The North Face began in 1966 as an upper class ski shop in San Francisco. It expanded into camping and outdoor gear in the 1970s and became more fashion-oriented in the 1980s. The North Face promotes environmental sustainability and worker welfare. It is known for high-quality backpacks popular with students and athletes. Market analysis shows the brand sells best to younger, wealthier, educated consumers in the Western US.

1. Shanel Atwood
David Stover
Megan Woodard
A D P R 2 8 3 � D a n e K i a m b i

2. In 1966, Doug and Susie Tompkins, opened an upper class ski shop in San Francisco,
California. Two years later, Kenneth “Hap” Klopp acquired the brand and expanded the mer-
chandise the brand sold. Jack Gilbert, became a partner and started expanding their business
operation through other means of production and throughout the 70s, they honed in on the
niche market of campers and skiiers. They later expanded to in the 80s to broader markets to
make their products more fashionable for everyday apparel. The North Face co-founded the
Conserve Alliance with Patagonia, Rei and Kelty in the late 80s. This became part of their brand,
as they took on a position of being environmentally conscious. To show their commitment, they
pledge money annually. In the 90s, they began to mainstream their equipment more towards
casual wear, which broadened their clothing. In the 1997, the North Face developed its motto
of, “Never Stop Exploring.”
Because the North Face brand is part of the VF coporation, their financial records are kept
confidential. However, from the year 2008 to 2009, vevenue was done 6 percent. They deter-
mined that the speific oppotunities to raise revenue were hone their customer service online,
develop a television campaign for advertising and broaden
product development means. However, while sales strug-
gled they somehow turned it around over a two year period.
Because the prices were so high, they were able to make
up for the lack of volume they were able to sell.
The North Face also presents itself as as socially re-
sponsible business that hones in on the health of their
workers, customers and environment in which one lives in.
The North Face uses environmentally friendly chemicals on
their products for waterproofing and other purposes, but
these chemicals are more expensive and have to be closely
regulated. This could potentially be a threat to business,
but the North Face is slowly becoming a more environmen-
tally-conscious brand, which makes them popular among
young consumers.
The North Face is the go-to brand for high quality and fashionable hiking and camping
equipment. Students and athletes alike insist upon the North Face when buying backpacks
because of the many brand-specific features.The North Face has over 50 years of market ex-
perience in making hiking equipment and is therefore one of the most reputable and high qual-
ity brands for athletic products. North Face’s environmentally conscious image has lead to 20
partnerships with philanthropic organizations. They provide safe working conditions for their
employees. One of the partners that North Face is associated with is EPA Green Power. North
Face uses certified renewable energy credits through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation
Green-e Climate. This brand also reduced carbon emissions by an estimated 1300 metric tons
SITUATION ANALYSIS
COMPANY ANALYSIS

3. per year in their factory in California. North Face highly encourages recycling. Employees are
taking care of by North Face. They are eligible to receive a 50% discount, community involve-
ment and there’s an opportunity for employee promotion. Employees validate the image of
North Face. Because of the high quality, the North Face does have more expensive prices than
backpacks from other big brands like Nike or Under Armour which can be a disadvantage. Both
the quality and the brand name of the North Face contribute to the backpacks’ success on the
market. Moreover, aside from making high quality apparel, it creates brand loyalty with its cus-
tomers through a brand promise. If one finds a defect with their purchased product, the North
Face promises to fix it, which it part on its lifetime warranty guarantee. This helps helped the
brand create brand equity. They also encourage recycle the use of old products and encourages
living in good health.
Business in this market is relatively steady, as consumers will always need school and ath-
letic equipment. The North Face does lose business to competitors such as Nike who cater to
more consumers with lower prices and lower production costs. Although prices for their prod-
uct may be more than competitors, consumers are willing to spend more for a backpack for its
comfort, style and overall brand recognition.
Employers position their most popular-selling products at the front of the store and in the
case of North Face products, employers said its more seasonal in the trends in which it sells.
Moreover, when school shopping season starts, employers who carry the North Face Brand of
The Women-specific North Face backpacks include many helpful features for each
backpack. Some of these features include: two water bottle holders, laptop storage, plentiful
compartments, drawstrings, and water-resistant colorful materials that can endure all weather
conditions. Some of the more comfort features that are included for the customers are injec-
tion-molded shoulder straps with additional PE foam for added comfort. The most important
feature that it provides for women is a comfortable padded Chemise back panel with spine
channel and PE sheet for extra back support, which is endorsed by the American Chiropractic
Association. This feature is the most popular aspect to women, when deciding on which back-
pack to choose from. The backpack also provides a winged, stowable hipbelt for added to
support for your back. The average weight for one of these backpacks is 2 lbs and 6 oz. The
main material North Face uses to make their backpacks is Nylon for a more lightweight feel. It
also contains a removable sternum strap and reflective light loops. Even though some might
complain that this brand of backpacks are somewhat pricey compared to other products, this
type has a guarantee of lifetime warranty.
The North Face brand presents itself as an environmentally conscious brand through its
emphasis on recycling and its emphasis on taking care of the environment and its natural in-
habitants. “At the heart of the North Face is a mission to inspire a global movement of outdoor
exploration and conservation,” North Face President Todd Spaletto said. At the North Face
factory in California, they use more than 100 percent of the energy used is renewable. Spaletto
also said the Explore Fund is set up to help children explore the outdoors. Moreover, allowing
children to have the opportunities to have outdoor recreational activities, the power of inclusion
PRODUCT ANALYSIS

4. Sales were highest among people who made between $75,000 and $149,000 annually. The
North Face is not necessarily an accessible brand for all consumers, and this can be a disadvantage.
Backpacks were also overwhelmingly sold to Caucasian people in 2013, so it should be a priority of
the company to make sure they are demonstrating diversity within their strategic marketing to appeal
to more demographics. Geographically, backpacks also sell slightly more in mountainous and coast-
al regions, as more outdoor activities go on in those regions. Moreover, they had their highest sales
in the western part of the country.
and creating adventure some personalities amongst the youth. One other aspect about the North
Face brand is its emphasis on using smart environmentally friendly chemicals to provide workers
safe working conditions.
MARKET ANALYSIS
Demographics Total ‘000 Proj ‘000 Pct Across Pct Down Index
Ages 18-24 30228 270 .9 12 94
Ages 25-34 41382 563 1.4 25 142
Edu. - HS 70650 496 0.7 22.1 74
College 44291 468 1.1 20.8 111
Prof. Occupa-
tion
31639 432 1.4 19.2 143
HHI 150k 25578 336 1.3 14.9 138
HHI 75k 66739 718 1.1 31.9 113
Region: West 53429 607 1.1 27 119
Northeast 42904 363 0.18 16.1 89
Widwest 51129 444 0.9 19.7 91
South 88114 838 1.0 372 99
Caucasion 174955 2069 1.2 91.9 124

5. CONSUMER ANALYSIS
The North Face sells backpacks primarily to athletes and students. Both social groups tend to
be younger and willing to pay more than the average consumer. 19-year-old University of Nebraska-
Lincoln student Bailey Spiers said that he is willing to pay more because it makes him feel “swaggy,
confident and organized.” The North Face wants to appeal to adventurous, risky consumers who
want high quality and reliable products. They are willing to pay more for the quality of the product
and are likely to be repeat customers.
Our consumers told us that a big part of the North
Face’s brand image is that its known as high-quality
and expensive. This can be both an opportunity for us
and a weakness because we aren’t attracting a broad
enough audience, but we do know that we have a loyal
following in terms of consumers that prefer the brand
when buying backpacks and continuously buy them.
Similarly, the consumers thought that the North Face
backpacks had many more features than other brands
and had more options in terms of style and color.
Consumers that buy this North Face want the back-
pack to speak for them. People who buy this backpack
are mainly adventurous and want to explore the world.
Most of the students that we interviewed on campus
didn’t buy the backpack because they are adventurous,
but because of the fashionable aspect of it. One of the
students we interviewed bought the backpack because
it was “popular on campus” and “fashionable.”
SALESPEOPLE ANALYSIS
Threads and Footloose & Fancy Manager Doran Hayden said the North Face Back Pack is
more seasonal in the trends in which it sells. Moreover, when school shopping season starts, em-
ployers who carry the North Face Brand of backpacks highlight their products in the front of the
store. This is due to brand popularity. The middle to upper class demographic of people tends to buy
the backpack the most, and is especially popular amongst college students. Hayden said the North
Face backpack one is her highest selling backpack an often highlights it at the front of the store
when she is selling it. With Threads’ close proximity to the University of Nebraska- Lincoln campus,
students and professor have a higher opportunity of purchasing a backpack at Hayden’s store.
Hayden said a majority of the people she’s seen buy the backpack are students that are will-
ing pay more for the brand than backpack. Aside from the many good qualities the bag has, stu-
dents at times feel peer pressure to reflect a certain image on campus and the North Face does that.
With well enforced seems, diversity in color, multiply storage pockets and its sleek design make
student want to invest in it. The backpacks also have a replacement guarantee and certified back
support for young women. The American Chiropractic Association endorses the North Face brand.
The only improvement Hayden said she would suggest is more poster displays and prints be
sent to her from the North Face brand. She said that the company is relying on its popularity rather
than creating more desire for investment.

6. Strengths:
● Brand Insistence: because of the many features of
the product, many users insist on buying the North
Face brand backpacks
● Very durable, high quality materials, water
resistant
● Student-friendly, practical uses like laptop storage
but suited really well for outdoor use too
● Wide variety of styles and color options
● Back support makes this extremely popular among
women especially
● 50+ years of experience in the market
● Brand Promise: If backpack has a defect, they will
repair or replace it
Weaknesses:
● People don’t need to buy our product very often; a
long time will pass before a backpack usually needs
to be replaced
● Lack competitive strength with smaller items that
are cheaper from other brands
● The North Face is known for high prices, might get
a reputation for being not affordable for all house-
holds
● Marketing does not set the brand apart enough
● Social Stigma of only being for the well-off
Opportunities:
● Capitalize on the audience who buys the North
Face for the utility of the product: these people are
probably millenials who have a wide variety of uses
for the backpack
● Generate more content for the brand online, like
articles and short YouTube spots
● Capitalize on the features of the backpack be-
cause there are a lot that many other backpacks
don’t feature (laptop storage, water resistant fabrics,
back support, many compartments)
● Release more content pushing what The North
Face is doing with their environmentally friend-
ly chemicals and the 10+ organizations they are
part of that promote the same cause
Threats:
● High prices of both manufacturing and the product
itself
● Bigger brand names like Nike and Under Armor
are on the market with similar products
● We should anticipate that other brands will be
coming out with very similar product styles
● Environmentally-friendly chemicals are expensive
and the brand can’t use them 100% of the time
● The North Face has a specific customer base -
they’re primarily white, upper-middle class and ad-
venturous. This is too specific, and the brand is not
diverse enough.
COMPETETIVE ANALYSIS
The top competitors that North Face competes with are brands like Patagonia, Nike and Un-
der Armour. Patagonia has more built company culture that contains more useful benefits. Nike is
also very popular when it comes to their sportswear and sporting materials.
Young, adventurous consumers do a lot of their shopping the quick, easy way and shop on-
line. The brand should capitalize on using native advertising and creating online content to promote
new information, as that is what the North Face consumers respond to and engage with the most.
Short, exciting and moving spots will get the attention of experiencers.
Even though the brand North Face is already popular in the public eye and has a lot of brand
loyalty to the consumers, there are still some simple changes that can be done to make it sell more.
North Face could go further in depth, when advertising their product by displays and putting up
posters. When asking a salesperson what they think North Face should do to sell their products,
they agreed and said “there isn’t much advertising and marketing when it comes to this brand.”
Some other small changes that could be looked at, is lowering the price specifically for North Face
backpacks. North face should also release some lower-price items to show that they can be acco-
modating to consumers who might want the North Face brand but might not need the features of the
$100 backpacks.
SWOT

7. ADVERTISING OBJECTIVE
To increase awareness of the North Face’s environmentally-conscious efforts by 25% by the
end of 2015.
MARKETING OBJECTIVE
To increase sales by 10% overall in one year.
BRAND PROMISE
North face pushes the boundaries of innovation through its high quality products, which en-
able one to push one’s barriers of exploration.
BRAND PERSONALITY
The North Face can be described as adventurous and reliable.
THE OPPORTUNITY
To take advantage of the North Face’s opportunity to generate a campain that will increase
awareness of the sustainability and innovation going on at the company. The features of the back-
pack are for those who enjoy the outdoors, so the North Face has to show that they care about na-
ture, too. This is the biggest opportunity to create brand preference and take the North Face identity
to the next level.
TO THESE PEOPLE
The North Face appeals to adventurous and busy millennials who need trendy, high quality
and environmentally-friendly equipment in all of their endeavors. Users tend to purchase the back-
CREATIVE BRIEF

8. pack for its comfort, which in turn, allows them to progress through their days and explore. Younger
demographics like to make economically friendly purchases as well. Moreover, the younger demo-
graphics of consumers would be supporting socially responsible causes as a direct result of the
backpack’s association with the North Face while feeling the confidence of looking good (trendy)
and feeling good (comfortable).
Jane is a 22-year-old college student who loves to travel and vacation. She studies hard, so
she needs a backpack with good support and many compartments in it. She likes that the backpack
has two watter bottle holders for hiking and that she could choose a backpack with a bright color
that fits her personality.
OUR PROPOSITION
Users will be contributing not only to the sustainability of the environment by buying the North
Face products, but will also be adding adventure and style into their own personal lives.
THEY WILL BELIEVE IT BECAUSE
The North Face uses mainly environmentally-friendly chemicals and materials because they
care about the environment, while still maintaining a wide variety of safety features, styles and colors
in their high quality products.
TONALITY
Natural and adventurous
BIG UNIFYING IDEA
The unifying idea will be showing versatility in all of our messaging - we want diverse subjects
in our ads while also showing how versatile the product is. We will show men and women camping,
walking to class, packing for a trip, and using the backpack in many diverse situations that reflects
the brand image. We also want to incorporate the idea of sustainability, whether that be including a
seal at the end of a spot that signifies our certifications for being sustainable, or the narrative and
paragraphs in our messaging will discuss the innovation going on at the North Face. All around, the
imagery and music will be upbeat, fast-paced, and colorful to show the brand’s young and innova-
tive personality.
CAMPAIGN THEME
“Explore Responsibly”
This slogan goes really well with the idea of sustainability as being one of the North Face’s
priorities. It’s also a phrase that a lot of young people can relate to the similar “drink responsibly.”
Consumers will then connect the North Face as being both fun and responsible at the same time.
POSITIONING STATEMENT
To millennials, the North Face backpacks are the brand of high quality active gear that is the
trendiest and the most environmentally-conscious brand available, because the North Face offers a
wide range of colors, styles, and safety features while simultaneously innovating sustainable technol-
ogy. The brand personality is adventurous and young.

9. MEDIA OBJECTIVE
To reach 80% of millennials twice a week for four weeks.
MEDIA RATIONALE
This chart demonstrates the demographics
and media preferences of those who bought the
North Face backpacks in 2013. The chart, which
comes from MRI+ data, tells approximately how
likely it will be for a buyer of our product to be-
have a certain way - this is what the index number
will tell us. We looked mainly at index numbers to
make our media decisions, as there always a few
specific programs or magazines in each media
category that seemed to be extremely popular
with users of our product. For example, our chart
shows that users of the North Face backpacks
really like pro football, as the pro football index is
in the high 20s, but other cable tv programs have
indexes in the single digits. This chart tells us that
our customers see a lot of outdoor and Internet
ads, but are less likely to see most tv and maga-
zine ads. We had to closely choose which tv and
magazine spots would reach the highest number
of our target audience.
NATIONAL MEDIA

10. We chose to spend so much money on television ads because “combination of sight and sound
allows more complex messages to be delivered and remembered” (Parente, 225). TV spots are
short (ours are 30 seconds) and they have fairly high frequency. We were able to pinpoint, which
shows our consumers were the most likely to watch, and the high frequency of spots during those
programs will stick in consumers’ minds. Magazines stay around a long time and are very visually
appealing when bright colors and graphics are used – our campaign has a lot of both of those el-
ements to it. We also chose to spend quite a bit of money on billboards in both New York and Los
Angeles because they have “excellent reach potential” and allow us to pick and choose communi-
ties that have a very high population of athletic populations and student populations. They also allow
for bright imagery that is compatible with our other forms of media. Our internet ads will be effective
because we chose websites that our consumers very frequently visited, such as Amazon, Gmail, and
ESPN. Banner ads and web takeovers will also help to promote our social media accounts and the
contests, as consumers will already see the information online.
PAID MEDIA TACTICS SUMMARY
The following pie chart shows how we decided to split up our media budget. We put a pret-
ty big emphasis on media that we felt would be the most visual, since our brand has a lot of visual
information attached to it. With all of the imagery and bright colors that the campaign uses, we want-
ed to steer clear of media that wouldn’t leave a lasting impression (like radio). Social media was the
smallest portion of the budget, though we still spent almost a million dollars in this area.
Television: $3620,653.00
Magazines: $3561,600.00
Outdoor: $1,570,000.00
Social: $800,000.00
Internet: $6,300,000.00

11. PAID
Our paid media, as mentioned in the media rationale, was the most effective way that we
could justify with research to reach our consumers through traditional marketing. It will work togeth-
er with earned media because if our traditional media is successful, consumers and the media will
talk about the campaign and it will create buzz. If there’s buzz surrounding the campaign, people
will look up the North Face on social media sites to learn more about the contests, promotions, and
campaign. A lot of consumers will be encouraged this way to prefer the brand and our products be-
cause they’ll feel engaged by the company and the product.
EARNED
We expect to generate a lot of buzz with this campaign because our consumers will be ex-
tremely drawn to the contests and prizes that we will be giving away as the campaign takes place
over 4 weeks. The campaign will be timely news, which bloggers, news sites, and consumers will
begin to talk about. Our social media accounts hopefully draw a lot of attention from consumers and
engage them by encouraging them to contribute their own photos and experiences to the campaign.
Campaigns that can successfully engage consumers in a unique way will always catch the attention
of the media and earn unpaid endorsements or recommendations.
OWNED
Our owned media, such as Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook will constantly be
promoting the product, the brand, and the promotions at a relatively low cost and social media will
generate the most buzz. Social media is where most customers will probably be exposed to our
brand, as we know that college-aged consumers are constantly following and engaging with brands
via social media. Social media creates two-way dialogue between our brand and consumers and
creates brand preference and satisfaction when done well. Social media helps consumers realize
that there is a larger campaign happening – and it makes them want to be involved in the campaign
(Parente, 228). This is where we will also be promoting a lot of our promotional contests and other
PR strategies.
Because all consumers see so many ads on a daily basis, so we wanted a “message orient-
ed approach that uses tactics to enhance the campaign takeaway” (Parente, 243). Traditional media
tends to stick in the minds of consumers but doesn’t engage them in the way that contests and so-
cial media do. We wanted to have a good balance of both traditional and modern advertising in this
campaign because our target audience is young but still highly exposed to traditional media, espe-
cially print and outdoor advertising.
This campaign will engagae millennials and encourage them to splurge on The North Face
backpacks - a product that will make them more comfortable, trendy, and adventurous in their ev-
eryday lives. We will be promoting the North Face backpacks through a sweepstakes that customers
will win randomly by showing us their North Face products on social media and gaining points with
us. Every picture posted will earn points, as well as every purchase that a consumer makes. We will
randomly pick winners to win prizes over social media, such as paid backpacking trips, skydiving
excursions, and even free backpacks and percentage-off coupons. Running promotions like this
will not only encourage customers to get out there and use our products, but will also drastically
increase our social media presence while using our fun campaign to do so. TV spots will set the tone
of the contests and promotion as fun, upbeat, and an exciting chance to win some free stuff (college
kids love this). Our paid media will take full advantage of all opportunities we have to be promoting

12. our product visually and engaging the audience, and we will be continuously tracking the campaign
and updating our own site with new information about the campaign.
For example, a customer might see one of our billboards in Los Angeles where she lives, and
it catches her eye (paid media). She looks us up on Instagram and sees that we’ve been posting in-
formation and photos encouraging customers to buy our products and send us their photos in order
to win a backpacking trip in Europe with a friend! She’s really excited and wants to enter the contest
(promotion), so she buys a new backpack online in order to enter into the contest. At the end of the
contest, we randomly pick a customer who is eligible, and she wins the trip! We can then write our
own content (owned media) about her trip, which generates buzz by word of mouth and increases
the popularity of our campaign and encourages others to enter into more of our contests and earn
more points (earned media).
TACTICS EVALUATION
METHODS
MEDIA OBJECTIVE
To reach 80% of millennials eight
times over a period of four weeks
(twice a week).
� Instagram
� ESPN takeover
� Our website
� Likes/shares
� Banner Ad clicks
� Views
ADVERTISING
OBJECTIVE
Increase awareness of the North
Face’s environmentally-conscious
efforts by 25% by the end of 2015.
� Billboards - NYC and LA
� Commercials
� YouTube spots
� Measure traffic
� Reaction testing
� Track views
MARKETING
OBJECTIVE
Increase sales by 10% in one year.
� USA Today Ads
� Blog
� People Magazine Ad
� Recall tests
� Track visits to site
� Focus groups
WORKS CITED
“Brand Analysis: The North Face.” Brand Analysis: The North Face. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2015 http://www.
slideshare.net/gracecheung/brand-analysis-the-north-face.
“The North Face.” The North Face, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
Works Cited:
Parente, Donald. Advertising Campaign Strategy: A Guide to Marketing Communication Plans. Mason, OH:
Thomson/South-Western, 2006. Print.
EVALUATION METHODS