• by Sara Guaglione , October 31, 2018

Gear Patrol is marketing its seventh print issue with activations at five independent shops across the country.

The enthusiast men’s brand, focused on the outdoors, fitness, tech, cars, style and travel, launched its first biannual print magazine at the end of 2015.

This activation is a first for the brand. Gear Patrol logo and promotional displays are showcased in the windows of bookstores, menswear retailers and cigars stores, businesses that cater to the brand's core audience.

Kyle Snarr, head of marketing, Gear Patrol, says "it’s is the first time [Gear Patrol] been marketed offline to an entirely new audience. Gear Patrol’s readers "are found in major cities across the U.S. They are often urban-based professionals who love an escape. We primarily chose cities where there is a concentrated online readership, along with some growing markets.”

In New York City, Gear Patrol partnered with the Casa Magazine store for the installation. 

The activations are also located at men’s boutique store Indigo & Cotton in Charleston, South Carolina; Rich's Cigar Store in Portland, Oregon; the Issues bookstore in Oakland, California; and art and design store Hennessey + Ingalls in Los Angeles.

Gear Patrol also created a video of a guy in a helmet racing through New York City on a motorcycle and picking out a Gear Patrol magazine at Casa Magazine.

Hearst Magazines acquired a minority stake in Gear Patrolthis spring. The publisher continues to operate independently.

Gear Patrol, which launched in 2007, reached an average of over 2 million readers monthly in April; it generates 25% of its revenue from ecommerce and affiliate links.

At the time, Gear Patrol said the Hearst investment will help expand its in-house branded content production agency, Gear Patrol Studios and its ecommerce business.

The activations will be up for about two to three weeks.