Outdoor retailer REI launches a magazine, Uncommon Path

Ad Age’s Launch Pad offers brief looks at new products and activations of interest to marketers and media people. Outdoor retailer REI today launched Uncommon Path, a quarterly print magazine, in partnership with HearstMade, the division of Hearst Magazines that produces Airbnb Magazine with Airbnb. As Adrianne Pasquarelli reported in June when the REI-HearstMade partnership was first announced, Uncommon Path replaces the retailer’s catalog; it’s meant to emphasize an REI-as-lifestyle mindset while soft-selling its gear. Kent, Washington-based REI is structured as a consumers’ co-operative. And while its new magazine’s cover, with its ethereal view of woodland splendor, does tease a bit of a product focus in small-print headlines (e.g., “Best Puffy Jackets,” “Favorite E-Bikes”), the stories inside generally fit into the brand’s civic-minded co-op ethos (“Cool New City Parks,” “Schools Without Walls,” “Civil Rights Bike Trip”). Uncommon Path also includes full-page ads from the likes of Merrell, Fjallraven, Subaru and Altra. The first issue runs 84 pages and is meant to “inspire readers to live a life outdoors through compelling storytelling, striking photography and thought-provoking contributors,” per the magazine’s mission statement. A HearstMade spokesperson says the quarterly will be distributed to REI co-op members and targeted subscribers of select Hearst titles. You’ll also be able to find it on bigger newsstands and at all 155 REI stores in the U.S.

Outdoor retailer REI launches a magazine, Uncommon Path

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