When I first launched Emerger Strategies in 2016, my clients were pursuing sustainability for altruistic reasons, such as doing their part to minimize their contribution to climate change and plastic pollution, and for business reasons such as reduced costs and meeting consumer demand. However, in the last five years, much has changed with the increase…
Category: Sustainability Marketing
10 Years of Sustainability Consulting for Fishing & Outdoor Brands | Emerger Strategies
In 2016, I started Emerger Strategies with a simple bet: that the brands making the gear we love could also help protect the places we love — and that doing right by the fish could make them stronger businesses, not just better-intentioned ones. Ten years later, I’m still betting on that. And I’ve got a…
Emerger Strategies and Douglas Strategies to Present “Selling What Matters” at Switchback Spring 2026
How Sustainability Can Elevate the Retail Customer Experience — and Drive Sales FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Charleston, SC — May 2026 Emerger Strategies, a leading sustainability consulting firm for the fishing & outdoor and specialty retail industry, announces that founder Rick Crawford will co-present a featured breakout session at Switchback Spring 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana….
10 Years of Giving Back: How Emerger Strategies Uses Business as a Force for Good
I can honestly say that Emerger Strategies would not exist if I hadn’t picked up a copy of Let My People Go Surfing. Yvon Chouinard’s memoir about building Patagonia into a company that uses business as a tool to solve environmental and social problems didn’t just inspire me — it gave me a blueprint for…
Fly Fishing, Music, Art, & Sustainability | Inside Soul Fly Lodge & Soul Fly Charleston with Alec “Griz” Griswold
What happens when a fly fishing lodge co-founder decides the community needs more than just great water and great guides? You get Soul Fly Co. — and an event that might just change how the fly fishing world thinks about gathering. In this episode, I sit down with Alec “Griz” Griswold, co-founder of Soul Fly Co. and Soul…
Your Retailer Is Asking About Sustainability. Here’s Why Your Answer Could Make or Break Your Next Purchase Order.
You built a brand that earns shelf space the hard way — with great products, strong sell-through, and years of relationship-building. But if you’ve started receiving sustainability questionnaires from Walmart, REI, or Bass Pro Shops — or you’re worried about what happens when those questions arrive — you already know the rules of retail are…