Brand Storytelling
-
Role: Strategy & Writing
Goal: Showcase Backcountry’s unique brand identity while also driving sales
Result: The creation of a well-received brand-focused email series
-
Backcountry.com is a billion-dollar, online, outdoor retailer. I’ve worked with Backcountry for over 5 years, this is just one of hundreds of projects.
The Long:
In a world inundated by ads, people want to see stories, not blatant sales. Yet sales drive demand… One of my biggest initiatives working for Backcountry was to combine stories and sales, setting our customers up for an email they’d want to open—and not just because of the % off in the subject line.
It All Started With A Beacon
About 25 years ago, a couple of ski bums decided to try selling ski gear online. Today, that idea is hardly revolutionary, but back then it was a big deal. The first item they sold? An avalanche beacon. Fast forward to today and Backcountry is the leading online outdoor retailer in the world.
The Backcountry Beacon
Backcountry, despite having a very cool premise—selling outdoor gear—suffers from the same problems the rest of retail deals with. The biggest being that customers don’t want to shop full price. When business is bad, Backcountry leans into off-price moments to drive sales.
My goal was to cut into those moments with slices of stories to remind customers that Backcountry is more than just another off-price, outlet retailer.
Stories Sell
Seamlessly weaving styles into stories, we found that customers are inspired and then purchase.
Email is Backcountry’s primary business driver. BC’s average CTR is around 0.51% and they have an email list of well over 2 million. Unfortunately, batch and blast is a common strategy when business is down.
The Beacon blows everything else out of the water with CTRs closer to 3%. While they don’t make a ton of demand sales, they still make demand sales without that being their purpose. People are inspired and then buy.
They are so well loved (internally and externally) that we’re now on Beacon 17, with plans to keep sending at least one a month for the foreseeable future.
Social:
Social is where our brand voice shines. I work with the design and merchandising teams to ensure our laydowns come to life visually and remain engaging.
Enjoy the Summer Gear Guide? You’ll love the winter version.
You’re here anyway, might as well take a look.