Hot time in the city

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Ahh, spring. Sunny skies, warm temps, birds chirping, flowers blooming. Except of course in Colorado, where it seemingly snowed the entire month of April and well into May.

Thus, a trip to New York City for our semi-annual media showroom, with the promise of warmer weather, good food and a little urban culture, was a welcome opportunity for the Backbone team.

Twice a year, we host a showroom in NYC. It’s a chance to meet with some of the country’s leading media and share the latest and greatest products and stories from our clients.

This spring, we were in a new, larger event space, with 13 brands participating. During the seven hours of our showroom, we saw 70 writers, editors, freelancers, bloggers, producers and publishers representing titles from the New York Times to SELF, Esquire, Conde Nast Traveler, Oprah and many, many more.

In addition to connecting with the New York media scene, we enjoyed beautiful weather, a great meal at the Spice Market and a healthy dose of city culture before we headed back to the mountains (where thankfully, spring seems to finally have sprung).

Check out some pics from the event below.

Backbone’s Mike Shea with Jeanine Pesce from This is Range and Matt Peterson from Big Shot bikes

Molly from Eddie Bauer with Mary Anne Potts from National Geographic Adventure

Corey from Sperry Top-Sider with Susan Matthews from Popular Science

Molly from SmartWool with Dan Tower of Gifts.com and Mavis

The Newton Running Dream Team: Newton co-founder Danny Abshire, Elinor from Backbone and Kara Henry from Newton

 

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Client News, Design \ Tagged: , ,

Awards Season: Fall 2012

\ Leave a Comment \ by

As always, it has been a busy fall for Backbone. We’ve traveled across the country and back for media trips and showrooms, launched a handful of new products, blocked and tackled like an NFL defensive line, and still managed to squeeze in a few lunchtime mountain bike rides.

More importantly, we are proud to see hard work pay off. Our clients are also experiencing a great fall season of coverage. Aside from a cold beer on a Friday afternoon, few things make us happier than seeing good products receiving the praise that they deserve, and it has been a season packed with praise and exciting awards.

First to hit was National Geographic’s Gear of the Year Awards. We were thrilled to see recognition of several clients: Black Diamond’s Carbon Megawatt skis, the Big Agnes McAlpin SL, Klean Kanteen’s new stainless steel canisters, and two Polartec fabrics, NeoShell and Thermal Pro High Loft (incorporated into the Westcomb Shift LT and Patagonia Nano Puff Hybrid jackets).

Soon after, Backpacker’s Fall/Winter Gear Guide hit newsstands, and several of Backbone’s clients took home Editors’ Choice Snow Awards. Both the Carbon Megawatts and Westcomb Shift LT (Polartec NeoShell) earned another award, along with La Sportiva’s Storm Fighter GTX pants, the Cabelas E.C.W.C.S. baselayers (Polartec Power Dry), and Eddie Bauer First Ascent’s BC Microtherm 2.0 and Katabatic tent.

And then there were the ski and snowboard Gear Guides. Black Diamond, Kastle, Boa and La Sportiva all received great reviews. POC and SmartWool were often named among the top accessories. After flipping through the pages of each one, we couldn’t be more stoked for this year’s ski season and for the hard work of our client production teams to make this incredible gear.

Beyond PR, we recently learned that Polartec’s Made Possible College Challenge campaign was chosen as a finalist for the PR Daily Digital PR and Social Media Awards for ‘Best Use of Facebook’. The campaign invited collegiate outdoor programs to submit a video telling Polartec (and the world) what they would do with a $10,000 grant. The videos of four finalist schools were posted to a Polartec Facebook application and opened to a public, winner-take-all vote. The campaign, now in its 3rd year, has been a tremendous success, and has garnered on average of 1.7 million impressions for Polartec each year. The 2012 Made Possible College Challenge is now live on Polartec’s Facebook page and we are thrilled to have Backpacker as a partner for this year’s campaign. Check it out and vote for your favorite!

With any luck, the snow will start falling soon here in the Rockies, and we’re excited to see what the winter season brings.

Posted in: Client News, Gratuitous Client Plug

In the House: Ashley from Orbitz

\ Leave a Comment \ by

We have lots of fun folks stopping in and out of the Backbone offices these days- our clients, their athletes, our media partners, friends, family, dogs, and a few randoms who are lost and looking for the yoga studio down the street. Our door is always open!

This week, Ashley O’Neill from Orbitz stopped by to see us and meet with our media team about Orbitz’s new design/layout and capabilities. Since we manage more than a handful of premier destinations these days, this is key info. Thanks for coming to see us in person, Ashley!

Posted in: Client News, Videos

New Belgium Brewing Unveils Conceptual Asheville Site Plan

\ Leave a Comment \ by

From: Bryan Simpson- New Belgium Brewery.

FORT COLLINS, CO, July 26, 2012 – New Belgium Brewing executives unveiled conceptual drawings for their new brewing facility to a packed house in Asheville yesterday. The drawings included a “liquid center” tasting room, a 200-barrel brewhouse, malt building, packaging hall and cellar space. A warehouse facility will be built offsite, equipped with the help of Industrial Auction Hub services. Executives wanted Asheville residents to see the plan first and have an opportunity to offer feedback.

“There will be impact but we will work hard to make it right,” said New Belgium CEO Kim Jordan. “We could have built on a lot of sites but we wanted to be on a livable, walkable site. This site will be a challenge, but we are up for that challenge.”

The new facility will have to be elevated above the 100-year flood zone along the French Broad River. Buildings and material from the old Asheville stockyard will be recycled during deconstruction this fall with heavy demolition being done November thru December and ground-breaking in January.

The brewery is working with the city and state Departments of Transportation to make infrastructure improvements including the widening of roads, smoothing of curves and the addition of traffic signals. An off-site warehouse facility at a yet-to-be-determined location will minimize trucking traffic in the area.

The brewery will have a 700,000-barrel capacity, producing both bottled and kegged beer for distribution along the east coast. The project is slated for completion in 2015.

About New Belgium Brewing Company
New Belgium Brewing Company, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, began operations in a tiny Fort Collins basement in 1991. Today, the third largest craft brewer in the U.S., New Belgium produces nine year-round beers; Fat Tire Amber Ale, Sunshine Wheat, Ranger IPA, Belgo IPA, Shift Pale Lager, Blue Paddle Pilsner, 1554 Black Ale, Abbey and Trippel, as well as a host of seasonal releases. In addition to producing world-class beers, New Belgium takes pride in being a responsible corporate role model with progressive programs such as employee ownership, open book management and a commitment to environmental stewardship. For more information, visit www.newbelgium.com.

Posted in: Client News, Design, Environment, Interesting Read

Backbone Grows into the Tourism Industry

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Backbone Media started over 14 years ago as a small agency of skiers and climbers representing the premium gear brands we used and loved in the outdoors. While that attitude is still at our core, Backbone has come a long way as an agency. We have increased the sophistication of our PR services, added a media planning and buying department and developed a full suite of social media capabilities. We have also expanded our client base to include broader active lifestyle brands like New Belgium Brewing and Eddie Bauer, technology clients like iOmounts, as well as  several non-profit organizations, including Big City Mountaineers, the Roaring Fork Conservancy and 1% For the Planet.

In recent years, Backbone has also expanded into destination PR and marketing, utilizing the talents of our team members who have years of experience working with Vail, Aspen Skiing Company, Banff and more. We began in our own backyard with Snowmass Village. Tasked with improving Snomass’ social media presence to engage both new and returning visitors, we developed a voice unique to Snowmass and launched a series of interactive Facebook applications including a recent Instagram promotion.  We’re also on the verge of launching a market research study to understand the who, what, when and why of Snowmass tourism in order to help the town more effectively attract and retain visitors.

Last fall, we expanded our work in Snowmass with the new Westin Snowmass Resort and the Wildwood Snowmass hotel, new properties opening in late 2012. In our constant effort to promote collaborative opportunities between our clients, we recently hosted a party with the Westin, Wildwood and New Belgium, which has plans to open a Ranger Station bar adjacent to the Westin as well as a New Belgium-themed bar inside the Wildwood.

We also handle the media for Telluride, Sun Valley Resort, Mount Bachelor Resort and Taos Ski Valley. We customize our work for each client, but the extensive research we’ve done in this space has paid dividends for all our resort clients.

Sun Valley’s Winter 2011-2012 Travelocity campaign is one of our most successful to date. The ads generated 162,390 click-throughs, resulting in a 90 percent increase in hotel sales, 350 percent increase in package bookings, and 146 percent year-over-year revenue increase. During the three-month campaign, Travelocity recorded $342,596 in bookings for Sun Valley. 

Our tourism client roster extends beyond the mountain community as well. In a PR partnership that began late last year, we’ve helped to promote Catalina Island as a reemerging tourism destination. We focused on several specific audiences: local Californians who may have overlooked the island for short weekend getaways; an affluent nationwide audience for longer stays; and an outdoor audience with events like the Gran Fondo Mountain Bike Race and the Catalina Eco Marathon. We’ve seen great results in just a few months, with coverage in the LA Times, CBS News, the Chicago Tribune, and Runner’s World. We’re not taking all the credit, but Catalina is reporting busy summer bookings

Life at Backbone becomes even busier with each new project, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re excited by our growth into the tourism industry and the ambitious goals of our clients. As the lines traditionally associated with PR and media buying/planning continue to blur, it’s difficult to be certain about where the next few years will take us. We plan to stick to our tried and true recipe: exceed expectations with outstanding services and an authentic representation of our clients’ ideals.

Posted in: Client News, Interesting Read, Social Media, Tourism, Uncategorized

Who is Backbone Media?

\ Leave a Comment \ by

People ask us all the time “What exactly does Backbone do?”

It’s a legit question, as we offer custom services for each of the 35+ brands we represent with work far reaching beyond our PR, social/digital and media focus.

Looking beyond our defined scope of services we range from researching media plans and markets to creative concept and execution/management of branded experiences in FB and mobile apps. We build partnerships and help coordinate events, like the Sylvan Sport/Jordan Romero tour and participate in them when time allows as evidenced here at the recent Teva Mountain Games. Kudos to Ian Anderson and Sage Williams (Greg’s 10-year old daughter) for competing in the Bouldering Comp.

Ian takes Silver in between penning PRs (press releases not personal records)

We recently worked with Teton Gravity Research to launch the Co-Lab a $100K open source video contest, launched apps providing triple digit percentage gain in engagement for Ocean Kayak, SmartWool, New Belgium/Pandora, Redington and Snowmass/Instagram and as always kept the press flowing with releases and news from SNOCRU, Black Diamond, Eddie Bauer, MIPS, Big Agnes, La Sportiva, Horny Toad and others.

And coverage? Yes, blocking and tackling is what we do everyday – right after crossfit workouts and before mid-day bike rides, travel to NYC showrooms, sales meetings and R&D. Whether Inc.,  Oprah or Outside – it’s all in a days work.

BD athlete Angel Collinson in Outside Mag

So, “Who is Backbone?” No doubt, Backbone is defined by the acumen and quality of the people we hire. We’re proud to announce a number of new hires. Danielle Grivalsky comes to Backbone with previous experience from MRI, and as the Research Director from Men’s and Women’s Health (Rodale) for 12 years. Danielle will integrate with the media team bolstering research and planning.

Mike Shea joins the PR team from Ripple Media, an industry leader in on-mountain resort advertising. Mike is wicked fast on a bike and part of the shaved legs men’s club at Backbone. James Logan and Brian Kinslow, interns, are fulfilling critical support to our entire crew and working on ongoing research projects.

New business continues to roll in on the media side via collaboration with agencies such as Hammerquist on Taos, and on the PR side work with MIPS Sweden AB, brain protection systems, Avalanche Ranch and Crystal River Meats a Carbondale based healthier and more sustainable food source. Say what? No, we are not going all Zuck on you here – and only eating what we kill with our bare hands. Simply put, Crystal River Meats is all about serving the local economy and putting food on the table while respecting uncompromising land stewardship. It is a great local story that scales as Crystal River supplies meats to local restaurants, regional farmer’s markets, Whole Foods and Vitamin Cottage.

With more exciting news waiting in the wings, we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled programming now.

See you out there.

Posted in: Client News, Interesting Read, Outdoor Industry News, Social Media, Technology

FreeTouring with Black Diamond Equipment in the North Cascades

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Now, repeat after me:

“We are not a tele skiing company. We are not an alpine skiing company. We are not a backcountry touring company. Black Diamond Equipment is a SKI company, comprised of passionate SKIERS dedicated to making a unique collection of trusted, award-winning gear — from skis to boots, skins to poles, packs to avalanche safety essentials — that enables us to choose any line, any time, anywhere, that makes every skiing day an epic day, that empowers us to break away from traditional boundaries and SKI OUTSIDE THE LINES.”

No, this wasn’t something that we made the everyone memorize during the group’s “welcome” program, but it was our mantra as we got prepared for our first ski day in the North Cascades.

From the left clockwise: Dave Waag (Off Piste), Thomas Laakso (Black Diamond Equipment Ski Category Director), Larry Goldie (North Cascades Mountain Guides), Tracy Ross (Backpacker), Frederick "Rico" Reimers (Freelancer), Berne Broudy (Outside/Freelancer), Drew Pogge (Backcountry Magazine), John "jLd" DiCuollo (Backbone Media) and Sam Bass (SKIING Magazine). Photo courtesy of David Waag.

 

As part of Black Diamond Equipment’s new Touring Series for 2012/13, BD is introducing nine new FreeTour and Tour skis — from rockered sidecountry skis to ultra-efficient tools for big, faraway objectives that will serve today’s skiers, helping them to define what is possible beyond the ropes.  In addition to skis, skins (featuring redesigned plush construction with dramatically improved glide), ski poles (highlighting BD’s new FlickLock® Pro design) and the new AvaLung Series packs incorporating Active Form Design were all put to the test from editors/freelancers from such publications as: Backcountry, Backpacker, Off-Piste, Men’s Journal, Outside, Popular Science, Ski, and Skiing magazines.

While most of the west is suffering from lower than usual snowfall totals, the mountain snowpack in the North Cascades of Washington as of April 1 is 137% of average.  Plenty of snow in the Cascades offered up a perfect testing conditions for our group, but we couldn’t have done it without the help of some local Methow Valley aficionados.  Thank you to the North Cascades Mountain Guides, North Cascade Heli and North Cascades Basecamp — as you all made our stay in PNW a memorable one.

North Cascades Mountain GuidesNorth Cascade Heli (Courtesy of Frederick Reimers)North Cascades Basecamp (Courtesy of Berne Broudy)

Time for some skiing…

Courtesy of David Waag

Bluebird days were perfect testing grounds for trip sponsor REVO's Headway sunglasses (their first nylon frame to feature the Crystal Water lens).

Heading for some more turns off of Amy's Peak.

Frederick "Rico" Reimers looking for "Justice." Photo courtesy of David Waag.

Taking off...Setting up...One photo seems to be missing...after the landing.

Courtesy of North Cascade Heli, every day began with a “bump” to a summit leaving us with an untouched powder palette to brush our ski signatures.  Always good to start the day off skiing down, but even more rewarding to know you have the whole day ahead ski touring with a great group of people in such a spectacular setting as the North Cascades.  We will back again one day…

FreeTouring with Black Diamond Equipment in the North Cascades

BD’s new F12 Touring Series skis include:  FreeTour Category>  Carbon Megawatt (153-125-130), Justice (140-115-125), Drift (138-100-123), Revert (121-95-109) and women’s Starlet (136-100-122).  Tour Category>  Aspect (130-90-117), Current (118-86-106), Stigma (125-80-109) and women’s Crescent (128-90-115).  Look for them to arrive at a local ski shop or an outdoor specialty store near you later this summer.

 

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Client News, Skiing, Trip Reports \ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Backbone February Features: Newton & Polartec

\ Leave a Comment \ by

At Backbone we put a lot of stock in what we call blocking and tackling: product placement. We spend every day on the phone/email with friends, writers, bloggers, and producers making sure that our clients get frequent and regular media coverage. Beyond product placement, however, we also work hard to secure feature stories that illustrate what goes on behind the product, and behind the scenes with our clients.

Sometimes these stories take years to develop, but the final result is always a unique glimpse into the people and processes that come together to create the industry-leading brands we’re proud to represent. This month, we had two feature stories come through, highlighting the success of two longstanding clients: Newton Running and Polartec.

Backbone and Polartec have been partners for over twelve years and we played a significant role in the global launch of their new waterproof breathable technology, Polartec NeoShell. Both the product itself and the marketing around the introduction created a lot of attention. This piece by Outside Magazine (thanks Mike Kessler and Sam Moulton) tackles some of the behind-the-scenes business aspects of the shell game: INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE– by Mike Kessler, Outside Magazine-March 2012

Backbone began work with Newton Running six years ago, when the company didn’t even have shoes to sell. We’ve been a proud partner in their growth to become a major player in the running footwear industry. This month’s (11-page!) feature in Runner’s World highlights the story of Newton founder, Danny Abshire and the story of how he set out to change the way people run, and built a shoe to help them do it.

THE SHOE BELIEVER– by Michael Behar, Runner’s World– March 2012
View the full PDF of this story by CLICKING HERE

Posted in: Client News, Interesting Read

Impressions from Trade Show Season

\ 2 Comments \ by

I’m the new guy at Backbone, or at least I was this summer. I hope that title has begun to fade by now but even with a few months under my belt, there was still one rite of passage that I hadn’t yet experienced: trade show season.

I had heard the terms “OR” and “SIA” thrown around the office but to be honest, I really had no idea what they were all about. Until a colleague asked me if I had made any appointments, I hadn’t really paid attention. But, after two plus weeks on the road and attending the OR Winter Market in SLC and SIA Snow Show in Denver, it’s safe to say I survived and have more than a few new experiences to share.

Venues: Both the Salt Palace in SLC and the Colorado Convention Center in Denver are HUGE! Walking into these gargantuan convention centers to see hundreds of companies displaying their new products is overwhelming to say the least. I was glad that I arrived on the first day with a colleague who could show me where to go. If not, I would have wandered for hours. Even after getting to know my way around, entering the building before sunrise and leaving after dark reminded me of the time vortex that Las Vegas is known to create.

New Products: There are lots of great companies making really innovative gear these days. I’m obviously biased and think that Gregory Mountain Products and La Sportiva make the best products because I’m representing them and know their products best. But the reality is that the outdoor industry is growing and lots of companies are making cool stuff. I walked by the booths of numerous name brands that we all know and love and also lots of companies that I’d never heard of before.

Trends: Before starting work at Backbone, I thought that a jacket was a jacket and a backpack was a backpack. I naively thought that the differences between products were limited to colors, basic materials, and brand names. Boy, was I wrong! Outdoor products have thousands of hours poured into their design and the amount of technical detail in them is staggering. The challenge and opportunity for every brand is to figure out how to clearly stake out the product details that separate them from the competition and then clearly describe that to their customers. Some are clearly doing a better job of that than others.

Media: For me, the trade shows were all about getting to know the media that I had never met in person. While I’ve been fortunate enough to work with lots of great writers via the phone and e-mail, nothing replaces time spent in person. Every half-hour, I met and chatted with writers who I only knew by name. Some matched my non-introduced impressions perfectly, while others were very different than I had envisioned. It was great to meet so many writers and learn first-hand what their passions are.

Food and Drink: It’s a good thing that I enjoy food and can hold my liquor because there is no shortage of either at trade shows. From lunches on the show floor to media dinners at fancy restaurants, and endless late night cocktails, there is no shortage of opportunities to indulge. My strategy was to not go overboard so that I would avoid the inevitable hangover or food coma, which I think paid off, but it would have been really easy to overdo it.

In the end, the time away from home was well worth it as I got my feet wet at my first trade shows. I met lots of great people, pitched lots of great new products, witnessed what some of the top brands in the industry are up to, and generally had a good time. Best of all, I checked another rookie landmark off the list…

 

Posted in: Client News, Uncategorized

It All Adds Up

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Fall is our slow time. Time to relax.

Unless you think about it.

Ali Carr Troxell examining new Spring 2012 Big Agnes tents @ Outside HQ

Outside Publisher Larry Burke and Sam Moulton check out a 'still secret' BD Powder ski for 2012

Fall planning gets cranked up and a quick look at our Google Calendar tells a different story. In the last month~ish, Backbone has been in Boulder multiple times, Portland, Ventura, Austria, NYC, Santa Fe, Fort Collins, Moab, Phoenix, Pierre (that’d be South Dakota), Vegas and Jackson Hole.

Mavis sent this shot from Austria where she was schralping with Team NH - aka Kastle athletes Colby James West and Chris Davenport

More travel on the horizon with Boulder, Santa Fe, LA, Seattle, Banff, Steamboat and the Canary Islands (legit work trip FYI) are all loaded on our collective itineraries.

Cool to see this descending from Castleton Tower outside Moab

Why the acceleration? Predominantly it comes from growth in our digital and media divisions as well as continued integration with PR. As the landscape changes we are seeing more expansion of services with existing clients and new business in social media strategy, app development, curation and media planning.

Teva on ice in NYC showroom along with Backbone clients Black Diamond, Eddie Bauer/First Ascent and Revo

It’s interesting because while many were quick to call for the death of print, the decentralization of media has acted as a correction of sorts opening marketers eyes to the various tools at their disposal. Good real time data and thought has focused on brands better defining their goals, accessing information and utilizing the various mediums to best suit their needs. Some see online as a more DTC tool and less as a brand builder  – preferring print or TV for the greater brand reach. Others see gain in community based and engaged communication. Either way it’s an interesting time to be in involved and rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty.

See you out there.

 

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Client News, Social Media, Trip Reports