The North Face has had an interesting year. They had to fend off a scandal in May 2019, when its Brazilian agency Leo Burnett Brazil edited Wikipedia posts to include images of the brand. While there was a short-lived backlash, the brand seems to have weathered the storm and have lately been making headlines for positive reasons. In September, it released a series of collections: it launched a new material, FUTURELIGHT, which is 20 times more breathable than traditional waterproof materials and is featured in a series of new outerwear intended for outdoors activities; it revealed its latest collaboration with avant-garde Japanese designer Junya Watanabe; and it re-released its popular 90s Denali fleece jacket but this time with recycled polyester.

Each of these releases were so different in nature, that it got us thinking about the enduring popularity of The North Face and who the brand actually appeals to. Using the Fifty platform, we wanted to uncover their most engaged followers to understand how The North Face’s messaging can attract so many diverse tribes.

WHO ARE THE NORTH FACE’S MOST ENGAGED FOLLOWERS?

Analysing The North Face’s UK audience, we can see the different tribes that all share an affinity for the brand, to begin to understand their diverse appeal. The Fifty platform found 31 tribes with a total of 8.49 million connections. Within those tribes, there were three main audience segments that have a high affinity with the brand: traditional outdoor enthusiasts, fashion professionals, and city-dwelling music fans. By delving deeper into these segments, you can understand exactly the type of people that are passionate about The North Face.

Analysing The North Face’s UK audience, we can see the different tribes that all share an affinity for the brand, to begin to understand their diverse appeal. The Fifty platform found 31 tribes with a total of 8.49 million connections. Within those tribes, there were three main audience segments that have a high affinity with the brand: traditional outdoor enthusiasts, fashion professionals, and city-dwelling music fans. By delving deeper into these segments, you can understand exactly the type of people that are passionate about The North Face.

Outdoorsy Brits

Unsurprisingly, Outdoorsy Brits is one of The North Face’s largest audiences. The brand is the number-one influencer for this tribe, with similar brands like Patagonia, Rab Equipment and Cotswold Outdoor trailing close behind. The tribe has a 60/40 male/female split, with a geographic spread across the United Kingdom. The top bio keywords including “gear”, “outdoor”, “runner” and “adventure” all reflect the ways in which this tribe closely identifies with the outdoorsy lifestyle.

Fashion Professionals

Showcasing how much The North Face has embedded itself in the fashion community, Fashion Professionals make up the fourth-largest tribe, with 65.75K followers. Unlike the more outdoorsy demographics, this group is concentrated in urban areas, particularly London and Manchester. This group is also spread out more internationally with large percentages based in New York and California. Their passion for fashion sees Nike, Mr Porter and Harvey Nichols as top influencers.

Music Industry Insiders & Fans

Urban-based music enthusiasts also make up a significant segment of The North Face’s top audience, as London DJs come in at #8, with 36.45K people in this tribe and English Hip Hop fans following quickly after with 25.7K people. Outdoor retail companies are nowhere to be found amongst the top trends and influencers here, as hip hop artists and music publications — such as Boiler Room and Mixmag — dominate these tribes. This demonstrates that while The North Face itself isn’t a top influencer amongst these cohorts, it still registers on their radar, which means there is room for brand loyalty to grow if it chooses to engage with the music crowd.

WHY THE NORTH FACE’S SOCIAL STRATEGY WORKS

Now that we understand The North Face’s audience better, we can have a clear view of how their different launches and collections appeal to the diverse tribes within its brand universe.

But when we look at the brand’s social media, it is interesting to note that the majority of its content still spotlights outdoor athleticism and leisure, with images of professional athlete sponsors and stark natural landscapes making up the bulk of images.

But The North Face has begun to make strides in reaching out to different audiences beyond the clothing itself. Last year, it launched the #NeverStopExploring global campaign, which aimed to redefine exploration beyond the outdoors. The campaign featured several 15-second spots which highlighted what it means to explore, and enlisted a diverse range of partners from producer and musician Pi’erre Bourne, snowboarder Jess Kimura, filmmaker Jimmy Chin and activist Mikhail Martin. The brand also launched a new Instagram handle @thenorthface_city, which caters content directly to urban dwellers. Having a dedicated channel offers the brand a route to speak specifically to this tribe, which is now a significant part of their audience without necessarily alienating its traditional outdoorsy tribe.

THE NEXT OPPORTUNITY

The North Face has managed to navigate a tricky balance of maintaining its ethos as an outdoor adventure company, while acknowledging that it has a broad audience, some who never set foot on a mountain or sleep in a tent.

The North Face has managed to navigate a tricky balance of maintaining its ethos as an outdoor adventure company, while acknowledging that it has a broad audience, some who never set foot on a mountain or sleep in a tent.

While its current campaigns offer a seamless blend of urban and outdoors content, The North Face’s broad appeal means that it will have new audiences that it can choose to target more specifically. For instance, in the UK, a promising segment that was unveiled by Fifty is the London Tech Startup Community. This tribe of 2.5 million could easily be lumped in with urban dwellers, but they might be more interested in The North Face’s technical aspects and its drive in innovation. A campaign drive around technical innovation, for instance looking at The North Face’s collaboration with Japanese biotech company Spiber could be one way to engage an audience that is ready and waiting to be spoken to.

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