A brand reading
REI.
Explorer The outdoors as classroom.
REI’s 2015 Black Friday ‘#OptOutside’ campaign closed all 143 stores on the busiest shopping day of the year. The Explorer expressed at company-policy level, not just in advertising. The gesture only works because the brand made it real.
The reading.
Explorer with a Caregiver counterweight, expressed.
- Character
- Explorer
- Drive
- Adventure, freedom, novelty, self-discovery, discovery.
- Fear
- Restraint, stillness, entrapment, confinement, caution.
- Strategy
- Invite people to explore the brand, the world, and ultimately themselves.
- Counterweight
- Caregiver
- Opportunity
- Retail sold gear. The outdoors-as-classroom lane was open.
- Diagnostic
- Expressed
The Explorer at the level of policy. REI closed all its stores on Black Friday and meant it, making the customer the protagonist of the next trip. The Caregiver counterweight is the co-op looking after its members.
Famous spot
#OptOutside, 2015