Agenda and GrindMedia are announcing a new partnership today called The Break for the upcoming Agenda show in Long Beach.
The Break will be a product lounge where brands showcase key product stories for the upcoming season in a hosted, TV-show like environment.
CJ Olivares, formerly GM of Fuel TV who now works with GrindMedia, will oversee the production and experience, according to Agenda.
I asked Mike Carter, Agenda’s VP of Sales and Marketing, and GrindMedia’s Tony Perez, Publisher of Surfer and Surfing magazines, for some additional details about the program.
Including the recent acquisition of Transworld Media, Grind now has over 4 million print readers, 22 million digital users and 3 million social followers.
What will Grind do with the content it gathers? Where will it be showcased?
Tony Perez: The team at Grind will compile all the footage from The Break and then produce short episodes that we will share with our audience through GrindTV and its partners.
From day one the goal has been to give our advertisers the biggest reach and our readers the best content possible. This partnership can and will accomplish both.
How will it be decided which brands will be highlighted? Is it something the brands have to pay for?
Mike Carter: No, brands will not pay for The Break. It’s an added value that Grind and Agenda will provide to our customers.
As with anything new, this will be an evolving work in progress, focused on high-level leadership in companies with innovative stories. There are approximately 600 brands under the July roof, so it’s impossible to fit in everyone on the first go around.
Rotating brands is the right solution for now, but this isn’t the only new feature we will be providing, so everyone will have an opportunity to participate in something unique.
How does this benefit Grind?
Tony Perez: One, it continues to show our current partners that we are committed to sharing their brand stories to not only the core but to eyes they otherwise would not have access to.
And two, by partnering with Agenda we get the opportunity to meet brands that in the future will have the opportunity to take advantage of what we at Grind have to offer.
See Page 2 for more about The Break
Is this something Grind would consider doing with other trade shows?
Tony Perez: I don’t think it would make sense and most likely dilute what we a trying to accomplish here. Just like we would not bring something to Agenda that we are already doing with another trade show.
Trade shows are typically focused on B2B. What are the advantages of speaking to the general consumer in this way?
Mike Carter: Agenda prides itself on not being your typical trade show. Agenda is very much a brand in itself that represents the best of brands collectively.
Trade shows typically focus solely on B2B, but we are constantly challenging ourselves to identify means to help our partners have the furthest reach so they can grow. There is a shared responsibility to make our customers “customer” both inspired and educated.
Fundamentally it’s about helping each business and retailer build its respective brand. “The Break” will provide an excellent opportunity to facilitate this by showcasing these stories.
The creative energy that exists within the walls of the show is something not everyone gets to experience. It will be cool knowing that the consumer or kids hoping to break into the industry, will be able to hear some of the stories from brand leaders and feel the excitement of the show.
The underlying educational element is something we’re passionate about and both the Agenda “Emerge” conferences and “The Break” fall directly in line with that.
See Page 3 for the official press release
Press Release:
AGENDA Show Introduces the “THE BREAK” in
Partnership with GrindMedia
Agenda’s platform for brands to break new products and initiatives
Long Beach (June 4th, 2013) — AGENDA Show, the leading forum for action sports, streetwear, lifestyle and sneaker industries, announces partnership with Grindmedia to elevate brand exposure to new heights at the Long Beach trade show this summer with “The Break”.
After much success in previous years, AGENDA, never following the traditional trade show format, is launching “The Break”. “The Break” will debut as a product lounge and a platform for participating brands to showcase their latest and greatest from upcoming collections and engage a broader audience in a more dynamic fashion than ever before.
In joining forces with Grindmedia, renowned media giant known for delivering unparalleled action sports content; AGENDA seeks to heighten the tradeshow experience highlighting the best of what’s to come with “The Break”. The platform will create a unique stage on which brand stories and new products can come alive in a unique, candid manner and be leveraged to a larger and engaged audience almost immediately.
“We’re excited to partner with Grindmedia and introduce this innovative platform to our show,” said Mike Carter VP of Sales and Marketing for AGENDA. “The Grindmedia viewer reach is tremendous. It’s a great alliance that fits the strategic vision of Agenda giving an even greater voice to the top, forward-looking brands in youth culture-providing an added opportunity for brands to show off their newest products and tell their brand story.”
“Agenda, over the last ten years, has broken down barriers by creating and curating an effective medium for emerging and established brands to tell their stories and to legitimately get business done,” said Tony Perez, Publisher of Surfer and Surfing magazines. “GrindMedia, with over 4 million print readers, 22 million digital users and 3 million+ social followers, is home to some of the world’s most iconic action sports and outdoor magazine brands (Surfer, Surfing, Skateboarder, Snowboarder, the Transworld family of titles, etc.) as well as GrindTv.com and its massive outdoor/lifestyle audience (18 million monthly unique users). We plan to utilize our reach to tell some of the amazing brand stories that just seem to flow out of the aisles at each Agenda show.”
“The Break” will be an AGENDA Show hot-spot where brands can candidly discuss their key products and highlight brand points for the coming season in a comfortable, hosted-interview environment. Grind medias CJ Olivares, the founder and former GM of FUEL TV, will oversee the production and experience. Set to debut at AGENDA Long Beach on July 25th & 26th, “The Break” is slated to be a staple at future AGENDA Long Beach shows to follow.
About AGENDA:
The AGENDA Trade Show is a forum for the most inspired in the streetwear and action sports industries to unite. Lines speak for themselves and buyers are not intimidated by the usual overwhelming tradeshow experience. From the garage-run lines on the verge of explosion, to the well-established elite, AGENDA caters to the needs of buyers and brands that exist on a higher level of design and aesthetic. With a strong emphasis in style, art, music and culture, the AGENDA experience is as much a lesson as it is a tool.
About GrindMedia:
Media giant Source Interlink Media’s GrindMedia is home to renowned action and adventure sports magazine brands and the leading provider of online action sports and entertainment content. With flagship action sports brands including Surfer, Surfing, Snowboarder, Skateboarder, Powder, Bike, Canoe & Kayak, SUP-Standup Paddler and Paved, the Transworld family of brands, as well as their standalone websites, GrindMedia is the leading action sports magazine publisher in the United States. Delivering significant reach across both action sports enthusiast and various in-market consumer audiences, GrindMedia also produces more than 20 leading events and webcasts such as Surfer Poll Awards, Powder Video Awards, EnduroCross, O’Neill Cold Water Classic, Nike Lowers Pro, and International Surfing Day. GrindMedia is also the action sports content provider for Yahoo! Sports.
About Reed Exhibitions:
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading event organizer, with over 460 events in 36 countries. In 2011 Reed brought together over six million active event participants from around the world, generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and are organized by 34 fully staffed offices. Reed organizes a wide range of events, including trade and consumer exhibitions, conferences and meetings. Its portfolio of over 460 events serves 44 industry sectors.
