Protect our Winters recently released a report outlining the impact of climate change on the outdoor industry, and found that climate change has been costing the industry $1.07 billion in lost revenue in the past decade. As such, it has been increasingly important for companies within the industry to get aggressive in the fight against climate change. I was super excited to be able to chat to Nate Benson, marketing manager at Burton Canada, about Burton's advocacy, his career and some of the challenges and opportunities regarding marketing winter sports.
About Nate
Nate graduated from the same program that I am currently taking, Sports Administration at Laurentian University, in 2007. Having worked with Red Bull first as a delivery driver, he got the opportunity to intern with Red Bull as a field marketing manager. From there, he quickly moved onto Billabong working as a marketing coordinator. Here, he found a well rounded role that included event management, athlete management and retail marketing. With regards to why he stays in the board-sports industry "I've stayed with what I'm passionate about, what I'm interested in talking about". Nate then transitioned to Burton, who had just opened a new office in Canada. As marketing manager, Nate is responsible for PR, events, media relations, and sponsorship.
Marketing On Ice
"One of the difficulties surrounding snow sports is participation rates, definitely. There are a lot more companies splitting the pie, a pie that is not really growing anymore." The nature of athlete sponsorship is changing too: "Athlete's don't have as much of an influence as they did before, with the focus on content sometimes mirco-influencers on social media can be just as effective." At the same time though, snow sport marketing can be fun. "The Burton deal to sponsor the winter Olympics was really interesting in that it involved working with national sport organizations, and it wasn't just giving a bunch of money and saying we want our logo on a jacket." On whether there was any rivalry between the US and Canada arms of Burton during the Olympics, Nate laughed. "Of course, we're all on the same "team" but we wanted the Canadian athletes to be better than the US"
Snowboarding Stewardship
Climate change is something that existentially threatens the snow sports industry, and at Burton sustainability is not just a marketing buzzword, it's a way of doing business and a key aspect of how they intend to grow. "Donna Carpenter (Burton CEO) flew any female employee who wanted to go to the Women's March in Washington. At the same time, even on a local level we now don't have garbage cans at our desks anymore." It's clear that Burton places value on sustainability and progressive issues, from the top of the company to the bottom. Burton uses the "Three P's: People, Playground and Product" to emphasize their role in being sustainable as a company. "We understand that we have a responsibility as a snowboard brand not to over-pollute or over-consume." Burton also partners with companies that can make a difference. "We're one of the biggest supporters of Protect our Winters, and on the product side we are also bluesign audited to make sure that our garment line is sustainable. 100% of our product line for snowboards use sustainably sourced wood, and by 2020 we want 100% of our garment line to be Blue Sign approved as well." And Burton isn't doing this in a less than committed way: they recently released their 2020 goals to the public to ensure that they are accountable. It is more than clear that Burton is very committed to sustainability efforts, and not just as a marketing tactic.
Advice
As a close, I asked Nate what advice he had for someone like me, looking to get into the winter sports industry, I got the classic SPAD response: "Network. Networking is what gets your foot in the door. And stick with what you're passionate about, don't necessarily chase the dollar amount. I'm not sure I'm allowed to say this in a class project, but grades don't matter as much as your experiences and the diploma" This is advice I think any young professional can take, although when you're reading this professor, I'd still like the grades!