A quick look at how the REI social marketing team approached Internet-adopted holiday April Fools in 2013.

1. BY PAOLO MOTTOLA
DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM MANAGER
@REI
ANATOMY OF AN APRIL
FOOLS’ DAY WIN

2. At REI, we inspire, educate and outfit for a
lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship.
WHO WE ARE

3. • April Fools’ Day has become an online “brand parade”
(especially in the tech vertical) over the past few years.
• REI had not participated in April Fools’ Day in any major way.
THE OPPORTUNITY
8-bit Google Maps, 2012
Warby Barker, 2012
Toshiba TubeTop, 2010
Image sources: http://us.toshiba.com/tubetop/, http://wapo.st/ZiIt2d, http://www.warbybarker.com/

4. • We thought about our own, simple way of nodding to Internet
culture:
o REI = Gear; Kittens = Internet dynamite
o The result: Kitten Adventure Gear!
THE APPROACH
Cute? Yes…
Prepared to climb a 14er? Hardly.
Image source: http://onforb.es/ZiIVh3

5. • We developed the concept into
1. A shareable image for social
networks (REI is on
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,
Instagram, among others)
2. A content page on REI.com
that the image could drive to
for the joke unveil (a modal
saying, ‘Just Kidding, Happy
April Fools’ Day)
• We had fun!
THE EXECUTION

6. THE DELIVERY

7. • Media coverage in Mashable, Glamour, KPLU (NPR),
Cheezburger, and many more blogs
• The Kitten Adventure Gear Page was the #2 visited page -
after the homepage - on REI.com on April Fools’ Day!
• 20,800+ Facebook shares; 500+ Twitter re-tweets
• Positive comments through website feedback form
Like what you see? Find us at REI.com and @REI
THE RESULTS