The North Face Social Media Strategy
Social media is a rising phenomenon. The term social media defines Web content created by individuals intended to spark further conversation and communication.
The North Face needs to participate in social media to re-capture loyal customers and bring back the essence of the brand. The motto of the brand is “Never stop exploring.” The North Face, through social media, would live up to that motto by exploring another way to interact and communicate with the public about the spirit of The North Face.
The North Face would benefit from listening to what others are saying about the brand and being able to respond directly. This brand centers on performance, enthusiasm and innovation. Social media would be a great way for The North Face to present these ideals to the public and continue to build a strong relationship with target audiences based on open communication.
Social media is a great way to engage in dialogue with your publics. Social media provides a forum in which people share interests and spread information. By participating in this Web-based world, The North Face would be able to engage in communication to connect with loyal customers and inspire lovers of the brand to become loyal customers.
By participating in social media, The North Face would be able to develop a personal relationship with adventure enthusiasts and show why The North Face is the superior outdoor, adventure brand. Social media can be productive environments for the company to find passionate advocates for issues, ideas, products or services related to The North Face.
Social media are quick, easy ways to get your information circulating through the public. Social media, such as blogs or social networking pages, are easy to update and publish allowing information to reach the public in a short amount of time. Because social media are updated so quickly and often, they are a great way to get your information noticed in search engines. Social media pages often show up at the top of search pages. The North Face would benefit from having its page show up first for searches related to the outdoors and adventure because more readers would be reminded of the brand.
Social media offer word-of-mouth identification. The North Face would benefit from participating in social media, where people share interests and spread information related to those interests. Brand recognition depends upon consumers’ points of view, and the social media sphere is a great place to build a superior reputation.
Social media would predominately aim to encourage aware publics to become loyal supporters of The North Face brand. Many young, 15- to 30-year-old adventure enthusiasts have previous knowledge of the brand and think it is “cool” but need to be motivated to become faithful supporters. One of the main constraints for aware publics is the cost of the brand. Social media would inspire those who are aware of The North Face’s appeal to buy this paramount brand. Social media would give these publics a resource where they can find many reasons why The North Face is worth the money and should be their brand of choice.
The North Face should target aware publics, generally 15- to 30-year-old males and females who enjoy the outdoors, thrive on competition and crave adventure. The target audience for social media would be athletes, explorers and outdoor adventurers. Others would be able to enjoy the media as well. Social media would also make the brand appealing to those who desire it for fashion, comfort and warmth.
Social media would also apply to aware publics, those who know about The North Face brand. Social media would provide a strong connection between aware publics (e.g. skiers, snowboarders, mountain climbers, campers) who already wear and use The North Face apparel. A personal connection between the company and its supporters would inspire them to keep supporting the brand and inspire others to share that support.
Objective
The North Face should participate in social media to inspire consumers to become loyal to the brand, as well as to improve the connection between the company and devoted consumers.
Strategy
Objective #1
To develop and manage a blog, which would provide a more personal connection with consumers and serve as a way to connect people in one place where they can learn, share ideas and increase awareness of The North Face brand among the blogging community.
A blog is an easily created web page that allows a user to add information on any topic at any time. Each new entry is called a “post.” Blog posts can feature many items, from links to other blogs and news stories to images, photos, videos, and audio clips. One great feature of a blog is the ability for subscribers to comment on each entry. Blogging offers a social world where anyone can participate in conversation. This is a phenomenon that is quickly gaining popularity; 17-27 percent of Internet users claim they read blogs daily, according to Edelman’s “Trust Media” article.
Active Listening: The North Face Company should utilize an aggregator tool to monitor the blogosphere. An aggregator is a tool that automatically gathers RSS-based summaries of a set of user-selected blogs for easy browsing. Google Reader is a great example of an aggregator tool. The software is free and it is an easy way to monitor the blogosphere.
Outreach: The North Face should actively participate in the blogosphere prior to launching a blog of its own. Adventure Journey is a great example of a blog that would supplement a North Face site. By participating (reading, commenting) on this blog you can develop a relationship with another blogger. Relationship building is key to the blogosphere. After participating in the blogosphere, at sites such as Adventure Journey, The Adventurist and The Mountain World Blog, The North Face can begin to pitch its blog to other bloggers. Other bloggers can then reference The North Face blog or provide links to it on their sites, which would increase readership.
Engagement: The North Face blog, titled “Never Stop Exploring,” would inspire adventurers, or encourage inspiring adventurers, to explore the great outdoors and to use The North Face brand for outdoor apparel. The theme of the blog would be “Never Stop Exploring.” The blog’s topics would be about athletics, such as mountain biking, snowboarding, skiing, and outdoor activities, such as camping, hiking, mountain climbing, and the gear to get you through all of it. The writers of the blog should be various people involved with The North Face brand. Sponsored athletes, PR managers, and employees should all participate in the blog to vary the content and appeal to the masses. The blog should be updated as often as possible, weekly would be best.
Negative buzz surrounding The North Face brand should be addressed in the blog as well. A blog would provide an area for crisis management. Communication directly with consumers via the blog would allow the company to apologize, explain reasons for any negative press, empathize with consumers and explicitly describe how the company would fix the issue at hand. This would allow customers to feel a stronger connection with the company and build trust in the brand.
Objective #2
To create and manage a MySpace account where The North Face can communicate with the young part of the target audience (15- to 22-year-olds.) The MySpace account would allow for greater means of communication between publics and The North Face.
MySpace is a social networking Web site where users can add “friends” to share photos, interests, commentary and much more within a network. A MySpace account is easy to create, decorate and update. The page would feature pictures, videos, quotes and comments. “Friends” of the user can leave comments on the page, responding to the page content or the user itself. By having a MySpace page, The North Face opens communication to a wide variety of people; the Web site is largely popular and continues to grow, with over 100 million accounts.
Active Listening: To monitor the MySpace account an individual needs to log in to the account and check for friend requests, messages, comments, posts and number of views for the page. Visiting other MySpace accounts related to outdoor activities, athletics, snowboarding, and skiing would give The North Face a good idea of what is going on in the MySpace network. Adding friends, such as North Face sponsored athletes, would boost the desirability of the page.
Outreach: The North Face should add friends and develop a solid network in the MySpace community. Credible friends, such as professional athletes sponsored by The North Face would add appeal to The North Face page. Adding videos, pictures and other visually enticing images would appeal to the public and entice people to add The North Face as a “friend.”
Engagement: The MySpace page should be updated and monitored often. A North Face-sponsored athlete would be a great person to have updating the page. An employee with extensive brand knowledge would also be a good person to update the site regularly. The topic of the MySpace page would be much like the concept of the blog. “Never Stop Exploring” would be the theme. Inspirational videos (such as the ones featured on The North Face Web site), songs, photographs, and posts related to outdoors activities would enhance the theme.
Tactics
Objective #1
To develop and manage a blog, which would provide a more personal connection with consumers and serve as a way to connect people in one place where they can learn, share ideas and increase awareness of The North Face brand among the blogging community.
The North Face would set up a blog using www.wordpress.com.
To set up the blog, a user name and profile must be created. The user name would be “The North Face,” and the blog would be titled “Never Stop Exploring.”
Once the blog is set up, it would be important to pick a theme for the page that matches the topic. A two-column layout that features a dark background, possibly with bright colors and room for pictures would be easy to read and pleasing to the eyes of readers.
After the blog is created, it would be important to post an initial entry right away. The initial entry would explain why the company is blogging, what the blog would be about and a little bit about the company.
Use the Blogroll feature of Wordpress to provide links to other blogs, such as The Mountain World Blog, and links to other relevant websites, such as The North Face main Web page. Also, use the “About Me” section to provide information about The North Face brand and company.
The blog would be updated weekly. It is important to stay active with the blog to assure readers that it is credible and reliable. This would also keep positive buzz about the brand circulating. One new entry would be posted each week, as well as at least one new comment on another blog to stay active in the blogosphere.
Each blog post should contain information related to the brand. The information should vary each week but consistently promote The North Face brand, without sounding like an advertisement. The posts should contain newsworthy information (to catch readers’ attention.) When events come up, such as The North Face Endurance Challenge, the blog would be a place to discuss the event, promote it, answer questions and provide updated information as the event nears.
Each blog post should contain a picture, video or visual image. Pictures would enhance the look of the page and make posts enjoyable for readers.
It would be important to read, edit and respond to all comments left on The North Face blog site. Reading comments is important because if there were any negative information that is not constructive criticism, spam, or advertisements, it would need to be edited. It is important to respond to comments to enhance our relationship with other bloggers.
The North Face should develop a set of comment policies to inform readers of the type of comments allowed on The North Face blog.
Todd Defren’s blog PR-Squared, features a good blog comment policy.
The North Face should adapt a similar comment policy to be applied to the blog.
Example Comment Policy
The content of this blog represents the opinions of The North Face Company.
By commenting at Never Stop Exploring, you are granting its owner license to the content of your comment and acknowledge that the authors do not have a duty to modify or withdraw posts but that we may do so if we choose, for any reason.
Never Stop Exploring strives to maintain an atmosphere of free and open conversation. “Constructive criticism” would be accepted, however, personal attacks would not. We reserve the right to delete comments we find offensive.
If a commenter repeatedly abuses this comment policy, none of their comments would be published in the future, regardless of the content.
Anonymous comments or comments made under an assumed name would not be posted. Comments that include “spam” or shameless advertising would not be posted.
Objective #2
To create and manage a MySpace account where The North Face can communicate with the younger group of the target audience (15- to 22-year-olds.) The MySpace account would allow for greater means of communication between publics and The North Face.
The North Face would create an account on the popular networking website www.myspace.com.
We would create a username, such as The North Face, and design a page. The layout of the page would be consistent with the blog theme: a dark background with bright colored lettering.
It would be important to add videos, music, pictures and quotes, and fill in the “About Me” and “Interests” section of the page. Inspirational skiing and snowboarding videos from The North Face Web site would be uploaded to the MySpace page. A song would be added to the profile that would play every time someone views the page. Photographs of camping, mountain biking, skiing, and mountain climbing would be posted directly on the page as well as in the “My Photos” section. The “About Me” section should include information about The North Face Company and brand. A history of the company and how the brand name developed would be provided.
The North Face would add friends to the page to develop a connection in the MySpace network. The North Face would add professional athletes sponsored by The North Face and other outdoor gear companies, such as Columbia Sportswear. The more friends The North Face has, the more connections would be made throughout the network.
Then, someone would be responsible for accepting friend requests from others, answering messages and replying to comments on the page. Not all comments or messages would be required to be answered. Messages and comments with substance, questions and quality would be answered.
It is not as important to update the MySpace page content as often as the blog. It would be important to log in weekly to check for messages, comments, and friend requests.
As new products become available and news about The North Face brand surfaces, updates would be placed on the MySpace page.
The MySpace page would also feature information about The North Face sponsored athletes and events, such as The North Face Endurance Challenge. The page would be a place to promote these athletes and events and encourage discourse through the network around these topics.
Evaluation
The best way to evaluate the success of the social media plan would be to conduct a survey placed on The North Face website, www.thenorthface.com. The Web site would inform viewers of the blog and MySpace pages and encourage them to participate in the social media. Readers would fill out the survey on The North Face’s Web site, which would include questions related to their awareness of the brand and loyalty to the brand. The survey would encourage readers to participate in the blog and MySpace networks for a few months, and then the survey would be conducted again on The North Face Web site. The survey would also appear on the MySpace and blog pages.
To evaluate the success of the blog, it would also be important to utilize tools, such as Google Alerts and Technorati. Google Alerts offers e-mail updates of all relevant information based on the chosen topic. Google Alerts would provide content analysis and show the company what is being said about it in the blogosphere. Technorati is another application that would let the company know who is saying what about the blog at any moment. These tools would allow The North Face to monitor the blogosphere and determine the blog’s effectiveness through its reach.
Appendices
The North Face should monitor and participate in the blogosphere prior to creating a blog. By participating in the blogosphere, The North Face would be able to determine what other people with similar interests are blogging about. This would enable The North Face to create a blog that fulfills readers’ wants and needs.
10 Blogs to Watch
Adventure Journey. This blog is a guidebook for extreme vacationers. It provides posts, videos, pictures and podcasts related to outdoor activities and adventure. Adventure Journey has an impressive layout and offers many of the same features The North Face blog should. It would be a great blog to have on the blogroll on our page. www.adventurejourney.net
The Adventurist. Jason A. Hendricks writes this blog. It features posts about outdoor activities, adventures and excursions that would offer a personal experience of many of the things mentioned on The North Face blog. www.thehendricksreport.wordpress.com.
The Mountain World Blog. Dougald MacDonald, a writer and editor based in Colorado specializing in outdoor activities, writes the blog. This blog offers inspiration for outdoor enthusiasts, as well as interesting stories about his participation in outdoor activities. The page also offers good visual images. themountainworld.blogspot.com.
Outdoor Source Magazine Blog. This blog offers information on activities to do outdoors and the best places to do them. The Outdoor Source Magazine writes this blog. This is a professional blog that would offer a balance between personal experiences and professional experiences. www.outdoorsourcemag.com/wordpress.
Wild Snow. This blog is called “Lou Dawson’s Backcountry Skiing Blog.” It provides interesting information about backcountry skiing. Lou Dawson writes this blog. It is credible, the author has been writing about backcountry skiing since 1977. The blog is witty and funny. It offers great videos and photographs of skiing. It would be a great supplement to The North Face page because skiers would be interested in the stories. It also has a lot of comments, showing it is read often. www.wildsnow.com
Splitter Choss. This blog provides news, trip reports and information about climbing the mountains in Colorado. This page has a lot of pictures and the text isn’t too long. It offers a lot of links to other mountain websites and blogs. www.splitterchoss.com/blog.
Titanium Challenge II: What Makes You Strong? This blog site is put on by the Columbia Sportswear Company. It features the Titanium Challenge contest: details, rules, and entries. This website would be helpful too look at to gauge what The North Face blog would look like. This company is a competitor. We don’t want to copy what they have done but it would give a good idea for what can be done. http://titaniumchallenge.columbia.com.
Matt Hart’s Blog: Tales of Endurance. This blog, written by Matt Hart, offers tips and coaching techniques, with many tales of endurance. Many customers would be interested to read about inspirational tales of endurance and get motivated to participate in The North Face Endurance Challenge. coachingendurance.com/blog.
Extreme Performance Gear and Training Blog: This blog, created by Stephen McCarthy, provides gear tips and training tools for athletes and outdoor enthusiasts. The North Face brand’s target publics are athletes and outdoor enthusiasts so they would be interested to check out this blog. http://gearandtraining.blogspot.com/.
Extreme Sport Challenge. This blog, by Extreme Sport Fantastic, offers information about parasailing, grand prix, mountain biking, rafting, rock climbing, skiing, and mostly snowboarding. http://extremesportchallenge.blogspot.com.
To build trust and credibility in the eyes of readers, The North Face should develop a code of ethics for the blog. Integrity is the basis for credibility. By adopting a code of principles and standards of practice, The North Face would not only practice ethical publishing, we would also convey to readers that we could be trusted.
Blogging Code of Ethics:
We take full responsibility for our written word and the comments we allow on our blog.
We encourage open conversation. Constructive criticism is welcome, personal attacks are not. Comments are monitored and The North Face reserves the right to edit them before they are posted.
We will be honest and fair. All posts will consist of truthful and reliable information.
We will consider public’s feelings. The North Face in no way intends to cause harm. We will show compassion to other bloggers and readers and will give respect to all.
We will be accountable. We will hold ourselves to the same high standards to which we hold others.
We will be transparent about all issues, negative buzz or mistakes that occur within the blog. These issues will be corrected promptly and The North Face will take full responsibility for mitigating the situation.