What Makes a Great Marketing Campaign?
In an era where people scroll faster than they think and skip ads without blinking, getting someone to not only pay attention to your campaign but to care about it is hard. Doing that as a brand? Even harder. But it’s not impossible.
The strongest campaigns have a spark, a pulse, something that makes people stop. And that spark isn’t always the biggest budget or the flashiest celebrity. Often, it’s resonance. A deep alignment between what’s being shared and what people feel.
Emotional truth and simplicity
Good brand campaigns are simple at their core. Not simplistic. Simple. They find one clear feeling and build everything around that. Think about the outdoor industry’s best campaigns. They’re not just showcasing new gear. They’re connecting that gear to an idea of freedom, identity, grit, joy, nostalgia, or purpose.
Salomon’s "Tomorrow is Yours" series resonated because it didn’t shout features. It whispered identity. It showed us people finding their place in the world through running. The production quality was high, but what made it memorable was the clarity of its emotional goal. Each piece gave you a feeling, not just a product.
Authenticity isn’t a Buzzword
We’re all guilty of saying it: authentic storytelling. But when it works, you know it. Authenticity doesn’t mean shaky iPhone footage and no script. It means that whoever is on screen believes what they’re saying. And if a brand is behind them, that belief better line up.
This is why strong brand campaigns often center around real people, real stories. In the outdoor world, this means going beyond just showcasing athletic performance. It means telling the story behind the miles. The why. The hurt. The laugh after a long descent. It means finding the person who didn’t think they belonged and showing how they found themselves on the trail.
REI’s "Force of Nature" campaign did this well. It wasn’t perfect, but it made a statement by centering women in the outdoors, at a time when few were doing that loudly. The impact came from who they featured and how the stories were told. It gave people permission to see themselves in the wild.
Multi-layered approach
The best brand campaigns don’t live in one place. They move. A film might be the anchor, but it’s surrounded by editorial content, paid and organic social media, digital experiences, influencer collaborations, and event activations. This isn’t just strategy for strategy’s sake. It’s about showing up in all the places your community already spends time.
If someone sees the same message through a short Instagram reel, a mini-doc on YouTube, a blog post shared by an ambassador, and a banner at a race, that repetition builds familiarity. And familiarity builds trust.
Good campaigns are multi-dimensional but still cohesive. They allow the message to shape-shift across platforms without losing its core. If the heart of your campaign is freedom on the trail, then that idea should be embedded in every asset, even if the execution is different for TikTok versus print.
Timing matters
Campaigns that land well often tap into the cultural moment. This doesn’t mean chasing trends. It means knowing the rhythm of your community and delivering stories that make sense for where people are emotionally and seasonally.
Outdoor brands tend to know this rhythm well. You don’t drop a big alpine climbing campaign in July. You don’t talk about cozying up in a base layer when the trail season is peaking. Good campaigns meet people where they are in the cycle. And sometimes, they also challenge them to look ahead.
Consider New Balance'’s "Run Your Way" series (video below). It launched right before key road race events. Each shot followed a real runner, amateur or elite, and dove into their personal reasons for running. The timing allowed the brand to ride the energy of the season, but the content gave it soul. It wasn’t just smart, it was kind.
Crafting from within
From the perspective of someone who creates these campaigns, I know how tempting it is to reverse engineer a good idea based on what you think will perform. But the best work I’ve done, and the work I’ve admired most, starts with a real question or conversation.
Sometimes that conversation is, "What would happen if..." Other times, it’s, "Why is no one talking about this?" Those are the sparks. And from there, it becomes a matter of listening. Listening to the athlete, the community, the place, the thing that’s trying to be shared. That’s how campaigns find their edge.
This also means letting go of total control. The most compelling moments come from unexpected corners. Whether I’m behind the lens on a ski shoot or directing a branded doc for a trail shoe, I try to leave room for surprise. We script structure, not story.
Performance vs. Resonance
There’s always going to be pressure to perform. Clicks, conversions, reach, ROI. All of it matters. But a campaign that resonates will always outperform one that’s built to check boxes.
This is where I think the outdoor industry has an advantage. It’s rooted in real experiences. Trail running, climbing, skiing don’t just make products. They give us ways of moving through the world. When brands lean into that and lead with that understanding, people feel it.
That’s why I love making campaigns in this space. I believe we can help change the world to make it a better place.
Brand Consistency, Authenticity, and Storytelling Depth
When you think of a truly memorable campaign, chances are you remember the feeling it left you with. That spark of inspiration, the familiarity of a visual style, or the clarity of a message that lingers after the screen fades to black. These elements aren’t random. They are the result of deliberate choices, careful alignment with brand identity, and a deep understanding of the audience. Good campaigns take consistency and authenticity seriously.
Brand Consistency Across All Platforms
Consistency doesn’t mean repeating the same message endlessly. It means creating a coherent presence. A campaign should feel like it belongs to the brand regardless of where it appears. Whether a customer sees the video ad on YouTube, a print version in a climbing gym, or a behind-the-scenes post on Instagram, it should all feel connected.
This comes down to visual style, tone of voice, pacing, and emotional cues. In the campaigns I’ve been a part of, we tackle it from all angles. Maybe we’re creating a docuseries designed for YouTube that features real runners with different backgrounds and motivations, while the brand’s Instagram posts provide shorter, snackable reflections on the same stories. Their store displays, print advertisements, and blog entries all tap into the same emotional thread of resilience and self-discovery in the outdoors.
When a customer sees multiple pieces of a campaign across platforms and each one reinforces the same message, the impact deepens. Repetition with variation strengthens retention and builds trust. It becomes familiar without being boring.
Olympian and Adidas Runner Dom Scott
Authenticity and the People Who Tell the Story
Audiences are savvy. They can tell when a message feels polished for polish’s sake. When a campaign leads with honesty and celebrates people as they are, it resonates deeper. In the outdoor industry, this matters even more. We are storytelling to a culture that often values grit over glamour and purpose over polish.
That’s why authenticity in talent selection is key. If you’re telling a story about someone pushing through a storm to summit a peak, it should be told by someone who actually lives that reality. Not an actor, but a real person with skin in the game and stories to back it up. Documentaries and campaign videos that feature real athletes, adventurers, and community members invite the viewer to believe—and care.
Authenticity also means showing vulnerability, complexity, and real stakes. Patagonia’s "The Shitthropocene" campaign featured people working to solve climate problems in their own communities. It didn’t always have a clean or hopeful arc. That’s why it worked. It gave people permission to care, to feel uncertain, and to get involved anyway. That’s powerful storytelling.
Storytelling Depth and Creative Framing
In today’s media environment, we are bombarded with fast-paced, one-dimensional stories. A great campaign takes the time to create depth. It gives space for viewers to settle in, feel something, and come away changed. Whether that’s in a 90-second short or a full-length branded documentary, good storytelling means showing tension, stakes, choices, and transformation.
To do this well, the creative framing matters. Are you telling the story through the eyes of the athlete, the family member, the coach, the stranger who passed them on the trail? Each point of view opens up different emotional entry points for the audience.
In our campaign for a trail running brand, we focused the voiceover around a runner's mom. The runner never spoke. But the voiceover created an arc that showed growth and pride through someone else’s lens. It made the film about more than just racing. It became a story of relationship, resilience, and support.
That sort of decision doesn’t come from a storyboard template. It comes from listening to the people involved. When you ask better questions in interviews, build trust with your subjects, and show up with an open mind, the best material reveals itself. Often, the deepest stories are the ones that were unplanned.
Emotional Range: Humor, Joy, and Vulnerability
Outdoor films don’t need to be serious to be powerful. Some of the most shared branded content from this past year included humor and lightness. Arc’teryx’s "No Wasted Days" was playful, and still inspiring. Cotopaxi’s quirky visuals and offbeat pacing have become signature elements that make their campaigns recognizable and sharable.
A strong campaign includes a range of emotion. That means it’s okay to show the mess. People relate to failure, doubt, and the “not-so-perfect” moments. And that means brands who lean into that kind of honesty are rewarded with loyalty and engagement.
When we did a short doc on a group of runners training for a mountain race, the moments that stood out weren’t the races themselves. It was when they were cooking dinner together, laughing during training runs, or taking ice baths after long days. Those details might not scream "product placement" - but they create belonging. That’s what builds a real connection.
Behind-the-Scenes Value - Building In Transparency
Modern audiences also crave access. They want to know how the film was made, who was involved, and why certain choices were made. Sharing behind-the-scenes moments is no longer optional. It’s a valuable part of campaign rollout.
For one of our climbing campaigns, we created short vertical videos during filming that showed the process of rigging cameras, dealing with weather, and interviewing athletes. These pieces gave context to the final film and helped the audience root for its success. It also allowed the brand to create more touchpoints with their audience.
The benefit here is twofold. First, it invites viewers to feel like insiders. Second, it helps marketing teams build a larger content strategy from a single shoot. Behind-the-scenes content, stills, teaser clips, quote cards—these all create momentum around the same core message.
This is also where campaign teams can highlight partnerships, athlete involvement, and social good. If a percentage of sales is going to a nonprofit, this is the place to show it. If a local crew or underrepresented group was hired, tell that story too. It not only increases transparency but reflects the values your audience likely shares.
Measuring the Success of a Brand Campaign
Once a campaign is live, it’s tempting to measure success based solely on likes, shares, or view counts. And while those metrics can tell part of the story, they often miss the deeper impact a great campaign can have.
Strong brand campaigns aren’t just fleeting moments of viral attention. They stick with people. They create emotional resonance. They cause someone to pause mid-scroll, watch something twice, or talk about it on a long trail run. A successful campaign plants seeds that continue to grow long after the original post is buried.
To measure this kind of success, I usually break it into a few key categories:
Director Roo Smith creating a campaign about a group of all-female cyclists for a female cycling brand Jelenew
1. Awareness
Is your brand reaching new people? Are those impressions coming from the right audiences? Awareness is often quantified through impressions, reach, and growth in followers. But more interesting is whether the awareness is leading to recall. When people describe your campaign to others, do they remember the message, the vibe, the feeling?
2. Engagement
This goes beyond raw numbers. Are people leaving thoughtful comments? Are they saving or sharing the post? Engagement is often where you find out whether people felt something or just scrolled by. When storytelling is working, the comments reflect that. You’ll see things like “This moved me” or “I needed this today,” and those are harder to buy with ad dollars.
3. Conversion
Not every campaign is tied to sales, but many are. A good campaign that connects emotionally can absolutely drive conversion. The key is making sure the product doesn’t interrupt the story but feels like a natural part of it. Did people click through? Did they sign up? Did they buy or donate? That data matters, but it only tells part of the picture.
4. Brand Lift
This one’s harder to track without tools like surveys, but it’s worth considering. Did this campaign positively shift the way people perceive your brand? Do they now associate you with values like grit, joy, inclusivity, or adventure? Did the campaign differentiate your brand from others in your space? These questions aren’t easy to measure, but they’re often the most valuable.
How Many Touchpoints Are Enough?
Marketing isn’t magic. It’s memory. People need to see a message multiple times before it sticks. Depending on who you ask, the average number of touchpoints before someone acts is anywhere from 7 to 21. For outdoor brands, where decisions are often tied to identity and values, that number might skew higher.
A single campaign doesn’t need to do everything. But it should contribute to a larger story. The best outdoor brands are running layered campaigns that show up across video, print, email, social, and web. And each of those touchpoints echoes the same feeling.
So when someone finally decides to buy those trail shoes, sign up for that course, or share that video with a friend, it’s because all the pieces lined up. They felt something. They remembered something. And they trusted it enough to act.
A Few Campaigns That Nailed It
Let’s look at a few campaigns in recent years that did this well, particularly in the world of trail running, climbing, and skiing.
Salomon’s “Welcome Back to earth” Campaign
This campaign landed during a moment when many people were re-emerging into the world after lockdowns and long indoor stretches. Instead of focusing on product, Salomon leaned into emotion. The message wasn’t “go faster” or “go farther.” It was simply: go back out there.
What worked so well was the emotional timing. The campaign reminded people why they love the outdoors. Scenes of misty forests, early morning jogs, and mountain ridgelines weren’t just beautiful, they were familiar but aspirational. They made people feel something.
The consistency across formats, from short films and social posts to email and in-store materials, helped reinforce the message everywhere it showed up. It wasn’t selling shoes first. It was inviting people to reconnect with a part of themselves that might’ve felt a little lost. And that’s a message that sticks.
2. Patagonia’s “unfashionable” Campaign
Patagonia’s “Unfashionable” campaign is a masterclass in brand alignment and creative clarity. Released as part of their Fall/Winter collection, the campaign boldly challenges fast fashion by spotlighting the enduring value of high-quality, purpose-built gear.
The film is raw and grounded, featuring real Patagonia ambassadors in rugged, weathered jackets that have seen years of use. The message is clear without being preachy: the most sustainable jacket is the one you already own.
By centering the story on wear, not style, Patagonia flips the script on fashion-driven marketing and reaffirms its long-standing ethos - build gear that lasts, repair what breaks, and keep it in use for as long as possible.
The visuals are understated and timeless, echoing the very message the campaign is built around: in a world of trends, durability never goes out of style.
3. The North Face’s “It’s More Than a Jacket” Campaign
This multi-layered campaign combined social content, short films, product drops, and print ads all around a single idea: gear becomes part of the story. Through archival footage and personal anecdotes, they showed how jackets aren’t just apparel - they’re artifacts of memory.
What worked here was nostalgia, scale, and a change of pace from flashy intense advertising. The North Face asked GRAMMY Award-nominated recording artist Japanese Breakfast to bring their idea to life through a cover of The Story in The North Face's which gave the ad a more gentle tone than we see in a lot of outdoor media.
For the outdoor industry, where gear is tied to experience, this campaign resonated deeply. It made people reflect. And more importantly, it made them engage.
Bringing It Back to Your Brand
If you’re building or leading creative for a brand in the outdoor space, here are a few takeaways I’ve learned:
Treat every campaign like a chapter in a bigger story.
Invest in creative that makes people feel, not just click.
Be consistent across channels - same tone, same soul.
Involve your community when possible. People want to participate.
Trust storytelling. It has more staying power than any single product photo.
And if you’re looking for a partner who can help you pull all of that together, from branded documentaries to social strategy and campaign execution — I’d love to talk. This is the work I live for.
Whether we’re telling a story from a mountaintop or a garage workshop, there’s always a way to create something that resonates and inspires action.
Why we should work together…
When I’m not on this website rambling on about branded content, I’m actually out there making campaigns. From crafting memorable branded documentaries to capturing stories and products that move people, I’ve got you covered. Need a production partner who can scale mountains, brave the surf, or just tell a dang good story? Let’s chat!
In case I haven’t convinced you, here are three reasons why it might be fun to work together…
I believe in stories that stick with you - like campfire smoke on your clothes. The kind that makes you laugh, cry, or immediately want to call your mom.
I’m just as comfortable at 14,000ft as I am in front of a timeline. You get me in the mountains, in the ocean and in the editing room, making sure the magic out there really shines in the final cut.
I’ve filmed in some pretty wild places, but the best stories are the ones that bring people together. It’s those shared moments -big or small - that remind me why I love what I do.
Let’s Connect
Roo is an Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker and commercial director based in Boulder, Colorado but travels all around the world for his filmmaking career. He has directed documentaries for Patagonia in California, produced films for Outside Magazine throughout Europe and Africa, camera operated for Netflix in the Rocky Mountain West, photographed among indigenous communities in South America, and has received notable recognition in his hometown of Orcas Island in Washington State for his work telling uplifting stories in the outdoor space.