Getting experiential with Columbia
At Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2011, Columbia Sportswear’s Scott Trepanier took some time to speak with WELD about content marketing and the Pacific Northwestern apparel-maker’s “coming out” at the event.
As Trepanier explains, even though Columbia’s footprint at the conference was twice the size it had been in previous years, you don’t see the Columbia logo emblazoned everywhere. Trepanier says the idea is to let the logo, the technology and the product speak for themselves.
This manifested in a spacious lounge, which also featured 3 fashion shows per day at the outset of OR. On the other side, science fair-like displays help retail buyers understand the technology advances at play in footwear, jackets and other goods.
Columbia’s big innovation this season is the Omni-Heat Technology — a battery-powered climate control function that allows the wearer to maintain his or her perfect level of warmth. You can spot these garments by their glowing Columbia logo, which also serves as a pressure-sensitive button for adjusting your temperature.
