This is a story about how The North Face, the global leader brand who enjoys the number one position in almost every market it competes in, fights as the underdog in China and outgrows the market leader Columbia through disruptive communication approach although the latter is dominating in every key aspect – retail network scale, media investment, brand awareness and market share.

This is also a story about how The North Face put market perception about outdoor exploration back on the ‘authenticity’ track among key targets through the power of cultural truth. It is crucial achievement because market leader Columbia and powerful local brands’ has been marketing their products as ‘fashion for open spaces’ or ‘exploration lite’ for years, ending up many Chinese buying their technical apparel as fashionable and novel way to stay warm and dry on urban footpaths. As the global pioneer in outdoor exploration, The North Face will not sacrifice its soul of ‘authenticity’ for the fast growth opportunity in China.

Last but not least, this is a story about how The North Face creates a national movement through strategic understanding and planning on media channels. With a much better profit return per media spending, it is a case breaking out of the category convention that posits media spending as the primary weapon.

From this story, we can take a glimpse of how creativity can be a powerful and cost-efficient weapon for real effectiveness in a fast booming yet chaotic market like China.