Promoting a product doesn’t always have to be dull and boring. Know about this brand’s creative take!

Today, I’ll talk about a guerrilla marketing stunt that took participants in an unforgettable adventure!

Continue reading below.

Promoting a product doesn’t always have to be dull and boring. Know about this brand’s creative take!

The Nuptse puffer jacket has become synonymous with clothing brand The North Face. Released in 1992, this colorful and functional jacket has earned a strong following decades after its first launch.

In particular, the jacket saw its popularity surge among the Gen Z cohort.

In fact, at one point in 2021, it became the most searched item on second-hand retailer Depop. Meanwhile, The North Face also saw an increase in its eBay searches, partly fueled by the jacket… and since then, it has remained a popular fashion piece among the youth.

It’s clear that the Nuptse jacket has a solid following. However, that doesn’t mean The North Face was content to sit on its laurels and coast on the existing popularity of its famous product.

So, in 2024, the clothing brand came up with a campaign that brought newfound attention to the iconic Nuptse jacket.

A Locker Designed to Pique Curiosity

The North Face and Newbridge Marketing curated a treasure hunt that rewarded Gen Z winners with gear inspired by their school colors.

This treasure hunt involved the installation of oversized and Nuptse-inspired lockers on the campus grounds of the University of Colorado Boulder and University of Washington.

Here’s the twist:

In order to open those lockers and win the prizes inside them, students had to use a code gathered from clues.

… and to find those clues, they had to visit The North Face’s TikTok page and wait for and watch a series of posts that provided hints at how to open the lockers.

The results?

• Over 7,000 attempts were made to open the lockers
• 21,000 physical impressions
• Over 16 million campaign views on TikTok

These figures show just how much of a hit the Nuptse locker campaign was.

The North Face and Newbridge Marketing’s campaign’s success boiled down to the application of these principles:

• Using mystery to spark curiosity- By locking the prizes behind a vault that needed to be unlocked, the curiosity of the target audience was piqued, encouraging participation.
  
  
• Leveraging digital and physical spaces- The North Face and Newbridge Marketing encouraged participation by providing an on-site experience. Once bystanders were hooked, they retained attention by moving the treasure hunt to a digital space.
  
  
• Using participation to generate buzz- Gen Zs love to post about their experiences. By taking this into account, The North Face and Newbridge Marketing were able to create organic social media buzz, thereby extending reach and generating virality well beyond the campus.

If you’re thinking about conducting a guerrilla marketing campaign, consider using this success story as one of your inspirations!

Keep in mind that promoting a new brand or offering doesn’t always have to start and end with a run-of-the-mill marketing campaign.

Sometimes, the best way to excite an audience is to have them participate in an enjoyable and rewarding experience.

Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.

Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!

Do you want to know how one pizza brand turned an empty crust into a marketing masterstroke?

See it in next week’s article!