Kathmandu has historically been a brand associated with winter – big, black puffer jackets that keep you warm up a mountain, or on the sidelines of a weekend footy game. We needed to reposition Kathmandu as a lifestyle brand for all seasons.

Kathmandu’s new collection features SUN-Stopper technology, meaning wearers would be able to stay ‘out there’ longer this summer. And with a layered design approach to the range, you could keep wearing it when the sun goes down too. So, our objective was to target an audience that desired a summer of spontaneity and sense of discovery. A group that would embrace the new range from Kathmandu, as it helped them cram in more adventures than ever this summer.

Summer Never Sleeps tells the story of a group of friends who set out on an adventure that flows from night into day and back into night as simply as a merman flipping a light switch. Because day or night – it's all summer to Kathmandu.

Since sleep no longer holds sway, everything associated with it has been repurposed. Pillows become campfire marshmallows, nocturnal animals are your best friends and sheep nod off counting humans. It’s a surreal tale, that entices Kathmandu-ers to cram in as much as possible this summer.

Our music choice was 70s Brazilian classic, ‘Jimmy Renda-se’, by Tom Zé. An upbeat, slightly unhinged song that slips between Portuguese, English and gibberish. This Tropicalia hit not only provided momentum for the film, but substituted as the dialogue for our characters, as they lip-synched along, like it was a secret language only the group of friends shared.

Our strategy was to shift the perception of Kathmandu’s clothing from outdoor ‘gear’ to a ‘lifestyle’ positioning.

Kathmandu’s point of view is that the best summers are those that are spent ‘out there’. And after 11 months of relative hibernation due to the obligations of work, life and the pandemic, summer would be our audience’s time to embrace their freedom together.

The opportunity we saw was to show our outdoor enthusiast audience, who wants to live spontaneously, that our products allow them to maximise summer.

In essence, we wanted to get outdoor enthusiasts, who want to squeeze every last drop out of summer, to see Kathmandu as their ultimate summer accessory, by showing them that with Kathmandu’s new range, their summer never stops.

We needed an idea that was scalable in markets of differing size and maturity. Digital and social first content that could be amplified and built upon across key channels. And an execution that would be universally understood, as Kathmandu looked to expand beyond the New Zealand and Australian markets to include Europe in 2023. As such, a track that had gibberish lyrics was a real asset to the storytelling.

Launched in September 2022 to help reposition the Kathmandu brand in the eyes of a younger audience and drive perception of them as a summer brand (ahead of key retail periods e.g. The black Friday Sale / lead up to Christmas), it played across Australia and New Zealand on TV, social, digital and in-store (266 stores across both countries).

The film aired nationally across Australia and New Zealand, garnering 76,170 and 103,519 impressions respectively across video on demand channels. Our outdoor millennial audience were encouraged to rediscover the balance of mental and physical wellbeing that can come from exploring the outdoors.

Through the Summer Never Sleeps campaign and the ‘We’re Out There’ brand platform Kathmandu continue to build brand momentum and energy amongst a younger audience and are growing their affiliation with summer year-on-year.