A recent pitch for an outdoor gear company called Wild Things, prompted me to do a little digging into the outdoor-oriented demographic. As a member of this demographic, I found that some of what I learned resonated with me. If you are out there trying to appeal to this demographic, you may find this of interest.

The Outdoor Perspective

While many of us spend copious amounts of time worrying about what we should be doing, those who love the outdoors spend more time time thinking about what they could be doing. For these intrepid folks, life is an adventure and something to be enjoyed. The outdoors is where they find pleasure, and when they aren’t outside, chances are they are thinking about what they could be doing outside, or what they could be doing to preserve it.

This particular world view doesn’t confine itself to a particular age group, but there are some common personality traits:

• generally laid back
• enjoy life as it comes
• favorite activities are viewed as calming
• focused on fun, adventure
• less educated as a whole with some highly educated subsets
• lower incomes than indoor types and/or frugal
• group-oriented
• eco-concious

Planet = Playground

Naturally outdoor-oriented individuals seek the outdoors, but lets take a closer look:

• favorite activities - hiking, camping, boating, fishing, paddling
• approach life as an adventure and as something to be enjoyed, preferably with others
• likely to do an activity simply to get outside
• education is important, but most consider the great outdoors to be the best education
• less wealthy than others, but not broke (average income between $35K and $50K)
• prefer doing activities with friends
• being outdoors is their #1 motivation for being outdoors

Insights

Tailoring a Marketing Message

Outdoor-oriented people are more likely to respond to messaging that address their sense of adventure. They typically value others, and want to know what others think, and more importantly what they are doing. They value communities and are willing to join the crowd. They don’t like to be told what to do, but they do want to hear about what others are doing.

The outdoor-oriented are more likely to seek product advice from family and friends. Yet, word-of-mouth from trusted advisors is also an important resource.

Marketing Channels

The outdoor-oriented do use the Web, as you might expect, to seek out product information, but there are other marketing channels to consider. In order of importance:

• Word-of-mouth
• Websites, particularly advisory, activity-specific sites
• TV shows
• Online retailers
• Manufacturer sites

Purchasing Channel’s

Quality and price are important priorities with a slight skew towards price. High quality with large price tags, the “Patagucci” syndrome, is a big deterrent. Most outdoor-oriented people shop at discount stores, with higher income outdoor enthusiasts shopping at specialty retailers.

A typical scenario

Bob, and avid backpacker, has a friend who swears by the Wild Things Andinista pack. This alone may be enough for Bob to look at making a purchase. However, Bob may hit Backpacker Magazine, a trusted advisor, to see what they recommend in the annual gear guide. Bob reads good things about the Andinista pack, and then proceeds to pursue making a purchase. At this point, he may visit the Wild Things site to see what the company is about and learn more about the pack. From here, Bob begins looking for the best price, hitting his short-list of online retailers or local gear shop. If ALL these touch points are aligned, the sale is in the bag, so to speak.

In conclusion

The outdoor oriented person tends to surf the waves that life kicks up. They tend to be “pack animals” and value the opinions and actions of the pack. The pack will influence not only destination but purchasing decisions. When making an appeal to the outdoor-oriented audience, consider adventure, the pack, and word-of-mouth marketing channels.