Never Stop Exploring: Why The North Face Needs Social Media

Every once in awhile a brand comes along that becomes so trendy, so popular, that it skyrockets, even beyond it’s intended target audience. Case in point: The North Face. So if The North Face has such popularity and trendiness among various groups of people, they are doing everything right, right?

Wrong. With increased popularity and trendiness came increased counterfeit production of The North Face look-a-likes. Originally, The North Face was a brand connected with high-performance mountain gear, climbing apparel, as well as biking, camping and skiing gear. Then, high-school and college-aged students began to grasp the trendiness of The North Face apparel when it began showing up in music videos, appearing in high-end retail stores and hitting the “main stream.”

This all sounds well and good for The North Face; until the website thenorthfaceguru.com came along and began producing counterfeit North Face items for a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately for The North Face, the logo is easy to replicate and their gear, however popular and trendy, is rather plain in it’s craftsmanship so replicates are easy to make.

Ok, so how does social media factor in to this crisis? Well, just for that purpose: crisis management. The North Face is a brand built around performance, enthusiasm and innovation. Nowhere in The North Face mission statement does it say “will settle for anything less than the best.” The North Face is an innovative brand. Their motto is: “Never stop exploring.” The owners have done just that and taken many brand-building risks and created many initiatives centered around “The North Face ideals.” This has included innovative in-store kiosks and an online magazine, Epic. These innovations are reaching The North Face’s active publics, but what about the aware publics who know they want to support the true North Face brand but don’t know how to go about doing so?

That is where social media comes in to play. From my own, personal standpoint, The North Face should play off of their online magazine, Epic, and start a blog. The information from both can supplement each other. The blog could be featured on the Epic website or even on the official North Face website. I also recommend connecting this blog with The North Face’s involvement in sporting events, such as The North Face Endurance Challenge Series.

Another great way for The North Face to connect with their target publics, as well as increase customer loyalty to the brand, would be to create a MySpace account. The account could feature what The North Face brand truly means and why it is so important to “never stop exploring.” The North Face website features some awesome inspirational videos of extreme skiers and snowboarders. Feature these on a MySpace page and the conversation about why The North Face is “so cool” pretty much starts itself. Come on North Face, live up to your motto and “never stop exploring.” There are really a lot of ways out there for The North Face to embrace social media, which I think should happen sooner rather than later; they just need to explore them.

Images from paragonsports.com