Outdoor adventure and travel media platform Outdoor Project publicly announced the results of the platform’s Women in the Wild 2018 series. By the numbers, the campaign included four giveaways through the project’s website and Instagram channel featuring prizes from 38 participating brands worth $20,000.
In addition, Women in the Wild 2018 included interviews of over 70 amazing women representing the many faces of outdoor participation, and it also featured 26 organizations working to build inclusive and diverse outdoor participation across the United States. During the course of the campaign, the Women in the Wild 2018 content was read over 235,000 times, averaging four minutes time on page.
The interviews all featured a critical question for the future of the outdoor industry: “In a perfect world, what does the outdoors (the people, the places, the community as a whole) look like to you, and what can outdoor brands and media companies do to better help us get there?” The answers highlighted the need for brands and media companies to better represent the diversity of people who recreate on our public lands, as well as how the outdoor industry can do more to protect these places, create opportunities for underrepresented communities to get outside with affordable gear and develop educational frameworks to support those experiences.
Kimi Werner, OluKai’s freediving, spear-fishing brand ambassador and a contributor to Women in the Wild, commented: “I’m extremely excited to work with Outdoor Project through OluKai on Women in the Wild 2018 because I’ve watched the outdoor industry grow at such an immense rate over the recent years due to popular trends and social media. As great as that is, oftentimes when industries grow too quickly, some of the core values get lost. Through a series of very thoughtful, important and genuine questions, it excites me to share and hear the honest thoughts of what the true-blue women of the outdoors have to say about where they see things going and how to steer accordingly.”
Outdoor Project will build upon the success of the 2018 Women in the Wild campaign by continuing to feature inclusive and diverse outdoor communities. With the help of collaborations and partnerships with organizations working to increase diversity in the outdoors, Outdoor Project is committed to being a resource that everyone can use to find their place outside. Look for additional campaigns celebrating diversity in the outdoors through fundraisers, content collaborations, block party events and shared promotions.
Lina Adams, senior marketing manager at Mountain Hardwear, sponsor of the Women in the Wild Gear Giveaway, shared her perspectives on Women in the Wild 2018: “There is no better time to celebrate strong and independent women. It took women of all different sizes, colors and backgrounds, who have challenged the norm, often in multiple ways, to get where we are today. We applaud Outdoor Project for creating this platform and encouraging brands to be part of such a meaningful campaign.”
In addition to Outdoor Project’s ongoing commitment to how diversity is included in its content, the company is also launching a fundraiser for Big City Mountaineers with proceeds from all sales through its online store from October 1, 2018, through the end of the year. These funds will be directed to Big City Mountaineers through OutdoorProject.org, the non-profit fundraising arm of Outdoor Project that directs funds to organizations working on conservation, environmental education and inclusive outdoor participation.
“We are so excited to see the incredible growth and engagement from Women in the Wild 2018,” said Outdoor Project Chief Content Officer Aron Bosworth. “The volume of positive feedback we received with these efforts, reinforced by the four-minute average time on page, gives us reassurance and hope that we are seeing change happen in real time in outdoor recreation with support from the outdoor industry.”
