How Columbia Sportswear Broke Through With Fax Machines and Flat-Earthers

Outdoor advertising that doesn’t look like outdoor advertising

A grim reaper, flat-Earthers and references to the climbing ordeal that inspired “127 Hours” aren’t typical outdoor apparel fare, but they’ve helped Columbia Sportswear stand out since launching its “Engineered for Whatever” platform in 2024. Head of marketing Matt Sutton, who joined that September, leads the effort with global agency of record Adam&eveDDB.

The latest stunt: fax in an order for Columbia’s ’90s-inspired Helvetia fleece and get one free, supported by a partnership with influencer Ken Eurich. “Expedition Impossible,” in which CEO Tim Boyle challenged flat-Earthers to find the edge of the globe, won the Grand Prix in Brand Experience & Activation at Cannes Lions this year — Columbia’s first time at the festival. The company saw a double-digit rise in new North American customers in Q2, while its parent’s net sales rose 2% to $614.4 million, with some U.S. softness. The core of Columbia’s marketing is humor brought back on purpose.

Humor is a tightrope

“Humor was kind of canceled out of advertising for a period of time, and we’ve intentionally brought it back,” Sutton said. “Bringing it back in a way that doesn’t offend in this new world is a tightrope.”

The edge has roots. Columbia became famous in the 1980s and ’90s with the “One Tough Mother” campaign featuring Gert Boyle, the current CEO’s mother, then drifted toward the sleek, professional look competitors chased in the 2000s and 2010s. Reclaiming the quirky heritage of an 88-year-old brand makes it distinctive — and, Sutton hopes, makes consumers see its products as distinctive too.

Invitation, not mockery

The flat-Earth idea was a real risk. Take the wrong tone and you’re a bully; take the right one and everyone laughs together. Columbia invited the audience outdoors rather than mocking them, and even gave awards to participants. Keeping it positive, Sutton said, de-risked a negative response.

From media planning to attention planning

• Less long-tail programmatic: investment moved into higher-attention channels, online and offline.
• Direct mail is back: Columbia reactivated mail after a long pause.
• TikTok and creators scaled up: it turned on TikTok and grew from a few dozen creators to several hundred a year.

To balance storytelling with technical credibility, Columbia targets professionals — trail runners, skiers, anglers — whose followers influence the mass market, using consumer testing to plant “Easter eggs” experts would notice.

The return to analog

Sutton points to consumers tired of technology and AI returning to real-world experiences. Through Columbia Hike Society, the brand runs thousands of hikes a year with tens of thousands of participants in dozens of countries — an inclusive alternative as run clubs saturate.

Takeaways for marketers

Humor works when it fits the brand’s character; the guardrails described in why brand personality matters more than ever are what make risk-taking possible, echoing Snapchat’s comedy guide for brands. And changing ads alone takes forever — Sutton credits momentum to CRM, email, mid-funnel paid social and product all moving at once.