Outdoor Retailer - July 2021 - 13

THE PULSE
COVID-19 got
more people
outside... so
now what?
ly? Take a survey and create your own news.
A survey (e.g. with Harris Insights) enables a
brand to develop a proprietary byline.
Showcase technology evolution:
Consider a technology story. What did your
brand learn from COVID-19? But more importantly,
how will your brand change its
technology to reflect its learnings? Did it use
the time to engineer something completely
different from its previous offerings? (And,
no, we are not talking about pivoting to make
face masks.) Will it go into a completely different
category? Is there an interesting story as to
how the new technology was created?
Tell stories about adapting back to norMARKETING
Same
Old Story?
Yes, the outdoor space is booming-so how do you keep a narrative
fresh when it has been the darling topic for the media for over a year?
By Chris Goddard
EVERYONE KNOWS THAT OUTDOOR PARTICIPATION IS TRENDING UP. OUR INDUSTRY HAD IT
pretty sweet during the last 18 months with a news cycle that was hungry for our world, our statistics,
our products, our expertise, our financials, and quotes from our CEOs. Outdoor participation
is still on a wild ride with no signs of abating anytime soon, but many of our stories have been
told-been there done that.
But now what? As marketing and public relations professionals, our challenge is, how do we
keep this story fresh? How do we keep broadcast segment producers and gear editors engaged?
Mainstream media engrossed? Readers and viewers attracted to our world?
What media outlets want today are forward-looking trends. They are looking for assets that can
be repurposed for their different platforms-print, online, or newsletters, etc. With reporters and
editors stretched thin, if they can produce content that has nine lives, they provide value to their
bosses and their outlet. It is survival of the fittest in today's media world, especially with layoffs,
mergers, acquisitions, and, in some cases, publications completely shutting down.
Here are best practices for pitching old, but still relevant, stories with a fresh spin:
Provide new statistics about the future (create your own news): We know that cycling,
walking, and running participation went through the roof in the early stages of COVID-19, but
what will happen to these activities in the future? Will consumers continue to stay engaged? If so,
why? And why is that different for them from before? Will they run or walk or cycle less frequentmal:
We know about the hardships we all endured,
but what steps are consumers taking
now to emerge as we get back to normal? Are
products being used differently? For different
purposes? Tell anecdotal and visually pleasing
stories to which readers and viewers can
relate. The world is not close to being back to
normal, with countries dealing with all different
levels of vaccinations; this human-interest
story will continue to evolve for a long
time. How are outdoor products playing a
role in this evolution?
Ask if brand collaborations that resulted
from COVID-19 will stick: There were
some unusual collaborations over the past 18
months , but the question is, will they continue
into the future? Will they evolve? Will they
become a product line?
Our profession will continue to be challenged
to give the media what they want, and
the media landscape has dramatically evolved
and will continue to do so. The processes for
reporting and gathering news will never be
the same as pre-pandemic times, and, in many
cases, news outlets will embrace the procedures
they adopted during COVID-19, especially
when it comes to realizing efficiencies.
The basic principles of news haven't changed,
but media outlets and news organizations
learned to do more with less. We all have.
Maybe this is true, the more things change,
the more they stay the same -except not this
time. Not now. O.R.
-Chris Goddard is president of CGPR.
July 2021 / OUTDOOR RETAILER 13
Lauren Danilek

https://cgprpublicrelations.com/

Outdoor Retailer - July 2021

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