Created the Leading
National Outdoor Brand
REI 360° Brand Development
Challenge
REI is a Seattle-based co-op which, at age 70, was struggling to connect with younger consumers despite their award winning flagship store. REI had begun to lose its relevance to both the extreme audience and the newbies, and needed to have its brand revitalized and stay true to its heritage.
REI’s communication failed to resonate with employees, suppliers, and customers.
Strategy
Update the REI voice to integrate its outdoor culture with the modern vernacular and lose the marketing-speak. Working closely with REI’s in-house resources, we developed new brand positioning and a new comprehensive visual identity system, unifying all of REI’s brand communications to champion the adventurer in all of us. We set out to design a proprietary retail experience for REI to fully express its rugged, outdoor culture and connect with adventurers from car campers to ice-climbers.
Brand Position:
Get Outside Yourself
Results
- Record-breaking top-line sales.
- 100% Growth in first five years.
Scope of Work
- Apparel/Gear Marking System
- Brand Architecture
- Brand Bible
- Brand Extensions
- Brand Identity
- Brand Strategy
- Branded Environments
- Catalog Design
- Exterior Trade Dress
- Integrated Marketing
- Merchandising Strategy
- Messaging Framework
- Naming & Nomenclature
- Packaging System
“David Lemley and team intensively researched our company and gave us the revitalized brand identity and retail brand design that is really rooted in our outdoor culture. The way this has resonated with our employees and our customers is amazing.”
– D. Madsen (retired), CEO, REI
We helped REI connect with the next generation of outdoor enthusiasts. What’s your brand’s growth challenge?