We talk to a lot of brands about the importance of using video, from Instagram stories to fully-produced brand videos. Video is the jam, and it's positioned to crush 2018. Check out these stats to back it up:

Attention is the new currency. With so much competition in the world, how do you talk to your audience? By talking to them through video. Ironically, you're reading this blog post right now, but wouldn't you rather be watching a video about it? Exactly. We'll make one for you.

Look at your Facebook feed. Go ahead- check it out. Is it mostly video shares? That's not an accident. 
​According to  Ad Week, video is set up to gets views. 

According to ThinkWithGoogle, as a result of watching a brand video on mobile, 40% of viewers actually go to the company's website or store and 28% make a purchase either online or in store. There's some pack to that punch. We believe it's because video shows instead of tells, and that's the most powerful way to make connections. 

You're in the right place. From brand videos to stop motion for your Instagram stories to a full on reality series about your business, we're your crew. (If you need an all-female crew for an all-female event, we have one of those in-house, too.) With offices in Colorado and Montana, we have you geographically covered.

By: Lisa Slagle, founder
Sometimes I cringe when I tell people I own an "agency." It sounds so gross.

Don't get me wrong-- I'm proud of the kickass creative we produce and the brilliance of the people who work here. I just don't like the word "agency" because it sounds like we should replace all our hoodies with pants suits, shoulder pads and all. 

I've tried renaming it things like a "creative shop" or "creative company," or dare I call it a "studio" and risk getting relegated to a kid with a computer. Nah, by definition, we're stuck with it. We're an agency. 

The thing is though, we're not your classic agency.

We're new school.

I wrote this article about millennials and their agency choices, and received so much positive feedback and interest from it that I decided to follow it up with more information. 

A new school agency? What does that mean?

1. WE GIVE A SHIT.
We care because you care.
We care because your customers care.
We care because you care about your customers.

​There's a whole lot of caring going on, and it shows in our work and the relationships we form.

2. WE BELIVE "BUT THIS IS THE WAY WE'VE ALWAYS DONE IT" IS A RECIPE FOR DEATH.
We don't believe in reinventing the wheel every time we do a project, but wrap your head around this-- creativity itself comes from chaos, from the need to find a new solution. If there were no problems, there would be no need for creativity. Everything would just chug along like normal, and nothing new would ever happen. Just because you have always done something a certain way doesn't mean it's not worth shaking it up to become better, more efficient, or fresh again.

3.  WE BELIEVE IN EVERYONE'S OUTDOORS.
We strive to elevate women in the workplace, in marketing campaigns, and expand the definition of what it means to build inclusivity into the pillars of your brand. We approach every partnership and project with openness and a human rights first approach. Yes, being able to spend money on gear is a privilege, and our projects with outdoor brands start from a place of acknowledgement and gratitude. Be humble.

4. WE BELIEVE ALL GOOD BRANDS HAVE AN INNER DIRTBAG THAT SHOULDN'T BE QUIETED.
By the word dirtbag, we mean climber/ski bum/vanlifer who puts living an outdoor lifestyle before conforming to society's nine-to-five constraints. We've all been there. We know which dumpsters have bags and bags of fresh donuts in Salt Lake City or where the free parking lots are at every ski resort or how to get free wifi in Jackson Hole. We believe in letting your inner dirtbag out. It's good for your brand. People can be themselves around you.

5. We know what is NOW.
We've been in business since 2009, so we are definitely well beyond the start-up years. But we still know what is trending, which colors will be hot next year, and why your Instagram posts don't get as many likes as they used to. We understand the mind-blowing power of social media, how to stay nimble, and how to get bang for your buck with what is working NOW plus how all of this fits into a long game. We're adaptable, and help make you that way, too. Adaptability is the key to attention.

Video is positioned to crush everything in 2018. Want to learn more about it? Want to find out if we're a good business fit for each other? 

I've always had mostly male friends.

• As a kid, I wore all my brother's hand-me downs (Umbros and Big Dog, anyone?), tried to befriend all of his friends, and unfortunately my love of old, worn, cargo shorts carried farther into college than I'd like to admit.
• I've been a "best man" in a wedding. (I even threw a kickass mountain bike trip/bachelor party in Jackson Hole.)
• My backcountry partners are male, and my dating patterns reveal that I typically end up in relationships with a special said backcountry partner that starts on snow. Sharing time and building trust in the mountains is a baseline requirement for love.

As a classic tomboy, it seems funny to me that now, in my early thirties, my main rallying cry is to help the outdoor industry be more inclusive toward women.

This is the staple of my creative agency right now and also why I'm starting a creative action sports workshop series called Wheelhouse Workshops with a mission to get more cameras into the hands of women.

Women are awesome.

I think I started surrounding myself in women within the last five years because it became an option. Something shifted in the industry. More women started showing up at trailheads and lift lines and boardrooms. One woman would hire us to help launch her business, and then she would tell all her friends, and they would hire us, and so on. Now we have a loyal following of hilarious, talented, visionary women that we get to call clients and friends. 

I also go out of my way to hire women. Lawyer. Bookkeeper. CPA. Human Resources Consultant.

In-house at Wheelie, every time we post a job, we always receive TONS of resumes from women and just a handful from men. Perhaps contrary to the ethos of the Mad Men era of agency life, I love hiring women who have kids. In my experience as an employer, no breed of human kicks more ass or runs better logistics than a mom with little kids to feed. Moms get shit done. 

Outdoor brands often ask us how to look cool to women, verbatim. We get this question a lot, and increasing female brand engagement has become one of our most popular services at Wheelie. 

I think this is both hilarious and wonderful. It seems like common sense that if you want women to think your brand is cool, then be cool to them. Much of this can be accomplished through photography. Show women riding their bikes, not standing next to them. Show women of different shapes, colors, and perspectives using your products.

​Meet women where they are as individuals, not as a clump in your business plan labeled "women." Unclump us. No one likes clumps.

And so, because Q4 is wrapping up and 2018 is a fresh start, here are:

1. Make gear for us.
We get it. No money goes into women's gear because no women are buying your gear. Break the trend. This is a vicious cycle, and you have the power to stop it, but you have to invest in women before they will be loyal to your brand.

2. Give us options.
The industry now knows that we want more than black or pink. Last year, the industry all decided all women wanted teal. Teal helmets. Teal shorts. Teal ski pants. It looked like a uniform. We all rocked teal with teal. Better than pink. Okay.... what about your brand? What kind of options in size, color, fit, pattern, and ergonomics can you present that are unique to the experience of using your gear? And which shorts in your line will specifically fit not just the female body, but my body? What are you doing to your products to provide versatility due to the uniqueness of every person's shape? 

3. Show photos that are not exclusively of outdoorsy blonde women.
I fall into this category. Just the right amount of messy, blonde wisps frame my face under the brim of my trendy trucker hat. I look like every "classic outdoor woman" stereotype and have even been on a billboard or two because of it. But this is old. Appeal to a wider audience by showing Latina women or African American women or moms or crushing it. Diversity is more than just an old, old wooden ship. 

4. Don't assume "Women's" means "Beginner."
This is the worst. But here's the thing and why this is a tricky one-- sometimes women are beginners. That's the importance of diversity and acquiring new customers and the meaning behind #EveryonesOutdoors. Everyone has to start somewhere. Everyone has been a beginner. But not all women are beginners. Some are intermediate. Some are advanced. Some are elite. Some are uninterested. Make sure you have an offering to meet each woman where she's at. I can't say that enough. This comes back to the unclumping from earlier. 

5. Hire women. 
​First of all, hire the best person for the job. But also, make sure your company culture attracts women so that you get talent that also happens to be female. You can do this by following steps 1 through 4 internally as well as externally. Our friends at Camber Outdoors have a job board where you can post your jobs to attract female talent in the industry. 

If you and your brand need some help for including women in your brand in 2018,

call us: 406-862-1440
email us: hello@wheeliecreative.com
stop by: We have offices in Denver, Colorado and Whitefish, Montana
(addresses in the footer of this site)
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Follow us on Instagram: @wheeliecreative