It’s a Rorschach test.
Let’s say you are a creature of habit.
You walk up and down the same street in the town you grew up in. You eat in the same restaurants, even eat the same meals as you have for years. Inside, you know you want something new, something fresh and healthy, but what you see is the same stuff over and over again. If you complain, your friends tell you to forget about it, cause, hey, look at Stan, he lived to be 95 eating this stuff.
Welcome to the Outdoor Industry.
We, the collective outdoor industry, have been bemoaning our lack of youth engagement and lack of diversity, as well as the loss of the urban consumer, for as long as I can remember. The industry conducts studies, reviews market opportunities, has hundreds of executive leaders engage in half-day brainstorming sessions with some of the highest paid consultants in the world just so we can tell each other the same narrative over and over again. And yet, we keep coming back to that old familiar restaurant and sit at the same old table.
A couple of months back, I attended the Outdoor Industry Association’s annual Rendezvous event. It’s always at a pretty nice place, like this year in Asheville, North Carolina’s Grove Park Inn. Some years are better than others for seminars and speakers, but the connections and camaraderie building are one of the key draws.
As is the norm, we once again sat in on sessions about the future of the industry. While the industry has seen a much-needed influx of gender and race diversity, it is still comprised mostly of over-40 white male ex-ski and climbing bums who gave up van life for an office (i.e., me).
Next year I hear photographer James Balog is going to train his cameras on the industry to proves that there’s actually something that moves slower than the glaciers he normally photographs.
That’s Columbia on the left, the North Face on the right.
For the love of god, can we move a couple of streets over instead of plodding down our same route? While the industry keeps wringing its hands over the future, lamenting the rise of video games and electronics and kids who don’t play outside while doing, basically, nothing, brands like Alite and Poler, retailers like Huckberry and Without Walls, and events like Hipcamp and Mappy Hours are creating the future that the industry claims it is seeking. These independent upstarts are finding new consumers, new ways to engage, and they’ve recognized that the outdoor industry model is not only antiquated, but nothing like what the future holds for the next several generations.
Marketing of the outdoors has often been focused on the aspirational imagery of folks doing high-risk adventure activities, but the draw for most folks under 30, or those coming from dense urban center, is not to wear a logo that says “I wanna be like those people.” Instead, they want actual experiences – tangible, real things they can do this weekend that are fun, story worthy, and memorable. Experiences are the future value. Don’t believe me? Ask the music industry how selling an item vs. an experience is going for them. Hint: Festivals are where it’s at these days.
I will be the first to admit that the world of haberdashery, of big beards and bow ties, or even this whole lumbersexual thing, is little more than a fashion trend. It will change and pass. But what’s important, what’s vital, is the thing that inspired the trend: a fundamental desire of the most digitally engaged generation to get back to basic fundamentals of human connection.
The campfire story.
So before you write off the latest in $300 custom axes as ridiculous, or that all of this neo-naturalist marketing is done just for likes and shares and burnishing Tumblr reputations, think about what is behind these new independents, why they’re resonating with their customers, and, if you’re in the traditional outdoor industry, how you can connect with that emotion and need.
At the end of his talk during the OIA Rendezvous, consultant Marshal Cohen pointed out that there will be at least another 12 years of Baby Boomer-driven consumer power dominating the landscape, the audience of industry folks burst into applause and cheers. Relief? Cohen reinforced the attitude that the Outdoor Industry doesn’t have to do a damn thing…at least for another decade. It was like the hunter gloating over how full his freezer is while all the animals and food for next winter die off or move elsewhere. When that freezer runs dry, then what?
Odds are the industry will keep selling the same fleece quarter zips, the same plaid technical shirt, and the same 30-liter nylon backpacks (with hydration port of course) to the Boomers who have another 12 years of spending a shit-ton of the money that the next three generations behind them don’t have. It will do nothing but sit back and milk the cow for as long as possible.
But when the udder runs dry, and it will, remember the adage from Peter Sheahan, CEO at Change Labs. “Change is slow,” he said, “until it’s not.” The way this industry has moved, 12 years is a breakneck pace to get this figured out. And either that will happen or we’ll watch an entire new school of brands, retailers, and consumers go play in their own sandbox and take with them those buying dollars we hope fill our coffers when the boomers are gone.
My generation, my experience, does not matter. Because even though I’m in my early 40’s and it seems like it was just yesterday that I was discovering a love of outdoors, how I got here is not the same way my staff, my kids, or even several of my peers are going to come to the outdoors in the future. The sooner we recognize (and accept) that the old ways are often, simply, tired, the sooner we can help shepherd in the next wave of outdoor leadership, on its terms.
Scott McGuire is the president of The Mountain Lab, an outdoor industry consulting firm.
Interesting article. I’ve seen the same inertia during my involvement with arts & culture orgs – the old “our market” “our audience” “our demographic” excuses. Think Blockbuster, think Sears. There are other parallels with the A&C world – moving to selling the experience beyond a ticket for an hour or two of a performance.
What I find most interesting is the mention of newer retailers like Huckeberry and outlets like Frost River. To be honest, I’ve stopped drooling and dreaming over the latest gear made from synthetics and now gaze longingly at the screen at items made of more natural materials like leather, canvas and wool (but I will still enjoy the modern convenience of technology for base layers, boots, stoves etc). Why? Nostalgia; thinking more of “bushcraft” than backpacking; a desire to be more connected to the environment I am immersed in instead of being encased in a barrier made of the modern world; the aesthetic of it, the feel of it. Not to mention the fact I don’t really need the gear that went to the top of Denali or traversed the Gobi Desert since I spend most of my time on the trails of Provincial Parks (and yeah, highly doubt I’ll ever summit a major peak bucket list or not).
I’m also not going to pay $500 for a jacket that I would only wear a few times a year – style / fashion-wise (subjective of course) I am far more apt to wear a solid colour Mackinaw wool jacket around town than a brightly coloured technical bells and whistles jacket, or carry a muted colour bag made of canvas and leather for EDU than the aforementioned nylon backpacks. Do I need a $200 hoodie? Not unless I win the lottery and begin my climbing career at 42.
And there is the other thing – I’m 42 and my knees aren’t great anymore. Is it possible to do a major climb or extensive though-hike? Sure. But it isn’t probable (other than physical conditioning there is a little thing called “paying the bills”. My day dreams have morphed from what is on the cover of the climbing magazines to taking a canoe along the routes the Group of 7 artists took through northern Ontario at the beginning of the 20th century. My mountains will barely be deserving of that designation, my backwoods trips will be a few days, and I’m ok with it. Much of the marketing goes to selling the unobtainable dream, but sometimes the dreams change.
As for diversity and who is coming into the world of the outdoors – I’ve seen great interest coming from newcomers to Canada. When we grow up surrounded by our environment we take it for granted, but for someone who hasn’t experienced the Canadian woods there is a great deal of excitement for something new – they sense the romance that we have forgotten. They can, however, be held back by lack of outdoor knowledge, or finances, or just not knowing exactly where to start or who to talk to.
Thanks for the good read.
Good article and I agree, but my question is this: What change are we talking about? The author never suggests what that might be. People will always need backpacks. And jackets. And boots. What needs to change? Pricing, materials? I just don’t get what the author is trying to say.
Yeah, I’d also like to know what change is needed exactly. Selling the experience is purely a marketing strategy, and doesn’t really result in a change in the industry, just styles and customers. Do we really want an outdoor industry that’s directed by fashion trends? Let’s be honest, at our heart the industry is about equipment, and when you’re making outdoor gear, function has to be king. The Forest Casual trend is awesome for getting people into the outdoors, but do we really want to be going back to waxed cotton jackets and thick wool sweaters? And do we really want people buying a whole new wardrobe every year just because fashion was the driving force behind their purchase, rather than function?
That said, it’s a brilliant gateway for many people into a world they may not have been aware of before. If our end goal is to get more people into the outdoors then it’s a good step in the right direction, but it’s certainly not the whole journey.
Great article, we need more discussion like this.
I don’t think the suggested change is necessarily meaning disposable fashions, as the author says its about the experience more than anything. Being a young female in the outdoor industry, I have experienced first hand how heavily driven the industry by middle aged men…but that is not something that is unusual in any discipline. I think the concept is somewhat rhetorical and there is no definitive answer to what change should/will/needs to happen. We live in an ever changing world, and the appeals of nature and the outdoors to us humans will always be present, whether money is made from it or not.
Curtis,
I think this is a much broader topic. This article reiterates the “we know there is a problem” narrative. As for what we do about it, that is a much tougher nut to crack. I will add a more in-depth comment below with some thoughts.
Erik
The outdoor industry has a focus, and that’s on products that are used “outdoors”. By which we mean, none cities and natural areas. The outdoor industry’s issue is that less people are going outdoors, and there are fewer places where people need outdoor gear. Companies like Columbia and North Face have already tried to branch out into the main stream retail market by selling their products in Malls and other obviously not outdoor retail chains.
Any niche industry will eventual reach a state of status. Expanding beyond the niche will alter the very definition of the product. I do not classify North Face or Columbia as outdoor companies, but simply clothing companies that happen to make some outdoor gear. While companies such as Outdoor Research are squarely in the outdoor industry space.
If you want to grow the outdoor industry, and keep the “outdoor” in outdoor industry, supporting programs that take youth into the wilderness is about the only way it can be done.
You’re right Mark, The North Face & Columbia have tried selling the SAME gear in Malls, and maybe that’s where the problem is. Maybe it’s not about keeping the outdoor in the “Outdoor industry” any more, but about putting the outdoor industry into where we live our daily lives: Urban environments. Hint: in 2014 the urban population accounted for 54% of the total global population, up from 34% in 1960, and continues to grow (source: World Health Organisation)
I am an unashamed gear head, and I love reading the endless list of specifications that accompany new gear. I also work in a gear shop, and that gives me access to the coveted Pro Deal on all of the new and shiny gear. But, I don’t really want any of it.
I’m 35, and relatively new to the outdoor scene (around 11 years). I have a closet with tech gear, and it’s all been used properly, but now I lust after brands like Poler and Sitka (the surf/skate company) even though I’d have to pay full retail. The reason for this is that I’ve been a skateboarder for 20 years, and that is who I am through and through. And the time has come that I should support more brands that support skateboarders (Poler and Sitka sponsor riders).
I have many friends in the skate scene that have started going outside, and are eager to tag along with me on hiking/climbing/paddling adventures. But they are not going to buy a shiny North Face technical jacket if their life depended on it, which it might, if the weather turns. And you can forget about wool socks. Brands like Poler are easy for them to identify with, and they actually have some decent technical gear.
What I’m waiting for is North Face money in a Poler brand, so that I can get a rad looking jacket, and I can trust that it can handle the elements. Poler doesn’t even list the weight of some of their jackets, so I have no way of knowing how much insulation is inside (makes for uneasy online ordering). They also still love cotton socks for some reason.
Great essay, and I hope the industry wakes up.
Dan: Exhibit A – TNF x Supreme collab. You have no idea how much this cost my son. Now, THERE’s a brand with street cred:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=supreme+north+face+sleeping+bag&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=4veYVPqXFInnoATZg4HwDQ
I agree with Mark. You see somebody wearing NF and you know that they are prob pledging a sorority or frat. Definitely apparel, not equipment. No matte what their tv commercials say.
i think change is happening already. the example of Poler that was used is perfect. while the quality of the gear may not yet be there, the audience they are catering to is searching for gear that fits their lifestyles. the old guard probably doesn’t notice this because they are too enamored in how thing were, instead of how things are. Poler, Topo Designs, Best Made Co, these are the new. You can call them “hipster” if you want, but I’m sure people used similar negative connotations when Patagonia first started
I can most definitely assure you that no one thought of Patagonia as a hipster brand in the 80s, but they definitely became a ‘boomer’ brand. And ironically because Yvon Chouinard is so iconoclastic, they actually seem to have ‘pushed’ into the PolerStuff turf. BTW, I did a story on Benji Weatherly and Poler earlier this year and at the end of the day, there stuff offers no more value than something you might find at Columbia or a mid-grade brand. Though Camp Vibes is brilliant and hilarious.
Very interesting read; essay and comments. Marketing perspective is always going to be tricky: how can we get you to spend those hard-earned dollars? Perception is reality. Very thought provoking stuff.
What this article makes me think is that there is no faith that the up and comers will be the ones adapting to and making the changes. Do you need to be wringing your hands over this stuff? C’mon – have some confidence that adaptation to the market is going to happen – whether you are involved or not.
Curtis, when writing the post, my thought on solution was not on a specific item to be designed, but the process in which the bigger players and industry as a whole listen to those that are closer to the target end consumer. I can list a half dozen experiences or stories shared with me where the younger designers within a company spent years and years saying there was a need to focus on something, and then a half decade later, the leadership sees an upstart or a competitor making good on that idea and suddenly it needs to be pursued.
If we can empower the next generation to have a voice at the decision table, to give them the rope to hang themselves and the mentorship to avoid such a pitfall, we will advance. My point is that in general, the industry is often lead by those whose own experience blinds them to the opportunities to change even when there are robust voices in their org that have a clear sense of direction. We can’t be afraid of the changes we don’t understand if we are not the target consumer. We need to learn to trust and support those that are closer to the future vision.
I watched a brand have its athletes and all it’s core design team keep talking about a failure to embrace the core. The conversation was so common within the knowing ranks that it was almost a joke for years. Then one day someone higher up decides to hire a high priced marketing consultant to do a video taped focus group of the core audience. Guess what? They heard exactly what their own athletes and staff had been saying for more than 5 years. Except now, because it was delivered in a manner that management could understand because of their old way of looking at things, it became a rallying cry for action. Better late than never of course, but how do we avoid the need the focus group and the lost opportunities over those years in the first place when that audience was already sounding the alarm internally?
I agree with Mischa that we don’t want an industry focused on simple fashion trends. But we need to address the behavioral change to outdoor experiences the same way we look at product design. If I am watching a climber and see that her jacket gets in the way of her Grigri and then design a jacket with a cut that reduces fabric bunching near the belay device, I have solved for a consumer problem; the best of product innovation. My belief is we need to look at the barriers to embracing the outdoors with the same design solution mindset and the best folks to do this are often those facing the same challenges.
Alite’s Ranger Station program lets people borrow gear. This is a designed solution that addresses the access challenges that exist in a city environment where both investment and space for storing gear make a simple purchase to start camping untenable. Now if I have a gear closet full of stuff and an F150 to haul me to my campsite, am I capable of designing that solution or even identifying with the problem in a meaningful way? Unlikely. But if I trust that a 26 year old with limited cash, a zip car membership, a tiny apartment and a desire for an outdoor experience can created their ideal solution for this conundrum and then apply historical business savvy to leverage the idea into a sound business direction, we have a real opportunity.
Well said. I think you are on to something “Alite’s Ranger Station program lets people borrow gear. This is a designed solution that addresses the access challenges that exist in a city environment where both investment and space for storing gear make a simple purchase to start camping untenable”
– People don’t mind to buy gear when they love what they are doing with it (ex. I won’t buy a $4000 bike if I don’t love cycling)
Good article. Good questions being asked.
thanks
Great response Scott, cleared up a few of your points and I agree wholeheartedly. Especially that ” we can’t be afraid of the changes we don’t understand if we are not the target consumer.” Let’s hope this groundswell of support for the smaller guys -and the open market of the internet that enables it- has an impact on how things are done as we move (crawl) forward.
Ok, so as one of the OLD stores (just celebrating our 40th Christmas in business) I may have a somewhat different perspective.
My business is changing faster right now than at any time in the past 40 years, While I agree that many parts of the industry have aged with those of us who are veterans a single saturday on my sales floor this holiday season was a stark reminder of how much things have changed. A couple of quick observations we had 5-6 individuals showroom us for products that we had a decent assortment of. One I helped was a customer who wanted a down sweater from Patagonia. They offer 8 colors in that Jacket we stock 5 of the 8. Customer was totally up front in telling me that they wanted a color not sold in town. Patagonia is offering free shipping in addition to a front page with 7 Products that are ONLY AVAILABLE ON PATAGONIA.COM .
What has changed most dramatically is ALL my vendors are my largest competitors and while we introduce people to the experience of outdoor what we really do is groom a customer to become a vendor customer.
So far this year I have over 150 email offers from companies that I stock and sell in my store. Patagonia, Black Diamond, Arcteryx, Icebreaker, Ibex, are just a few, Virtually all these folks are now offering Free 2 day shipping to compete with my meager inventory that I have invested a million in.
While the industry is old in some perspectives it is more aggressively slitting the throat of its partners than ever before.
Yep we are “old School” and believe that we can offer the best products and experience at fair prices and we will have a chance to succeed. Clearly after 40 years I need to close and step aside to let the vendors show me how to own customers.
The consumer is not doing anything wrong by becoming a brand disciple and buying from the larger assortment offered on vendor sites. The part of the equation that doesn’t balance for me is how can vendors not see the damage they are doing to the relationship with those of us who built the brands.
I agree that the adaptation will come like tobin says and once one vendor understands how to own the customer a new sun will rise and people will say remember when we could actually touch stuff before we bought it. Lumbersexuals unite and make sure you live somewhere with good internet and UPS. I’m going skiing
Well said, Todd Frank. The industry is slitting the throats of those who built their brands.
Scott, Great post. This is an important conversation.
I couldn’t agree more that the industry is facing an existential crisis. The consumer has already embraced a renaissance of design, technology and retail that is widely available and being driven from outside industry roots. Companies like Amazon, Urban Outfitters, The Story, Wholefoods and many, many others in unrelated sectors are quickly embracing emerging consumer needs while the outdoor industry continues to relate best…well, to aging business models.
The challenge is compounded when your core consumer is largely white, male, rapidly aging and the boomer face in the mirror no longer represents or understands the target market. Consumers are fully in the driver’s seat and they will remain there for the foreseeable future.
The continued urbanization of America (and the entire planet) will only heighten the tension now building between a highly romantic view of our remote week-long wilderness camping past and the hard-charging reality of a more sophisticated, diverse and urbanized consumer who demands instant access, reward and convenience – at all times.
Who will win? At the end of the day, people vote with dollars. However, all signs suggest that emerging demographics are wide-open to establishing new long term relationships with any company, retailer, experience provider or brand that proves it understands, speaks to and meets the protean needs and values of a 2020 consumer.
I spent nearly 8 years in the 5th largest newspaper company in the US. A big portion of that was building interactive strategy.
One thing that the outdoor industry and newspapers have in common is historical arrogance.
The outdoor industry has the major players that are setting the tone and cadence. They have marketing budgets that are 20x bigger than the gross revenues of many of the “pavilion brands”. This builds in the “what else are they going to buy? we’re the f**king North Face for gods sake” mentality, and that mentality is working. However, it won’t work for long.
Much like bloggers are tipping newspapers on their head, startup gear brands and collaborative economy platforms that foster brand to consumer engagement like GetOutfitted.com, Locally.com, and Gearmunk.com (disclaimer: gearmunk is my company) are disrupting the gear game, whether big brands like it or not.
This happens through three channels, channels that big brands have not adopted yet.
1. Context – technology now allows us to tap in to consumer DNA and only show consumers gear they are genuinely interested in.
2. Loyalty – There are people that bend over backwards to be loyal to a brand, and those brands, many of them anyways, reward them by charging them full price next time they buy.
3. What I call the “give a shit” factor. In the social economy you no longer own your brand, the crowd does. If you don’t start engaging, genuinely engaging, engaging in actual conversation and “giving a shit” about each person as a consumer, you will lose.
If you look at the Freeskier Trend Book for 2015, the most loved brands are no longer the majopr players, they are Armada, Line, Full Tilt, Dakine, etc.
Hopefully the larger brands realize this before the scales tip too far and they go the way of newspapers.
What a little hornets nest you woke up here Scott!
It seems that there is a mix here between the way consumers are perceiving gear and outdoor companies and the way the outdoor industry (and manufacturers especially) treat the market and the end users.
It seems to me (been in the industry for some time now) that the 2 sides are drifting apart. On the industry side we will see more and more small retailers getting the hit from the way customers consume outdoor goods as Todd mentioned, but I doubt if it will hit the manufacturers. The outdoor industry haven’t been around long enough to need to change. As long as there are new entries into outdoor gears consumption, either for “show” or for use, the industry will continue to exist.
I can only hope that the small, nimble and focused companies will continue to exist, but they will never be able to compete with millions of dollars into R&D, and I saw it happen again and again. Sadly, most of the time they end up with a sub-par product compared to the big guys.
The industry is yet stuck even more because of how young it is. Despite Erik’s opinion that the industry changes, I don’t agree. As long as mid to high management of those companies are older white guys that stopped enjoying the true nature of being outside (and not with the fanciest of stuff), companies won’t change. God only knows how many times I’ve been ignored by various levels of higher management about needed changes, about customers interest or under performing gear. From my experience outdoor people don’t make good business people and good business people know nothing about the outdoors. Maybe it will change as the generations move on or enough costumers’ pressure exist.
As for the customers – we can buy what ever we want, and it is now true more then ever. I live in the UK and probably half my stuff is from cottage companies in the USA, fully paid. I choose the specialty stuff and not the pro deal. My family and friends, don’t. they buy TNF and love it, it fills their function. That is all that customers need – choice. If you don’t like a product, don’t buy it.
That might create a shift for the local retailer but won’t budge the big guys, not enough. Our only way to change it is either wait them out and re-design the industry when we get there or vote with our money, support the “other” companies.
Thanks Scott for flaring it out, it is needed to not give up on the industry.
Scott’s verbal dirreah of lack of change in the outdoor industry is void of a message and the ramblings of an exceeding smart however odd man. He wants change for change sake while the outdoor industry has changed over the years. Gear has gotten faster lighter and more breathable. You may be tired of your fleece 1/4zip that’s fine so go buy a merino one however there are only so many apparel designs you can make. Scott should be more concerned with increasing outdoor participation. Then if needed the consumer will create a demand for some new product. who cares if it’s some cool guy with a zip car or a 50yo nerdy dad with a synthetic shirt and convertible pants out in the wilderness ? They are both out there so good for them.
Why is everyone busting on the big outdoor companies? All these companies are in business to make money no matter how big or small they are. if you hate Columbia because they are too popular and love Patagonia because they are not that’s the same thing consumerism. Gore tex come from Gore so at some point they are all the same jackets so what color do you want?
So get out there
I had to go re-read the article after reading your comment just to make sure I wasn’t high the first time I read it.
I don’t see anywhere in the article where it talks about the lack of evolution of gear. The entire article is focused on exactly what you said it wasn’t: participation and marketing to new audiences.
Erik
Hi all,
I attended an amazing Outdoor festival last summer in NY. It was Outdoorfest. I beleive their website is http://www.outdoorfest.org. They are helping to make the Outdoor industry new and vital. Also I love to attend the regular Mappy Hours they have during the year. I hope they do it again this summer. I’m there!