How The North Face boosted growth by resetting its strategy and brand

The North Face had enjoyed ample growth, seeing its revenue increase about 10-fold in 10 years. But by 2018, the brand’s growth numbers in EMEA had started to slow down, the outdoor market was not really growing as a whole and competition was on the rise, from both other high-end brands (Patagonia, Arc’teryx) as well as value players such as Decathlon.

It was clear: The North Face needed to come up with another approach that would catapult it into the next growth phase.

The North Face started by recognizing the need for a complete strategic overhaul. It also took a year off: the brand downsized its ambitions for one year (and one year only!) in order to get ready for the next phase of hyper growth. This meant aligned with the executive team, board members and wider investor community.

First, the North Face went back to basics. A thorough review of the current state of its business, how it came to be successful in the first place, and the core strengths of the brand and the company that it wanted to build on for the future. A continued focus on exploration and innovation had been at the root of its success for the previous 50 years, and should form the basis for the next 50 years.

Then, we went to work on what those next 50 years should look like. We defined the goals and ambitions for The North Face, both financial and non-financial. Identified opportunities and threats. And developed the key strategic questions to be answered and the where to play and how to win choices to be made.

Once the direction was clear, the work really got started. The entire team was involved in bringing the strategy to life. Through a series of presentations, interactive workshops, and team goal setting days, the North Face’s strategy was cascaded throughout the organization. At the end of this exercise, every team members goals were aligned to the overall strategic framework. Every team member’s role was clear. And furthermore, the right organizational structure, capabilities and funding were being put in place to ensure in-market success.

But this did not stop with headquarter staff. Also external stakeholders and local teams were involved. The North Face’s management team went on a roadshow and introduced the new approach to board members, investors and key customers. In addition, the executive team travelled to over a dozen local offices to involve the teams on the ground.

Almost single-handedly, The North Face injected new energy into the outdoor category. By focusing on younger consumers in brand and marketing, restyling its products, telling inspiring stories and developing new go-to-market channels, the brand was able to connect with new audiences and re-energize the entire market. Hiking was becoming cool again. And that was one of the goals.

Based on the credibility of the brand in exploration and high-end outdoor, as well as a focus on innovation and design, The North Face was able to extend into new segments such as mountain lifestyle and urban and streetwear. We worked to specifically identify targeted strategies for new markets, including branding, product design, go-to-market approach, consumer experience and engagement tailored to the specific segments.

The North Face realized that the market was changing and that its go to market approach needed updating. From an almost fully wholesale-led model, the company transformed into a consumer-centric, digital first approach. The North Face identified key retail partners to win with in various segments, both in traditional retail as well as online. Next to this, the brand accelerated the development of owned channels, such as brick and mortar and e-commerce platforms, and scaled monobrand store concepts with third parties. Also, lifestyle partnerships such as with Supreme helped to propel The North Face into the future.

Beneath the go-to-market activities lay a solid segmentation and differentiation model, ensuring that various channels did not compete with each other, but worked together to create maximum impact and omnichannel experiences.