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Told Ya!: Columbia Sportswear announces AOR partnerships

Update: Following a competitive review, Weber Shandwick driving PR. “The MW team possesses a deep strategic understanding of our brand and business goals as they relate to the changing consumer as well as digital and retail landscapes around the world. They’ve demonstrated a strong affinity for the Columbia brand, and are primed to amplify our unique perspective and innovation efforts to consumers in the US and abroad," said Columbia president Joe Boyle. "This is an exciting time for Columbia, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with our new partners to propel our brand even higher.”

Other than the articles below, you can read more about the company's recent spend and roster here.

Below was originally published on 8/20:

Outdoor clothing manufacturer Mint Advertising to redesign its gift card program. Per a recent Q2 earnings call, it is also focusing marketing efforts in Houston and the Southeast, with a focus on its footwear category and earned and digital marketing that will continue to roll out in the Greater Chicago market as temperatures drop later this year. The company launched a "Best Bad Idea" campaign in June (see above) that has generated 23 million impressions with nearly 2.4 million video views.

As far as industry is concerned, Columbia's biggest competition currently comes from Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, and Puma. With the rises of "athleisure," athletic wear that can be used for both general use and exercise, health club and gym memberships, and the popularity of outdoor games and sports, the outdoor and sports apparel industry certainly isn't going anywhere (at least, not as quickly as its fans will be - you're welcome). Columbia's target demographic still seems to consist largely of millennial consumers.

Since the article below was published, Pathmatics reports that the company's year-to-date (YTD) digital display spend has risen to $765,800, creating 56.8 million impressions with ads mostly placed site direct (87%) and top destinations including kohls.com, youtube.com, espn.com, popularmechanics.com, and popsugar.com.

Below was originally published on 2/19:

Vulnerable Account Index, is making some changes to their marketing spend under new marketing leader Ethan Pochman (more info below), Tim Boyle, president, CEO and director shared during their latest earnings call. Most notably, the outerwear company is increasing partnerships/sponsorships, boosting call-to-action" marketing and using more digital initiatives to appeal to millennials. 

For starters, Columbia gave an update to their ROI-improving "Project CONNECT" initiative. Some saved money will be invested back into marketing. So, maybe you remember all that ad spend that was taken out in 2017? That should all be coming back. But, Boyle added that marketing won't be more than 10% of sales. Last year, revenue reached almost $2.4 billion. 

They have a few different ways in which they plan to invest that spend, by the way:

- Columbia will better engage customers through retail partnerships, such as Dick's Sporting Goods and the newly combined Bass Pro Shop and Cabela's.
- They will use call-to-action strategies after a successful call-to-action campaign for their "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" collection;
- They want an "always-on" marketing presence, which includes digital, print, outdoor, email, social media, experiential, in-store marketing and influencers.

All of these new initiatives are geared wards the coveted millennial audience. So, sellers offering high ROI A21-37 engagement strategies should stay on Columbia through Q4, their top advertising period. Specifically, Boyle shared that BSSP has handled Columbia's media since 2008, according to Winmo.