Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 16

THE PULSE

FAMILIAR FACES
Pocket hired
Abrams (left) and
Shafer after
Accelerate360
furloughed them.

HEADLINES

Powder in Pocket
WHENSOMANYOTHERPUBLICATIONSARE
folding their cards on the table, Pocket
Outdoor Media, with its dizzying list of acquisitions and new hires during the past six
months, is shooting the moon.
Most recently, Pocket, based in Boulder,
Colorado, announced Dec. 15 that the company has hired two employees in leadership positions at Powder magazine who
had been " indefinitely furloughed " by
Accelerate360 (formerly American Media
Inc.): Micah Abrams, the former vice president of content for the Adventure Sports
Network; and Sierra Shafer, former editorin-chief of Powder. Abrams will be filling
a new role as vice president of content for
snowsports; Shafer will take over as
editor-in-chief of Ski magazine. (The
current staff of Ski will all remain in a fulltime capacity.)

 " It's our intention to create the most

16 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ January 2021

authentic content in all the categories and
verticals we're in, and that means hiring and
retaining the best people in the industry, "
says Robin Thurston, CEO of Pocket Media.
" We are a net acquirer in the outdoor-lifestyle space. "
Indeed, Pocket has been busy expanding its
categories as well. In November, Pocket hired
five former staff members of Bike magazine,
another of the titles furloughed by A360, to
create a new mountain biking publication,
which will launch in January. In October,
the company acquired Big Stone Publishing,
publisher of Rock and Ice, Ascent, Trail
Runner, and Gym Climber magazines. In
June, Pocket acquired three divisions of Active
Interest Media that included Ski, Backpacker,
Yoga Journal, SNEWS, and Warren Miller
Entertainment, among others.
According to Thurston, Pocket did approach A360 regarding the purchase of the

furloughed titles themselves-Bike, Surfer,
Powder, and Snowboarder-though no deal
was made. " If I could revive the brands, I
would, " Thurston says.
So how does Pocket plan to succeed where
A360 failed? The company aims to be a onestop shop for active outdoor media and to
earn revenue from membership-not advertising and subscriptions. To that end, it introduced a unique vertical pass system, called
Active Pass, which allows readers to access
multisport content all year long. " It will be
more like Netflix in terms of aggregation and
curation, " says Thurston. " We want to make
it super-easy on the user to have access to all
the content. "
As for what's next for the growing company,
Thurston says a snowboarding title wouldn't
be out of the question. We'd wager a surfing
and skateboarding title might not be too far
down the road.

Courtesy Pocket Outdoor Media

Pocket Outdoor Media continues to expand in its bid to become the Netflix of
magazines. By Kimberly Beekman



Outdoor Retailer - January 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outdoor Retailer - January 2021

Outdoor Retailer - January 2021
CONTENTS
THE PULSE
HEADLINES
MARKETING
BIG PICTURE
RETAIL 101
CASE STUDY
IDEAS
THOUGHT LEADER
INSIGHT
PERSPECTIVE
RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
FOLLOW THESE ACTIVISTS
UNDER PRESSURE
THE WINTER SHOW GUIDE
BREAD + BUTTER
GEAR GALLERY
HOT PICKS
THE VIEW
FIELD NOTES
#SHOPLIFE
#REPLIFE
BACKSTORY
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - Outdoor Retailer - January 2021
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - Cover2
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 3
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - CONTENTS
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 5
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 6
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 7
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 8
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 9
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 10
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - THE PULSE
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - HEADLINES
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 13
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 14
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 15
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 16
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 17
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - MARKETING
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - BIG PICTURE
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - RETAIL 101
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 21
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - CASE STUDY
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 23
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 24
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 25
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - IDEAS
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - THOUGHT LEADER
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - INSIGHT
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 29
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - PERSPECTIVE
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 31
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 33
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - FOLLOW THESE ACTIVISTS
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 35
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 36
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 37
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 38
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 39
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 40
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 41
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - UNDER PRESSURE
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 43
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - THE WINTER SHOW GUIDE
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 45
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 46
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 47
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 48
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 49
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 50
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 51
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 52
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 53
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 54
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 55
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - BREAD + BUTTER
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - GEAR GALLERY
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 58
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 59
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 60
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 61
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 62
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 63
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - HOT PICKS
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 65
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 66
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 67
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - THE VIEW
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 69
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 70
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 71
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 72
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 73
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - FIELD NOTES
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - #SHOPLIFE
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - #REPLIFE
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 77
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - BACKSTORY
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - Cover3
Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - Cover4
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