The North Face outdoor-gear brand, needed to stand out in stores that house thousands of competitive products and thus had no space for ‘large’ advertising displays. Posters and installations were out of the question. So we needed to find an alternative way to promote the brand.

We used the only store space available: the product racks and shelves. Then packaged ordinary elements of nature (rocks, sticks and leaves) to look like retail products. On the front of the pack we listed all the different products these nature elements can be used as, to survive in the wild. At the back, we revealed our brand and message: Survive outdoors. The North Face.

Store patrons were instantly drawn to the merchandise. Some even wanted to buy them! Outdoor Essentials was such a hit that we had to refill the racks every day for the course of three months. Better yet, purchase of The North Face products increased by 15% month-on-month. Not bad for a campaign built on rocks, twigs and leaves.