Instead of offering discounts to lure shoppers inside on Black Friday, REI announced that they would be doing something unprecedented: shutting all 143 of their stores on November 27, ceasing to process orders on its website and paying employees to spend the day outside. Additionally, members and the public were encouraged to use this day to reconnect with the outdoors and each other. We activated a social impact program to invite the people outside with us, building a movement around #OptOutside.

#OptOutside kicked off with a CEO letter to employees and members. We broke the news with embargoed coverage in USA Today, CNN Money and NBC. Our media relations efforts were amplified across REI’s and media outlets’ social which inspired additional social sharing. The USA Today reporter later tweeted that ‘’This is officially the most popular story I have ever written. @REI knows how to turn heads.’’

The following morning, we distributed national news release with photo and b-roll package. The REI newsroom hosted this and additional #OptOutside content. From there, we activated an extensive media relations push by engaging national and local online, print and broadcast outlets and had CEO Jerry Stritzke in NYC for national interviews and other execs in key local markets. Momentum storytelling included sharing Meetup and REI joining forces to help people #OptOutside on Black Friday and supporting local angles with REI employees.

• 6.7 billion impressions, 3,423 placements, 33 days of sustained coverage

• Coverage equivalent with being on front page of NYT each day for 8 years straight

• 3 embargoed stories: USA Today (#1 Twitter, #2 Facebook—18,642 shares), CNNMoney (#4 Facebook—10,323 shares), NBC News (#1 Facebook—32,546 shares). All featured REI’s unique business structure and the co-op’s mission

• Inclusion in nearly all media trend stories throughout November tied to Black Friday.

o #OptOutside in outlets multiple times: Forbes (11), Huffington Post (22), New York Times (8), Wall Street Journal (6), Washington Post (11), TIME (7), USA Today (7), Yahoo! (16), multiple Good Morning America, TODAY Show and CBS This Morning segments

• 2015 sales and membership up nearly double digits over 2014, defying trends

• Jerry Stritzke included in Fortune’s list of six most generous CEOs

• More than 400 #OptOutside Meetups hosted on 11/27 with 5000+ member RSVPs

REI, a purpose-driven outdoor retailer and the US’s largest consumer co-op ($2.4bn annual revenue), stands for the idea that a life outdoors is a life well lived. They shared that vision with an unprecedented decision to close 143 stores on Black Friday and pay their 12,000 employees to head outside. Following a CEO letter to employees, earned efforts kicked off. Media relations was the heart and soul of #OptOutside, landing billions of impressions and driving 33 days of continuous coverage. REI’s #OptOutside become a constant throughout Black Friday conversations and sparked a dialogue that brought together millions of people.

Research firmed up that interest in the outdoors and the health benefits of spending more time outside was gaining traction. Tangentially, belief in the value of Black Friday was wavering. This signaled that the time was right for REI share their vision for a better life outdoors, in contrast to the chaos of Black Friday. REI had the opportunity to leverage this moment in time to build and connect communities around the outdoors, while sharing its purpose and unique values.

We broke news one month ahead of Black Friday to earn REI #OptOutside a position in nearly all Black Friday media coverage leading up to the Thanksgiving weekend. To maximize reach, we developed a social-by-design engagement strategy, leveraging media outlets we knew would lead to significant social sharing and reach. We also united traditional media with social influencer engagement, content creation and influencer engagement to ignite conversations, connections and sharing.

REI believes that a life outside is a life well lived. Black Friday, America’s biggest shopping day, stood in stark contrast to this belief. Held the day after Thanksgiving, this holiday had come to represent shoppers leaving their families to go buy things, spending days lining up at stores, or even fighting one another in the shopping aisles.

That’s why on Black Friday 2015, REI took an unprecedented stand. The co-op closed all 143 of its stores and invited the entire country to spend the day differently - by heading outside.