Case study — Retail

Tested tough, season after season.

Columbia Sportswear needed to stay front of mind with Canadians through every season, product launch, and retail moment. TMD worked alongside Columbia Canada for three years, bringing strategy, creative, media, social, and PR together in one integrated program.

The challenge

A global brand with a Canadian winter to win.

Columbia is a global outdoor brand, but in Canada it has to earn attention one season at a time. Its audiences shift with the season, the product, gender, activity, and geography, and a skier in Collingwood needs a different message than a commuter in Toronto.

Every season brought a new product line to launch, retail partners to support, and a market to convince that the gear was worth the price. The brand needed one voice that could flex across all of it.

The approach

One program. Every discipline. Every season.

TMD ran go-to-market strategy, creative, paid media, social and community management, PR, events, influencers, promotions, and key account management as one integrated program, so the brand team and its retail partners always heard the same story.

Plans were built segment by segment, with media chosen for where each audience already was, and developed in close collaboration with Columbia Canada from the first conversation about options through to ongoing management.

The work — what we built

From the transit platform to the ski report.

01

“Tested Tough”

Out-of-Home · Retail Media

Locally relevant creative that turns the weather into the headline, like a Toronto transit ad promising that a warm front can come with a zipper.

The same Tested Tough idea ran through retail partner digital, with banners built around product features like TurboDown insulation, so the brand and its retailers told one consistent story.

02

“Omni-Heat”

Contextual Media

Media placed where the forecast is the story: a branded takeover of a national weather site’s ski report page, pairing Columbia’s Omni-Heat baselayer with live mountain conditions.

Local store details turned awareness into a reason to visit, and the creative carried the product’s benefit in a few words: shockingly warm, amazingly breathable.

03

Collections with global franchises

PR · Partner Content

Limited-edition collections created with global film and streaming franchises for kids through adults, inspired by an animated fantasy sequel and a hit space-western series.

TMD supported the launches with PR, newswire announcements, and partner content, including a feature on the franchise’s own kids site.

04

Social, community & seasonal content

Social · Community

Organic social and community management that kept the brand in the conversation between launches, with playful, hand-annotated product flat lays like “Columbia’s warmest jacket ever?!” and “Pom poms are in.”

Events, influencers, and promotions rounded out the mix, so every season had moments people could join.

05

Media planning & coverage tracking

Media · Measurement

Integrated media planning and management for seasonal launches, such as a Spring 2017 plan built to grow awareness and drive sales for the brand, the season’s product line, and retailer accounts, developed in close collaboration with Columbia.

For a major international sporting event, TMD tracked Columbia’s coverage across print, broadcast, online, and social, in paid, owned, and earned media, supported by a roster of sponsored athletes by nation and sport.

The impact

Season after season, one integrated team.

For three years, TMD worked as an extension of Columbia Canada’s marketing team, joining strategy, creative, media, social, PR, and key account management so each season’s launch told one story across every channel and every retail partner.

3

years of integrated brand work in the Canadian market

6

disciplines under one roof, from strategy and creative to PR and key accounts

4

channel types tracked, from print to social, across paid, owned, and earned media

$10M+

USD campaign size across the three-year program

Ready to extend what your marketing can do?

If your brand has to win a new season every season, TMD brings strategy, creative, media, and social together to extend your team’s capabilities, from the first idea to the last impression.

Extend your marketing capabilities Visit Columbia Sportswear