Nic Brandenberger and I were a team at eBay — so we’d already learned how to hand off thoughts between each other effortlessly. We managed to create a shorthand where there’s the least space between strategic intent and creative expression.
Nic had just taken a new position as CMO of the legendary mountain sports brand Mammut and had already created alignment through the business around a central Brand Strategy but it still needed to be expressed. He asked if I could embed within his team to help create a platform for Mammut. Platform thinking is something that I was lucky enough to shape in my time within the innovative team at R/GA led by Nick Law. A platform is more than a campaign, more than a tagline, it’s the unification of systems and stories that can change the nature of the business.
A platform for Mammut needed to unify product innovation, their passion for mountains, and their markets which span the width of mountain sports. Facing stiff competition from many competitors we needed to double down on Mammut’s strengths: Swiss heritage, a 162-year tenure as an innovator in the category, a record for safety, and the fact that all the products are designed 1460FT above sea level in Seon. Mammut is in the Mountains. The Mountains are in Mammut.
Although I’m proud of my own Swiss heritage and knowledge of the mountains, I began by re-educating myself, as each of the Mammut team climbed, hiked, and skied continually. I began daily hiking, reading, and watching films and documentaries, Free Solo, The Alpanist, Summit, and 127 Hours. I was struck by how many recent films existed. It reminded me of the time Surf Culture hit the mainstream, with Endless Summer in 1966, then again with Point Break in 1991, which was preceded by David Carson’s visual expression for Beach Culture in 1990. Surf Culture became ubiquitous in the early nineties, was the same thing about to happen for Mountain Culture?
Mountain culture was the starting point for the team and a logical and emotional bridge from the brand strategy. But these first thoughts were fragile, a new idea, it’s a testament to my team, Nic, Charley, and Justyna, then Sundus and Julia that they supported that idea, and let it grow. We all found our own ways to express the thought, circling it. But, I began to write. My first expression of mountain culture was a thought ‘Riding the Slow Waves’, making a literal comparison between surfing and mountaineering.
Considering the longer game of being above the treeline asked the question of the ultimate goal of mountain sports. It was quickly clear that growth was the outcome of placing oneself repeatedly in extremely challenging environments above the treeline. Growth became the platform
Expressing growth, as a slow, deliberate choice through challenge helped me find the words ‘Rise with the Mountain’. It felt like the kind of thing that should be said in unison, an ode to personal growth within nature that manages growth on such a massive scale. It also felt like the scale of an actual Mammoth, evolving to match the scale of its context. Once the team were aligned, we worked with my good friend Nate Robinson and his team at NTropic to express this thought as a linear narrative. Then we had to consider the system which as you can see evolved from the mood film.
Rise with the Mountain is an expression of the growth each person is seeking when they accept the challenge of such extreme vertical movement. An act of defying gravity, embracing challenging conditions in order to grow. Like Astronauts who train to get to space, getting to witness how fragile Earth is, and seeing the wonderful opportunity we all have to prosper.
But this isn’t a launch, it’s a celebration of an idea, building a brand, made to support mountain culture and the communities that live within. Mammut is using Rise with the Mountain as a platform for all of their agencies — but there’s so much more work to do. Something that I’m most excited about is how we might measure and support growth. More soon.
Team:
Nic Brandenberger — CMO
Marc Shillum — Platform Concept
Charley Radcliff — Creative Director
Sundas Zuccalli — Design
Julia Rau — Copy
Justyna Wojewoda-Chkraborty — Research
Nathan Robinson, NTropic — Mood Film