Is Your Athlete/Ambassador Program Working?

By: Lisa Slagle, founder  & creative director

I did something interesting this summer, and I have an extra smelly gear pile as a souvenir. I went on a massive road trip to put myself in the heart of the outdoor industry for a month. I set up meetings in different cities with amazing potential clients, and I went there, to meet marketing managers and business owners as human beings, eye-to-eye, and I also wanted to check in with the outdoor industry at large.

Living in Northwest Montana (practically Cananda) is awesome— don’t get me wrong— it’s the best, but sometimes I have to get out of this wild, wooded world and go check in on the rest of the industry.

I went to the U.P. of Michigan. I went to Fort Collins. I went to Breckenridge. And Golden. And Cheyenne. And Jackson Hole. And drove across Idaho with my hand dangling lazily out the window of my truck. Finally, I ended the trip with Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City. I balanced work and play in all of these places. I rode stunning trails, listened to great music, and met with fascinating, smart people at companies doing fascinating, smart things.

A question I asked at every meeting was “If you could pick anything, what would you want us at Wheelie to take off your plate?”

The answers varied, but I noticed a theme: A lot of marketing managers and business owners are having a hard time managing and measuring the success of their athlete and ambassador programs.

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