A grim reaper, flat Eartherism and references to the traumatic climbing experience that inspired “127 Hours:” Those aren’t typical hallmarks of outdoor apparel advertising, but they’ve helped Columbia Sportswear stand out in the category since it unveiled its “Engineered for Whatever” brand platform in 2024.
Helping spearhead the edgier strategy is Matt Sutton, who joined as head of marketing in September of that year. Around then, Columbia appointed Adam&eveDDB as global agency of record to shape “Engineered for Whatever.” Their latest marketing ploy: an activation where people who fax an order for Columbia’s ‘90s-inspired Helvetia fleeces will receive one of the popular pullovers for free, a throwback technology stunt that is supported by a partnership with influencer Ken Eurich.
The over-the-top approach has attracted the ad industry’s notice. “Expedition Impossible,” which saw Columbia CEO Tim Boyle challenge flat Earthers to find the literal edge of the globe, won the Grand Prix in Brand Experience & Activation at this year’s Cannes Lions festival. It was Columbia’s first time at the global advertising showcase.
“It was a big moment for us, and it wasn't even on our radar for the first year working on this campaign,” Sutton said.
Columbia saw a double-digit uptick in new customers acquired in North America in Q2, according to Sutton. Net sales at Columbia’s parent, which also markets brands like Mountain Hardwear and Sorel, rose 2% to $614.4 million over the period, with some softness in the U.S.
Marketing Dive caught up with Sutton at Columbia’s New York showroom on his second work anniversary to discuss engaging with conspiracy theorists, the return of direct mail and other topics.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
MARKETING DIVE: What is the biggest lesson you've learned across two years at Columbia?
MATT SUTTON: Humor was kind of canceled out of advertising for a period of time, and we've intentionally brought it back. Bringing it back in a way that doesn't offend in this new world is a tightrope. I've learned a little bit of the parameters of what works and what doesn't work. It's a balance of keeping the tone sharp and distinct, but you can push too far. We've managed that edge pretty well.
Why is edginess important for Columbia?
It's a big deal for us because it's actually how we became a known global brand. We became famous in the '80s and '90s for that "One Tough Mother" campaign with Gert Boyle [current CEO Tim’s mom]. We were constantly poking the bear, and then in the 2000s into the 2010s, we stopped doing that. It was right around the time that our competitive set was all chasing this idea of looking sharp, professional and cool. We like to believe that we're cool because we don't try to be cool, and so it was really important for us to stop following and go back to poking the bear. We're an 88-year-old brand. We have a heritage. We're a little bit wacky, and we're proud of that, which makes us distinctive, which then makes consumers hopefully think that we have more distinctive products. We have just as good, if not better, technology than most of the most expensive players in the space.
Flat Earth, even 10 years ago, felt fringe, but a lot of [conspiracy theory] stuff like that has become more mainstream. It's rare to see a marketer address this topic. Do you see it as a risk?
Absolutely it is a risk, and it's something that we think about a lot. When that idea came up, our first instinct was, "This is incredible. We have to do it." The second instinct was, "Oh, how do we do this right?" You take the wrong tone, and you're a bully that's making fun of people. You take the right tone, and you're having fun, you're inviting them in and everyone's laughing. There's a fine line there.
We were able to get to a point where we felt good about it. We're not explicitly making fun of this audience because we truly are speaking to them, inviting them to go outdoors and we put our money where our mouth is. We ended up giving them awards for submitting. It was tongue in cheek, but it wasn't tongue in cheek where it was negative or mean. Our thought is, if we keep it positive, it de-risks a negative response.
The technology aspect of the gear is also important for your target customers. Can you talk more about balancing that with a storytelling-led approach?
That is the ultimate question, and actually was central to the brief of building this campaign in the first place. Our goal is to reach the audiences who are more professional — those pro trail runners, skiers, anglers, etc. — and get them invested. If they're invested, the people that follow them are invested, and the people that follow them are the mass market.
We did a ton of consumer testing as we were building the campaign to land a concept that appealed to the broadest group while also having little Easter eggs that made those professional athletes interested.
Has your media strategy changed?
Big time. We had a very different approach to media when I joined. It was a balance of, primarily digital, but digital and offline channels. We took a step back and looked at it and thought about our goals and reframed the media plan around consumer attention. We shifted investments from long-tail, programmatic media into higher-attention channels, and that's online and offline. For example, we reactivated direct mail. We hadn't been running direct mail in a while. It's not all TikTok, right? But we also turned on TikTok. We went from working with a few dozen creators and influencers to several hundred a year. It was a wholesale shift from media planning into attention planning.
In terms of your category, what's the biggest trend you've felt the need to respond to?
We're all fascinated around the pendulum swing back to analog experiences. As consumers are oversaturated with the "Black Mirror" [aspects of technology] and AI, we're all reading about the trend of people going back to IRL experiences. Fortunately, we started reading those tea leaves early because that's always been who we are: literally outdoors.
Our teams around the world started investing in Columbia Hike Society. We participate in thousands of hikes a year — tens of thousands of participants in dozens of countries — and basically it's an organized cultural experience. As run clubs are popular and perhaps oversaturated, we've created this very inclusive, fun offline experience.
What role are agencies playing in this transformation?
[They're] completely central to what we're doing. We went on a search, we found [Adam&eveDDB], and they have been essential for us. They push us every single week. I just got off a call with them, and they were pushing me on a campaign for this fall: Is it edgy enough? They've managed to learn our special sauce while also helping us think through a modern take on our tone of voice. We've just this spring and fall started working closely with Wpromote, our media partner. They've done great things in helping us translate that strategy and bring it to life in unique ways.
Is there anything else you want to highlight as you reflect on two years in the role?
I've worked at 80,000-person tech companies and 150-person startups, and I have never seen a company move as quickly as Columbia. Sometimes it feels like our entire marketing department is just running around with our hair on fire, but in a good way.
If you tackle only the advertising, it'll take forever. But it's CRM, email, advertising, mid-funnel paid social, our product is elevated, and it's just hitting all at the same time. So the cumulative effect … I have never in my career seen so much movement.
