The North Face and agency FRED & FARID Shanghai collaborated to relaunch the ‘TNF100’ – the brand’s 100km ultra trail race in China – after a three-year absence with an integrated campaign reinventing the event and answering the question ‘Why should we keep running?’
The event, one of the toughest and most scenic races in the region, returns after a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a tragedy at a similar event in north west China. So the outdoorwear and adventure apparel company worked with the agency to reinvent the ‘TNF100’ and promote the relaunch through a multi-channel campaign called ‘TNF100 Reasons To Get Back To Trail’.
The campaign dropped in early March ahead of the 15/16 April event and was led by a five-minute short film, as well as a flagship giant billboard in Shanghai, supported by additional campaign posters, social executions, a website and press/PR work.
The creative was primarily user-generated with content contributions by a group of around 100 professional runners and influencers from The North Face community who provided photographs, videos, and audio voices explaining their own personal reasons for getting back on the trail.
The idea was to celebrate and showcase the diversity of responses and reasons for running and explore various motivations to hit the trails – from individual life experiences, personal challenges and aspirations.
The campaign was conceived and created by FRED & FARID Shanghai and brought to life by its in-house FF Production company.
“The challenge was real – how do you bounce back from such an earth-shattering event? These dramatic occurrences shook the very foundation of TNF100, redefining even the very purpose of its existence,” explained FRED & FARID Shanghai CEO/Partner and Executive Creative Director Feng Huang. “It pushed the brand to reinvent itself and answer the million-dollar question: why do we keep running a race of 100km? Why do we keep going?”
Adrien Goris, Group Creative Director at FRED & FARID Shanghai, added, “The North Face community has truly been a driving force behind our campaign. We’re excited to share with the world our 100 reasons for hitting the trails and to help promote this remarkable event.”
The FRED & FARID Shanghai agency team which worked on the project for The North Face included Chief Creative Officers Fred & Farid, Executive Creative Director Feng Huang, Group Creative Director Adrien Goris, Copywriters Adrien Goris and Leo Liu, Art Directors Billy Liao and Zoy Wang, Agency Supervisors Paul Lin, Quinn Jiang and Jenny Wei, Agency Producers Charles Renard and Sakura Zhi, Executive Producer Charles Renard, Producer Sakura Zhi, Editor Yim, with sound, design and mix handled by Ker Sound (Shanghai).
Comment
The 2023 ‘TNF100’ will take place on 15 and 16 April and the campaign seeks to drive viewers/runners online to find more event information.
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