North Face Assigns PR to Ruder Finn

NEW YORK Outdoor sports clothing and equipment manufacturer The North Face has tapped Ruder Finn to handle its national public relations duties, beginning with the opening of its first East Coast store in Manhattan, the agency said.Ruder Finn was one of several primarily West Coast agencies competing for the San Leandro, Calif.-based client's business, said Mary Trudel, executive vice president and head of consumer practice at Ruder Finn. Ruder Finn was chosen partly because it has offices in New York and San Francisco, and because it represents the retailer's parent company, VF Corp., also based in San Francisco. The shop won the business in February, after a two-month review, according to Michelle Barth, marketing director for the client."We really want to widen the awareness of The North Face beyond the core audience of athletes who know the product very well," said Trudel. "You think of them as the puffy jackets, but if you came into the store, you would see a lot of apparel that would be perfect for today and all summer long."Ruder Finn has been mounting events this week to herald the opening of the two-floor, 8,000-square-foot store at the corner of 73rd Street and Broadway, Trudel said. In addition to a press preview held yesterday, there will be a grand opening party on Thursday and a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, she said.A local campaign by Publicis' Hal Riney in San Francisco will tout the new location on 40 bus shelters, on a moving billboard and in the New York Press and Village Voice, Barth said. The ads depict a mountain climber holding a New York subway map, said account executive Paulo Ribeiro."The concept is that the best place to get your best apparel for the most extreme environments is now in the heart of New York City," Ribeiro said. "The irony is that those products and what they're best suited for is for a location that is the extreme opposite of New York City." Riney won the estimated $3-5 million advertising account in August, and its first work broke in the March issues of magazines like Outdoor, Backpacking, Climbing and National Geographic Adventurer. The ads aim at both hardcore outdoor sportsmen and recreational outdoorsmen, Ribeiro said."There are lot of people that just enjoy getting outside," Ribeiro said. "They may not be climbing Mount Everest, but they may be climbing Mount Chasta. But both experience the same high." This fall the shop will organize a media adventure event designed to showcase the client's A5 clothing line, apparel designed to straddle the urban and outdoor niches, said Trudel. Editors from non-fitness consumer magazines and newspapers will be invited to try "bouldering" with some of The North Face's elite athletes, a roster of adventurers the company sponsors. "The North Face is always underwriting expeditions to the far corners of the world," said Trudel. "That's their test lab, life-and-death situations where the tent has to work and the sleeping bag has to keep them warm."

Brand Marketing

North Face Assigns PR to Ruder Finn

Deanna Zammit

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Deanna Zammit