Nature can kill

The outdoor apparel and gear brand Columbia Sportswear recently launched a new campaign titled “Engineered for Whatever” in a calculated effort to shift brand perception and stand out in a very monochromatic category. 

The campaign’s flagship ad features various outdoorsmen and -women coming face-to-face with a barrage of threats from the natural world, including rattlesnakes, rock slides, hypothermia, and hurricanes. In the uncertainty of the wilderness, Columbia is shown as the trusted brand built to withstand “anything nature can throw at you.”

The campaign was inspired by the insight that Columbia’s target audiences (and even professional athletes) have anxieties about the outdoors and the dangers that accompany different environments. 

In an article for MarketingBrew, Mark Sutton, SVP and head of marketing for Columbia Sportswear, said the brand is hoping that this positioning will help them stick out in a category where brands are all telling the same story about nature as idyllic, peaceful terrain.

The spot seemed careful to keep the “dangers” lighthearted and comical with more fantastical imagery and styling, like a hiker turning into a cartoon hotdog as hungry vultures chase her. This keeps the ad less scary, drawing consumers into the relatability of those very real anxieties about nature as opposed to turning away in discomfort.

Columbia plans on rolling out follow-up ads that demonstrate their products’ durability in a series of extreme product tests, like this one that showcases their ROC™ pants used as a rope to dangle a person from a helicopter over alligator-infested waters.

At first glance, I thought the campaign’s concept was counterintuitive - why would you want to make your consumers feel scared about doing the activities that your products were built for? But after seeing the ad, I think it accomplishes the brand’s goals without leaning too heavily into fear.

What do you think?