The North Face’s history as a pioneer in the outdoor category stretches all the way back to the 60s. After a long legacy of conquering the mountain tops, The North Face (TNF) has built an undeniable street cred along the way through collaborations with brands such as Supreme and Gucci. Doubling up on audiences, TNF faces a challenge to please both, and the more consideration TNF gains as a streetwear brand, the more they risk being overlooked as what they truly are – a pioneer among outdoor brands.

As the outdoor category rapidly continues to grow, the main objective with the campaign was to increase awareness and consideration for TNF as the leading outdoor brand they are, by breathing new life into the brand’s iconic concept “Never Stop Exploring” in a way that relates to both streetwear junkies and extreme explorers.

The anthem film “We Always Have Your Back” shows the brand's connection between pop-culture and extreme outdoors sports in an epic visual journey from city street level to the top of an impressive mountain peak. The film is narrated by Alex Honnold, legendary climber and subject of the Oscar-winning documentary, Free Solo, and also a “The North Face” athlete. Led by Alex’s voice, the camera takes us on a continuous super zoom, traveling seamlessly from the city to the mountain without any interruption. Throughout the journey, we witness different types of people exploring in “The North Face” gear. At the peak of the mountain we zoom in on extreme climber Caroline Ciavaldinian making her way up the face of the top, as the shot zooms in on “The North Face” logo on the back of her jacket, reinforcing the campaign line, “We always have your back”.

The campaign has delivered a total of 634 million impressions so far, with activity live across TV, BVOD, social and digital. The film is currently on the path to outperform the brand’s best campaign to date with an outstanding View Through Rate of 44% (+25% vs. today’s best performing campaign). The campaign has generated overwhelmingly positive feedback across all media and channels. 98% of people’s comments were positive with adjectives including “epic”, “phenomenal”, “incredible” often being mentioned. Moreover, 25+ press articles to date have mentioned the campaign in positive terms, highlighting the brand’s triumphant return from the streets to the mountains.