Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2019 - 12

AS WITH DIVORCED MARRIAGE COUNSELors or Xanaxed life coaches, be suspicious
of claims of expertise made by self-anointed
Influencers. If you are tempted to dive into influencer marketing, here are a few basic guidelines to measure a person's true influence:
* Are they are respected by the community?
* Do they provide utility (education,
guidance)?
* Are they entertaining?

MARKETING

Social Distortion
Influencers aren't the influencers. Your customers are.
by Mike Geraci
OSCAR WILDE OBSERVED, "IT IS ONLY SHALlow people who do not judge by appearances."
For all of his artistic skills and intellectual heft,
Wilde was a bit of a dandy and believed that a
man was valued more for outward appearances than inner beauty.
His quote remains a timeless paradox
which nicely captures the current state of
influencer marketing.
It is estimated that marketers will spend up
to $10 billion globally on influencers in 2020.
A truly astonishing number. Thankfully,
much of this spend will be in categories that
can afford it, namely fashion, beauty, and
luxury. The question is, can and should the
outdoor industry afford it?
What started innocently enough-with
the likes of Chris Burkard and Jimmy Chin
posting jaw-dropping landscape shots-lost
its innocence when people with a modicum
of social capital decided to trade that for
financial capital. As Hunter S. Thompson
famously noted, "When the going gets weird,

12 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ Summer 2019

the weird turn pro."
The new financial motivations of the amateurs debased the once relatively pure nature
of the pursuit, however. People stopped following their hearts and started pursuing the
data-influencers started hiking to breathtaking spots not to contemplate their place in the
universe but just to amass likes.
Just like every other form of marketing that
relies too heavily on data, the content becomes
commodified and formulaic, which in turn
has everyone chasing the same best-practice
image and deploying lowest common denominator clickbait to attract eyeballs because any
attention is good attention.
This is not to say that influencers don't exist
in the outdoor industry. They do exist; they're
just not professional influencers. The outdoor
industry has been sponsoring athletes, ambassadors, and expeditions since Day 1. What
is new to this strategy is this class of professional influencer that sits between the sponsored athletes and the amateur enthusiasts.

This is the same way you would choose a
good guide-and I know plenty of guides who
fit this bill, but they are modest and aren't predisposed to shameless self-promotion.
If you're a retailer without access to big
name athletes, who truly has the ability to influence your brand and your business? Your
customers do-those wide-eyed enthusiasts
who are still in awe of the adventures they get
to have on their weekends and vacations.

MARKETERS CALL IT USER GENERATED
Content (UGC) because we name things, it's
what we do. Smart brands have developed
ways to empower and deploy their customers' UGC to both celebrate their spirit and
promote their brand. It makes the experience
more real, accessible, and relatable. As retailers, that's what we want, to empower people
to believe that they can do it, too. To steal a
phrase from Home Depot: You can do it, we
can help.
Ironically, between ambassadors, influencers, and customers, influencers have the
least amount of influence on your brand and
sales. Unless you are interested in superficial
people selling superficial products to other
superficial people. And if that's your goal,
you belong in the fashion industry not the
outdoor industry.
As David McCollough, Jr. said, "Climb
mountains to see the world, not so the world
can see you." O.R.
-Mike Geraci is principal of Geraci & Co., a
brand strategy and communications group in
Jackson, Wyoming. He's a fan of the Ramones
and fly-fishing.

Illustration by Kevin Howedshell / The Brave Union

Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2019

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