Backcountry Marketing

Cole hit the floor at the HikeExpo to interview founders about the reality of running social at a small brand. Is there an alternative to spending $10,000 a month on paid ads in a small business where cash flow is critical?

Maren Hamilton, former Head of Social at The North Face and current Director of Global Brand and Community at popFly. We break down her core thesis: brand is social and social is brand. Maren shares why brands must stop treating social as a downstream channel, how to bring social thinking upstream into campaign planning and what it takes to build a social-first brand.

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This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating video strategy + production for active brands, rooted in emotion.

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Resilient businesses are built by building an audience.

In this solo episode, Cole Heilborn challenges the assumption that people inherently care about brand campaigns, product launches, or high-production content, and instead argues that attention must be earned through relevance and value over time.

Drawing from recent conversations, industry observations, and Port Side's own projects, Cole breaks down the growing disconnect between how brands produce content and how audiences actually consume it. While many brands continue to rely on intermittent campaign cycles, the most durable brands are consistently investing in content that serves, entertains, or resonates with their audience.

This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating content strategy + production for outdoor brands, rooted in emotion. Want to learn more about how we can help?

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In this episode, Greg Randolph, VP of Marketing at DECKED, and Bridget Noonan, Senior Brand Director at DECKED, break down one of the biggest tensions in modern marketing: brand vs performance.

We talk about the rise of performance marketing, why it worked so well for so long, and why many brands are now hitting a ceiling. Greg and Bridget share how DECKED is thinking about long-term growth, what it actually means to invest in brand, and why community, storytelling, and customer connection are becoming more important than ever.

We also get into the risks of over-relying on paid channels, how to think about creative and frequency, and finding a balance between brand and performance marketing

This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating content strategy + production for outdoor brands, rooted in emotion. Want to learn more about how we can help?

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Slack Community | Tired of brainstorming with ChatGPT? Join us!

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What is the value of great creative, and what happens when brands let marketing metrics dictate the work before the idea is even fully formed?

In this episode, Cole sits down with Rafael Oliveira, former Creative Director at Tracksmith, to talk about the role of the creative director, the tension between marketing and creative, and why distinction matters more than ever in a world where so many brands are producing work that looks the same. Rafa shares how Tracksmith approached creative as a long-term brand-building tool, why subtlety is often the marker of great work, and how brands can influence behavior by creating content that makes people feel something first.

They also get into the risk of sameness, why minimum viable creative is the wrong starting point, and how brands should think about making work that adds value beyond the transaction.

This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating content strategy + production for active brands, rooted in emotion.

Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:

Slack Community | Tired of brainstorming with ChatGPT? Join us!

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Episode Description

Most outdoor brands share a similar origin story: a founder identifies a need in the wild, builds a product in a garage, and grows a company from there. But as brands scale and growth pressures increase, something often gets lost in "the middle." The result is a sea of epic imagery, interchangeable storytelling, and campaigns that feel indistinguishable once the logo is removed.

Ryan Andrist, a marketing leader whose career spans The North Face, Sea to Summit, and Starbucks, joins the show to explore a persistent challenge in the outdoor industry.

Ryan and Cole unpack how growth pressures can muddy brand clarity and why the consumer insight is more important than ever.

This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating content strategy + production for active brands, rooted in emotion.

Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:

Slack Community | Tired of brainstorming with ChatGPT? Join us!

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Episode Description

In this episode, host Cole Heilborn sits down with Ryan Watson, CMO and COO at MTNTOUGH Fitness Labs, to unpack a hot take that should make every outdoor marketer pause: brand marketing for the sake of impressions is dead.

Ryan breaks down why measurement has changed the game, why "one big campaign, one big message" is an outdated operating system, and how the best brands are blending performance rigor with brand-level creativity. We also go deep on community as the next frontier of differentiation.

This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating content strategy + production for active brands, rooted in emotion.

Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:

Slack Community | Tired of brainstorming with ChatGPT? Join us!

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Guest List | Have a Guest in Mind? Share them with us here.

In this episode (initially aired on June 18th, 2025), Cole sits down with Chris Burkard—photographer, creative director, adventurer, and storyteller. Chris shares his unique perspective on navigating the constant changes shaping the outdoor industry, creativity, and marketing. They dive deep into the evolving role of creatives in a constantly changing outdoor industry. From the blurred lines between artistry and strategy to the challenges of maintaining authenticity in a data-driven world, Chris shares insights from his expansive career and unique perspectives on storytelling, marketing, and brand-building.

This is part one of a two-part series featuring Chris. If you have a question for Chris on part 2 let us know.

Key Takeaways

• The role of creatives is changing

• The path to success for a piece of creative has changed over the last 15 years

• Many brands are asking creatives to provide directions to a destination that doesn't exist.

• The balance between creative risk and data-backed decision-making

• Opportunities for creatives and feedback

Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:

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Booklist | Here's our curated list of recommended books over the years.

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Guest List | Have a Guest in Mind? Share them with us here.

Every company has a brand, but very few have built one intentionally or with differentiation. We use the word "brand" interchangeably with "company," when in reality most companies have never done the work required to intentionally shape what their brand stands for.

In this episode, I sit down with Marc Peruzzi, Creative Director at Cache Seven, to unpack one of the most misunderstood ideas in outdoor marketing: the difference between a company and a brand.

Marc shares why so many outdoor companies lose relevance when they chase "brand building" instead of grounding themselves in real people, real places, and real stories. We talk about authenticity, storytelling, influencer marketing, and why honesty consistently outperforms hype in the outdoor industry.

This conversation is a reminder that brand is not something you manufacture. It is something that emerges when a company knows who it is and who it serves.

This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating content strategy + production for active brands, rooted in emotion.

Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:

Slack Community | Tired of brainstorming with ChatGPT? Join us!

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Booklist | Here's our curated list of recommended books over the years.

LinkedIn | Join the conversation and share ideas with other industry peers.

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Guest List | Have a Guest in Mind? Share them with us here.

Does the outdoor industry overindex on brand? Alex Maier, President of OnWater, joins the show to challenge one of the outdoor industry's biggest assumptions: that brand marketing alone drives growth. Drawing from his experience in SaaS and outdoor, Alex breaks down why product marketing is the missing link for many brands, how listening to customers actually fuels innovation, and what outdoor companies can learn from software when it comes to adoption, retention, and trust.

We unpack the difference between brand and product marketing, why emotion still matters in utility-driven storytelling, and how ignoring customer pain points leads to "zombie brands."

This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating content strategy + production for active brands, rooted in emotion.

Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:

Slack Community | Tired of brainstorming with ChatGPT? Join us!

Insight Deck | Want 20 of our favorite insights shared on the show?

Booklist | Here's our curated list of recommended books over the years.

LinkedIn | Join the conversation and share ideas with other industry peers.

Apple Podcast | Want to help us out? Leave us a review on Apple.

Guest List | Have a Guest in Mind? Share them with us here.