Yao Wan
"The Way of Mountain Snow"
For the Tuvans, fur skis are a tool that allows them to move through the snow easily and quickly. Skiing is a skill that almost all Tuvans have been exposed to since childhood. Suke was no exception, but things gradually changed in his generation. He was also exposed to fur skis as a child, but now he plays snowboarding.
No matter how times change, Suker's love for skiing has never wavered, "skiing is about self-control". And his family has higher expectations, "I hope that Suke can train more people in the future and fulfill his dreams." ”
This is not a purely personal experience, and similar ideas are present in many skiers today. Some people may just come into contact with skiing by mistake, but they have changed their views on their careers and even their lives because of this. And this mental journey is also recorded in Archaeopteryx's latest documentary "The Way of Mountain Snow".
Shooting video from an individual perspective is nothing new in the sports industry. However, this time, "The Way of Mountain and Snow" did not focus on products, but it sparked a lot of discussions, and even many people from the sports and advertising and marketing industries also posted on Moments. Starting from this documentary, we are trying to summarize how to cooperate with the overall development of the company and brand and improve the effectiveness of communication in an extremely competitive industry in multiple dimensions.
When skiing is loved by more people
All business-related analyses must be contextualized before they can be meaningful.
Although the northern region is naturally blessed with abundant snow and ice resources, China is not a traditional skiing country. Consumer interest in skiing and the rapid increase in the commercialization of skiing have only happened in the last 10 years. And after the 2022 Winter Olympics, skiing really began to develop in the direction of universal popularity.
According to the "2023 Ski Industry White Paper", in the 2022/2023 snow season, the number of domestic ski participants reached 19.83 million, and the online consumption of ski equipment has approached 1.5 billion yuan. According to the "Research Report on the Development of China's Ice and Snow Industry", the scale of China's ice and snow industry will reach 890 billion yuan in 2023 and 1 trillion yuan in 2025, accounting for one-fifth of the total output value of China's sports industry.
There is a clear need to get out of the house and get outdoors these days.
The influx of a large number of middle-class people has given more value to skiing. In the context of rapid urbanization and industrialization, skiing became an outlet for many people to escape from urban fatigue at that time, and a ski vacation trip would even be given a romantic attribute and favored by various film and television plots.
The huge number of new consumers and the change of social mentality have made China the latest development highland for skiing, and it has also driven more professional sports brands to increase their investment in the Chinese market.
With so many ski brands, how is Arc'teryx different?
This also includes Archaeopteryx, whose reputation has spread rapidly from professional sports circles in recent years. But for any brand with a long-term perspective, there's more to it than just business.
Skiing is already becoming popular, but the barrier to Xi entry is still high compared to other sports that can be easily practiced in cities. For this reason, skiing skills and outdoor safety training should undoubtedly be given top priority. It's a matter of life and death.
In 2012, Arc'teryx announced the launch of the "Mountain Classroom" program, which focuses on outdoor knowledge, skills and experience sharing, and invites professionals to teach outdoor classes to members. In 2019, Arc'teryx officially introduced the Mountain Classroom to China, and it has now become one of the core IPs of the brand.
This also invisibly reinforces consumer loyalty.
But if you've ever attended a mountain class, you'll see that not all of the participants are already outdoor masters, and some are still at the beginning of skiing. According to a set of data, so far in 2022, Arc'teryx has held more than 135 offline mountain classroom activities and 42 live broadcasts, covering more than 600,000 people.
Taking it a step further, Arc'teryx is concerned about the safety issues faced by skiing in China.
Peng Chao, one of the protagonists of the documentary "The Way of Mountain Snow", is the founder of the Altay Avalanche Research and Education (AARE).
Arc'teryx has been sponsoring AARE since the 2023/24 snow season, and the two sides have jointly advocated a scientific approach to skiing and exploring nature, and have provided offline training for nearly 100 skiers, police stations around the Altay Snow Mountain, snow patrols, meteorological bureaus and residents, and issued multiple avalanche risk warnings.
And the other protagonist, Xing Zhekui, is a mountain guide. He believes that "safety first" is undoubtedly the most important principle for the sport of mountaineering and skiing, and this sense of responsibility to ensure one's own safety first, and then the freedom to strictly control the direction and lower the slopes, is also part of the fun of mountaineering.
In a way, the definition of Arc'teryx as a brand has gone beyond the scope of products to become a platform for skiing tips, ski resort information and natural science. It supports and connects skiers, athletes, and people in the field to form a community with them.
To be loyal to a brand is actually to be loyal to the worldview behind it
People felt the empathy in Archaeopteryx.
In "The Way of Mountain Snow", the couple Guancai and Dahuan met because of mountaineering and skiing. The story is simple. Dahuan used to do design, but when he came to the mountain, he couldn't move forward with his work because of a damaged hard drive. Later, she became acquainted with Guancai and was introduced to the world of mountaineering and skiing, where she developed a deep connection with nature.
"Every mountain has its temperament, you are in nature, you will not be impulsive, you will not be impatient in the process of climbing. Da Huan said, "Because the slide is a very enjoyable, free, and comfortable process." They represent a free-spirited way of life, and the freedom that Suk pursues at the beginning of the article comes from this.
In the world of Archaeopteryx, skiing isn't a laid-back lifestyle show or a topic to drive traffic to the craze. Choosing skiing, especially the more intense mountaineering, condenses people's dreams of challenging themselves and realizing self-transcendence. However, there is no trivial matter between the mountains and snow, and only by adhering to the spirit of reverence in the mountains can we better enjoy the beauty brought by nature, which is also the spirit of Archaeopteryx.
You know, the reason why mountaineering skiing can be favored by a large number of skiers is because when people slide down from a high place, the feeling of flying under control seems to be able to filter out all the troubles, leaving only skiers to contact with the air, ice and snow, and mountains through changing movements, and touch the realm of coexistence with nature.
From indoor ski resorts to outdoor ski resorts to mountaineering and skiing, the expansion of skiers' enthusiasm is a reflection of the rapid development of skiing in China. Arc'teryx is also clearly keen to grasp the changes and has gone faster and earlier than many of its peers, refining the values behind skiing at the top of the product and retail channels.
This fundamentally explains why Archaeopteryx is a source of discussion.
Actor Xia Yu wrote when reposting "The Way of Mountain Snow" on his personal Weibo: "Skiing is a way to connect with nature, and it is also a process of recognizing fear and learning to be in awe. In bilibili, some netizens commented: "Mountain snow and freedom, all this requires you to really go in, to feel how to get along with nature, you may suddenly realize it, self-consistency." Whatever decisions and changes you make, it's up to you. ”
However, it is not easy for consumers to resonate for a long time. Rather than buying brands and products, consumers are choosing the life philosophy and value mode behind the brand that can resonate with them. Not only "The Way of Mountain and Snow", but also many other initiatives of Archaeopteryx have also resonated widely.
For example, sustainability.
In 2021, Arc'teryx announced the launch of the ReBIRD™ program, which aims to integrate sustainability throughout the life cycle of every garment. Two years later, the upgraded ReBIRD™ program was launched, which more comprehensively opened up the sustainable process of fabric selection, production process, sales channels and after-sales service from the three dimensions of ReCARE™, ReGEAR™ and ReCUT™, and explored a circular model with infinite possibilities.
This is not a fancy propaganda for the sake of image.
In a number of offline stores, Arc'teryx provides professional maintenance knowledge training and provides consumers with maintenance services for wear and tear equipment. Further upstream, the recycled garments will be repurposed and refurbished, with the use of sustainable production techniques to further reduce the carbon footprint. Even leftovers can be reinvigorated with a unique design concept and become a unique new piece.
In fact, born from nature, Archaeopteryx cherishes natural resources. It's the driving force behind sustainability, the root of the brand's worldview, and resonates with the issues of our time. And through one ingenious project after another, Archaeopteryx makes people feel intimate and close.
Once consumers empathize with the values that the brand conveys, the brand is likely to get a very good response.
If you do a good job as a brand, you can naturally do a good job
Today, Archaeopteryx is expanding at an accelerated rate visible to the naked eye.
From Beijing's Wangfu Central, Shanghai's Lippo Plaza to Jilin's Beidahu Snow Resort, a number of distinctive and large retail stores are emerging in the core areas of various cities and ski destinations, and these stores are also taking on the important task of communicating the brand image. Just this Christmas, in the enclosure design of the Archaeopteryx Museum at Wheelock International Plaza in Shanghai, the brand's "Looking for the Christmas Tree" image restores and pays tribute to the ice climbing path of Archaeopteryx athletes He Chuan and Liu Yang.
In recent years, boosted by the outdoor sports boom, the high price brought by the Arc'teryx process and the scarcity caused by limited production capacity have made many consumers respect it as a professional outdoor sports brand. But from jackets to snowsuits, anyone who has purchased its products can feel the brand's focus on functionality and durability firsthand.
After all, any visual embellishment that doesn't work in an outdoor setting, such as mountaineering and skiing, is severely restricted. Fancy designs are vulnerable to danger.
In terms of the seemingly most ordinary waterproof adhesive strip, Archaeopteryx uses the overflow method, which consumes a lot of man-hours in order to achieve the tightest protection effect. In more detail, the width of Arc'teryx's waterproof laminated tape has been reduced from the usual 2.2 cm to 0.8 cm to 1.3 cm to make the coat lighter.
Also made with extreme craftsmanship is the star product Sabre SV hardshell snow suit. To keep skiers safe, Arc'teryx uses recycled N100D 3L GORE-TEX® PRO fabric to protect against wind and rain, which can lead to hypothermia in inclement weather. The suit also has a RECCO® reflector embedded in it, which emits a signal so that the snow field equipped with a search and rescue device can find the location of the trapped person.
Some may interpret it as a minimalist design, but it's still a product force associated with a specific sport. Arc'teryx does not follow the trend to specify the operation strategy, and does not dilute the focus on product professionalism because of the rapid increase in popularity.
From the launch of the Mountain Classroom to the sponsorship of AARE, from the "Way of Mountain Snow" to the ReBIRD™ program, from functional design to value output, this series of initiatives has been placed on a broader level, Arc'teryx has not only built a mature product and worldview system for itself, but also inspired a large number of brands and consumers in and out of the ski circle in various senses.
It allows people to understand how a brand can pay attention to and discuss social issues while taking into account the quality of its products and the amount of communication. Sustained attention is what makes a real difference. As long as the participating brands always maintain their original intentions, the entire ski sports market will be able to develop positively, and the meaning of freedom behind it will be recognized by more people.