Last season while hunting with Bruce Pettet, CEO of Leupold, he mentioned how all our llama content gets a lot of views. We joked that the llamas were better looking and more interesting. Maybe more reality than I care to admit. Bruce explained that he had a new idea that I might find to be crazy, but he laid it out like this.
He wants to have Leupold continue their support of public lands, though ramping it up in a way others have not thought of. He believes the public land story is mostly untold, to both the general public and to many in the hunting world who don't hunt public lands. He pointed out to me that I probably see this challenge through a different lens than many hunters, as I am too immersed to see it any other way. Hard to argue with that.
He explained this two-pronged strategy as it relates to Leupold and our platforms.
1. Use the intrigue of llamas to gain attention of those who might not come from the hunting/fishing world. Use the llamas as a way to gain attention and then create public land stories about the public lands these llamas travel over the course of their season. Beau Baty of Wilderness Ridge Trail Llamas does backcountry trips in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and Utah. Marcus will be part of Beau's summer operation and Beau has offered to provide images of all the places Marcus is traveling. I will work with Leupold to tell the story of those public lands, how they became public lands, and what value they provide for the public.
2(a). Continue to fund our platforms and have me out there continuing to do what we do. My public land advocacy and lack of concern about politicians' hurt feelings can generate heated emails. Leupold and my partners know that comes with the territory and they continue to support my efforts to do it. It is part of the expected deliverables in my agreement with Leupold to do this public land advocacy. They don't like to make a big deal of that, but having Leupold in my corner and them expecting me to advocate for public lands is invaluable to us.
2(b). Have our crew take over the "Where's Marcus" activities while hunting this season. Marcus, along with three other llamas will be part of the team that we take to the mountains this fall. Yeah, a lot of people will have a better idea of where we are hunting, but I suspect most folks quickly find out where we are. We will send Leupold images of where we are and continue the story of how these public lands are what make this possible.
This is not about selling products. It is about Leupold supporting our work on public lands. As Bruce recently told me, "These public lands are foundational to many things, personal and professional; to our business, to hunting, and to the lifestyle of our employees. Anyone who thinks otherwise is out of touch." I am thankful for Bruce's creativity and the Leupold's commitment to keep us out on the road, doing things like we did at BHA last week, like the TEDx presentation now making its rounds, allowing us to promote the public land message.
This social media campaign will be called "Where's Marcus?" Those who follow social media will see the hashtag #LeupoldLlama.
He wants to have Leupold continue their support of public lands, though ramping it up in a way others have not thought of. He believes the public land story is mostly untold, to both the general public and to many in the hunting world who don't hunt public lands. He pointed out to me that I probably see this challenge through a different lens than many hunters, as I am too immersed to see it any other way. Hard to argue with that.
He explained this two-pronged strategy as it relates to Leupold and our platforms.
1. Use the intrigue of llamas to gain attention of those who might not come from the hunting/fishing world. Use the llamas as a way to gain attention and then create public land stories about the public lands these llamas travel over the course of their season. Beau Baty of Wilderness Ridge Trail Llamas does backcountry trips in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and Utah. Marcus will be part of Beau's summer operation and Beau has offered to provide images of all the places Marcus is traveling. I will work with Leupold to tell the story of those public lands, how they became public lands, and what value they provide for the public.
2(a). Continue to fund our platforms and have me out there continuing to do what we do. My public land advocacy and lack of concern about politicians' hurt feelings can generate heated emails. Leupold and my partners know that comes with the territory and they continue to support my efforts to do it. It is part of the expected deliverables in my agreement with Leupold to do this public land advocacy. They don't like to make a big deal of that, but having Leupold in my corner and them expecting me to advocate for public lands is invaluable to us.
2(b). Have our crew take over the "Where's Marcus" activities while hunting this season. Marcus, along with three other llamas will be part of the team that we take to the mountains this fall. Yeah, a lot of people will have a better idea of where we are hunting, but I suspect most folks quickly find out where we are. We will send Leupold images of where we are and continue the story of how these public lands are what make this possible.
This is not about selling products. It is about Leupold supporting our work on public lands. As Bruce recently told me, "These public lands are foundational to many things, personal and professional; to our business, to hunting, and to the lifestyle of our employees. Anyone who thinks otherwise is out of touch." I am thankful for Bruce's creativity and the Leupold's commitment to keep us out on the road, doing things like we did at BHA last week, like the TEDx presentation now making its rounds, allowing us to promote the public land message.
This social media campaign will be called "Where's Marcus?" Those who follow social media will see the hashtag #LeupoldLlama.
After watching the day-by-day Arizona posts, I'm actually a little disappointed it isn't Marcus the cameraman.
