THE NORTH FACE 1

Advertising Strategy Plan: Situation Analysis, SWOT, Advertising Plan, Creative Brief, and Creative Assessment

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SITUATION ANALYSIS

Introduction

The following brand case study and situation analysis is an in-depth look at The North

Face, Inc., which is a subsidiary of VF Corporation. The following research not only looks at

The North Face individually, but also its overall parent company, and even the competitors

within the market. It evaluates the situation and trends in the company‟s market as the world‟s

premier supplier of authentic, innovation, and technically advanced outdoor apparel, equipment,

and footwear. Looking closely at the company as a whole, a SWOT analysis, its competition, the

market it is in, and the audience it tries to reach gives great insight into The North Face.

Company

The North Face, Inc. and its employees are visionaries; their passion is beyond setting

records and achieving fame. For them, it‟s all about changing and inspiring the lives of those

individuals who motivate them to aim for extraordinary dreams. With a philosophy centered on

teamwork and helping others to excel and push their boundaries, The North Face lives by the

catchphrase, “Never Stop Exploring.” The North Face, a subsidiary of VF Corporation, is the

world‟s premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technically advanced outdoor apparel,

equipment, and footwear (VF Corporation, 2010). Although their products are competitively

priced, all their products come with the added value of a lifetime manufacturer‟s warranty, which

is a promise that products are fully warranted to the original owner against defects in materials

and workmanship (Seeking Alpha, 2010). The North Face strives for the highest quality

products and is continually innovating their products, and in doing so they have built strong

customer loyalty and brand preference.

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With cutting edge, high quality performance products, The North Face has managed to be

the first choice of the world‟s most accomplished climbers, mountaineers, extreme skiers,

snowboarders, endurance runners, and explorers (Hoover‟s, 2011). The North Face has been

effective in creating brand awareness by projecting a technically sophisticated and genuine

image that appeals to professional, and serious outdoor fanatics, as well as a much broader

segment of consumers. It strives to focus and build on its distinctive competencies: product

reputation and differentiation, innovative product design and diversity, and aggressive entry into

the casual wear market, all of which have kept the brand relevant within the industry (Hoover‟s,

2011).

The North Face is striving to be a sustainable brand, using recycled post consumer and

post industrial waste products simply by improving technologies and reducing the use of harsh

chemicals and excess materials while upholding the product quality. The company upholds its

position in the green movement by partnering with many environmentally conscious partners

such as Leave No Trace, B.E.F, AMGA and the Conservation Alliance (Seeking Alpha, 2010).

The North Face has designed its strategies around the idea of going above and beyond

consumers‟ expectations, and making sure their products create a sense of contentment and the

knowledge that the product purchased is one that consumers can trust. Its continued reputation

for superior products, performance and authenticity differentiates and exemplifies the brand and

its image. The company's products can be found in specialty mountaineering, backpacking,

running, and snow sport retailers, premium-sporting goods retailers and major outdoor specialty

retail chains in North and South America, Europe, and Asia; and its website (VF Corporation,

2010). The website is a focus for their exclusive sales promotions, which saves the company

ongoing logistics revenue and increases sales revenues.

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As parent company to The North Face, VF Corporation offers a number of branded

lifestyle apparel products in various categories including jeanswear, outerwear, footwear, and

sportswear (Data Monitor, 2010). Some of their brands include: Vans, Wrangler, JanSport,

Nautica and others. Specifically, The North Face specializes in outdoor apparel and equipment,

including jackets, fleece, boots, tents, backpacks, and the like. Unfortunately, the industries of

men and women‟s apparel manufacturing have been suffering. Over the past five years,

revenues in both categories have declined drastically. This negative growth can be explained by

the fact that companies have been outsourcing their manufacturing operations to lower costs

(Panteva, 2010). However, VF Corporation has been able to overcome these challenges and has

experienced growth in the past five years, totaling over $7 billion (Panteva, 2010).

The VF Corporation, and more specifically, The North Face‟s products have an array of

benefits and features that appeal to their consumers. VF Corporation is especially known for

having innovative, high-tech outdoor apparel and equipment. They position themselves around

the fact that their gear is ideal for the “extreme” risk-taker, and only the most intense adventurers

and athletes use their products.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The North Face is a subsidiary of the VF Corporation, which is a leader in American

apparel corporations. Even with the various brands under the VF Corporation name, The North

Face is its largest outdoor and action sports brand (MarketLine, 2011). The North Face brand is

available to purchase in multiple ways. One can either go directly to The North Face website, or

visit the various stores its products are stocked in. It not only has its own single brand stores, but

is also stocked in larger department stores like Dick‟s Sporting Goods, and smaller local outdoor

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apparel stores (MarketLine, 2011). The North Face brand‟s apparel lines consist of outerwear,

snow sports gear, and functional sportswear and footwear for men, women, and children

(MarketLine, 2011). This variety of products enables it to reach a larger target market

encompassing men, women, and children, which can ultimately increase revenue. An unique

strength that The North Face has, is the fact that the former President of The North Face and

Chief Executive Officer at The North Face, Europe is now the President of VF International and

Vice President of VF Corporation (MarketLine, 2011). This is a strength because it is unlikely

that The North Face will be put to the wayside or ignored because someone who was once a

large part of brand, is now a big name in its parent company that controls The North Face‟s

future.

Weaknesses

There are only a few weaknesses The North Face must deal with. First, its products are

for outdoor and action sports, and does not consist of much apparel for individuals living in

warmer climates (MarketLine, 2011). This, however, is not too much of a weakness, because the

niche market it has created, has allowed The North Face to be considered a top brand for its

consumers. Another weakness of The North Face brand is its high prices. These prices are high

due to the quality of the product and the positive stigma attached to the brand. The high price

due to quality is especially due to The North Face‟s new focus on sustainability. According to

Letitia Webster, director of corporate sustainability for VF Corp, a big challenge The North Face

deals with is to make sustainable, high quality products, at a good price for consumers (Nusca,

2011).

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Opportunities

The North Face has many opportunities to improve its brand and increase profit. Last

year, VF Corporation had focused investments in The North Face which helped drive solid

results of 6% revenue growth (MarketLine, 2011). If VF Corporation continues to invest more

into The North Face, they could continue to bring in more money for both The North Face, and

the VF Corporation as a whole. Another opportunity for The North Face is the introduction of

their new sustainability focus. They want to “refashion its immensely popular products to be

more friendly to the environment…with four key sustainability goals: achieve a 100-percent

sustainable product line, reduce energy and greenhouse gases, achieve sustainability with regard

to waste, [and] foster community and promote sustainability efforts” (Nusca, 2011). Due to the

big push for being green and environmentally friendly, this new positioning strategy and

commitment provides ample opportunity for The North Face to gain new customers. An

opportunity that The North Face has yet to explore fully is an association with the sports industry

that could provide more market leadership for the brand (MarketLine, 2011). Though The North

Face currently holds partnerships with the Alpine Club of Canada or USA Climbing, those are

not well known teams or organizations. Even sponsoring the Winter Olympics, or an Olympic

team would help get the name of The North Face out to the world. The greatest opportunity for

growth The North Face has is focused advertising on the college demographic in the Midwest

region of the United States. This untapped market segment can be heavily marketing towards to

increase sales and revenue of many TNF products.

Threats

The North Face faces intense competition with many brands through both direct and

secondary competitors. The markets for sportswear and outerwear are highly competitive. Some

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competitors include Patagonia, Columbia Sportswear Company, L.L. Bean, Nike, Eddie Bauer,

and many more. “In each of its geographic markets, the company faces significant competition

from global and regional branded apparel and equipment companies” (MarketLine, 2011). One

of the biggest threats that The North Face deals with is counterfeit products. Because The North

Face can be considered a “pricey” product, many people are turning to sites like eBay to buy

these brands, but instead they find out that what they are getting is counterfeit (McCloud, 2011).

These counterfeit schemes divert income from legitimate manufacturers, like The North Face,

while cheating the government out of tax revenue (The Associated Press, 2007). Unfortunately,

The North Face is not gaining any profit, but people are still walking around wearing their brand.

Additionally, the current economic recession is a threat to The North Face because people have

less disposable income to spend on items they don‟t necessarily need, such as expensive

outerwear.

Competition

The main problem that the VF Corporation and The North Face have to deal with is the

competition from less expensive alternatives. The North Face produces goods that are almost

always more expensive than its competitors. These competitors, which include Columbia

Sportswear, Nike, L.L. Bean, and Patagonia, can offer similar products at a much lower price,

and this means potential consumers are choosing other options (Hoover‟s, 2011). Due to this,

The North Face has to use its advantage of being a respected leader in the industry, and being

considered worth the higher price, to keep their customers loyal to them. The North Face uses

various channels to distribute their products including specialty sporting goods stores and various

websites and online stores (Hoover‟s, 2011). Therefore, consumers can buy products from

various retailers and franchises, or they can go straight to the manufacturer for more options.

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The company strives to do things differently by maintaining a certain kind of innovative

product design. An example of this is The North Face‟s advantage is the consistent development

and the introduction of new products (MarketLine, 2011). The North Face‟s key value

proposition is that the looks, style, durability and quality of their products are their strongest

attributes.

A part of The North Face‟s strategy is to be aware and understand their competitor‟s

strengths and weaknesses because that enables them to build off of and maintain a competitive

advantage within society to position them differently. Compared to The North Face, a main

competitor like Patagonia has some key strengths and weaknesses relative to The North Face.

The major strengths for Patagonia would involve customer service policies, including those for

returns and repairs, and employee knowledge and lifestyle (MarketLine, 2011). Mission

statements that carry through to products, distribution channels, marketing, and philanthropic

causes are more general strengths for Patagonia. Patagonia has great direct-to-consumer

distribution methods such as their website (which is made to navigate through easily), stores,

catalog, and expansion into surf shops that stay true to corporate mission, a sense of

„community‟ built for customers (Patagonia, 2011). Weaknesses in regards to Patagonia are that

they are slow to expand their product lines and expand into new outdoor sporting areas. A large

weakness is their prices, which are higher than some competition, particularly in the minds of

uninformed consumers, while having limited distribution partners (MarketLine, 2011).

The North Face advertises on consumer behaviors and their outlooks. Presently, health

has become an increasingly important issue, and the behavioral and lifestyle attitudes of

individuals have become a target for the company as well. They advertise to their target markets

by focusing a lot on the importance of exercise. An example of this is the advertising they do for

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their apparel and gear. They incorporate camping, hiking, and extreme sports to show a healthier

lifestyle which in turn appeals to their target demographic (The North Face, 2011).

The North Face‟s current three major demographics would include outdoor enthusiasts

who consist of men and women between the ages of 18 and 35 within in middle to upper

socioeconomic bracket. These customers are thought to be the most profitable, and brand loyal

consumers. Because of their active outdoor lifestyles, these consumers are concerned with

reliability, and the proper maintenance of their outdoor gear. The second group to advertise to

would be the health conscious. This group consists of men and women aged 25-50 in an

upper/middle socioeconomic bracket. The third group is considered “others” which are men and

women, aged 50-75 from lower to upper socioeconomic brackets (MarketLine, 2011). Focusing

advertising efforts on the college demographic in the Midwest regions of the United States is a

great opportunity for The North Face to increase its revenue.

The North Face‟s growth relative to competitors can be viewed from the facts from the

fiscal year ending December 2009. The sales indicated $1,200.0 million overall and had a one

year growth of 106,283.0%. Presently, in terms of their main competitor Patagonia, their key

numbers for fiscal year ending in April 2010 was $400.0 million in sales. L.L. Bean‟s sales were

at $1,500.0 million and had a one year growth of 7.1% for the fiscal year ending in February

2010 (Hoover‟s, 2011).

The North Face wants to provide the highest quality products so that customers feel

secure in their purchases. This allows them to maintain their customer‟s trust. Their marketing

strategies are to go above and beyond the competitors and above and beyond the customer‟s

expectations.

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Market

The North Face is “the premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technologically

advanced exploration apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories” (The North Face, 2011). As

stated before, the target market includes men and women within various age ranges. The

company designs, distributes, and retails high-tech outdoor apparel and gear, such as jackets,

tents, sleeping bags, and backpacks, as a subsidiary of VF Corporation. Its products are sold

through specialty sporting goods stores in North and South America, Europe, and Asia; more

than 250 namesake stores operated by third parties in Europe and Asia; some 50 company-owned

European and US outlets; and its website (Hoover‟s, 2011). The VF Corporation uses a direct-

to-consumer business as an important part of their strategy, especially with The North Face (VF

Corporation, 2011). The success of the VF Corporation is due in large part to The North Face‟s

growth. “In 2010 VF‟s Outdoor & Action Sports Coalition will comprise more than 40% of

VF‟s total revenues and we expect these will continue to be our fastest growing businesses over

the coming years. The power and potential of The North Face brand will be a key driver of our

growth,” said Eric Wiseman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of VF Corporation.

According to Hoovers, The North Face is connecting with its customers in innovative ways and

leveraging the full strength of the brand to inspire and enable the next generation of outdoor

enthusiasts (VF Corporation, 2010). The North Face is in a focused, niche industry, and attempts

to sustain growth in a field with a limited number of consumers. The company has

“recommended itself as a company poised for future growth by building: brand-name

recognition, product reputation and differentiation, innovative product design and diversity,

aggressive entry into the casual wear market, and, as attested to by company profits and

increases in the value of the company's stock, the decisive and able senior-level management that

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would continue to drive North Face's climb to success” (Hoover‟s, 2011). Through these ideas,

especially with the innovation of product design, such as making the products more sustainable,

and an entry into the casual wear market, will widen the target audience of consumers.

Audience

The North Face currently targets people with an interest in mountaineering, skiing and

backpacking. They produce high performance gear like tents and sleeping bags able to perform

in the most severe conditions. The psychographics for The North Face target market are people

with an active lifestyle, who exercise regularly and who enjoy the outdoors. The brand has more

recently expanded into retail stores with a large line of outerwear. It has become very popular

with high school and college students who use their products to keep warm in the fall and winter

months. “When hip-hop stars sported The North Face jackets in their music videos, the brand

took on an iconic quality” (Silverstein, 2008). The target demographic for their outerwear

products is middle class youth and adults. This demographic can be targeted more directly

though focused advertising on college students and their use of TNF products. The North Face

also invests heavily in high-performance athletic events. An example of this is The North Face

sponsorship of “The North Face Endurance Challenge” presented by Gore-Tex (a North Face

partner/supplier) (Silverstein, 2008). They have also sponsored all sorts of endurance events

across the country and attract some of the most impressive athletes. The North Face‟s

advertising strategy in print, TV or innovative in-store kiosks, is to show “visual journals” of

athletes‟ expeditions. “The company also launched an online magazine called Epic that features

photography and articles appealing to people who are passionate about backcountry sports, from

rock climbing, backpacking, and bouldering, to trail running, mountaineering, skiing,

snowboarding, ice climbing and more” (Silverstein, 2008). The North Face is also beginning to

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use some non-traditional media to drive customers to their stores. They now have an iPhone app

that gives skiers information about snow conditions and trail maps. They also started a campaign

that will give consumers promotional information if they sign up for a texting service. The

campaign was created by Placecast, a location-based mobile ad company in San Francisco. It

uses a practice called geo-fencing, which draws a virtual perimeter around a particular location

(Miller, 2010). Once the customer enters the location they will receive a text giving them deals

at the nearest store. This advertising fits well within the college demographic and can be utilized

to help promote The North Face brand to these individuals better.

The North Face communication and advertising strategies are largely internet based with

other forms of intermittent traditional advertising, customarily online video advertisements.

With strong brand loyalty and brand recognition, a brand such as The North Face does not have

to rely on strong traditional advertising outlets, but be most reliant on word of mouth advertising

within their loyal consumer base (Hoover‟s, 2011).

Conclusion

Even with its multiple competitors, The North Face has managed to stay on top of the

outdoor and action sports apparel and gear market. They are able to not only focus on their

current strengths, but also incorporate new innovations in order to improve the overall success of

the company. It is easy to see why it is the most successful of all VF Corporation brands.

Though there are aspects that The North Face needs to improve on, it is currently on the right

track as a successful and continuously growing company. The first step to these improvements is

an advertising campaign targeted at college students living in the Midwest United States, who

can find great use out of The North Face‟s many product lines.

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ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

Brand Challenge

The North Face is a well-established brand that is a category leader in the outdoor apparel

industry. Nearly every person in the United States has heard of the North Face brand. However,

there are some ways the company could improve to further their lead in the industry.

The main opportunity that the brand is not currently taking advantage of is targeting the

college market. College students and their parents are a huge consumer group that has the

potential to buy The North Face products. This market has not been marketed to, and therefore is

not reaching its full potential for buying products. The North Face needs to create advertising

that targets the college student market with a compelling value proposition that uniquely

addresses their needs that they can take advantage of the potential this market possesses.

Advertising Objectives

This campaign focuses on generating primary demand, promoting the North Face brand

as a whole line of clothing and gear as opposed to generating interest and focusing in on the

outdoor jacket market. Educating consumer about The North Face‟s products will make them

realize why The North Face is the perfect choice for them. The North Face should seek indirect

action from its customers by influencing their implicit attitudes through its advertising messages.

This is possible because The North Face‟s products have high brand recognition and recall in its

target market‟s evoked sets when it comes to outdoor apparel. On the advertising pyramid The

North Face has surpassed the awareness, interest and credibility blocks and should focus on

creating desire and action toward its products. The North Face needs to get the consumer to its

channels of distribution and keep focus on how its products will benefit the life of the consumer

through the high quality, durability and comfort that its products promise. To maintain the

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strength of the brand relevance The North Face needs to continue to promote its brand

consistently within the existing strategy while also expanding to trying to influence a new target

market, from extreme outdoor enthusiasts to your everyday college student who happens to be a

large consumer segment. Because of The North Face‟s highly recognized and well-respected

brand, they need to influence our target market that highlights that they are the best, next to none

and that TNF apparel is the only solution to their cold weather needs.

Primary Research

Research Questions

There were many questions that needed to be answered before beginning to design the new

campaign for The North Face:

What is the demographic profile of college students that purchase The North Face?

What is the psychographic profile of college students that purchase The North Face?

What is the geographic profile of college students that purchase The North Face?

Who influences college students‟ purchase decisions regarding outdoor apparel?

Where do college students go when shopping for outdoor apparel?

What factors influence college students‟ purchase decisions regarding outdoor apparel?

Upon conducting some primary research, most responses were received from the primary

market, which allows The North Face to better focus on some strengths and weaknesses it faces

with its brand. Of the respondents to who chose to answer what products they own specifically, it

was found that 100% of the respondents owned a jacket. In the campaign The North Face would

want to make sure this is an area we focus our goals on want to make sure we advertise and

promote the plethora of products it has to offer, such as backpacks, hats, gloves, and boots, not

only their jackets.

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It was also found that price is a very important influence in purchasing behavior for this

target segment because they don‟t have the luxury of disposable income. Because, The North

Face‟s products are competitively priced TNF has to make sure to position itself against its

competitors within its target market as a brand and product that is relentless for providing the

highest quality of products. This contributes to why 20% of the respondents said that their

parent‟s influence them during a buying decision, most likely because they are paying the funds

and making the actual purchase. This also helps The North Face with this campaign in that it

needs to influence a secondary market, of which would include the 18-24 segments peers,

parents and siblings alike, broadening its reach and influence. Furthermore, it was found that

58.8% of respondents are influenced by their peers to make these purchases. This fact might shed

light upon the booming popularity of The North Face products, namely jackets, among college

campuses. It seems to be a fashion statement hand in hand with the quality, comfort, style and

durability that The North Face products promise.

Does anyone influence your buying decisions? If so who?

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To what extent does price affect your purchase decision on a scale of 1-5? (1-most/5-least)

By penetrating this market with advertising and promotions The North Face can keep its

current customers while making sure it changes the tone and feel of the overall marketing

strategy to more heavily focus on the college-aged consumer segment and expanding its selling

points across the board for all the products The North Face has to offer.

Brand Strategy

Who

The target audience for this campaign is 18-24 year old college students. The campaign

will focus on college students from middle class families in the Midwest United States looking to

stay warm during the colder seasons, and also students that have an active, athletic lifestyle. The

North Face needs to target this market because of their tremendous buying power and because

The North Face brand already has established credibility with college students. College students

are generally more active and lead a more athletic lifestyle than most segments, therefore they

can benefit from a vast array of products that North Face produces. The North Face has many

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outerwear products that appeal to college students because of the style, comfort, versatility and

durability. It is believed that college students already view the brand as being “cool,” so targeting

them should be very effective and increase sales across the extensive product line.

College students may be more willing to spend money on fashionable clothes than other

segments because looking good is a huge factor in their self-esteem. Most college students are

either desperately trying to fit in, or desperately trying to stand out. Both of these desires are part

of the buying influences The North Face should seek to influence in order to drive them to buy

The North Face products. With respect to Maslow‟s hierarchy, esteem appeals are strong with

the college market. In order to take advantage of this when constructing an advertising campaign,

the models in print or television ads should be shown in such a way that they appear confident,

comfortable, sexy and popular. The ads should let college students know that if they buy The

North Face then they will not only be accepted by others, but that because they wear The North

Face they stand out amongst the crowd.

College students are often trendsetters for other segments of the market. The North Face

has the opportunity to capture a secondary market of recent graduates and parents of college

students. Parents of college students are exposed to the brand through their children and

therefore may be interested in The North Face‟s products and the attributes associated with these

products. Additionally, high school and middle school children may emulate them because they

look up to college kids as role models.

Target Audience Profiles

Jill: She is a 20-year-old college sophomore at the University of Iowa. She enjoys

volleyball and running. Staying up with fashion trends is very important to her. Style and

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versatility are the most important factors for her when she buys outdoor apparel. Her parents

make over $100,000 a year and she has a job on campus, so money is not too much of an issue.

Mark: He is a 22-year-old college senior at Michigan State University. He enjoys

basketball and snowboarding. To him outdoor apparel is mainly just to keep you warm outside,

but he does prefer quality brands. He is mostly concerned with comfort and durability when

purchasing outdoor apparel. He comes from an upper middle class family, so price is not a

concern when buying outdoor apparel.

Nancy: She is a 47-year-old, married, mother of three. She has a 23-year-old daughter,

and two sons who are 20 and 18 years old. She makes over $40,000 a year and lives in Chicago,

IL. She is a loving mother who wants the best for all her kids. She frequently shops for outdoor

apparel for them, and is very conscientious of which brands they prefer. When shopping for

herself she prefers brands that are stylish but that will also last for a long time. She will also

frequently take advice from her children when she is shopping for outdoor apparel.

What

The North Face is a category leader for outdoor apparel and gear. This positioning will

be focused on throughout the advertising campaign. In The North Face‟s advertising, no

competitors will be mentioned or compared against, because the brand‟s various key

differentiators position The North Face as the category leader. Though The North Face has

competitors that make similar products, such as Patagonia, Columbia Sportswear, L.L. Bean, and

others, the image that will be conveyed in our message is that no other brand can compare.

COPY PLATFORM

Ad Subject: The North Face Product Relationship

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Ad Problem: The related products (coats, backpacks, shoes,

gloves, etc.) need to gain some identity and find its place in

the market.

Product Characteristics:

Category leader in technological innovation of products.

Sustainability, Comfortability, Durability, Weather

resistant, Endurance.

Advertising Objective:

Help increase sales by building on brand loyalty to The North

Face.

Target Market:

Young, single college students, 18-24. These students would

be the decision makers and influencers, even if they aren’t the

actual purchasers.

Parents of the college students, who may be the ones actually

purchasing the product.

Competition: Patagonia, Columbia Sportswear, L.L. Bean, Eddie

Bauer

Statement of Benefit or Appeal:

1) The North Face is sustainable.

2) The North Face is comfortable.

3) The North Face is trendy.

Creative Elements

The advertising strategy for The North Face will include art elements such as print ads,

commercials, Internet marketing, in-store promotions, and other non-traditional marketing. This

advertising strategy position the product for the target market of 18-24 year old college students,

with heavy focus on those living in the Midwest, along with the secondary market of these

individuals‟ parents. This strategy was chosen because it fits well with The North Face‟s current

location in the product life cycle. Because, it has already been established as a category leader,

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The North Face is current located on the Maturity stage of the product life cycle. Sales volume

has reached a steady state and only loyal customers purchase the product. In the hopes of

avoiding the decline phase, The North Face can use this advertising strategy to gain new

customers and increase sales volume. This will not necessarily change the position of The North

Face in the product life cycle; only further it as a category leader.

As stated earlier, the visual appeal will consist of art elements such as print ads and

commercials. These will need to express the tone and attitude of The North Face, such as

youthful, comfortable, and quality. These art elements will move away from the current

advertising efforts of heavy focus on extreme sport scenarios and will instead be more relevant to

college students and college life. They will feature college students using various North Face

products in everyday aspects of their life. The following example will be used in advertising for

the Midwest region of the United States and in areas of colder climates. Both print and video

can feature college students wearing The North Face jackets, boots, gloves, hats, and backpacks

and walk through the snowy campus to get to class. The North Face label will be visible on all

products. The copy of these ads will be: “Our way to walk uphill both ways.” This will play off

the old parental saying about walking uphill both ways to get to school. This will position The

North Face products as innovative and durable, and especially youthful.

Non-traditional advertising for The North Face will include a heavy focus on social

media like Facebook and Twitter. Though The North Face is already working with these tools, it

is important to push the use of social media because it is a large part of college students‟ lives.

Their continuous use of social media will always keep The North Face at top-of-mind with

continuous updates. It will also be beneficial to The North Face to establish brand ambassadors

on college campuses in the Midwest regions of the United States. These student brand

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ambassadors will be able to target The North Face brand more effectively to college students

because they will be at the center of where these students are daily. The ambassadors can create

promotional opportunities for The North Face on campus, such as event sponsorships. An

example of an event could be a student film festival, in which students create films of situations

in which they use The North Face products, including sports or everyday activities. Any way of

linking The North Face to college life will be beneficial in promoting the brand.

Ad Strategy

The North Face needs to ensure that its products are cleverly and thoughtfully marketed

to the appropriate consumer groups. Establishing itself in the college market and for its products

to sell successfully, thus achieving company goals and profitability it will essential to thoroughly

understand consumer behavior. Within the marketing strategy it is important to determine a low

or high involvement approach for The North Face because it indicates the consumers that will be

making consumer purchase decisions.

Perception will play a huge role in forming attitudes towards the range of products that

The North Face has to offer. Therefore, a low involvement strategy would be beneficial to

indicate how favorable perceptions with The North Face brand identity within the college

market. A low involvement strategy will require a high level of frequency toward college

students. Repetition will get the message out and keep it fresh in the target‟s mind and therefore

get the target audience to be more aware of the products, and therefore make decisions about

purchasing The North Face products. By purchasing The North Face products, the target market

will influence others and secondary audiences even though they might not necessarily be making

the direct purchase of The North Face products.

THE NORTH FACE 22

On the other hand, high involvement strategy also pertains to The North Face marketing

plan because of the influence the product has directed toward targeted consumers, thus giving the

buying or purchasing power to their parents or the consumers that will carry out the buy. So it is

imperative to bring about awareness of the product and its attributes along with a belief of the

brand that will create an attitude that will result in a purchase. In hindsight, the low and high

strategies go hand-in-hand with each other in this marketing strategy because of the specific

target audience we are targeting.

This translates to using a two-pronged approach to target the college student market.

Some of the ads used will be more informational, which is ideal when targeting consumers that

view the purchase as a high involvement purchase. Additionally, some ads will have less

information but be heavily based on visual appeals. These ads will be used more frequently to

influence consumers that view the purchase as a low involvement purchase.

Communications Media

The North Face‟s media strategy is to heighten product awareness as well as to attract

perspective college students who may or may yet try The North Face products. The media

strategy primarily focuses on developing valuable campaigns that surround the basis of style and

quality to college students who are not necessarily outdoor enthusiasts. The media strategy will

concentrate on frequency and reach to target audience. This approach will be most effective

because The North Face needs the target market of college students to see the message over and

over. Reach will further increase awareness because all college markets within the country

should be exposed to the advertising message at least once.

The media vehicles to achieve this media strategy that will generate further interest in

The North Face brand will include TV, social media, and newspapers that are distinctive toward

THE NORTH FACE 23

the college campuses within the country. The secondary vehicles will include a documentary

series on campuses, student ambassadors for The North Face products and specific events during

football games along with other major occasions that take place throughout college universities.

Primarily the TV will induce recall for the target audience. TV will achieve reaching the

target audience and leave them with visual and recall that allow for The North Face‟s message to

be assimilated into the college student consumer‟s minds therefore definitely develop and

generate the extra brand awareness. Social media will continue to be a big media vehicle because

it will enable majority of college students who are on social media web sites on a daily basis to

recognize and become a fan of The North Face brand.

Newspapers will allow for further in-depth detail about The North Face brand, and the

incentives that each of the products offers, will continue to uphold the brand awareness that The

North Face wants to aim at when achieving more opportunities for growth beyond the brand.

All of the secondary media communications will be focused on sustaining brand relevance and

increasing brand equity for The North Face. These extra engaging communication tools will help

continue contingency within the minds of our college student consumers. By engaging

consumers in the advertising for The North Face, the brand will gain even more exposure by

word-of-mouth. When students hear about a brand from their peers, it makes the brand seem

even more credible to the market, which also improves consumer attitudes of the brand.

THE NORTH FACE 24

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THE NORTH FACE 26

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