How One Brave Idea Drove REI's Award-Winning #OptOutside Campaign

The big winner at Cannes started with a spark

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As predicted earlier this month, consumer cooperative outdoor retailer REI's #OptOutside campaign was one of the big winners at this year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. It took home nine Lions overall, including a Grand Prix in the Promo & Activation category and in the coveted Titanium category, celebrating non-traditional campaigns.

Adweek spoke to Ben Steele, the company's svp and CCO, as well as the creative team at Venables Bell & Partners that worked on the campaign, to uncover the story behind how they developed #OptOutside and turned it into a phenomenon that might even inspire a future Macy's Day Parade float, according to FCB global CCO Susan Credle.

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