The first business that came to mind is The North Face. Their advertising is definitely better than some others, such as Patagonia, but North Face is less popular around this area for some reason. I like their Facebook page, the header has a nice video that is on par with a tv commercial and they have a call to action button to sign up for the loyalty rewards program which connects directly to that page on the website. Interestingly enough though, they often incorporate language such as "sign off," "log off," and others which is meant to get you to go outside and explore, but it also goes against the point of online advertising and getting you to stay on their web page and shop, so it's a fine line. I guess someone would need to buy gear in order to go on a trip in the first place... so I don't know what my point is, I just thought it was interesting! Their image marketing is similar to my style, however the event marketing does need some help and looks amateur, and also their Instagram needs some help.
Patagonia is another example of a business similar to mine. This company is currently more popular with the preppy crowd and also the outdoors market. My overall experience with their marketing is that some young annoying person is in charge of it and doesn't know what they are doing; a lot of people make fun of their posts but maybe that is their strategy ?! Who knows. For example, there's a famous picture showing one parent tossing their young baby to another parent over a decent jump distance between a couple boulders. This ad was originally published a long time ago so they thought it would be a cool vintage post, but it was in baaad taste. As a company they are definitely more politically active so this may be part of their overall strategy as long as people are talking about them.
REI is a company that takes their marketing to a different level. Beyond the typical 'shop now' call to action button, they list plenty of events, blog content such as camping recipes, and overall good stuff to read and engage in. They aren't trying to stuff their products down your throat but instead sell you the lifestyle. They have #OptOutside where you can share your adventures, which is what I would like to do with my marketing engagement.
Herschel Supply Co. is a company that produces backpacks, travel luggage and some travel accessories. Their imagery is sort of similar to Patagonia; it seems the person in charge is young and is trying too hard but it isn't effective to me. Some of the images are a little blurry and there are some interesting style choices like hanging a bag over a cactus...? Okay, that's interesting. There are also some posts that don't even include their product, sort of like someone is living through the wrong Facebook page. Not that effective, kind of annoying and I don't get it.
Another potential company similar to mine is Cabela's. They are more of an outdoors sporting goods leader. They do have some good video and some amazing pictures, however there are quite a few hunting pictures on Instagram which isn't my cup of tea but nonetheless they are of good quality and attract their customers. They can certainly go without some of the hunting pictures and just stick to fishing in order to not offend anyone but I'm not the boss!
I don't browse social media that much so anything on these platforms are not effective to me personally. I'd much rather see a creative and well-driven message on tv or shared on YouTube/Facebook. If I come across an amazing quality picture, I have to like it but that doesn't mean I am going to buy their products. I don't think anyone reads magazines anymore... but radio is a good option to try to reach a lot of people; even though it isn't a visual advertisement which is more engaging, radio is an easy way to get in between some tunes, whether it's traditional or online such as Pandora or Spotify.
-DavidT
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