How One Brand Can Predict the Industry's Next Move
We dove into playbooks for Brand, Product and Athlete Marketing all in one episode...
Starting Line
Imagine if your parent company had all of the industry data for nearly all the retail shops in your country. How might you, as a brand, use that information to make decisions about your brand, business and products? That’s exactly the information that today’s guest, Jill Nazeer, has access to - and it’s led to some incredible innovation in the industry.
Beyond the data, Jill has some incredible experience working with not only brands and products, but athletes, too. This conversation was a really fun deep dive into all the stuff we love the most - we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
How One Brand Can Predict the Industry's Next Move
Jill Nazeer is the brand marketing manager at Salsa Cycles and one of the most experienced athlete and content marketers in the bike industry. Before Salsa, she was at Diamondback during one of the most interesting periods in mountain bike content history: when Seth from Berm Peak was just a guy with a cool YouTube channel, and Eric Porter was figuring out what adventure content could look like. She helped build what became one of the most effective creator rosters in the industry, almost by accident.
In this conversation, Jill walks through what she learned about athlete marketing at Diamondback, how Salsa's relationship with parent company QBP gives them an unusual data advantage in the industry, and why she spent two years making penny farthing jokes before becoming a true believer in 32-inch wheels. She also gets into what brands get wrong about the DTC vs. bike shop debate, why the bike shop still matters more than most people think, and the Columbia Expedition Impossible campaign — which might be the most creative brand marketing move of the year.
It Could Be Easier..
As you listen to today’s episode, you’ll hear everything that someone in Jill’s role at a brand has to handle to keep things moving forward. Trying to add “build a creator program from scratch” on top of all that is daunting! This is the exact problem that Popfly has solved. If you’re working at a brand that needs this kind of help, you need to check this out (and tell them we sent you), it’ll be worth it. And…if you’re an athlete or creator, you should definitely get on this platform - there are brands, ready to support you and looking for your talent. We’re using it outside of the podcast and having a lot of success with it - and this is exactly why we wanted to partner with Popfly in the first place. Highly recommended!
Show Notes
Job Of The Week
🚀 Our friends at Skratch are looking for a Director of Commerical Sales.
👉 Field Mag is hiring a new associate editor role - here’s everything you need to know.
🏆 BibRave has an opening for a Business Development Lead.
Article Of The Week
Tour de France Femmes is in full swing - and while we (hopefully) all recognize how powerful and valuable it is, here’s the data to back it up!
Second Nature Is Supported By Halo
Halo is a hospitality platform built by trail runners specifically for sports and event travel. They work with brands, event organizers and professional leagues to simplify one of the most operationally painful parts of any event: lodging. If you’re a brand thinking about experiential marketing, managing travel for your team or professional athletes, or a league handling lodging for your athletes and fans, Halo’s platform gives your brand a custom hotel booking platform and locks in better rates so you’re not managing hotel logistics from scratch. They’re already working with names like Western States, Aravaipa, Rabbit and New Balance.
And if you’re just heading to a race or event yourself this year, it’s worth checking out, too. Same platform with great rates, community, perks from band partners and less hassle. If any of this sounds like you, reach out to their team and tell them you heard about Halo on Second Nature.
BPC - Brand, Product, Content
BPC is our closing segment where we share Brands we’ve discovered, Products we’re using and Content that we love.
🌎 Columbia Expedition Impossible: Jill highlighted this campaign from Columbia, effectively challenging the flat earthers to find the edge of the Earth, using their gear. It’s a clever approach that ties in the brand and product to the challenge (and the prize is pretty spectacular, too - I bet their legal team had fun with that one).
🔥 Backcountry Slickrock Kit: Aaron has been switching it up this year and ditching all his black riding gear in favor of bright, colorful kits. Backcountry supports Super Rider, and their Slickrock kits have been the perfect fit for riding this season.
🙌 Wild Rye: Cassie Abel - founder of Wild Rye - was featured on the podcast about a year ago. We’re big fans of Wild Rye, and now that we think of it, we should probably have her back on the podcast for an update!
🤘 Shredly: This was the first mention of Shredly on the podcast, but after recording, we dove into the brand to check it out. Give Shredly a look if you haven’t already!
Thank You
Next week’s episode is titled “The Athlete Who Thinks Like A Founder” and we can’t wait for you to hear it! Thanks so much for joining us this week, and if you’re not already with our community in the Second Nature Slack channel, here’s a link to make it happen: