But now it’s time to think about survival. Unfortunately, your phone is also your flashlight, compass, radio and library of YouTube videos about how to start a fire. And without your White Noise App, you’re surrounded by a deafening silence last heard sometime before the Industrial Revolution.

But thanks to the Eton Corporation, you never have to die alone again!

Eton is an electronics developer and manufacturer that aims to harness nature’s energy to power innovative products. They make everything from crank-powered emergency radios and flashlights to solar-powered, Bluetooth®-enabled boomboxes. So the next time you find yourself in a pickle, you’ll be able to check the weather advisory, charge your iPhone and cue up some tunes while waiting for the cavalry to arrive.

Camping, Natural Disasters & Zombie Apocalypses

Eton also has a line of products that partner with the American Red Cross ranging from roadside assistance lamps and radios to indoor blackout flashlights and solar-powered cellphone chargers and sirens. Not only are the products beautiful, the co-branding is a brilliant pairing of purpose. (It’s also a perfect counter-example to the great NWF/Scott’s MiracleGro blunder.)

Best of all, Eton’s products are built to last — without having to plug in. Take the Rukus, a lightweight stereo that streams music from your smart phone or tablet. Its photovoltaic panels pump out an hour of rock per hour of sunlight and are capable of transferring energy to an internal battery for later. (You can charge it up with an AC adapter, too.)

All things considered, solar is still very much a Challenger, and Eton’s attempt to fold it into high-quality music and emergency technology is a keen move. And should a zombie apocalypse take out the grid, we have no doubt he who holds the Rukus will be king.

At which point the average American parent/teacher/guidance counselor laughed their heads off.

World of Warcraft University

But why the visceral reaction against games? In 2009, the video game industry contributed almost $5B to the U.S. GDP. It employed 120,000 people in 34 states, at an average compensation of $90,000. Video games require programming, writing, history, design, mathematics, art direction, physics and linguistics. They cannot exist without collaboration, creativity, dedication and technical ingenuity.

Sensing the turning of the tide, online learning company Zulama partnered with Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) to create a visionary curriculum for high schoolers called The Video Game Academy. Through the Academy, Zulama and the ETC provide kids with an opportunity to apply themselves in the many facets of game-making, from 3D Video Game Programming and iPhone Game Development to Modern Storytelling.

“Our kids are being rewired. They’re learning by playing World of Warcraft and communicating with their friends through online media,” says Nikki Navta, President of Zulama.

The Zulama Curriculum

It’s not just video games. Zulama offers a plethora of rich courses ranging from “Horror: Read it, Write It” and “The Vietnam War: An Inquiry Investigation” to “Geometry and Architecture” and “English for International Business.” Schools can purchase content for their own teachers to administer or pipe it into their computer labs for a low-cost, high-value alternative to electives. Home-schoolers and international students can also pick up classes a la carte.

Even more fascinating are some of the ideas Zulama has about the future of online learning. By offering an easy-to-use authoring tool, the company has recruited teachers and experts across industries to create their courses. In the future however, they hope to encourage the growth of an online education ecosystem — one where classes don’t so much begin or end, but where students continue to “level up.”

Strand-based Learning (& Dragons)

There’s no arguing what Navta calls “strand-based learning” is a huge boon to teenagers. For one, successful completion of the Academy earns students certificates that may help them get into college, obtain internships or even jobs. Two, in addition to the hard skills learned in each course, both the classroom and online settings are designed to reinforce soft skills — teamwork, conflict resolution, delegation, brainstorming.

Finally, the experience may actually aid some of those skeptical parents by exposing students to realities of the field. Because in addition to inspiring wonder and enabling discovery, the Game Academy teaches just how much math it takes to slay a dragon.

Let us introduce you to Snoball, a new, event-based online donation platform. With more than two million charities in its database, Snoball lets you contribute an amount of your choosing every time a certain thing happens. For instance, every time you go out to the bar, you can send $5 to Last Call Designated Driving Services Inc. Or every time you check into the mall on Foursquare, how about a $1 donation to Toys for Tots?

The possibilities are endless. What’s more, they’re interesting. By incorporating social media, Snoball lets you schedule donations for every re-tweet you get on Twitter or for each time someone “likes” your fan page on Facebook. And if your Snoball should go viral, the website will measure your accrued impact with the Snoball Effect.

Here’s the best part: Snoball syncs with all the major sports leagues. So every time Evgeni Malkin scores a goal, it’s money in the bank for the English Skills Learning Center. In another brilliant stroke, Snoball also makes it possible to donate when a team loses. So if you were feeling saucy, you might pledge to donate $1 to the food bank every time the Philadelphia Flyers lose a game. (You know, just a suggestion.)

Check Out This Cool Way To Give

$1

When the Philadelphia Flyers lose, Westmoreland County Food Bank Inc gets $1

Join My Snoball

Powered by

Now, Snoball itself is not a charity. The internet start-up merely enables these transactions and takes a small sliver for the trouble, much like another of our featured Challenger Brands, Crowdrise.

“Because we use the ‘Internet-scale,’ 95 percent of donations get to the charities,” said co-founder and CEO Jeremy Kelley in an interview with the Huffington Post. “For the charities that don’t have a big IT staff…we can act as their internet fundraising arm.”

Use it as a motivator for your brand — “Like us on Facebook and we’ll donate to Squirrel Sanctuary Inc!” — or to assuage the guilt of buying yet another pair of shoes. Either way, it’s hard not to love Snoball’s ingenious marriage of social media and event-based giving. Not to mention it proves what we have suspected for a long while — when the Flyers lose, it’s good for everybody.

Here are the rules:

1. There will be 10 members, each responsible for donating $100 a month.
2. The 10 will review applications for diverse projects, the only requirement of which is Awesomeness.
3. After a vote, one applicant each month will be awarded a micro-grant of $1,000.
4. The 10 can only quit their awesome quest in two manners:
   1. By finding a worthy successor
   2. Awesome death

OK, that’s probably overly dramatic, but there’s just something about the simplicity of the Awesome Foundation that borders on mysterious. The money is given with no strings attached and no profit in mind. Ideas range from hilarious to visionary.

Puppets to Pop-ups

Originally started in Boston, Awesome Chapters have sprouted across the U.S. and even as far away as Hamburg, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland. “The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences is an ever-growing, worldwide network of people devoted to forwarding the interest of awesomeness in the universe,” according to the mother foundation’s website.

For example, Awesome Pittsburgh — our local chapter — recently awarded a micro-grant for a “Pop-up Co-op” — a revitalization project that repurposes an empty storefront as a locally run “incubator for small businesses.” The project is forward-thinking, ambitious and strategic.

Awesome Pittsburgh’s range can also be seen in the “Puppet Photo Booth.” To be installed in Pittsburgh’s Market Square, this Awesome-funded idea is equal parts performance art and Candid Camera. Basically, people will pull back the curtain thinking it’s a regular old photo booth, but will be surprised instead with a seven-minute, under-the-sea themed puppet show. And at some point during the performance, a picture will be secretly taken so you can take home a souvenir.

“We try to strike a balance between finding many forms of creativity and something that will engage and contribute to the city,” says Leah Lizarondo, trustee.

You could argue this is the coolest aspect of Awesome Pittsburgh, its freedom. Name a cause or a disease or an agenda and there is sure to already be a fully-functioning foundation dedicated to it. And though they have all the proper paperwork, they’ve got to show receipts and answer to a board and communicate with the government. But since Awesome Pittsburgh is only giving out a thousand bucks, they can pick a project that helps feed the homeless or the ducks in Frick Park and no one can say boo.

The Future of Awesome

The ideas keep rolling in. Awesome Pittsburgh has received over 70 applications in just a few months. Since they’re confidential, Leah couldn’t reveal the content of what’s coming, though you can bet it will be awesome.

Do you have a great idea that needs but a small injection of cold, hard cash to become a reality? Fill out this form and these crazy coots might award you with an easy, awesome G.

Nice going, Dale.

Upcycling For Dummies

But wait. “That wood is still good!” cries Hipcycle, seller of repurposed junk. All you have to do is cut the sides off the circles and nail them to the wall. Voila – floating shelves!

Upcycling, finding new uses for old things, has been around for hundreds of years — out of necessity. But Walmart and Amazon.com have all but killed the instinct to re-use in most Americans. When we’re done with something, we throw it away. If we need something, we buy it.

Tires, glass bottles, bike parts, flip flops, railroad ties — these are all things you might find at the dump. Heck, you might have thrown them away yourself. But Hipcycle rescues these materials from landfills by artistically retooling them for function and decoration around the home.

That’s how 50 chopsticks become a folding basket and a few old farmhouse beams become a coffee table. Wait, are those the handlebars of an old bicycle or a high-end candelabra?

Being Green is Not a Unique Selling Proposition

Andrew Sell, Chief Hipcycler, believes upcycled wares can do more than save landfill space. “We provide high quality, durable products that are inherently interesting,” Andrew told us. This is an important note of distinction for the Hipcycle model. Sell cool stuff because it’s cool, not because it’s eco-friendly or green — though that’s obviously cool, too.

“We want to appeal to the hardcore dark green consumer who will seek out green products, but also the light green consumer who cares about the environment, but who may not have the means or interest to seek out those products or pay more for them,” Andrew explained. “We also want to show the world ‘green’ doesn’t have to mean ‘ugly’ or ‘cheap.’”

Best of all, Hipcycle stuff doesn’t just look good — it starts conversations. Oh, this display bowl made out of welded metal? Well, there’s this woman who scours Wisconsin landfills for discarded washers…

Thank you, Hipcycle, for helping to reduce waste, proliferate beauty and make all of us sound exponentially cooler than we have any right to be.

*Dale’s name has been changed to protect his family from further shame.

That’s what you get from Betabrand, an online clothing company and the inventors of a corduroy technology that defies the known laws of the universe.

Betabrand is built on the premise that online commerce is fundamentally different than brick-and-mortar. You probably don’t find that very surprising. In fact, it should be intuitive. But few fashion brands have altered their model for the online market.

Betabrand is a fashion company that moves at the speed of blog. Instead of offering a fall or spring line, these guys pump out limited editions of new inventions — at least one a week, sometimes more. This serves two purposes. First, it keeps the offerings fresh, not unlike social media. And since everything is a limited edition, new products are required to keep merchandise “on the shelves.”

But that’s not even the best part. Spend five minutes reading through their product descriptions or collection names and you’re guaranteed to chuckle. We belly-laughed more than once while researching.

Par exemple, the Cordarounds. Finally, there’s a corduroy with horizontal ridges. And they’re scientifically proven to “drastically lower your crotch heat index” and “lower drag coefficient by an amazing 16.24%.”

Yeah, we believe that about as much as the idea that the DARPA hoodie is a byproduct of “programmable matter” experiments (think Terminator 2). But Betabrand loyals aren’t the types to care about scientific numbers. And Chris Lindland (CEO) knows it.

In an interview with the New York Times, Lindland said his goal was “not to create the coolest, most cohesive line of clothing, but to create the most conversation-worthy line of clothing.”

We have to say, Betabrand’s clothes are more than conversation-worthy. They’re wearable — a rare compliment for a company that walks the scissors’ edge of fashion. And beyond that, some of their wares are downright brilliant. The “Bike to Work Pants” have fold up pant-cuffs and pull-out pockets lined with reflective material so you can be seen on the road without having to change clothes at the office.

We’re hoping Betabrand can maintain its Challenger Brand momentum and stay fresh and irreverent-chic in the face of growth. Because the world needs more ideas like the Black Sheep Sweater.

So it’s not so surprising there was a day a few weeks back when half a dozen of us were huddled around a computer waiting for Better World Books to raise their ten millionth dollar. It took nearly an hour and a half of checking, but when that last 9 rolled over and triggered a shower of zeroes, we clapped and cheered. And then we remembered we’d come to this site for a reason.

In what’s becoming a tired tale, Better World Books began with three Notre Dame students looking to make a little extra dough. We’ll fast forward through the rest — graduation looming, dotcom bubble bursting, crappy jobs tutoring, no prospects forthcoming.

Until one of the dudes decided to put his buddy’s books on the Internet. (Mind you, this was long before online commerce was big. So far in fact, “internet” was still being capitalized.) And sell, they did.

Fast forward a little farther — more textbook gathering, fund-raising, business plan writing, contest winning, concept evolving.

What now separates Better World Books from all the other startups — and makes them a Challenger in the for-profit world — is their commitment to the Triple Bottom Line, which means giving back socially, environmentally and economically. Better World Books is a model for how a company can look out for people (literacy programs, library building), the planet (carbon offsetting, landfill reduction) and their own profit (using a BOGO system, over five million books donated means over five million books sold).

“We aim to change the world through business and capitalism,” said John Ujda, VP of Marketing. “So we set-up our business in a way that as we succeed it automatically funds programs that improve literacy throughout the world.”

It’s hard not to love a for-profit company that has saving the world built into its business model. Even with the dreadlocks and “That’s what she read” t-shirt.

Turns out, they found three — leading us to believe it must have been one hell of a convention. And so necessity begot invention and nicknamed the whelp Airbnb.

Airbnb is a nontraditional lodging tool, reminiscent of a classier Craigslist. You search, book and pay just like any other hotel, except you stay in people’s actual homes and spare rooms. Choose from a host that’ll be there to cook you breakfast or rent out the whole place and walk around in your underwear. With accommodations in over 15,000 cities and 192 countries, Airbnb is offering a tempting low-cost, high-value alternative to the bleachy sheets and bad water pressure of hotels worldwide. There’s even an Airbnb iPhone app.

Of course, Airbnb also flips the coin and allows users to post their own properties for temporary boarding. So whether you’re renter or rentee, you benefit. And should you worry about the liability of letting a stranger into your home — or staying in a stranger’s — the company has rounded out the experience with pictures, videos, reviews and plenty of transparency. There’s also the Host Guarantee that covers your property for loss or damage due to theft or vandalism for up to $50,000. Not a bad incentive for renting out space that would otherwise go vacant.

So for travelers, Airbnb affords you the chance to stay in cool places, meet interesting people and save a few bucks. Renters make some cash and maybe a few new friends.

And all of us can appreciate a travel choice that doesn’t mean choosing between William Shatner and a lawn ornament.

Introducing Sir Richard’s Condoms — the brand that took the Tom’s Shoes model of consumer do-goodery and applied it to prophylactics.

Here’s the deal. For every Sir Richard’s condom bought, the company donates one to a country in need. Using this 1-for-1 model, Sir Richard’s aims to aid Partners in Health in supplying 11 sites across Haiti with free protection. So the more condoms you buy, the more freebies get donated to prevent the spread of HIV.

But one cool thing does not a Challenger Brand make.

See, Sir Richard’s is also out to change the way we think about condoms. You, us and everyone that’s ever stared at something suddenly interesting in the distance as the 80-year-old guy at the drugstore scans the barcode on your big box of Her Pleasure.

Because the other condom brands have always tended toward tacky and uncomfortable advertising and branding. Just think about sitting through a Trojan commercial with your parents.

Taking note of that, Sir Richard’s went its own way — sleek, sexy and plaid. More like buying a handbag than a rubber. Packaging design so good, it won CLIO and Dieline awards.

“We’re different from mainstream brands,” said Matthew Gerson, Founder. “We’re not marketing in a sleazy, greasy, slick, industrial way. Sex is about sacredness; intimacy doesn’t have to be creepy. The packaging is meant to appeal to a younger and more conscientious consumer, the gay population and women.”

Sir Richard’s is working to elevate the conversation about sexual protection by making it available in fashionable stores like Fred Segal, Paul Smith, Anthropologie and American Apparel. Even Whole Foods is getting into the game. (Gerson jokes that his condoms are technically vegan, since they contain no glycerin, spermicide, parabens or dairy product casein.)

Add it up. Sir Richard’s has sex, award-winning design, enlightened distribution and a world-saving mission, all in one brand. Not to mention the company supports community clinics that provide free HIV care, treatment and education to women.

No question, Sir Richard’s Condoms has got it going on. So the next time you do, make sure you’ve got one.

And what if we realized this ‘what if’ had gone on long enough but we had just one more delectable detail, two words that would make you jump up and say oh-yeah-gimme-some with more zeal than you even knew you could muster for alternative event ticketing? Well, get ready:

Cereal Wall.

Anyone else get a little buzz of endorphins down the spine just now? That tingle is courtesy of ShowClix.

ShowClix is a mobile ticketing solutions company and bona fide Challenger Brand. They got their start in 2007 as a live event search engine with a light ticketing solution. Two years later, essentially all of ShowClix’s revenue was coming from the ticketing end, so they made the tough decision to leave search to the wolves. But in its martyred honor, they vowed to ticket harder and smarter than anyone had ever ticketed before.

Present day, ShowClix is getting hype from AP, Mashable and TechCrunch. They recently executed the first ever, all mobile ticketing event, the Billboard Summer Blowout in NYC. They have scanner apps available on the App Store and the Android Marketplace. And still their eyes are fixed on the future.

“The ShowClix ticketing system will never be complete,” said Lynsie Campbell, co-founder. “We will always be focused on innovation; there’s always something we’re working on based on client feedback and market demand.”

So beyond being committed to versatility, ShowClix is priming for expansion. Right now, they’re in the process of moving locales, from a 3500 sq ft office in Shadyside to a 12,000 sq ft suite in the Centre City Tower of downtown Pittsburgh. And you better believe they’re bringing the Cereal Wall — a 66-canister common area repository for Froot Loops, granola and mirth.

That we haven’t even covered their fanatical customer service or social media integration is a good thing. Not to mention the potential ShowClix creates for venue/promoter data collection or the ability to interact with, bundle and up-sell customers.

May your brand be so revolutionary that its sashay cannot be contained in a single piece.

On the occasion we do find a moment to cozy up with a certain article — chosen mostly on the author’s reputation, the headline or the artwork — there’s nothing worse than getting 1800 words in before realizing you have little to no interest in the topic. (We’re looking at you, New Yorker.)

Well, no more. A Challenger Brand has emerged from the literary rubble to categorize, archive and highlight articles of note.

“Byliner publishes original narratives by some of the most accomplished writers working today, at lengths that allow them to be read in a single sitting,” says their site.

Since John Tayman (editor-at-large of Techland) is one of the founders, you know Byliner is more than a place to read quality long-form nonfiction. Social components allow you to follow your favorite authors, comment and recommend other pieces to be catalogued. The site also uses Ruby, the same programming language that powers Twitter, to “take advantage of collaborative filtering and data structuring to help readers easily find stories they’ll enjoy.”

Byliner Originals

All the stuff above is great — Byliner is a nifty new tool to find good reads. But what really set the site apart for us in a Challenger Brand capacity is the way it’s offering an alternative to the publishing industry.

Byliner Originals are stories between 10,000 and 35,000 words long. If you’re unfamiliar with word counts, that’s anywhere from twice as long as your average magazine feature to several chapters of a book. Most importantly, it’s a length that’s readable in a single sitting.

Between the short-form of blogging and the smoking ruin that is the traditional publishing industry — be it book, magazine or newspaper — Byliner Originals now occupies its own space.

Of course, it never hurts to attach your brand to content juggernauts like Christopher Hitchens and Mark Bittman. And while re-publishing classics like David Foster Wallace and Hemingway are good for context, there’s no better endorsement for a brand than influencing the world’s conversation, as it happened with Jon Krakauer’s “Three Cups of Deceit,” from Byliner Originals.

For Challenger Brands, there’s no better lesson. Carve out your battleground and stick a big yellow flag right in the middle of it.

Today, however, you can spend seven minutes on a website and learn how to count cards in Blackjack, field dress a deer, build a computer, administer a smallpox vaccination, sew a flapper dress, play the oboe, improve your credit score or build 21 varieties of Middle Ages-style siege weapons.

This is the story of how a couple of guys came to corner the market on experiential wisdom.

It begins in 2008 with co-founders Stephen Chao and Mike Goedecke. Coming from a background in television, these guys were intrigued by the number of how-to videos they found on the web and set out to index the good ones. But their index did a funny thing — it created a meeting place for what they call the “intellectually-curious community.” In fact, people were so engaged with the material, the guys decided to allow members to contribute articles and videos. WonderHowTo was born.

Three years and 170,000 how-to videos and articles later, the site has more than 17,000 creators, spans 35 vertical categories and 424 sub-categories. There’s so much content, the site’s homepage has transitioned into reporting real time DIY news events.

Call it the power of a good idea. Or crowd-sourcing. Or empowering a tribe full of curious cats that love to see themselves on camera.

One thing’s for sure: the next time we wonder how to do something — get rid of stinkbugs, do kung fu, pick a lock — there’s only one brand that’ll do.

Brand Spanking Bonus

C’mon. You didn’t think we’d mention cutting your arm off in the title without following through, did you?