Welcome to the new look and feel of ArcticInsider! The relaunch of the website has been quite the undertaking during the past 6 months, but it’s up, looks fresh, and it’s my promise to continually evolve it to bring you all the Arctic Cat brand information you crave.
If you are a new visitor, I think it’s important to share a bit of back history on how the site came to be, the players behind it, and their authentic ties to Arctic Cat.
In 2004, I entered the corporate powersports industry when Arctic Cat hired me into their marketing group where I held various positions within the department until 2020. One of my initial duties was to manage Arctic Cat’s consumer publications, PRIDE (snow) and RIDE (dirt), both of which were being written by Arctic Cat’s original brand ambassador, John Sandberg, and mailed to nearly 200,000 consumers.
During the economy crunch of 2008, mailing & printing prices skyrocketed, and marketing budgets shrunk, leading to the terribly tough decision to end both PRIDE and RIDE. With every ending though, is a new beginning, and that’s where Sandberg launched ArcticInsider, a place where he could continue sharing information centering around Arctic Cat’s product, its employees, dealers, racing, events and history for Arctic Cat enthusiasts.
Shortly after I left corporate Arctic Cat in 2020, I purchased ArcticInsider from Sandberg, as he had entered a corporate marketing role in the bicycle industry several months earlier. (Talk about role/life reversals for both of us…hahaha!)
Fast forward a bit, and here I am posting the first story with the new relaunch. (I’m also swearing behind the scenes trying to figure out what buttons do what, and why. Bear with me…old dog, new tricks)
The new site should help you locate the 2,100+ stories posted here, easier, via the breakout segments (Features, News, Racing, Trending Now or Latest News etc.) and via The Google thanks to the voodoo magic of SEO search words. I’d also like to add, this is now a secure site, so you can sneak off to the supply room during work hours to indulge. Hooray!
There is a section of the homepage dedicated to the latest ArcticInsider social media posts. Don’t forget to LIKE, FOLLOW and TAG us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for additional content that may not make its way to this site. On the Facepage alone, I have invited thousands of you to LIKE the page (Including my mom). Go in there and hit that button!
Another new addition is the online store, which will carry our new AC1 branded products. The first of which, our Rewind Wrap kits, were launched at Hay Days earlier in September for all Blast, ZR200 and ZR120 models. For a vast number of you asking for the same kits for “fullsize” models, you’ll be happy to know we’ll have those available before Halloween for all GENII bodywork. If wrap kits aren’t your thing, our hats are moving out quicker than a box of donuts at a Weight Watchers convention, and if you want a deal on Flex-Tec handguards with mounts, I don’t think you’ll find a cheaper price. (I purchased some excess dealer inventory and am passing the savings on to you.)
That’s it for now, I hope you enjoy this site, I appreciate your support, and the support it gets from our long-time advertisers – please support them. And I also appreciate Arctic Cat for continuing to let me in their Factory doors to experience their product, employees and events. I’ve seen their future, and it is good! – Kale