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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 through collaborations with brands such as Supreme and Gucci. Doubling up on audiences, TNF now faces the challenge of pleasing both audiences. The more it is considered a streetwear brand, the more it risks being overlooked for what it truly is - a pioneer among outdoor brands.

The anthem film “We Always Have Your Back” shows TNF’s connection with pop-culture and extreme outdoor sports in an epic visual journey from city street level to the top of an impressive mountain peak. Legendary climber Alex Honnold, the star of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo and a TNF athlete, narrates the film. Led by Alex’s voice, the camera takes us on a continuous super zoom, travelling seamlessly from the city to the mountain without interruption. Throughout the journey, we witness different types of people exploring in TNF gear. At the peak of the mountain, we zoom in on extreme climber Caroline Ciavaldini making her way up the cliff face before closing in on “The North Face” logo on the back of her jacket, reinforcing the campaign line, “We always have your back”.

As the outdoor category continues to grow, this campaign aimed to drive awareness and consideration of TNF as a leading outdoor brand. By breathing new life into the brand’s iconic “Never Stop Exploring” tagline in a way that relates to streetwear junkies and extreme explorers.
The campaign has delivered a total of 634 million impressions so far, with activity live across TV, BVOD, social and digital. The film is on track 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 comments were positive, with adjectives including “epic”, “phenomenal”, and “incredible” often being mentioned, while more than 25 articles across the press highlighted TNF’s triumphant return from the streets to the mountains.