Mike Massey and Teddy Schiavano of Locally are back on another Channel Mastery episode just in time to kick off the brand-new decade! Locally is a company that connects the brands and products found in thousands of stores with nearby, interested shoppers. I like to think of it as a triangulation of sorts between specialty retailer, brand and target consumer. Mike and Teddy, and the Locally team, are always evolving the how around their mission, because the consumer continues to evolve. Locally m...
Jan 07, 2020•39 min•Season 3Ep. 115
Algorithms have their place, but for specialty/artisan brands, emotive storytelling and a human over algorithm approach will continue to win the day. My guests today in this episode personify this. You’re about to meet the artist and team behind Open Road Ski Company and Man Behind the Maps . Note: This episode is co-produced by our friends at Snowsports Industries of America (SIA) . James Niehues is The Man Behind the Maps. He’s literally defined on-snow resorts through his illustrated maps and...
Dec 12, 2019•47 min•Season 3Ep. 114
As Amazon Prime and Uber, along with other businesses committed to bringing convenience and personalization to today’s shopper, Chris Guillemet, CEO and co-founder of velofix, was busy with his two partners pioneering the mobile bike shop solution. That was six years ago, and a lot has changed with today’s omnichannel consumer and cyclist. In today’s Channel Mastery podcast, Guillemet and I discuss this evolution in the context of the future of the mobile bike shop. Where the channel is headed i...
Dec 09, 2019•52 min•Season 3Ep. 113
I’ve got a great guest to share with you on this episode of the Channel Mastery podcast; you’re going to meet Frank Ledwell, founder, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief at OutdoorX4 (pronounced “Outdoor by 4”). His title is an adventure lifestyle publication that caters to people who access adventure with their vehicles. Wait, isn’t that all of us? Well, yes and no. And that’s why I thought it would be so great to host Frank on the Channel Mastery podcast! Verde has a lot of clients who are hoping to...
Dec 03, 2019•47 min•Season 3Ep. 112
Annelise Loevlie, CEO at Icelantic Skis - This episode co-produced by Verde Brand Communications and the Snowsports Industries of America (SIA) Unless you’ve been happily living under a rock, if you’re in the outdoor recreation industries, you’ve heard about specialty brand leader, Annelise Loevlie. She’s the beloved CEO of Icelantic Skis, a brand that’s figured out how to be concurrently established, yet also, new and young. Icelantic Skis are designed and manufactured in Colorado, and the bran...
Nov 26, 2019•52 min•Season 3Ep. 111
This episode of the Channel Mastery podcast is jointly produced by Verde Brand Communications and SNEWSnet.com. Well, we’re in it - welcome to Holiday, 2019 Channel Masters! It’s not just around the corner, it’s literally here. My inbox has been flooded already (as of this writing in mid-November) with ‘door-buster’ deals and so many subject lines about Black Friday that I’m afraid to open my email. Cyber Monday promos are on their way, this I’m sure of. Holiday 2019 will be telling, that’s for ...
Nov 19, 2019•43 min•Season 3Ep. 110
In this Channel Mastery episode, I had the opportunity to speak with Kristi Mohn and Gabbi Adams, two of the women leading the charge in expanding and developing Gravel Racing across America. The team at Life Time behind the Dirty Kanza gravel race held annually in Emporia, KS have announced their next project - Big Sugar, a 107-mile gravel race winding through the hillsides and waterways of Bentonville, Arkansas. There’s also a shorter option, called the Little Sugar (50 miles). In our conversa...
Nov 14, 2019•46 min•Season 3Ep. 109
On this episode of the Channel Mastery podcast, co-produced by Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, I’m honored to pay a big tribute to Ed Zink, the owner of the award-winning specialty bike store, the Mountain Bike Specialists. Zink, a Durango native and longtime resident, unexpectedly passed away on October 11, 2019 of complications from cardiac arrest. He would have turned 72 on November 13th. He was a founder of Durango’s iconic road race, the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, which turns 49 in 2...
Nov 11, 2019•54 min•Season 3Ep. 108
Ryan Atkinson returns to Channel Mastery after a wide reaching webinar with the National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA). He is President and Co-Owner of SmartEtailing and talks to us about the importance of evolving when it comes to how consumers purchase not only bicycles, but other products as well. Click and Collect shopping iis on the incline and Ryan and his team at SmartEtailing are helping specialty bike shops keep sales within their communities, ensure consumer accessibility to the p...
Oct 28, 2019•37 min•Season 3Ep. 107
This episode is the first of an entire season of Channel Mastery podcasts co-produced by our friends at the Snowsports Industries of America (SIA). Jen Gurecki joins me on this episode and after sharing the mic with her, I have to say, she just embodies the word entrepreneur. She is Co-founder and CEO of Coalition Snow, a women’s-specific ski hardgoods company, Editor-in-Chief of Sisu Magazine, and as of Oct. 14, 2019, a specialty brick-and-mortar retailer (Truckee, Calif.). Jen knows a thing or...
Oct 21, 2019•57 min•Season 3Ep. 106
We’re excited to welcome back Friend of the Channel Mastery Podcast, Larry Pluimer of Indigitous.com, an Amazon advertising and services agency that provides brands with strategies, services and intelligence to maximize sales and marketing opportunities with Amazon. Many of you know Larry as the first person to build an outdoor-lifestyle specific market on Amazon over a decade ago. Larry and his team make it their business to monitor and translate the many changes happening on the Amazon marketp...
Oct 14, 2019•18 min•Season 3Ep. 105
On this episode of Channel Mastery, Specialty Retailer and Outdoor Industry Icon, Wes Allen, and I discuss the evolving equation of retail math. Retail success can come down to having the right time, all the time, especially since today’s connected consumer is always expecting just that. We dive into how measuring your Gross Margin Return on Investment (GMROI) is essential for keeping your business thriving and how other channels play a role in this always changing equation. Wes Allen is a VIP f...
Oct 08, 2019•41 min•Season 3Ep. 104
On today’s episode, we dive into the world of software as a service (SaaS) with the co-founder of one of my personal favorite apps and podcasts: TrainerRoad. Digital businesses may have an edge over analog when it comes to data access and agility, but what this discussion demonstrates is that there are SO many other lessons and crossovers that ALL businesses can learn from the tech culture. My guest, Nate Pearson, is incredibly generous and forthcoming in sharing the ins and outs of his company’...
Sep 30, 2019•49 min•Season 3Ep. 103
SOLOCAST: Kristin Carpenter, Channel Mastery Host and CEO of Verde Brand Communications The marketing director in both legacy and direct-first brands do not have an easy path today. They literally hold the keys to the end-consumer relationship, and are charged to manage and ‘catch’ all things marketing. It can be tough to know the metrics to report to executive colleagues as the targets and goals keep changing. And setting a budget is probably the most challenging - especially for legacy brand l...
Sep 25, 2019•41 min
