Columbia bets on humour for new campaign, tailored to each market

On December 2, Tim Boyle, Columbia’s iconic chief executive and heir, issued a challenge to flat-earthers: embark on an “Impossible Expedition”. And the executive is inviting participants in the challenge to be kitted out in his brand’s products.

“So I invite you to do what no one in history has ever done: find the edge of the Earth. If you find it, take a photo, send it to us, and you won’t just get bragging rights. You’ll get everything that belongs to the company, everything. The mannequins, the snowshoes, the coffee machines, a well-used sledge, the office plants, even the stuffed beaver in the cafeteria… Everything will be yours.” Would it be worth it? Columbia Sportswear has a market capitalisation of more than €2.5 billion.

This is, of course, a very tongue-in-cheek message that aligns with the new communications strategy launched by the American brand this summer. Known in the 1990s for its offbeat campaigns featuring Gert Boyle, the founders’ daughter, and her son Tim in comical outdoor situations to test the label’s kit, the brand is returning to that irreverent spirit.

In September, the brand launched “its most important communications campaign” in its history, with the new slogan “Engineered for Whatever”. Visually, it sticks to the classics: images of outdoor sports such as hiking, skiing and trail running, but set in unlikely scenarios and, above all, delivered with a tone that stands out in the outdoor world.

“The takeaway at global level was that it’s very difficult to distinguish brands in outdoor communications. In the 1990s and 2000s, Columbia opted for campaigns that helped it stand out. We had moved away from that. We’re back with a new brand platform and a more ironic approach,” explains Romain Cancilleri-Michy, senior brand marketing manager for the American brand, based in France. “‘Whatever’ is our way of saying ‘regardless’ of the realities of on-the-ground conditions. Most brands show how to be at one with nature… But nature, the mountains and the climate don’t always have your best interests at heart. We have fun with it. And that invites people to rediscover the brand.”

The films and slogans are indeed hard-hitting, acerbic and even surprising. The challenge is to roll out the campaign on a global scale. As many advertisers have learned the hard way: while humour is hard enough to pull off, translating it into different languages can be a notorious pitfall.

“We worked using a transcreation approach with local teams and agencies,” explained the marketing specialist. “The aim is to convey the original idea, but with expressions and imagery adapted to each language or country. The balance has to be just right.”

The introduction of this communication, which forms part of its “brand platform”, fits into the Accelerate strategic plan unveiled in 2024, which aims to connect Columbia with a new generation of consumers while retaining its long-standing customers. The strategy is therefore online, across Meta’s platforms, on YouTube and also via TikTok. Columbia has also opted for a presence with outdoor advertising in major cities such as Marseille, Lyon, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, London and Paris, where in September the brand was prominently displayed in several Paris metro stations, as well as on a giant banner covering the façade of the Centre Pompidou during renovation work. In France, the campaign is being promoted in around 15 cities, while the brand is also banking on visibility on Amazon Prime, YouTube and the TF1+ app.