Backcountry Marketing
Port Side
Recent Episodes
In this solo episode, Cole Heilborn breaks down the differences between a strategist and a filmmaker. When content underperforms, brands often point to the creative execution, but more often than not, the real problem lies upstream in the strategy.
Cole explains the downsides of a passion-led industry, why filmmakers have had to accept responsibility for defining KPIs and audience understanding, how skipping strategy leads to wasted resources, and what questions brands should ask before a camera ever rolls.
About:
This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating content strategy + production for active brands, rooted in emotion.
Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:
Slack Community | Tired of brainstorming with ChatGPT? Join us!
Insight Deck | Want 20 of our favorite insights shared on the show?
Booklist | Here's our curated list of recommended books over the years.
LinkedIn | Join the conversation and share ideas with other industry peers.
Apple Podcast | Want to help us out? Leave us a review on Apple.
Guest List | Have a Guest in Mind? Share them with us here.
Some brands treat branded content and campaigns as separate things, one emotional or value-driven, and the other transactional. But what happens when they work together?
In this episode, Trent Marsh, Marketing Director at Riton Optics, joins me to unpack what he calls the marketer's trap, when teams invest in strategies they wouldn't engage with themselves.
Trent shares how to break that cycle by pairing campaigns and content to serve the same purpose, building trust, emotion, and results simultaneously. We discuss how data has given leadership "ammo to kill branding," why every channel deserves a role in your mix, and how omnichannel marketing makes small budgets feel bigger.
You'll also hear why brand coherence matters more than novelty, how to find and keep the right on-camera personality, and why every strong brand needs both campaigns that convert and content that connects.
About:
This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating video strategy + production for active brands, rooted in emotion.
Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:
Insight Deck | Want 20 of our favorite insights shared on the show?
Booklist | Here's our curated list of recommended books over the years.
LinkedIn | Join the conversation and share ideas with other industry peers.
Apple Podcast | Want to help us out? Leave us a review on Apple.
Guest List | Have a Guest in Mind? Share them with us here.
Maren Hamilton, former Head of Social at The North Face and current Director of Global Brand and Community at popFly. We break down her core thesis: brand is social and social is brand. Maren shares why brands must stop treating social as a downstream channel, how to bring social thinking upstream into campaign planning and what it takes to build a social-first brand.
Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:
Insight Deck | Want 20 of our favorite insights shared on the show?
Booklist | Here's our curated list of recommended books over the years.
LinkedIn | Join the conversation and share ideas with other industry peers.
Apple Podcast | Want to help us out? Leave us a review on Apple.
Guest List | Have a Guest in Mind? Share them with us here.
Cole shares a quick reminder about respecting your audience. Ask yourself: Does this provide value? If not, don't hit publish.
About:This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating video strategy + production for active brands, rooted in emotion.
Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:
Insight Deck | Want 20 of our favorite insights shared on the show?
Booklist | Here's our curated list of recommended books over the years.
LinkedIn | Join the conversation and share ideas with other industry peers.
Apple Podcast | Want to help us out? Leave us a review on Apple.
Guest List | Have a Guest in Mind? Share them with us here.
Patreon | Want to support us financially?
Altra's Head of Marketing, Reyna Alishio, and Backbone Media's Senior Director of Strategy, Andy Ralston, take us behind the brand's seasonal campaign, Experience a New High. We unpack the core insight tying mental wellbeing, social connection, and running to a younger audience; how a one-two punch of broad digital reach plus in-person activation moved awareness and consideration; and why the medium is part of the message when your pop-up is a Dopamine Dispensary. We also get into what went right, what needed rethinking, and how to decide when a big campaign makes sense versus always-on content.
About:
This podcast is produced by Port Side, a creative production studio creating video strategy + production for active brands, rooted in emotion.
Enjoy this episode and discover other resources below:
Insight Deck | Want 20 of our favorite insights shared on the show?
Booklist | Here's our curated list of recommended books over the years.
LinkedIn | Join the conversation and share ideas with other industry peers.
Apple Podcast | Want to help us out? Leave us a review on Apple.
Guest List | Have a Guest in Mind? Share them with us here.
Patreon | Want to support us financially?