North Face is well known for its quality outdoor recreation products for its consumers. Although North Face has other competitors, it still maintains its clientele making it one of the top brands in its field for outdoor recreation apparel and gear. I am a big fan of North Face and their products and have been for some time now as I enjoy the outdoors and I find their products to be of great quality and long lasting for my lifestyle. Not only is it a well known clothing brand, but many athletes and adventure seekers are sponsored by North Face. Their value proposition is to provide the best gear for their athletes and the modern day explorer, support the preservation of the outdoors and inspire a global movement of exploration.
North Face started the Renewed Collection in 2018 to create new clothes and styles out of old/damaged/returned products. This allowed them to showcase their efforts for a more sustainable company. It is the same quality and everything but made to benefit of the environment instead of having their products end up in a landfill. They want to work on creating their products in a circular model where their products can be recycled and worn like new all over again.
As seen below from reviews/posts from North Face consumers, it is evident that people are appreciative of the products they create, even if it was used before. This customer got the thermoball jacket that was created with their renewed collection. It is obvious they are enjoying their product in a cold environment, which is what the jacket is made for.
Although, not every customer was happy about their product. The review below comments on how their product was not what they asked for nor expected from North Face. Their faulty design and lack of customer service was an apparent issue with this client. Both of those things should be important to a company and perhaps this is where North Face is lacking.
However, in the review below they specifically comment on the quality of this backpack. They also comment on how the product is "just like new" even coming from the renewed collection. There are products, and people, who are completely satisfied with what they are looking for from North Face.
It is apparent that North Face is open to not only creating great products for an outdoor lifestyle but to also promote their efforts in sustainability. Combined, those are great qualities for a company to have when they want to reach a certain audience. Their marketing efforts are also helping them promote their brand and new collection. Whenever a company pushes for a more sustainable environment, it is seen as a positive image for their business.
This
article indicates the good moves that North Face is making with their initiative. It talks about how it is important that they are trying to prolong the life of their products by turning them into new items at a discounted price. They also want to make it easier for their customers to return their clothes for this collection, and it doesn't even have to be a North Face brand. They want to be able to make anything that is old and turn it into new! Although there are a number of companies on this trend already, Patagonia uses recycled materials to create their products, it is surely a step in the right direction. All in all, it is a great marketing and brand imaging tool for North Face.
For example, in "Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook", he talks about things being leveraged by pop culture. I think that North Face is showing their consumers that they are "in" with being sustainable and wanting to take the initiative in being more environmentally friendly. North Face is already a company where most of their customers are into the environment and the outdoors, so being able to create a collection that shows they want to improve that is a great marketing tool for them.
I think North Face has responded well to customers, but obviously can improve. Their customer service seems to be hurting them the most when they are not there and available for their customers who need it. In other ways of responding, like to the issues of sustainability, I think this movement of the renewed collection was a good response for their clients to see. It shows they are socially and environmentally aware of how their industry operates and how they want to fix that for the future.
If I were the brand manager I would maybe respond to customers by getting input or even more clientele involvement. Possibly allowing their clients to design their own renewed collection designs. This would allow for people to be more interested in the company and the collection. It engages the community to create things specific to them and how they would want things to be. This could be a good way to invent the next "purple cow", a way for their clients to get involved in the sustainability movement.
This assignment was helpful in understanding how and why companies take these sustainable takes with their products. It is good for marketing and improving their brand and there is not really a limit that a company has when it comes to improving their marketing.
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