The Outdoors Company

Growth potential

The Outdoors Company is a leading trade supplier of workwear and corporate wear for iconic outdoor brands.

In 2023, The Outdoors Company set a strategic marketing objective: to grow sales within their existing distributor network

Distinguished as a prominent supplier of premium outdoor apparel in the United Kingdom, The Outdoors Company identified significant growth potential in their sustainable and ethically-sourced product line.

Growing demand

There was a growing demand for ‘eco’ and ‘green’ products with their distributor network. The Outdoors Company recognised the importance of education of their comprehensive range of eco-conscious and sustainable offerings. The importance of this education process is that the distributors (via the end users) may have different ‘eco’ criteria that they need to meet during their purchasing process. Some may need products made from recycled materials whereas others may only buy from brands which ‘do good’. The campaign’s primary purpose was to establish The Outdoors Company as the top-of-mind choice for distributors when it came to sustainable and eco products.

At its core, this campaign aimed to provide distributors with in-depth knowledge about The Outdoors Company’s eco-friendly and sustainable product portfolio, ultimately resulting in a substantial increase in sales of their ECO range through their existing distributor network.

Green credentials

The campaign’s initial phase involved a comprehensive review of the entire ECO product range, focusing on categorising them based on their specific ‘ECO’ attributes. Six distinct themes were identified and the products were organised accordingly:

• Products crafted from recycled polyester.
• Products featuring recycled down feathers.
• Products composed of 100% recycled materials.
• Products offering lifetime warranties.
• Products manufactured from recycled plastic bottles.
• Products designed to promote a reduction in the use of single-use plastics.

Hero brands

Within the Eco range we pulled out Herschel, Rab, and The North Face, each renowned for their extensive sustainability strategies. These brands were poised to take centre stage in the campaign.

These themes formed the cornerstone of our campaign’s messaging, aimed at enlightening distributors about the diverse and extensive ECO product range. To unify the entire campaign, the overarching campaign strapline was developed: “Go ECO with The Outdoors Company,” a consistent message that resonated across all the campaign touch points.

Spreading the GO ECO message

As The Outdoors Company directed their marketing efforts towards their existing group of distributors, they strategically leveraged various key channels for their campaign. These included email marketing, organic social media on platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X. Furthermore, they enriched their online presence with a dedicated campaign landing page and blog content.

A sequence of thoughtfully crafted emails and social media posts, each aligning with the distinct messaging areas of the campaign, were developed. These content pieces served to guide users towards a central campaign landing page, acting as a gateway to the extensive ECO product range. Additionally, informative blog posts were curated to deepen the campaign’s messaging, covering topics like ‘Everything you need to know: Recycled Polyester’ and ‘What does PFC-Free mean and why is it important?’ This content provided distributors with valuable resources to empower their interactions with their customers.

The distribution of this content occurred gradually across The Outdoors Company’s proprietary channels. However, the campaign’s message and creative design remained consistently uniform to ensure instant recognition, bolstering awareness and recall. The overarching aim was to keep The Outdoors Company’s ECO range at the forefront of distributors’ minds.