Why PR Is Now More Powerful Than Paid Search
Our brains melted a little bit after this one. Plus a bonus episode, in case you missed it!
Starting Line
It’s been a massive week, and we’ve got two podcast conversations to share with you. First, the live podcast that we recorded last week at the Sea Otter Classic with a bunch of interesting industry friends - and then, today’s podcast conversation with Michael Rueckert. You may recognize his company, Centium, from a handful of references in previous podcasts - and after hearing what he has been working on, we had to have him join us on the podcast. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!
Why PR Is Now More Powerful Than Paid Search
Michael Rueckert was a ski resort marketing director who got curious about a simple question: when someone asks an AI where to ski, does Snow Basin show up? That curiosity led him down a rabbit hole that eventually became Centium, a platform now working with over 170 outdoor brands to help them understand and improve their visibility across every major AI model.
In this conversation, Michael and Aaron dig into how ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity each "think" differently about outdoor brands, why landing a GearLab ranking may now be worth more than any paid search campaign, and what it means for marketing when AI starts making purchasing decisions on behalf of humans. They also go deep on the practical side — how to set up Claude projects as a creative co-pilot, why taste is still the irreducible human advantage in an AI world, and why the outdoor industry is actually better positioned than most for what's coming.
Sea Otter Unfiltered!
We went to Sea Otter Classic and brought a bunch of industry friends onto the podcast. Jeremy Dunn (Smith Optics), Braydon Bringhurst (Hard MTB League), Eric Porter (PorterMTB YouTube), Tom Austen (Pelotan), Rachel Fussell (People For Bikes), Steve Blick (Oakley / Shimano) and Yuri Hauswald (GU) all joined us for some great, unfiltered conversations.
Connecting The Dots
We are proud to be supported by Popfly, a platform that connects brands and creators to support campaigns, and plenty more. They simplify the entire partnership, creation and promotion process around campaigns and initiatives, and open doors to additional opportunities for everyone involved.
Job Of The Week
🏆 Athlete management role incoming! Brooks Running has a Principal Program Manager, Athlete role open. Connect the dots between athletes and the product team!
🔥 Aravaipa Running is looking for a Lead Designer & Project Coordinator.
🎯 Veloci Running is hiring a Product Developer in Austin, TX.
🚀 Huckberry has an open role for Copywriter (on-site, not open to remote).
Article Of The Week
Separating the signal from the noise on growth in the industry - Trail Waves is at it again with solid data and analysis!
Show Notes
BPC - Brand, Product, Content
BPC is our closing segment where we share brands we’ve discovered, products we’re using and content we love.
👉 Scott Sports: Michael’s focus outside of Centium is a ski resort, so naturally an outdoor brand with a US office in his home state is the perfect fit for his BPC. Scott makes plenty of great winter (and summer!) sports gear.
🤘 Gnarly Nutrition: Michaels’ go-to nutrition is also based in his home state, the Gnarly crew has supported a bunch of our friends and has a fun approach to their marketing content.
🤣 DBo’s Gnarly Video: If you haven’t already seen this video, THIS IS REQUIRED VIEWING. It’s a few years old, but still hilarious!
📕 Go-Giver (Book): Christian Rawles inspired the connection and conversation in this week’s podcast, and this book was a gift from him, too.
Thank You
Next week, we’ve got a familiar face joining us on the podcast to talk about content, and what brands are missing out on (and how they can adapt to change that). Stay tuned!
Thanks for a great conversation, Aaron! If anyone wants to chat Centium or just how to leverage AI in general, I'd love to connect.
Have been using the project for a while. Good one