Channel Mastery - Ep. 160: Scott Brady, Overland International

Overland International

mastering your multi-channel mix through authentic content

“If you have specific knowledge and you engage with a consumer or reader or a business partner in an authentic way, then it shows as this will always be successful."
- Scott Brady

show highlights

Learn how Overland International is utilizing a multi-channel approach to marketing - print, podcasting, online, email - to connect with its customers.
Why authenticity is so important in your marketing strategy - it makes all the difference and Overland International is doing an amazing job at it!
The future of consumer shows, like the Overland Expo. Is there still a place for shows like this today?
Overland International’s secret sauce to making newcomers feel welcome - and how this is the key to success for the industry.

episode preview

Scott Brady of Overland International has been a path burner for the overland community for years, and continues to lead the charge when it comes to connecting, engaging with and welcoming new participants to the industry. Overlanding, which has grown into a nearly a trillion dollar industry was once thought of as separate from the outdoor industry, but Brady continues to tie together the two into a broader ecosystem that is beneficial for everyone.

In this episode, you’ll hear how he’s mastering a multi-channel mix to continue to connect with his established audience on channels he owns, while also welcoming and engaging new enthusiasts. He also highlights the importance of continuing to diversify the fans and followers of the sport for long-term industry success. We also touch on predictions for the future of consumer shows like Overland Expo and the challenges we’ll face in years to come because of the pandemic and shutdowns.

Overlanding may be a lesser known branch of the outdoor industry, but it’s one I’ve been excited to keep an eye on for the past few years and even more so while studying how the consumers have changed and shifted their behaviors and preferences because of COVID-19.

featuring

Scott Brady

Scott is an adventure driver and consultant who has worked on various specialty-vehicle projects for auto manufacturers, aftermarket companies, and television producers such as Top Gear. He is a passionate photographer and writer with international credits, the only American to have won the esteemed Outback Challenge, Morocco, and a Tread Lightly Master Trainer. Business ventures during the past decade include the Overland Society, Expeditions West, Expedition Portal, and Overland Journal. He has traveled through over 60 countries and across every continent. His most current project, Expeditions 7, is a round-the-world overland odyssey in two 78 Series Toyota Land Cruisers. After reaching the end of the road, he enjoys canyoneering, climbing, and mountain biking. Scott lives in Prescott, Arizona.

topics covered

Scott’s military background, growing an audience, overland outdoor recreation, how COVID shifted vacationing for families to promote more vehicle-based adventure travel, forums in the overlanding community, working in the outdoor publication space, the evolution of the overlanding community, mastering your multi-channel mix

select quotes

“The less siloed we are and the more inclusive our communities are and the more we openly share information, the better. And I would actually say that one of my greatest hopes with all of this was to have much broader inclusion of outdoor recreation is because they also take much better care of the planet. That was always one of our greatest concerns with overlanding was to make sure that it didn't go down the road of four wheel driving, which is nothing wrong with that, but I wanted it to be about travel and the outdoors. So this broad adoption of overlanding by the outdoor community means we have better stewardship. We have better care for the environment. We have people who better understand that and are more quickly to adopt it with their vehicle as well. So I see that as a big positive.”
“If you have specific knowledge and you engage with a consumer or reader or a business partner in an authentic way, then it shows as this will always be successful. I think that shows will always be different from now on. I think that it will take a while for attendance to come back. Maybe not so much in the Overland space because of the rate of growth. I think that those shows will be fine, but I think consumer shows in general industry shows, in general, are going to take some time to come back. But if they focus on building specific knowledge, supporting specific knowledge in an authentic way, then they will have value in the long term. Otherwise, some other medium will take that role. And that's the thing that I believe events have a moment in time to recognize and to engage with my opinion.”
“So I believe that like what you've done with this podcast, which is, again, specific knowledge presented in an authentic way, it has a lot of value to people, and you own the channel, you own the outlet. So that is very powerful. So for me, I always focus on that first, which is why we have a print magazine that we send to our own subscribers that we deliver to the newsstand. It's the reason why we have our own that we actively develop both the community on that website and the content that brings in new readers, a podcast is the same. And that's why we started a podcast just over a year ago. We're at a couple of hundred thousand downloads, which I feel grateful for, and it's done well. So it's just continuing to build those network effects that we have more control over. Social media still has a place, but we use it as a marketing tool, not as an audience development tool.”
“The thing that is most important for any industry is that you see young families with children involved. If you don't see that, it's time to worry. So as we have seen our demographic at younger, and maybe the trips are less ambitious, but when you see their children there, and you see multicultural communities developing and you see other people coming into the, into the organization and into the industry, it's extremely exciting. It's super important that it continues to diversify in every way possible.”