A New Zombie Brand? Plus: Power Ranking Big Box Outdoor Retailers

Big box retailers drive a massive amount of outdoor industry revenue. So which ones matter most and which are best positioned for the future? Today Colin is joined by Outdoor Unfiltered host and Rock Fight consigliere Eoin Comerford to power rank the biggest players in outdoor retail. And, as you might expect, Colin and Eoin don't exactly agree on the rankings. Plus, Colin answers a listener question about whether outdoor brands can differentiate on vibes alone, nominates another once iconic outdoor company for zombie-brand status, and explains what the Outdoor Media Summit gets right about industry gatherings. Timestamps: 03:40 – Mailbag: Is Brand Vibe More Important Than Innovation? 06:55 – Has Outdoor Gear Become Commoditized? 08:20 – Is Lowe Alpine a Zombie Brand? 10:50 – What Outdoor Media Summit Gets Right About Industry Events 12:40 – Why Big Box Retail Matters to the Outdoor Industry 15:26 – Eoin Comerford Joins the Show 20:13 – Colin & Eoin Have Their First Major Disagreement 26:20 – The Specialty Experience at Big Box Scale 30:22 – The Middle of the Outdoor Market 37:07 – Honorable Mentions & Eoin's Rankings Want to pick a fight with The Rock Fight? Send your questions and feedback to myrockfight@gmail.com The Rock Fight is a production of Rock Fight, LLC.