FINDING TRUE NORTH

TitleFINDING TRUE NORTH
BrandVF
Product / ServiceTHE NORTH FACE
CategoryA01. Event & Field Marketing
EntrantOGILVY SHANGHAI, CHINA
Entrant Company:OGILVY SHANGHAI, CHINA
Sales Promotion/Advertising Agency:OGILVY SHANGHAI, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Natalie Lam Ogilvy Shanghai Executive Creative Director
Kama Zhang Ogilvy Shanghai Associate Creative Director
Steven Ruan Ogilvy Shanghai Art Director
Stanley Tao Ogilvy Shanghai Head Of Copy
Leon Lee Ogilvy Shanghai Project Management
Morgan Cao Ogilvy Shanghai Account Management
Kelly Liu Ogilvy Shanghai Account Management

The Brief

Since birth, Chinese have been funneled into a prescribed route for success; a good university, a good salary, property ownership, etc. The outdoors doesn’t feature as part of this aspiration. Success is something that happens in cities; the countryside is for the poor and uncivilized. For a brand like The North Face, which sells outdoor achievement, this presents a huge challenge. This campaign’s objective is to forge the link between success and the great outdoors, and therefore significantly boost The North Face’s brand awareness and its status as top of mind choice for outdoor apparel and gears.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

Two themes stood out from research: people are starting to feel jaded by the Chinese dream, and solitarty exploration is meaningless. So we created a series of epic events that gave peopole a shared sense of achievement, enjoying outdoor activities along a route that headed North from the southern city of Guangzhou. The top nine performers in the first nine cities were invited to join an exclusive group that would set out from Mohe, in Northern China, to the country’s ‘True North’. At each Northern point, participants could check-in an receive a TNF explorer badge to share via social media.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

- 46% increase in brand sales (category growth at 29%, biggest competitor growth at 32%) - 257% increase in total brand awareness - 3.28 million hits on the campaign website - 2,059 consumers joined event, forming the biggest outdoor exploration team ever - 1 million posts on social media - 162,544 badges unlocked through mobile check-in (record for Jiepang.com, China’s Foursquare) - 50,000+ followers increase on Sina Weibo, three times more than a year earlier - 21 magazines published 111 campaign articles - A documentary film for a National Travel Channel on TV

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

When Chinese say they ‘can’t find North’, it means they’ve lost their way, or their sense of direction in life. It’s a deeply felt idiom, more now so than ever. Glued to an office chair, choking on pollution, or stuck in traffic, there are many reasons for Chinese peopole to doubt the promise of the city. ‘Finding True North’, aimed to forge an enduring link between the outdoors, The North Face, and the search for life’s direction. And it perfectly communicated the “Never Stop Exploring” spirit of the brand to the people who just need the positivity for life.