Pro ski blogging and social media engineering

Some say social media is the savior of all things marketing while other dismiss it as a tween fad that’ll soon go the way of the Dodo Bird. I’m not here to discuss either of those opinions. What I do want to discuss about is how two particular companies are doing the social media thing very wrong.

As one particularly good blogger, editor and writer Mike Berard says, “Social media comes with a built-in bullshit detector.”

Well folks, my particular examples are cranking that bullshit meter to 11! First of, I recently got a note from Red Bull. Well not exactly from Red Bull but from some Branding Brand out of Pennsylvania exclaiming that I have been invited to freely promote Red Bull products and happenings on my blog!

While I am heavily supportive of Red Bull and their devotion to action sports, athletes, and all things pretty fucking cool, this clearly out-of-touch marketing company highlights upon Red Bull’s Project X so that I can flaunt Shaun White’s over-priced, environmentally unsound, buying-your-way-to-a-gold-medal backcountry-halfpipe(?) project.

So hey Branding Brand, I appreciate the acknowledgment of my blog, there are quite a few followers these days, but did you happen to read the title of the blog? It says “The Ski Life”. Not “Shaun White’s Snowboard Life and Marketing Platform for Red Bull”. Oh and next time, Miss marketing lady, don’t forget to take out the XXXX where you’re supposed to insert your name in the carbon-copied letter your sending out to random bloggers.

Round 2. Under Armour (yeah the football company) just sent me a very nice invite to freely promote their products and use my blog as a platform for their very well written press releases. Well hey Alex Sass at Under Armour in England, before you send me an invite to promote your products, maybe look at my blog first and notice that I have sponsors. Sponsors that make the same products you do. Products that were actually developed by skiers and snowboarders, not by NFL linebackers screaming “WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!“.

To the two recent emailers, I suggest you read this thoroughly before you send out more emails.

The fact of the matter is that social media is utilized – in my opinion – to communicate as civilians. And civilians in conversation don’t stop mid-sentence to mindlessly recite corporate press releases. Civilians discuss topics of interest. Topics that are genuine. So I’m here to say now that if I don’t find the topic particularly interesting or somewhat useful to myself or the readers, I will not post anything here. This blog is a personal blog, not a vehicle to drive sales. Thanks for reading this very un-Ski-Life blog post. Regularly scheduled program will return shortly.

And FYI, here’s the cold-call emails I’ve received in the last three days.

Hey Cody,

What’s going on? My name is XXX and I’m working with Red Bull on a project called Red Bull Project X.
It’s a private halfpipe that was built for Shaun White hidden in the backcountry of Colorado. This allowed Shaun to practice and learn some never-before-seen tricks without media interference.

We built a website to show the project to the public, and it’s live now at www.redbullprojectX.com.
We hope your readers would be interested in this content. If you think it’s something they would like to see, it’d be awesome if you could post a link and let your readers know about it. If you don’t feel this is a good fit, don’t worry about it and thanks for your time.

Whenever we have new updates to the site (new tricks, pics & stuff) I’ll be sure to keep you posted. Check out the site and let me know what you think!

Thanks,
A

–
Alyssa DiLoreto

Online Outreach Coordinator
Branding Brand

UNDER ARMOUR® COLDGEAR® MOCK

Under Armour is looking to work with snow-sport blogs and websites through November to announce a new website and their autumn/winter ColdGear baselayer range. Please contact Alex Sass on 07891 386496 for more information. We always give exclusive images and content to the online community.

Our press release follows–

London, England (November, 6 2009): Under Armour, Inc., the originator of performance apparel and accessories, unveils its autumn/winter campaign to promote its pioneering baselayer, the ColdGear Mock.

Under Armour’s ColdGear Mock achieves the impossible by keeping athletes warm without weighing them down. It is a revolutionary thermal baselayer that features a double-sided fabric that wicks moisture from the skin, circulates body heat and controls odour by preventing the growth of odour causing microbes.

Under Armour has created a temperature-sensitive website which includes a Weather Watch Barometer that monitors a user’s local temperature and changes the site’s ‘skin’ to reflect how cold it is outside.

When the temperature drops below 13 degrees Celsius – the ideal temperature to wear an Under Armour Mock – it is officially ColdGear weather. The content- and visually-rich website gives detailed product information, a fit guide, and is linked to Under Armour’s e-commerce store.

Lindsey Vonn, World Cup Skiing Champion, said: “It can be freezing on the mountain so I need to stay warm, but I still need to be fast if I am going to break records. Under Armour ColdGear is great for me because it’s just one lightweight, non-bulky layer and it keeps me warm so I can concentrate on going for Gold.”

To support blogs and websites we have launched a page of technical details and images which you are free to use for the next 72 hours at http://www.renegademedia.net/Social-Media-Release/snowingcoldgear.html

Please also visit the public website http://www.underarmour.com/baselayer

Images and videos are available on request for use on your website.

Thank you for being part of Under Armour ColdGear story in 2009.

Kind regards
Alex Sass

Posted by Cody Townsend on November 9th, 2009 in Cody Townsend and Social Media

Cody Townsend @codytownsend

I'm Cody Townsend, I write about the behind-the-scenes life of being a professional skier. I've appeared in ski films by Teton Gravity Research, Warren Miller, Match Stick Productions, among others. When not in front of the camera or competing I also write for Powder Magazine and Skiing Magazine. My current sponsors who make my lifestyle possible include; Salomon, Swatch, The Levitation Project, Porters Tahoe, Von Zipper, Hestra, Camelbak, Squaw Valley USA.