ACM’s Distraction In Action #3
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ACM’s Distraction In Action #3
Cycling in Dubai, surfing after pregnancy, and winterless snowboarding: five links that are dominating our chat
Your third Distraction In Action email from All Conditions Media is here. Scroll on down to get a look at the links and talking points from our team chat, so they can successfully distract you from work just as much as they did us…
1. THE ACM REBRAND WASN’T EASY, BUT IT WAS A LOT OF FUN
Stop reheating your coffee in the flavour-nuking microwave; do it on the hob instead. See, nobody ever tells you these crucial creative skills at design school, when you’re halfway through your ‘Rebrand An Entire Agency From The Ground Up’ module. You learn them on the job, which is exactly what happened during the long, all-consuming, caffeine-crushing redesign we’ve been teasing you with these last few weeks. Although this particular slice of intel doesn’t appear in our paint-by-numbers guide to rebranding from ACM’s Creative & Strategy Director, Mark Rosenberg, his experience will teach you to embrace 2am inspiration pangs, harness the power of contrast and fonts, and survive both - yes, both - of your scheduled temple-rubbing freakouts.
We learned: What you don’t see in your branding is just as important as what you do see; reap the rewards of well-tamed dead space.
2. WE’RE VERY PROUD OF OUR NEW ADIDAS CYCLING WORK
We don’t always tell our mums to fire up the PC to check out what we’ve been working on - they don’t get quite as jazzed as we do at “staggering engagement rates!” or “a real strategy deck to remember!” - but this was definitely a talking point in a couple of our calls home. Our new production work for adidas Cycling is out, and we’re ridiculously excited and proud to see it bringing in the numbers. London, Dubai, New York City; our edits hit them all, meeting, riding, and filming with local cycling clubs doing inspiring work in their own communities. As a tasty little treat on the side, adidas blogged all about the campaign and shoot here, using our work in a watertight case for why you need to find and join your local riding club.
We learned: The City That Never Sleeps does, in fact, hit the snooze button, and it’s the ideal time for a recce in Brooklyn.
3. WHERE DO SNOWBOARD BRANDS GO WHEN THE SNOW IS GONE?
The 2022/23 ACM snow season goes down in our history books as the Las Vegas of recent winters. Roll them dice and waaah, we’re OOO and headed to the mountains, only to find bike tracks where our long-awaited carving lines should be. Roll them dice and ching! ching! ching!, we’re logging back in as card-carrying members of the “Fresh pow every morning! Best week ever!” crew that the unlucky ones really - no no, REALLY - loved hearing from. All this uncertainty has our favourite snowboarding brands scratching their frosty beards. So, uh, what happens now? This New York Times piece gives some chilling forecasts for winters to come, and explores the strategic and emotional responses of companies like Burton and Lib Tech that have been forced to gaze at snow-depleted predictions of the future. Predictions like this from University of Vermont: by 2080, its state snow season will be one whole month shorter than it is now. That’s a whole lot of riding lost.
We learned: New York riders made the best of a wild situation during the 2021 NYC blizzard.
4. BALKANS BY BIKE IS A BEAUTIFUL BUCKET LIST IDEA
A tasty little segue for you now, from a winter outlook impacted by human behaviour to a winter hooked around sustainable, human-powered travel. Balkan Express is another film that our long-standing clients Arc’teryx took on their film tour earlier this year, and if truth be told, it’s the one we’ve raved most about to our friends since we left the cinema. Now it’s out and free to see, all forty glorious minutes of it. Sit back, turn your phone to silent, reheat that coffee on the hob (NOT microwave), and tap the play button to follow mountaineers Max Kroneck and Jochen Mesle on a bike- and ski-powered trip across 2,500km of the wildest, prettiest European mountains you’ll see today.
We learned: How to attach monster backcountry skis to a road bike.
5. POST-PREGNANCY ACTION SPORTS GUILT GETS SOME AIRTIME
“When my son was a couple of months old – and I had finally stopped randomly bursting into tears from exhaustion, fear, loneliness and panic – I decided to try surfing again. Surely the joy of being in the ocean would outweigh the fear of a freak accident?” This The Guardian piece by surfer Gill Hutchison explores the concept of guilt that comes from being a mum and outdoor enthusiast - a duality and hurdle that, as a predominantly female agency, we often question and talk about from experience. Seeing such a personal and taboo subject in the mainstream media? We’re absolutely here for it.
We learned: 2019’s “murfers” portmanteau still feels sooo so gross.
CREW TO-DO LIST
Every fortnight, one ACMer reveals the tasks that’ve been getting their head cogs whirring, so we can all make sure they’re working hard enough introduce our super talented crew and showcase what they bring to our creative process. This week it’s the turn of ACM Co-Founder, CEO, oracle of all things outdoors, and stalwart of Brighton’s Mavericks-style secret surf break, Jojo White…
Jojo image: Mirae Campbell
You made it all the way down here? Here’s a gift for your troubles:
END OF THE ROADER’S BONUS NUGGET
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