Remember doing puzzles on the back of your favourite cereal box when you were a kid– Honey Nut Cheerios? What about that festival back in ’09 where the ticket stub still stands on your dresser drawer as a piece of art– Shambhala? The gift packaging fine alcohol has during Christmas time, just so you can stop by on your way to a party, and arrive, with gift in hand– Crown Royal?
What about the opposite? When for just five extra dollars, you could get unlimited text messaging, voice mail AND caller ID– all the carriers. Remember those days?
Spend some time thinking, and eventually there will be brands that pop into your mind that you have some sort of association with. Admit it or not, these brands helped make you what you are today.
When you take this marketing/kind gesture concept and collide it with technology, you get brand produced apps, and the good ones are good.
The North Face has done just that with their Trailhead app.
At first click of the app, your mobiles’ GPS will kick in to find your location. Not to worry, this is a good thing.
What immediately pops up on the home screen is shown below.
Trails, photos and a community of people in your city, town and municipality who all want to share their favourite treks. Photos accompany the trail listings made by some regular Jack or Jill in your community so you can view it before you hike or ride it. Included with each trail are the stats, proximity, relative incline, time and distance etc.
Create your own trail, while the app maps it out, all while listening to your own music. You even get to write a description and story to personalize your trail before you share it through the app.
What really caught my attention is that some of the trails I’ve actually done. It was almost shocking at first to see some of my favourite walks were not just my own. I instantly felt a connection with these people who I’d never met, but have walked in the same footsteps.
This leaves me, as the consumer with a sense of community with my fellow consumers, and trust and familiarity with a brand that I have always shopped. I also have an entire new set of trails to try because of the Trailhead app. You can’t buy that kind of emotional attachment, the feeling of being on the ‘in’, as an advertiser. I haven’t been for a hike since I’ve returned to Winnipeg at the end of August, but I’m sure I’m going to make room for one this weekend, and I have The North Face to thank for it. (On a side note, I lost my The North Face hoody today, it’s brown... somewhere in Winnipeg)
The GPS accuracy can be set from the features menu along with your trail account and Twitter. There is also a help page, dealer locator and The North Face news feed. 
You're right, this is a great app. Building a sense of community around a brand is a fantastic way to engage customers, and this does it!
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of The North Face, I think of Al Jazeera.
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