Here's the reframe I'd put on the table before anyone proposes a program: the instinct in the room will be to make getting outside feel more inspiring. But your customers are already inspired — they bought the gear, they like the version of themselves who's out there. Inspiration is what got them out the first time. It rarely gets them out the fortieth. The work of frequency isn't motivating the next trip; it's clearing what stops the people who already want to go, and giving them reasons to come back that don't run on a fresh jolt of motivation. That's a real strategy, not a list of tactics — tactics are the easy part once the problem's framed right.
From there, four questions — roughly in order of how durable each lever is, which is the reverse of how most brands rank them.
Friction — where do the people who already want to get out there give up? Every trip outside asks for planning, gear, time, a dozen small decisions. Take one of those off their plate and more of them actually make it out. Least glamorous lever, usually the one that moves the most. Start here, not with a campaign.
Belonging — who's expecting them on Saturday morning? A habit you keep alone is fragile. One you keep with other people holds. The most durable way to get someone out again is a group that notices when they're not there — they start showing up for the people as much as the activity.
Progress — can they see themselves getting better, and do you mark it? People repeat what they can measure themselves improving at. And on incentives: resist the discount reflex. Pay someone to do the thing they already loved and you teach them to wait for the next coupon — you've swapped their reason for yours. Reward progress, status, a next rung. Not money.
Meaning — what does doing this again say about who they are? The misty one, and last on purpose. Inspiration's real job isn't to motivate the outing. It's to make the repeated behavior feel like identity — this is who I am — so the habit carries its own story.
One test for any program that comes out of that meeting: does it make getting out there easier, or does it give people a reason to come back? If it does neither, it's a campaign wearing a strategy's clothes.
Monday's piece has the data underneath all this — record participation, thinning behavior, and the brands already building for depth. That's the read below.
So, before the meeting, the only question that matters: who in your building actually owns the second outing?
— Dan
