Backcountry.com

A fully integrated campaign for the second largest outdoor retailer in the world.

In partnership with The Locals Project, I designed and produced a fully integrated campaign for Backcountry.com . My role in the project involved everything from pitching, concepting, production management, social media development, web design all the way to the launch and implementation of the final campaign. I worked closely alongside both teams to ensure that the experience was aligned with the intended audience and that the content was released during the proper intervals with the fall / winter clothing line. Our campaign featured a total of four distinct characters across a variety of locations around the United States. Each story tactfully introduced a new set of products while remaining true to brand’s commitment towards authenticity.

The Design Challenge

Backcountry.com is the second largest outdoor retailer in the world. Their online business distributes over 1,000 independently-owned brands to outdoor lovers and action sports enthusiasts alike. In 2014, Backcountry.com introduced their own lifestyle clothing brand, Basin and Range, to be sold exclusively on their site. Upon the release of the brand, customers struggled to identify with Basin and Range. Without a true brand story, consumers were confused as to where their products came from and who they were intended for. When Backcountry.com approached us, they asked our team to create a fully-integrated digital campaign to help build awareness around the brand and ultimately close the gap on its competitors

The Solution

Mainstream advertising tells us to focus on the products. We took a different approach by diving head first into the stories of interesting people who are using Basin and Range products. Through a series of real-life stories, we aimed to create a unique lifestyle image that Basin and Range consumers could identify with. We then crafted a dynamic storytelling experience combining videos, photos, and written content into a series of landing pages that would be displayed on Backcountry.com. On each page, users were given the opportunity to interact with the multi-media stories and were encouraged to purchase the products seen in the stories. Additionally, we created a custom brand page to serve as hub for the campaign, housing each of the stories while pushing newly-released products to build legitimacy around the brand. Alongside the web experience, we released a series of email newsletters that served as a teaser to the larger campaign all the while promoting products from the fall / winter line.