From the standpoint of helping a brand “appeal” effectively to consumers, I’m a big believer they need to authentically connect to their lifestyle and sense of self-expression. A lot of my friends in the greater marketing and advertising world think it’s limiting to focus on a particular group of people. However, we’ve always felt the only way to authentically engage your audience is to understand their nuances intimately as both a participant and member of the industry.
I’d stack the action, outdoor, and adventure travel audience and lifestyle up against any in terms of inspiration, devotion and enthusiasm. They are incredibly committed to their brands if addressed at the core of how they see themselves. Rather than telling them who they should be or how they should behave, connect to what they aspire to be. Whether it be a pro like Shaun White, or a die hard enthusiast living the life by putting in 150 days surfing all over the world for nothing but the love of it, creating that association goes a long way to being included in their admirer’s pattern of behavior.
How large is this audience?
- Participation in “core” outdoor sports and Activities is over 100m in the US alone according to the Outdoor Industry Association’s 2010 participation report. That’s nearly 1 in 3 people.
- According to the Snow Industry Association’s (SIA) latest report, 1 in 10 Americans say they ski, ride and/or snow shoe. That’s about 30m people the snow lifestyle appeals to, give or take.
- Check out the Transworld media kit which targets youth Action Sports . Who wouldn’t want to appeal to 25m 14-28 year olds?
Just as a caveat. I agree there is a big difference in the definitions of participation. There is a wide divide between those who actually skateboard regularly and those that just bought skate shoes for the one time they tried skateboarding. However, for our purposes it doesn’t really matter. It’s about appealing to one’s aspirations.
This is in by no means a new thing. Since the dawn of outdoor and action sports, brands both core and non-core have been striving to appeal to this audience. There are some classic examples of brands that have used this approach successfully to promote products that, technically, have nothing to do with the lifestyle but have become integral nonetheless by sponsoring events, movies and athletes as well as running campaigns that clearly connect them:
- For those that can remember Red Bull in the very early 90s. They were very much associated with the underground teen “rave” lifestyle. Shortly thereafter they made a conscious shift to re-associate with “action sports.” One look at their site makes this clear. Given the lifestyle’s ability to inspire emotions of energy, pushing boundaries, and excitement this was a great fit. RB is now closing in on being a $3b company.
- In the 80’s Subaru took their station wagon, which was not much more than a “tin can” on wheels (coming from a fan by the way), and attached itself as an integral part of snow sports industry to amazing success. Here are a few quick recent samples I found:
- I’m particularly fond of the new Nike, Dwayne Wade and Miami Heat. Who would have thought they NBA needed action sports to be perceived as exciting and new. Note you won’t see a basketball anywhere.
- Shoot, even Accenture, a management consulting firm, is using surfing. Thanks Tiger. Glad we could help.
Surfing was first recorded back in the 18th century, but it blew up in the US during the 60’s as the first movies came out and the Beach Boy’s started singing about it on ‘surfin safari’. It was also the advent of the shortboard in the late 60s which introduced the modern form of the sport. 
BMX begins with a single bicycle: the Schwinn Stingray, invented in 1963 to emulate the motocross experience. The Bicycle United Motocross Society was formed in 1970 and by the late 70s, the BMX Action Trick Team was being formed.
Climbing got really interesting with the advent of Free Climbing which didn’t use any artificial aids in the 60s. This is when the biggest climbing brands got their start. Most notably, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of what is now Black Diamond and Patagonia (and team) climbed the North American Wall on El Capitan. In 1968, Royal Robbins would solo the Muir Wall on El Capita.
Skiing slammed into the popularity as two friends with the coolest names in sports, Spider Sabich and Billy Kid, placed 5th in the ‘68 Olympics, inspiring the film Downhill Racer with Robert Redford before turning pro in 1970. To all you ski film innovators, did you know Warren Miller by ‘69 Warren Miller was on his 22nd ski film, “any snow, any mountain” and was hitting full stride? If your not into the racing or film side of skiing, freestyle skiing was legit already by 1965 through pioneers like Bob Burns. In 1976 the World Freestyle Championships were held and ABC Wide World of Sports televised the event.
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