IMC 4550 Lab 3 – The North Face – Blake Reed

With the North Face being such a large competitor in the market of outerwear products

the company needs to consistently build to the positive brand image. This is why advertising is

so important in its’ use to communicate with potential customers. They do this through

advertising functions of Informing, Influencing, Reminding and increasing Salience, Adding

Value, and Assisting Other Company Efforts.

Informing efforts for North Face focus on providing exposure for the company to help

customers learn about the vast line of products the brand has to offer. In the Informing effort

there should also be an emphasis in the idea of usage expansion. Usage expansion helps break

the brand out for other needs that may have not been the original purpose of the brands products.

This is extremely valuable because it does not require the creation of new products but instead

customers adopting products for other uses, this is important for The North Face because so

many of their products are designed to meet a certain function, but the product can work for

different people with similar needs. For example, the company produces hyvent jackets that were

designed to be an outer shell for winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding (this is apparent

by the addition of a “powder skirt” something only found in ski coats) but the jacket is still

comfortable, of good quality and usable for any cold weather situation on or off the mountain.

Because the company designs and makes these products for certain activities it’s important to

remind customers of the many uses their product can provide outside of its’ original design intent

more so than competitors that make more general outerwear advertised for multi-use.

Influencing, for The North Face Influencing customers and creating a high-quality brand

image is very important. In a way the company shows customers why their product is of the

highest qualities by using adventurous ad messages and images. By showing that their products
have been to the most remote and challenging places on earth they build trust that they can tackle

the simple day to day of keeping you warm in winter as you walk to your car. Projecting quality

and status is an important objective of this influence the idea that their products cost more for a

reason is how they keep a loyal customer base. Even though they specialize on featuring the

fringe extreme sports of the world not everyone is about to climb mt. Everest but the idea is if

you could in that jacket then surely it could meet whatever normal need you may have.

Reminding and increasing Salience is achieved through strategic advertising and is

important to stay relevant year-round since sales spike during times of outdoor demand. During

the third month of lock downs with people looking to escape to the outdoors the company

experience a surge in sales (Garcia). To increase Salience is to keep your brand in the mind of

consumers of possible options for their product need. More exposure to potential customers

increases the chance your brand will come to mind when they make their choice. While keeping

the brand in mind is important also reminding customers of the brands value and signaling the

quality of product they produce. Because of the higher cost a lot of their products carry it’s

important to signal to customers the higher quality product those extra dollars get them. Many of

the reminder ques they currently put out are pictures of people in their products in the most

remote rough looking conditions on earth signaling that if this coat can make those conditions

barrable then it must be a solid product.

Adding Value, like many clothing brands adding styles for each season is an important

part of innovation for their business. However as much as the style is important North Face

products are bought also in part for their functional innovations made with each new fabric

creation and design innovation. Demonstrating these new innovations and new materials for
increased function is very important to keep the brand relevant. With new material innovations

and changing design it’s important to show the customer the brand striving for improvement.

Assisting other Company efforts, all things combined and with the general exposure the

company gets affects all parts of the business model. Everything that takes place with advertising

helps out each part of the company. For example, it would be much more difficult for the

company to order massive amounts of material on credit if the supplier hadn’t heard of the

business, having strong and positive brand recognition helps the company preform more freely

because of the good brand equity built up. For the company to operate freely the better the

reputation the more credit and acceptance they will have in all aspects of operating.

Advertising is said to be a “deposit in the brand equity bank”, but only if the advertising

is “strong”. A deposit to the brand equity bank refers to the built-up positive brand reputation

that can help in many ways from salience with customers to becoming the first choice of

customers just on the brand alone. However, a deposit can only be made to the equity bank if the

advertising is strong otherwise it is just a withdrawal. Strong advertising will help build the

brand this can be clearly seen in many simple products like toothpaste, why does Colgate sell

well? There is no outstanding major advantage to the toothpaste but instead people are buying

what they know even if it comes at a premium price over a nearly copy product. This is because

they have strong brand equity and a loyal customer base. The more that advertising builds the

brand equity the more customers that will by on strong brand equity over a nearly identical

product. This would give The North Face a competitive advantage over the many competitors in

the outerwear market.

 (Effective)

Effective ad points to the features and benefits of the brands vast products styles, features and
benefits these products can bring to a consumer.

(Creative)

This creative ad inspires feelings and emotions, the climber in this dangerous spot (with no
climbing harnesses) inspires the feeling of danger and adventure. With this man willing to climb
a vertical face with nothing attached to him there must be some serious trust in his climbing
shoes. While this is never directly pointed out the feelings and thoughts that come to mind help
boost brand equity.