Backcountry Marketing

Social media isn't really social anymore. As algorithms reshape how we discover content, audiences retreat into private communities, and AI begins changing how consumers find products and information, the rules of brand marketing are shifting. In this episode, Cole sits down with Richard Glennie, Managing Director of Woven Communications, to unpack what the future of marketing looks like in a post...

What happens when a brand makes great products but struggles to give people a reason to care about the brand beyond the product itself? Mike Peck, VP of Creative at Brooks Running, joins the show to discuss the role of creative in building distinctive brands, creating emotional connections, and driving long-term growth. We explore why product innovation alone isn't enough to build a brand, why dis...

In this episode, Nic Brandenberger, CMO at Mammut, joins Cole Heilborn to unpack how outdoor brands can move beyond beautiful-yet-forgettable content and create social first marketing that people actually come back for more. In this episode, Nic and Cole talk about the difference between good content and great creative, why entertainment can be a powerful tool for brand marketing, and how Mammut i...

In Episode 2 of The Relevance Project, Cole continues working with Kitworks, Loon'r, and SkyGOAT to move from brand strategy into actual content strategy. The episode starts by pressure-testing the idea of treating a brand like a character. For each of the three brands, those characters are becoming a tool for translating a point of view into recognizable behavior without necessarily putting a fic...

Creative is often treated as an expense. Joe Prebich, the VP of Benchmade Knife Company,  believes the best creative can become one of a brand's most valuable growth assets. In this episode, Joe shares lessons from his time at Red Bull and Benchmade about why bold ideas matter, how great content can create distribution and long-term brand loyalty, and why much of the outdoor industry has become to...

In the first episode of the Relevance Project, Cole sits down with the teams at SkyGOAT, Kitworks, and Loon'r to understand where each brand is starting, what they want organic content to accomplish, and how they'll measure progress along the way. The conversations reveal a shared challenge. The brands have audiences, products, and stories worth telling, but they haven't yet built a consistent org...

Professor Jenni Romaniuk, Research Professor and Associate Director at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, Adelaide University, breaks down the science behind how brands are remembered. We explore why memory is at the heart of effective marketing, why only a small percentage of buyers are in-market at any given time, and what marketers should be doing to build future demand. Jenni explains the concepts...

Cole shares the thinking behind The Relevance Project and why he believes relevance has become one of the most important competitive advantages available to brands today. The goal of marketing hasn't changed, but the landscape and tools have. Attention is becoming scarcer, paid media is becoming more expensive, audiences have more control over what they consume than ever before, and brands now hav...

After reviewing 19 brand applications, Port Side has selected three brands to work with: Kitworks , loon'r , and SkyGOAT .  The Relevance Project is a public experiment exploring whether outdoor brands can become more relevant, recognizable, and memorable by creating audience-first content that builds attention, trust, and long-term demand.    About: This podcast is produced by Port Side , a conte...

Andy Pearson , VP of Creative at Liquid Death, explains why brands should stop thinking like advertisers and start thinking like entertainers. We dive into how Liquid Death built one of the largest organic audiences without relying on paid media, why humor is an underrated marketing tool, and why the best brands behave more like memorable characters than carefully managed style guides. We also pre...

The Relevance Project is underway! 15 brands have applied to be considered. If you want to apply, reach out to us and submit your application by June 26th.    About: This podcast is produced by Port Side , a content strategy studio that helps outdoor brands become relevant, recognized, and build an audience. Want to learn more about how we can help? Enjoy this episode and discover other resources...

In this solo episode, Cole shares why he believes many outdoor brands already possess something unique beneath the surface, but struggle to translate that uniqueness into content that earns attention, builds an audience, and drives business results. Cole also announces a public experiment: We're looking for one outdoor brand willing to partner with Port Side to test these ideas in real time. Toget...

Laura Jastram-Wrend joins Cole live at the HikeExpo to discuss what most outdoor brands are still getting wrong about the power of social.  Laura breaks down why social should no longer be treated like an afterthought, how creator ecosystems outperform one-off influencer activations, and why "edutainment" is the new standard for outdoor content.  About: This podcast is produced by Port Side , a cr...

Cole hit the floor at the HikeExpo to interview founders about the reality of running social at a small brand. Is there an alternative to spending $10,000 a month on paid ads in a small business where cash flow is critical?

Maren Hamilton , former Head of Social at The North Face and current Director of Global Brand and Community at popFly. We break down her core thesis: brand is social and social is brand. Maren shares why brands must stop treating social as a downstream channel, how to bring social thinking upstream into campaign planning and what it takes to build a social-first brand.    About: This podcast is pr...

Resilient businesses are built by building an audience. In this solo episode, Cole Heilborn challenges the assumption that people inherently care about brand campaigns, product launches, or high-production content, and instead argues that attention must be earned through relevance and value over time. Drawing from recent conversations, industry observations, and Port Side's own projects, Cole brea...

In this episode, Greg Randolph , VP of Marketing at DECKED, and Bridget Noonan , Senior Brand Director at DECKED, break down one of the biggest tensions in modern marketing: brand vs performance. We talk about the rise of performance marketing, why it worked so well for so long, and why many brands are now hitting a ceiling. Greg and Bridget share how DECKED is thinking about long-term growth, wha...

What is the value of great creative, and what happens when brands let marketing metrics dictate the work before the idea is even fully formed? In this episode, Cole sits down with Rafael Oliveira , former Creative Director at Tracksmith, to talk about the role of the creative director, the tension between marketing and creative, and why distinction matters more than ever in a world where so many b...

Episode Description Most outdoor brands share a similar origin story: a founder identifies a need in the wild, builds a product in a garage, and grows a company from there. But as brands scale and growth pressures increase, something often gets lost in "the middle." The result is a sea of epic imagery, interchangeable storytelling, and campaigns that feel indistinguishable once the logo is removed...

Episode Description In this episode, host Cole Heilborn sits down with Ryan Watson, CMO and COO at MTNTOUGH Fitness Labs, to unpack a hot take that should make every outdoor marketer pause: brand marketing for the sake of impressions is dead. Ryan breaks down why measurement has changed the game, why "one big campaign, one big message" is an outdated operating system, and how the best brands are b...

In this episode (initially aired on June 18th, 2025) ,  Cole sits down with Chris Burkard —photographer, creative director, adventurer, and storyteller. Chris shares his unique perspective on navigating the constant changes shaping the outdoor industry, creativity, and marketing.  They dive deep into the evolving role of creatives in a constantly changing outdoor industry. From the blurred lines b...

Every company has a brand, but very few have built one intentionally or with differentiation. We use the word "brand" interchangeably with "company," when in reality most companies have never done the work required to intentionally shape what their brand stands for. In this episode, I sit down with Marc Peruzzi, Creative Director at Cache Seven, to unpack one of the most misunderstood ideas in out...

Does the outdoor industry overindex on brand?  Alex Maier , President of OnWater, joins the show to challenge one of the outdoor industry's biggest assumptions: that brand marketing alone drives growth. Drawing from his experience in SaaS and outdoor, Alex breaks down why product marketing is the missing link for many brands, how listening to customers actually fuels innovation, and what outdoor c...

2025, almost broke Port Side as a company. But we've grown, grown some more and have rebuilt the business from the ground up. In this episode, Cole shares a raw behind the scenes look at year and the role that the podcast has played in allowing us to come back stronger.  Thank you for supporting us! About: This podcast is produced by Port Side , a creative production studio creating content strate...

Daniel Groh , Chief Brand Officer at SATISFY, breaks down how the brand builds an emotion-first running world that turns casual observers into true fans. He explains why Satisfy treats people as guests, not customers, and how speaking to "people who run" opens the door to more honest, human storytelling. Daniel shares how they use emotional athlete content, localized community runs, and shock-and-...