Hitting Your Target

OUTdrive Episode 69 with Chuck Wahr

When it comes to firearms, accuracy is everything, and to hit your target many times, you’ll want a good set of optics. The same can be said about business. To reach a consumer, you need a marketing team with sights accurately set on your target audience. In this episode of OUTdrive, I sit down with global marketing executive Chuck Wahr to find out what strategies companies, big and small, can use to hit their mark.

Chuck is formerly the Global Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Trijicon, a manufacturer of optics for firearms. Chuck’s successful career also includes past leadership roles in several well known consumer brand companies including Black & Decker/Dewalt, Newell-Rubbermaid & Overhead Door. Wahr earned his MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Oregon. Additionally, Chuck proudly served in the US Army Infantry Division from 1987 to 1991 and completed his career as a Staff Sergeant following Operation Desert Storm. We thank him for his service. As a native American growing up in Western Michigan, Chuck became an avid hunter, trapper and fisherman, and is still a passionate outdoorsman today.

Tune in to this episode of OUTdrive to get powerful perspective from an expert in the marketing field. Chuck and I talk through some of his past initiatives and his insight on trends he is noticing in the industry today.

SHOW NOTES

3:40 – Chuck explains what drew him to the shooting sports industry after spending years with large consumer brands like Rubbermaid and Black & Decker.
4:30 – Chuck’s higher education journey to a degree in sociology that became a foundation for his career in marketing.
6:45 – Chuck reflects on his time in the military through the use of the Army College Fund and offers advice to those considering a military path.
8:00 – Management and marketing differences between large and small organizations
10:40 – Insight into marketing department structure and initiatives at large corporations.
14:45 – What businesses are looking for in a marketing partner and how to fulfill that role.
17:00 – Chuck’s business and life lessons from a career in marketing, including the importance of branding yourself.
20:00 – Trends Chuck is seeing in the marketing world in the midst of his current job search.
24:00 – Chuck’s perspective on marketers being “change agents” for their business partners.
28:00 – Overview of Chuck’s current lifestyle in Muskegon, Michigan and his views of rural America through the lens of marketing ideals.
30:15 – Effective marketing tools Chuck is seeing in the industry and insight on content marketing.