Overview#
Canadian outdoor equipment brand Arc'teryx is hosting a touring film exhibition in China from October 25 to December 25 to publicize its new brand campaign, titled No Wasted Days.
Showcasing nine short films commissioned by the brand that pay tribute to the mountains, the pop-up’s first stop was at Sino Taikoo Li, Chengdu, where the brand set up an immersive space to show a film named Continuum. The flick stars six winter sports athletes in partnership with Arc'teryx and tells the story of how they repurpose the brand’s signature shell jackets as tents. The exhibition will land in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing in the coming months.
Netizens’ reaction#
Along with the physical exhibitions, Arc'teryx also launched a dedicated WeChat mini-program named No Wasted Days, where users can access all the exhibition’s short films. The campaign post surpassed 100,000 reads on the brand’s official WeChat account within four days. Brand followers also commented their positive reviews of the film below the post, describing how the storytelling inspired them to participate in outdoor activities.
Verdict
Arc’teryx has seen record growth in the mainland market since its parent company, Amer Sports, was acquired by Anta Group in 2018. In the first half of 2023, Amer Sports broke even, making it the best first-half performance for the company since 2018. According to Anta’s 2023 interim report, Amer Sports’ revenue increased 37.2 percent year on year to 1.82 billion (RMB 13.27 billion) in 1H 2023 thanks to its three key brands: Arc’teryx, Salomon, and Wilson.
With an increasing number of Chinese people engaging in outdoor activities like camping, hiking, climbing, and cycling, the rapidly expanding outdoor sports sector presents a promising opportunity for international sportswear brands. Arc’teryx is one of the leading players doubling down on the Chinese market and investing big to improve its brand desirability among local shoppers.
On Xiaohongshu, there are over 140,000 notes and 464.5 million views under the Arc’teryx hashtag. Posts about Arc’teryx products are not only being written by outdoor sports enthusiasts, but also those who are interested in the outdoors but not necessarily engaging in related activities.
Arc’teryx has smartly identified its target customers in the mainland market. By highlighting its brand story of mountaineering and connecting with China’s outdoor communities, Arc’teryx is attracting more participants to the sector in the hope of retaining them as loyal customers.