How The North Face turned a viral TikTok customer complaint into a marketing win

As a TikTok from an angry The North Face customer began going viral, it seemed to spell trouble for the brand, which was accused of selling a waterproof raincoat that didn’t live up to the billing. But a quick-thinking, savvy social media response by the company turned the situation into a marketing win. “I’ve got a bone to pick with The North Face,” began the video posted Nov. 16 from a woman identifying herself as Jenn Jensen (@fannypack310). It showed her soaking wet, hiking up a mountain in New Zealand. “I don’t want a refund,” she said in the video, adding, “I want you to redesign this raincoat to make it waterproof and express delivery up to the top of Hooker Valley Lake in New Zealand, where I will be waiting. I’ll be the only one up here looking like a drowned rat.” The video didn’t exactly go quietly into that wet night—by the time The North Face noticed it a few hours later, the TikTok had close to a million views, according to The North Face Director of Social and Community Maren Hamilton. @fannypack310 @thenorthface ♬ original sound - Jenn Jensen As a result, The North Face wasn’t satisfied with a quiet apology either. Upon seeing the video, Hamilton said her team got to work on a responde video. Luckily for The North Face, Jensen was available for a phone call with the brand the same day The North Face team reached out. The North Face’s response video, published just a few days later on Nov. 21, shows someone from the brand answering Jensen’s call to action. Set to the Phoenix song “Lisztomania,” viewers can see someone from the brand running to a The North Face store, grabbing a new waterproof raincoat, then getting on a helicopter and meeting the creator at the top of the mountain before giving her the coat. @thenorthface Replying to @Timbrodini We were busy express delivering @Jenn ♬ Lisztomania - Instrumental - Phoenix “Thanks North Face!” Jensen says to the camera at the end of the video. The video does not address what the issue was with Jensen’s original coat. Hamilton did not comment on it but indicated the replacement coat came from one of the brand’s top-tier product lines. The North Face’s response video currently has 4.2 million views, making it one of their best-performing TikToks to date (a TikTok posted by The North Face before the viral response received about 72,000 views). The video was filled with positive comments, with some users saying it is inspiring them to become customers. “I want to buy one only because of this video,” wrote user @k.rizzle0 in the comments. Jensen’s original video now has 11.4 million views, and a new video she made describing how the reaction video came together has more than 900,000 views. Plus, Hamilton pointed out that a post about The North Face’s response from Amanda Goetz, former VP of marketing for wedding planning platform The Knot, has garnered almost 19 million views on X, the social media platform formerly named Twitter. Goetz complimented The North Face’s response in her tweet. Another day, another viral TikTok with incredible brand response. This woman bought a rain jacket from @thenorthface and was hiking in the rain in Australia where she complained she was absolutely soaked despite the rain jacket saying it was waterproof. Her request? Meet me… pic.twitter.com/dqsagkbF2O— Amanda Goetz (@AmandaMGoetz) November 29, 2023 There were also some critiques about The North Face’s response, including one from X user @anniemaisocial, who said the video “feels much more staged ... also, the OG video makes North Face sound like an awful brand to buy as it can’t even keep you dry when it's raining—so why would she want a new one if... it doesn’t keep you dry? seems a lil (sic) staged and the helicopter feels like a weird flex.” The tweet from @anniemaisocial had over 3,000 likes and 1.5 million views as of writing. Hamilton said that the brand did not contact Jensen beforehand to make the original TikTok criticizing the jacket. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Zoom out The North Face is not the only brand whose recent quick turnaround in responding to a TikTok resulted in positive attention. In November, for instance, drinkware brand Stanley, responded to a viral video of one of its cups surviving a car fire by pledging to buy the owner of the vehicle a new car. “Dannggg Stanley taking it home! Great marketing. Great response. Bravooooo,” wrote user @castillo507 in the comments of Stanley’s response video. The post generated more than a million likes on TikTok within 16 hours. Stanley partially inspired The North Face’s response video, Hamilton said, although she added that The North Face had been perfecting its social listening skills to be ready for this type of reaction prior to Stanley’s move. Read more about Stanley’s reaction here Although these types of brand reactions might seem expensive (after all, renting a helicopter or buying a new car likely isn’t cheap), Hamilton said that creating this video was a financially savvy choice for The North Face. “If we look at what we spent on this versus what it would cost to pay for those impressions, it is a very, very, very efficient way for us to get our product out there,” Hamilton said. While The North Face offered to pay Jensen, she turned it down and did the work for free, according to Hamilton. The North Face flew Jensen up to the top of the mountain in a helicopter so she did not have to do the full hike again for the video, she added. Jensen did not immediately respond to Ad Age’s request for comment via TikTok. The North Face also paid a New Zealand content creator Sophie Piearcey to film the video and tapped North Face athlete Jossi Wells to star in it alongside Jensen. “It’s all about listening to our customers—that’s really the core of it,” Hamilton said. She added that these types of responses on TikTok remind her of the early days of social media. After all, brands have been responding to their customers on social for years now, such as when Kohl’s responded to “Chewbaca Mom” on Facebook back in 2016. “It feels like the spirit of social media is coming back again,” Hamilton said. Follow us on social media X Bluesky Instagram LinkedIn YouTube

How The North Face turned a viral TikTok customer complaint into a marketing win

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