BY PAOLO MOTTOLA
DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM MANAGER
@REI
ANATOMY OF AN APRIL FOOLS’ DAY WIN
At REI, we inspire, educate and outfit for a
lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship.
WHO WE ARE
• April Fools’ Day has become an online “brand parade” (especially in the tech vertical) over the past few years.
• REI had not participated in April Fools’ Day in any major way.
THE OPPORTUNITY
8-bit Google Maps, 2012
Warby Barker, 2012
Toshiba TubeTop, 2010
Image sources: http://us.toshiba.com/tubetop/, http://wapo.st/ZiIt2d, http://www.warbybarker.com/
• We thought about our own, simple way of nodding to Internet culture:
o REI = Gear; Kittens = Internet dynamite
o The result: Kitten Adventure Gear!
THE APPROACH
Cute? Yes… Prepared to climb a 14er? Hardly.
Image source: http://onforb.es/ZiIVh3
• We developed the concept into
1. A shareable image for social networks (REI is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, among others)
2. A content page on REI.com that the image could drive to for the joke unveil (a modal saying, ‘Just Kidding, Happy April Fools’ Day)
• We had fun!
THE EXECUTION
THE DELIVERY
• Media coverage in Mashable, Glamour, KPLU (NPR), Cheezburger, and many more blogs
• The Kitten Adventure Gear Page was the #2 visited page - after the homepage - on REI.com on April Fools’ Day!
• 20,800+ Facebook shares; 500+ Twitter re-tweets
• Positive comments through website feedback form
Like what you see? Find us at REI.com and @REI
THE RESULTS