A little self reflection over a pandemic turned into a global project connecting 12 filmmakers across 8 countries, and cementing a go-forward commitment to making sure we empower everyone’s outdoor truth. This integrated campaign racked up 5M views and numerous articles about our campaign. It also set our brand on a more inclusive path as to how we go about telling outdoor stories.
We go back with some of our customers for decades. Even before Polartec was even called Polartec (that name would be PolarFleece). Together, we’ve innovated fabrics, made iconic garments, and helped generations of outdoor enthusiasts get their groove on. Live From Then turns this groove into artistic snapshots of these many eras. Our memory might be a little fuzzy, but for some reason mashing music posters and performance fabric just feels right. LISTEN NOW!
A beautiful colab featuring Canadian boxer Triston Brookes, Reigning Champ style, and Polartec fabrics. Retail, out of home, and digital support of these core basics worked to quickly turn brisk sell-thru into sold out. Photo credit: @norman__wong
Polartec Apex Awards
Our annual celebration of partners who skillfully blend function and style with Polartec fabrics. The 2021 theme of Mountain to Bar (and back again) honors products of versatility with a dedicated photo campaign, paid media, and immortality in the form a 12 inch sculpted Wizard statue called Malden. We achieved earned media recognition, hundreds of thousands of site visits, and over 3M views of our Award announcement. And let’s not forget the Malden.
Visit the 2021 Apex Awards website
Known for inventing the modern technical fleece, Polartec has transformed into the foremost inventor of performance textiles engineered to keep you warm, dry, cool, and safe. The Science of Fabric has become a generational declaration of purpose and a leadership positioning. As the foundation of multiple campaigns it has helped the brand distinguish itself from competitors, clarify its mission, and produce strong, science-themed messaging that would make Heisenberg proud.
Part of our 30th anniversary celebration, the Polartec Family Album was an old fashioned promo contest that invited fans of every age to submit pictures from back in their day to win eternal glory, as well as a hard to get custom Melanzana hoodie. We got a 1000 submissions, gave away 100 hoodies, partnered with media, and were introduced to the ‘The Legend’ as he gathered Pictures of You in the two-part video.
The great American sporting goods brand dominates the tennis specialty channel, but was missing a crucial lifestyle element. The Legacy Collection celebrates the brand’s heritage in tennis with a casual product appropriate for both specialty retail and department stores.
The Name of the Game posters feature players surrounded by the auras of those who’ve won Grand Slams with a Wilson racquet. We sold out in 10 minutes at the US Open.
From product creation to usage occasion, the decision to choose Polartec is an act of thinking ahead. Part AI collab, this brand campaign uses perspective and atmospheric phenomena to speak to those who plan, pack, and prepare for whatever the weather has in store.
And1 was a long way from its hey day in the 90’s. It was now a low price player. New ownership wanted to play with the big dogs, but first we had to change perceptions by elevating the brand, raising quality and price points, re-launching an iconic product, and re-entering first tier retail. BTW- the tat came after the ad. That’s committed.
The outdoor market was saturated by imagery of mountains and trees, so we took Teva way down deep in the Colorado clay to their Grand Canyon river guide roots. Reinforced the brand’s authenticity by featuring paddlers, poster artists, and sponsoring the Macgillivray Freeman IMAX production River at Risk– the largest flotilla since John Wesley Powell, and the only advertising photoshoot ever permitted in the inner canyon. The investment paid off by creating 2 years worth of assets and helping halt a seven year decline, grow sales 71% in 18 months, and go from 11th to first in category sales.
After tons of ‘research’ we made a crucial discovery: All the best days start with putting with on Polartec.
The way we sell textiles is changing. We had to pivot to digital first solutions. To support customers as a modern ingredient brand.
• New Fabric Console to aid product presentations not taking place in-person.
• Affiliate Marketplace to generate referral revenue and traffic to our partners (and maximize SEO).
• The Color Lab that speeds the order and eases access of vetted colors and styles.
• Searchable Press Room to locate stories to share with customers.
• 3D Fabric Library to empower designers with new capabilities.
• Asset Libraries of marketing tools such as Tags & Labels, Product Technologies, and Merchandising Programs.
Although the original PolarFleece was invented in 1981, Malden Mills really hit their stride 10 years later with the founding the Polartec brand. This would usher in a new era of unrivaled performance in textile innovation that continues to this day.
Peaking Since ‘91 not only sums up this arc, the campaign brought us together with long time customers and a chance reinforce our shared history. Through an integrated campaign with core media and retail, we were able to educate new enthusiasts about our authentic origins, and rock those fleece prints that could only have come out of the 90’s.
Rip ’N’ Run started as a fairly typical running diary. A 72 hours, there and back, kind of thing. Photos and words. It became an artistic expression about the connection between nature, exercise, wellness, and mental health.
Amy Rose shares her connection through poetry, photography and essays about how trail running has strengthened her mind, body, and recovery. What began as a guest post turned into an integrated content campaign across social, email, blogs, and advertising.
Known for the skin tight Olympic ski racing suits, Spyder was ready to leverage it’s elite performance authenticity into other youth-driven mountain sports, like freeskiing and mountain biking. We helped capture the energy and personalities of their world class athletes, while positioning the brand for new categories, industry mojo, and their eventual sale.
PolarFleece was the original brand name for the first synthetic fleece created 1981. From hardcore backpackers, to the preppy handbook, to teen ski movies, PolarFleece in the 80’s was a thing. Now a part of New England lore, we repositioned and relaunched the Original Article as a DTC business and branding campaign for Polartec. We cozied up to the New England craft brewing community, had fun with archetype characters, and even got on TV during Boston Bruins games. Don’t think you can bring swagger to customized comfort? Go fleece yourself!
We partnered with Outside Magazine to research the timeline of Polartec textile innovation so meaningful in the lives of outdoor enthusiasts. The ultimate rabbit hole led to some new discoveries and finding old friends along the way. We also found new friends in the form of 100,000 page views, 200,000 interactions, and an average of four minutes a visit. EXPLORE THE TIMELINE
Polartec Apex Award
How do you celebrate the very best of outdoor apparel when whole world is locked down indoors? You bring the Outside In. For this unusual year’s Apex campaign we deployed a next generation LED wall that video game technology (Unreal Engine) to create an environment truly between something meta and something IRL. The Outside In campaign reached over a millions viewers and help expand and diversify exposure for all of the winning brands. And yes, they also got their Maldens. link to website
Inspired by Aloha, Olukai came to shore with a beautiful product that redefined what a flip flop could look like and the price it could command. We helped translate this premium aesthetic into the tools to move the brand from the surf shop to the department store.
To meet the changing nature of the outdoor enthusiast, Timberland looked to translate its brand for a younger and more diverse audience. One inspired by action sports, but authentic to outdoor. The Ring Collective brought together outdoor athletes and artists to create a line of legitimately capable performance footwear for those that don’t always want their gear to scream gear. A brand built from the ground up- strategy, concept, product, messaging.
Polartec had long supplied fabrics to cycling brands but had never really told the story. Partnerships with the Alberto Contador Foundation’s Continental Team, globally influential Rouleur media, and cyclocross professional (and New England native) Dylan McNicholas led to a line of kit of our own design. Today, cycling is a multimillion dollar category with some of the biggest names in cycling apparel as customers.
Part of the crew of West Coast climbers that would essentially found the modern Outdoor Industry, Royal Robbins was a true OG. With a crew of our own, we went back to Yosemite where Royal made his name and explored the valley with some of the Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides. Branding as real as it gets.
Some chose to use their lock down time for a Savage Remix. We, like millions of other people, chose to make a podcast. Quality production, interesting subject matter, and a host that’s hard to hate, Layers is a podcast about the Outdoor Apparel Industry for people who don’t like podcasts about business.
It started as a learning project and turned into an unexpected ray of sunshine among the millions of other pandemic-spawned podcasts that suck. We even cracked the top 20 in Tibet, so that counts for something.
Try dipping your toe in the trailer. You might even choose to dive in.
Polartec Apex Awards
What better way to celebrate our partners as the future of design and fabric innovation than with cyborgs. Adroit, cybernetic mannequins that work for scale. A partnership with Colossal Media, the leading platform for contemporary art and visual expression, helped us position the winning garments at the intersection of art, performance apparel, and the future.
Burton’s been making snowboarding films almost as long as they’ve been making snowboards. So when they approached us about a new global video called One World set to premier on Amazon Prime, we said you bet. Then we said why not back this with an exclusive capsule collection with items made from some our most premium fabrics knit from recycled materials? And they said, you mean a product, retail, and media roll program like this? Yes, just like this. Let’s do it.
Helping organizations with meaningful messages ‘fight fire with fire’ in order to compete with savvy consumer brands for the attention, affinity, and calls to action of today’s citizen consumer.
Jack O’Neill was a maverick.
So is his brand.
Kelly Rippa is a great fitness spokesperson because Kelly Rippa is ripped.
Fractals, sky running, advanced tractions, impossibly light composites.
Nettle is better than cotton.
