Client // The North Face: Vectiv
Assignment: Brand Strategy · Brand Architecture & Systems · Digital Experience · Marketing Process · Toolkits and Process, Measurement and Analytics
Using a critical product launch to create a community powered playbook
For years, The North Face has led the charge of peak athleticism in the outdoors.
Elite athletes regularly beat FKTs (fastest known times) on a variety of trails using prototypes proving the unique value of the product.
Now that we had our wayfinding, the next hurdle was execution. With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging around the globe, how could we drive trial and buzz when all trail races, events, and outdoor gatherings were canceled?
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Enter Further Together.
80%
RESULTS
RESULTS
RESULTS
523K+
523K+ sign-ups in the first month alone
80%
80% participation rate
The launch didn’t just introduce a product—it introduced a new way for TNF to build community, tell stories, and activate digital at scale. Further Together turned the Vectiv launch into a global movement.
136MM+
24%
136MM+ impressions
24% revenue growth vs the previous period for trail category
The launch didn’t just introduce a product—it introduced a new way for TNF to build community, tell stories, and activate digital at scale. Further Together turned the Vectiv launch into a global movement.
523K+
523K+ sign-ups in the first month alone
80%
80% participation rate
136MM+
136MM+ impressions
24%
24% revenue growth vs the previous period for trail category
The Challenge
In September 2021, The North Face came to us with a high-stakes proposition: their first-ever premium footwear platform—Vectiv—was ready to launch, but the go-to-market strategy wasn’t. The world was in a shutdown due to the pandemic and TNF needed more than a product story. They needed a brand-defining launch that brought digital to the center, not the sidelines.
The internal team had executional horsepower—from elite athletes breaking FKTs in prototype Vectiv shoes to global partners and a budding in-house creative team. But they lacked a unified idea, an integrated playbook, and leadership to coherently connect local markets, global teams, and digital experience into a single, powerful launch.
The Insight
The proof of performance was clear: elite athletes were shattering records in Vectiv prototypes.
While the rest of the world was in lock-down we needed to share this feeling: the explosive, exponential feeling of pushing your limits-with a much wider audience.
As a direct reflection to the campaign, our internal work flow emphasizes collaboration and building tools for TNF to use across all of their channels and countries. The collaborative concepts resulted in strong brand messaging, positioning toolkits, photography guidelines, motion graphics, and videography for TNF’s global marketing teams to leverage again and again.
What We Did
We developed a narrative platform: Go Further as with an experiential platform at its center. Further Together—a global, digital-first ecosystem partnership between The North Face and Strava that transformed a product drop into a community-led brand experience.
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Defined brand architecture, messaging, and campaign system
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Built a global digital experience
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Created a consistent global visual language
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Delivered channel-specific playbooks
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Designed workflows and processes
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Orchestrated global teams
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Documented to form a toolkit for future launches.
