Ideas We Love Issue no.2

Map The Gaps by YETI

This week we’re going to look at a recent campaign by YETI called Map the Gaps. But before we do, a bit about the brand in question.

Who are YETI? 

Brothers Roy & Ryan Seiders created YETI in 2006.

They started the company to fulfil a simple mission: to build the cooler they’d use every day if it existed.

One that was built for the serious outdoor enthusiast. One that could take the abuse involved in being out in the field and on the water. One that simply wouldn’t break.

They decided early on that product innovation would come from necessity and from their first hand experiences of using similar products, not from market research and data analysis. 

Today, YETI products are designed to perform when it matters most. On an excursion into the Alaskan wilderness. Chasing redfish on the Gulf coast. Or in more humble surroundings: getting together with friends in the backyard or on the campsite. 

Fusing high function, with a distinctive, design-led aesthetic means YETI gives off more Rimowa vibes than you might expect from your typical insulated cooler. The brand has made a conscious decision to play in an emotional space more typically occupied by brands fuelled by a promise of adventure such as The North Face or Arc’teryx, than to pit itself against the other brands they might compete with on purely functional terms in camping accessories.

The brand borrows from the codes and conventions of streetwear and sneaker culture; launching limited-edition colours and shapes, with the most popular combinations re-selling for significant price premiums on the secondary market.

The brand’s positioning creates a springboard for the ads and activations that have helped to propel both the cultural and commercial potential of the brand way beyond its birthplace of Texas and the category they compete within.

From their early efforts to demonstrate the superiority of their products, where they left their Tundra cooler in ‘bear country’ with cameras to record the efforts of local grizzlies trying and failing to open one in the wild….

…To their ads packed with intelligent wordplay that delivered their sustainability positioning

…To their efforts to support elite adventurers explore new places and spaces, but in the most sustainable ways possible

…Everything the brand does seeks to associate the brand and its range of products with the extremes of the wild, delivering a product to people that has what it takes to keep hot things hot and cold things cold, for the longest time possible.

And the products really do work. 

Having been gifted a cup, Matt became a fully fledged YETI convert following a cross-country train trip which saw a latte kept at tongue-numbing heat for the best part of 3 hours. He now has a YETI for every occasion. For the morning coffee. For family camping trips. For keeping drinks ice-cold by the pool. He swears by them. 

Which is why when Contagious spotlighted a recent bit of  work they’d done in-house we thought it would be the perfect candidate for Ideas We Love.

Introducing Map the Gaps by YETI

An initiative launched by YETI to map the parts of the world that Google Maps has so far failed to reach.

Here’s the trailer that launched the initiative.

Whilst Google has done an amazing job of mapping the majority of the world and making this available to people via Google Maps, the cars they use to do this have some limitations: some spots simply can’t be reached. This idea leans into the fact that the map is not always the territory, providing the intrepid explorers who make up YETI’s customer base with the tools they need to explore the roads less travelled.

Here are some of the components of this idea that we really love

#1 Ads ← → Acts

At the heart of the brand’s approach - and this campaign - is the idea that ‘show beats tell’: doing stuff in the real world, that is of use to your community (and those who are influenced by them) will drive stronger associations and greater appeal than simply advertising at them.

Yes Map the Gaps is ultimately an exaggerated product ad for their new backpack, but it’s way cooler to demonstrate their new cooler’s potential in this way, than with the typical key visual and copy combo that might be distributed via advertising.

#2 Fixing Big Tech Blind-spots

We’re used to Big Tech providing services and utilities which benefit large swathes of society (like Google Maps, Mail, Search etc). Sometimes though, there are gaps or biases that emerge in these services, especially where niche audiences or use cases are concerned. 

Brands operating adjacent to those underserved communities can step forward to help bridge those gaps, taking a leadership position and creating value for their consumers in the process.  

A feat that Map the Gaps achieves in both a distinctive and directional manner.

#3 Putting talent to work

Each of the routes that YETI mapped as part of this initiative features a different rock climber or outdoor athlete. Not only does this help to lend credibility to the initiative, but crucially it acknowledges the importance of influencers in building distribution within the fragmented modern media landscape. 

This idea attempts to bake distribution into the heart of the communications platform, rather than appending it as an after thought.

Here are some of the plays we’d loved to have seen

One of the reasons we both loved this activation is because it’s so creatively fertile.

We had no problem thinking about the ways you could push and stretch this idea into new spaces and places.

#1 Acts ← → Ads

We genuinely love this idea, but the fact we found out about it via a Contagious newsletter could indicate this idea hasn’t been given the media investment required to get it in front of the volume of people required for a product launch.

How could the ‘acts’ be amplified by advertising?

Well whether it be their original “grizzly” product demos or their more recent “sustainable” expeditions, YETI has a track record in flexing conventional formats in ways that help make their point.

This spirit could have been extended into ad-formats that could have scaled the cultural and commercial potential of Map the Gaps even further.

“Live Streams” or “Tree-Rolls” across digital screens, both public and private, could juxtapose the awe-inspiring scenery featured within each of the gaps the brand was mapping, directly into the dull, grey cityscapes large swathes of the brand’s recruitment audiences no doubt spend most of their lives navigating.

The more “live” the better, with the ads acting as signposts to the types of adventures the brand’s talent are having right now. The use of QR codes within these assets could help direct consumers to new trails nearby, or not so nearby that they might want to explore themselves.

Ostensibly sending up a few fireworks into broader reaching media, in tune with the spirit of the idea, to supplement the bonfire they’ve built across owned channels that would already draw in converts and followers of the talent.

#2 Collaboration with likeminded brands

Brands, just like people, are judged by the company that they keep.

One of the nice flexes inherent in the idea is that it makes Google Maps a target, creating some PR potential along the way. But given the nature of the task (mapping trails using GoPros), there is a clear opportunity to work more formally with the likes of GoPro, Strava, Garmin or other brands who organise around the idea of ‘exploration’.

This creates the opportunity to invite the respective customer base of these brands to get involved and map even more gaps together. Each activation could be re-mixed into a weekly super-cut film that YETI, GoPro, Strava et al then post across their channels.

Partnerships like these can super-charge credibility and help build permission-bridges in places where YETI is less well known, extending the potential reach and resonance of the idea further and faster.

Another angle could have been partnering with platforms beyond Google to help map more gaps, for instance working with platforms like TikTok or SNAP, to co-create “mapping” functionality that only requires a Smartphone camera rather than a GoPro, reducing some of the barriers to recruiting new participants.

Working with a ‘brand neighbourhood’ made up of other brands & platforms that have an interest in getting more people to enjoy the outdoors, is a creatively rich avenue to explore.

#3 Digital → Physical 

There’s something really magic and magnetic in old, weathered maps; they naturally draw you in.

Knowing that, another play you might make here is to create some “physical” versions of the new digital maps as further reward for engagement that could also give the idea a longer tail.

For instance…

…you might print physical maps of some of the more interesting exploration spaces that then get translated into unexpected uses of OOH, where new trails are added during the tenure of the posting cycle, or turned into limited edition stickers for participant’s gear

… you might partner with National parks or Tourism boards (e.g Yellowstone, Visit California) to editorialise and distribute these “trails” even further with credible, trusted partners and creating a footfall driving promotion in the process.

…you might bring it back to product and use packaging to distribute geo-triggered maps via QR codes or even etch the co-ordinates of the start-points, end-points and any associated nicknames you might have given that route onto people’s YETIs as keepsakes

…you might even launch a line with a colour “inspired” by one of the routes, and share the profits with the people that mapped the route for you

However haven’t we been telling clients for years that millennials prefer “experiences” over objects and artefacts.

Hence…

#4 ‘Launch’ a Travel Company or Concierge Service

You’d hope with a platform like this there would be the chance to shine a light on some seriously remote, interesting or awe-inspiring spaces that people would love the chance to experience first-hand.

Why not extend the equity of the YETI brand by launching a travel company, or travel concierge service, that each season offers exclusive trips to previously uncharted spaces.

It may only ever be experienced first-hand by a lucky few, but would have the potential to be influential to many, many more.

Through a white-labelled partnership (with Airbnb, Trailfinders etc) - you could pack that experience with all of the brands you’d like to be associated, providing a “second act” to the initial idea or developing a new platform (or business unit) in its own right.

These are just a few instinctive thoughts, but one of the reasons we both admire this idea so much is because it’s clearly got the legs to go so much farther - thinking of the ways we might extend this really wasn’t that hard.

If you liked this you’ll love…

The last section of the newsletter is what we talked about last time as the ‘tasting notes’ for an idea: the other ideas or activities that an activation reminds us of.

Decoded by Bing and Jay Z

A brilliant blend of technology and geography, physical and digital, culture and code.

Live from the Farm by Waitrose

Using media and ‘live’ streaming to establish the brand’s leadership on naturalness and food quality standards

Equalizer by Smirnoff & Spotify

A brand leaning into the biases within big-tech, in aid of the community they serve

Epic Split by Volvo

A dramatic demonstration of a product and it’s benefits. B2B advertising done in style

Some honourable mentions for the following cases: The North Face’s partnership with Strava, the travel porn meets couples therapy of BBCs Race Across the World and the OG of content marketing that is The Michelin Guide: selling tyres by selling restaurant recommendations.

Let us know what you think!

If you’ve enjoyed this issue, then please share with others who might enjoy this or find it useful. Ideas We Love is obviously in it’s infancy so we’d love to hear what you think about the ideas we’ve discussed but also the format of the newsletter itself.

Until next time.

Cheerio.

Matt and Tom