UST is shaking up the outdoor industry. Since 1936, they have been creating survival, camping and outdoor equipment. Recently however the company has gone through some internal transition and the team is using this as an opportunity to change up everything. Seeing a need to reach more consumers in a friendly, open and inviting format. The brand is doing a 180 degree pivot to meet the crowds of people who are exploring the outdoors for the first time.

 

John Holdmeier is the brand manager at UST and in this episode he shares how and why the company is changing. From product selection, color schemes, brand values, content strategies, to customer personas. The only thing that isn't changing is their passion for getting people outdoors. 

 

From the episode:

 

"We really try to be intentional about the things that are working well and things that are NOT working well. Then, we try to bring the things that are working well forward as we progress as a brand."

 

"(When talking about consumer persona exercise) Most brands will come up with one or two consumer personas. We ended up creating seven, trying to be as all encompassing as we could be."     "The consumer personas were the most important step to our complete brand refresh. As we do anything for the brand, we reference them and ensure our actions align with them."     "[The outdoor industry] Is a crowded market, But, it's growing so there is a lot of room for us to continue to grow into it."     "We wanted to approach our product line in a way that is extremely accessible to every outdoor consumer."  

Follow UST and John:

@ustgear

@johnholdmeier

 

Episode Sponsored By:

Darby Communications

https://www.darbycommunications.com/

@darbycomm

 

Produced by:

Port Side Productions

@backcountrymarketing

@portsideproductions

@coleheilborn