


As a nonprofit with limited marketing sources, Sterling believes the new community will create opportunities to share best practices and open a national dialogue on critical issues.


“When we started looking at social networking eight months ago, I thought we were in uncharted waters. Now I feel we are one among many that are going down this avenue. We are a non-profit organization that really can’t afford traditional marketing tools, and this is a great opportunity for us to reach a large community of people and communicate directly with them,” says Sterling.


Krissy Moehl, Conservation Alliance program associate, adds, “It also allows members to come directly to us. The website is not a one-way street. Information is being passed back and forth. It’s allowing the brand to have a more organic, user-driven feel.”


Sterling acknowledges that the critical nature of conservation efforts may lead to differing opinions on tactics and approaches.


“We will probably be surprised by some of the dialogue that happens on ConservationNext,” remarks Sterling. “That’s okay. We’re trying to foster a community of people that care about conservation, but they don’t have to agree on everything.”


Social networking is a rapidly growing way for outdoor brands to connect with their target audiences. Although strategies and methods are still being explored, it is possible to track results.


“There’s a host of different metrics that people can track in a social network environment,” says eMarketers’ Williamson. “The problem is that it’s not clear which metrics are the most important. There’s so much information to track, but it’s not clear what is the most valuable information.”


Baker describes the reaction of the Timex campaign: “When people come to see the films, we definitely see high traffic to the featured product pages. It’s working, even though we aren’t pushing product in the films.”