Millions of people can’t get enough of the great outdoors, as evidenced by the overcrowded hiking trails, overflowing parking lots at national and local parks, and the spike in house sales in mountainous locales.
Getting out means different things to different people, with hikers alone favoring varying degrees of altitude and terrain. Post-lockdown, though, a walkabout could just mean a jaunt to a local coffee shop. To relay a more all-encompassing motivation to explore new boundaries, the outdoorwear label Acai has launched a campaign encouraging “outdoorsing.”
The five-year-old company isn’t the first to build advertising and social media around stepping outside. Three years ago L.L. Bean launched its “Be an Outsider” platform that played up the benefits of not just exercising in nature, but working al fresco. The integrated “Be an Outsider at Work” campaign exceeded the retailer’s goal of 150 million earned impressions. It is worth noting that at that time L.L. Bean’s core audience spent 95 percent of their lives indoors with half of them at desk jobs.
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Acai is playing up its newly coined outdoorsing with the participation of 60 women from various professional fields including TV presenters Kirsty Gallacher and Helen Skelton; “The Gut Health” doctor Megan Rossi; chefs Jasmine Hemsley and Clodagh McKenna; LuxuryColumnist’s Suze Renner, and others. Each individual is sharing the benefits of getting outdoors, offering tips and personal insights. Another appointed Acai influencer, Julie Smith, advises that, “We don’t have to climb mountains or hike through jungles to get the benefits of being outdoors,” saying that research shows just 20 minutes of time outdoors is associated with good health and well-being.
Acai’s cofounder and creative director Kasia Bromley worked in high fashion before designing functional activewear. She previously worked for the late designer Alexander McQueen before venturing into sportier attire. She noted that no one should feel out of place or uncomfortable in the outdoors.