Steve Lesnard was recently hired as The North Face’s new global vice president of marketing. He came on board just as this company needed to create a marketing campaign for its revolutionary new fabric FUTURELIGHT. He quickly built a story around his new product and how it fits into the lives of The North Face’s customers. He is a graduate of Babson College, which is located in Wellesley, Massachusetts. FUTURELIGHT was created to address a long-standing complaint of outdoor athletes and enthusiasts. The complaint is that weatherproof clothing is just plain uncomfortable to wear. If you’re working hard your sweat is trapped in the clothing, making you hot and sweaty.

FUTURELIGHT is the first clothing material that is breathable, allowing hot air to escape from the clothing while keeping water out. FUTURELIGHT has other advantages. It can vary in stretchability, weight, texture, and construction. Since The North Face is a sustainable brand, it is also made to last for a very long time. It’s the first waterproof clothing to deliver on its promises. Steve Lesnard is a marketing guru. He is known for devising marketing strategies that cut through clutter and get to the heart of what a product offers consumers. Steve Lesnard says you must be crystal clear to consumers about what your brand offers and how it can help them.

This sounds like a simple concept but it’s hard to put into practice. Steve Lesnard says marketing strategy professionals nowadays have reams of data and complexity that didn’t exist that many years ago. You need to figure out what data matters and which is irrelevant to what you are trying to accomplish. Like other outdoor apparel manufacturers, The North Face has assembled a team of athletes from around the world who wear their latest clothing. These athletes represent the company’s ideal customer. By listening to these athletes, The North Face discovered they wanted waterproof clothing that was less constricted and more breathable. It took a few years to develop FUTURELIGHT which offers these features while still protecting the wearer from the outdoor elements. Click here.