I served as Global CMO of The North Face from 2016-2019 and led a team that rediscover our brand’s purpose and re-energized the business.
She Moves Mountains
In 2017, I identified an opportunity for the brand to connect more deeply with our female consumer. Although she was our best customer, we almost never spoke to her and were losing a ton of business with her. Furthermore, the outdoor industry suffered from a male-dominated mindset. We had a huge opportunity to recruit a new generation of explorers—a generation of girls and women— but we had to walk the walk. We did this by highlighting the amazing female role models in The North Face community, by partnering with The Girl Scouts to create a new outdoor curriculum and by starting a movement internally to promote and reward women in the organization.
Walls Are Meant for Climbing
With all of the discussion of the role of walls in culture, we had something to say. The North Face had, in fact, been climbing walls for over 50 year. Heck, even the logo is based on Half Dome, one of the world’s most famous walls.
We took our belief that walls could unite people, create community and challenge the human spirit to overcome obstacles and we put it into action.
This campaign broke through.
Imagination
Imagination was our ode to youth and the dreams that we all had growing up. As a brand that inspires exploration, The North Face brought this story to the world featuring our TNF athlete Tom Wallisch in an ode to a classic ski film by JP Auclair.
FutureLight
Creating the new industry standard with crazy high performance and crazy low environmental impact. In 2019 we decided to challenge the industry standard (Gore-Tex) and created a new material from the ground up. We launched with a partnership with BMW on a futuristic camper, and then followed up with a product marketing campaign that told the story of FutureLight and sent the product to do things that humans had never done before. This launch was a game-changer for The North Face and the industry.
This is the camper we created with BMW DesignLab to build buzz in FutureLight. It won best in show at CES even though we weren’t officially showing there.
We tested FutureLight in the most extreme conditions on the world’s best outdoor athletes. This is the story of how FutureLight enabled two badasses to climb and ski down Lhotse.
We tested FutureLight in the most extreme conditions on the world’s best outdoor athletes. This is the story of how FutureLight enabled two badasses to climb and ski down Lhotse.
Even though FutureLight is the world’s most technically advanced material, it was essential that it was also the most environmentally friendly. This created a huge challenge for the organization, but it was worth all the trouble.
Store Design
In Spring of 2019, we reimagined what The North Face retail experience could be and launched a new flagship design. This store balanced deep brand storytelling, amazing product presentation and had elements of consumer surprise and delight.
It launched in NYC and quickly rolled out globally.
Music Collaborations
I love music. It is an amazing way for humans to connect, share stories and find common ground. Here are a few examples of how I have used the power of music to create movements.
Princess Nokia for North Face. Read more.
Pi’erre Bourne for North Face. Read more.
We sponsored the release of Maggie Rogers’ “Split Stones.” Read more.
We partnered with Texas-based band White Denim for the launch of our Apex Flex GTX. Read more.
