2017 was a landmark year for gender equality not just in the U.S. but internationally.

The November 2016 election led to the January 2017 Women’s March with an estimated 2.6 million people participating in 673 marches in all 50 states and 32 countries— with the largest march taking place in Washington D.C. Collectively, women were demanding change and declaring, “We’re not going away” and “We believe that Women’s Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women’s Rights.”

Though not known to many, Environmental Justice has always been a core principle of the Women’s March Movement. Founders declared: “We believe that every person and every community in our nation has the right to clean water, clean air, and access to and enjoyment of public lands.”

Just two years earlier, in January 2015, REI led the charge to institute a CEO pledge to accelerate women’s leadership in the outdoor industry. The Co-op’s CEO was a first signor and led the onboarding of other industry leaders.

It was between growing interest in gender equity the outdoor industry and an acute cultural moment that the Force of Nature found its place.

2017 became the year we'd make outside the largest level playing field on earth: A place where women could be liberated from the relentless pressures of conformity and clichés. We started with a commitment to put women front and center in everything we did for an entire year. We adopted the moniker ‘Force Of Nature’ to signify women who boldly claim their space in the outdoors. We purposefully found women across age, race, gender identities and body types and brought them into the spotlight of the co-op. Every owned channel became beholden to our “total takeover”. We showed their faces- up close and personal -and shouted their stories from the mountaintops. Our online anthem urged women to opt out of the status quo and seek freedom outside. Our signature orange bandana was designed as both a symbol and a badge of strength. All women, all the time, outside and free.

The initiative launched April 1, 2017 and had three phases – seed, launch and sustain. We launched a film on social media platforms, encouraging women to opt out of cliché gender stereotypes and invited them to join REI in one of our 2000 REI events and classes designed for women.

We transformed the spring product catalog into an editorial publication explaining the effort

and telling inspiring stories about women changing the outdoor industry.

The Force of Nature bandana was designed to be the symbol of the initiative. Thousands wore it with pride and tagged themselves and their friends as #ForceOfNature in social media.

We announced the Force of Nature initiative to high traffic out of home locations in cities.

Partnerships included: Artists passionate about the mission who designed limited edition Force of Nature products; Outside Magazine and their first women’s edition featuring women icons of the outdoors; And unsuspecting influencers.

• The Force of Nature initiative gained 472 million earned media impressions and 45 million social impressions.

• We reached and engaged a younger and more female audience than any previous effort.

• We saw deep engagement in social channels with 200k tags of “Force of Nature” and 15 million impressions from employees alone.

• Up until 9/1/17 Force of Nature anthem video generated the most social engagement of any video in the co-op’s history

• After its launch more than 48,000 women joined in 2,700 outdoor events, classes and experiences and 17,000 signed up for waitlists.

• REI’s full price women’s business saw sales increase by 20% during the height of the campaign

Audience:

Women, girls and their allies.

How?: Let’s invite women and girls to opt out of cliché gender stereotypes in the outdoors – the place we declare the world’s largest level playing field.

Approach:

- Build a three-phrased communication approach to bringing the initiative to life; seed, launch and sustain

- Build experiences to convene and build a supportive community; including national May 6th launch events across the country, Force of Nature Wednesdays nationally all summer and full takeover on social & owned channels

- Establish REI as the leader for this conversation, while leveraging Outside magazine partnership and timing to amplify the message

- Partner with unsuspecting influencers like Willow Smith

- Develop a deep and sustained content strategy inclusive of film, content and media partnerships

- Create a platform for our sustain messaging; including the takeover and deliberate moments when FON messages will break-through

As the nation’s largest outdoor company, REI believes that a life outdoors is a life well lived – for all. It acknowledged that not everyone had been equally represented and supported. For decades, men’s stories and images dominated an entire industry. REI

Co-op entered into a commitment to ensure that women are just as inspired and equipped to embrace life outside as their male counterparts.

Brief

To actualize outside as “The Largest Level Playing Field on Earth” – a place equally represented and enjoyed by all.

Objectives

To shift the perception of the outdoor industry and the outdoor space itself from one that has been historically male dominated to one of equality. The co-op set out to do the following:

• Change the narrative by putting women of all ages, races, sizes and gender expressions front and center for an entire year.

• Create community by offering events, classes, outings and other experiences designed for, and led by, women

• Close gear gaps – expanding both quality and breadth of gear designed for women, and expanding sizing options to serve a broader audience

• Invest in organizations working hard to create more opportunities for women and girls to get outside