Anti Black Friday MOvement REI’s #OptOutside Reflects Consumer Empathy Trend

You read that correctly. On November 27, we’ll be closing all 143 of our stores and paying our employees to head outside.

Here’s why we’re doing it.

For 76 years, our co-op has been dedicated to one thing and one thing only: a life outdoors. We believe that being outside makes our lives better. And Black Friday is the perfect time to remind ourselves of this essential truth.

We’re a different kind of company—and while the rest of the world is fighting it out in the aisles, we’ll be spending our day a little differently. We’re choosing to opt outside, and want you to come with us.

Black Friday is increasingly depicted as some kind of holiday shopping bloodbath in which rampant consumers fight it out in packed aisles to spend big money on big ticket items with big reductions.

Little wonder that there is a counter-movement developing.

UK supermarket ASDA made a very public announcement that that won’t be participating in Black Friday this year, while others such as H&M are closing all of their US stores so employees can spend time with their family during the holiday.

So perhaps it is not surprising that the Seattle-based retailer’s campaign cry to skip Black Friday is generating plenty of traction.

A stunning one million supporters have participated in REI’s #OptOutside campaign to date.

In fact, the movement has grown fast since its REI late October launch. More than 150 other companies, non-profit organisations and agencies that support US state and national parks are also encouraging Americans to spend the day outside.

Parks are supporting the movement with free park passes on Black Friday, while community organisation and citizen groups are arranging local outdoor trips and hikes, Mashable is even getting in on the act,

Your #BlackFriday options just got even better. @Mashable shows how states are making it easier to #OptOutside: https://t.co/MFaJbQtSxd

— REI (@REI) November 24, 2015

and the Meetup network is ensuring that around 350 organisers are hosting #OptOutside Meetups (with 5,000 people already signed up for their events).

‘The idea has struck a chord – far more than we expected,’ said Stritzke.

‘We did this to share our passion for reconnecting with the people we love in the outdoor places we love. But honestly, we are surprised by, and very grateful for, the number of groups joining in. Clearly, people are looking to do something a bit different with their time.’

The truth is, of course, that REI wants to boost its credentials, reinforce its community positioning and, in the long term, to drive sales.

Are these goals genuinely compatible with this kind of anti-capitalist, altruistic initiative?

REI’s Alex Thompson argues that the business strategy and the anti-consumer greed message are not hypercritical.

‘The business strategy for REI has getting people outdoors at its core, and this is first and foremost about presenting the benefits of life outdoors and inviting people to experience it at an important time of year,’ Thompson claims.

There are echoes here of Patagonia 2011 ‘Don’t Buy This Jacket’ –

albeit REI’s 2015 version is on a grander scale, offers multiple platforms and engagement opportunities and feels a little more like a wholehearted movement than a rallying cry.

Indeed, #OptOutside is a great example of the current customer-inspired marketing where brands display some form of ‘empathetic understanding’ of its customers by creating valuable and immersive experiences.

One facet of empathetic customer experiences is that typically feel ‘instinctively human’ in that they are led by the people who work for a company rather than the brands themselves.

These can be simple things like Pret-A-Manger’s staff and their random free coffees, or useful additions such as Under Armour’s in-store mobile phone charging stations, to major movements like REI’s #OptOutside.