TBA Outdoors, a band of marketing brothers and sisters who are expertly focused in the outdoor industry, is pleased to welcome Frankie Viola as content director and Jimmie Cichoski as video producer to the growing team. Based at the TBA Outdoors headquarters in Orlando, Fla., this dynamic duo will team up to optimize content driven strategy and storytelling for the agency’s niche client roster including frogg toggs, Hell’s Bay Boatworks, JL Marine Systems, Inc., Hook + Gaff Watch Company, Cablz and many more.
“Our mission is to utilize our category expertise to deliver modern day story telling in the outdoor space,” said Todd Fuller, president of TBA Outdoors. “TBA Outdoors is serving some of the most well known brands in the fishing and sporting industries. Frankie and Jimmie are truly content innovators that are consistently one step ahead of trends. They each bring great experience and a certain grit which fits perfectly with our agency’s philosophy, and will add a unique edge to the content we develop for our clients.”
Viola and Cichoski have been working together for the past 11 years and each bring a diverse background and passion for the sporting life to TBA Outdoors. The two met when they were working on a project together at TheFishingTube.com. They quickly realized they shared the same vision for content marketing and started Reel Sports Productions and the fishing show, Reel Fishing. They filmed with athletes and celebrities including Jim McMahon, Frank Viola, Zack Greinke, JB Holmes, Charles Howell III and more.
Viola and Cichoski led the content strategy for several other companies and brands including Expiration 2050 and UGrips, but are mostly known in the outdoor industry for their fishing Instagram show– Frankie and Jimmie Try to Fish – where they produced thrilling yet comical 30-60 second videos of their pursuits on the water. Here is where they harnessed their outdoor lifestyle story telling.
Cichoski is a professional producer, filmmaker and photographer specializing in the outdoor space for more than 10 years. He has worked for several brands including serving as creative director at UGrips, Content Creator for Expiration 2050, as well as Filmmaker and Graphic Designer at Reel Sports Productions. Not your average creative marketer, Cichoski has a “get your hands dirty mentality” and isn’t afraid to get waist deep in water, mud or snow in order to capture the essence of each client’s brand story.
Before entering the marketing realm, Viola was a professional baseball player, pitching for the Chicago White Sox from 2003 to 2008 and also again in 2015, and also pitched for the St. Paul Saints in 2010 and the Toronto Blue Jays in 2014.
But while Frankie was playing ball he was fishing every chance he could get, so he switched gears to pursue his other passion – fishing. He expanded and developed the content strategy for several outdoor-focused brands, and was also sought out from several companies to host fishing shows because of his funny, affable demeanor. In 2015, Viola also founded a non-profit, Expiration 2050, dedicated to the education and preservation of a sustainable wild fishery and fishing economy.
“We are hitting the ground running in 2018 with a full plate of brand content initiatives,” added Fuller. “We have no doubt that Jimmie and Frankie are going to impress our TBA Outdoors’ clientele with their forward-thinking content approach.”