Submitted by SAMYAgency IPI Score 55/100

The North Face at Transgrancanaria: social-first race-week content

Social Media Marketing

SAMY embedded with The North Face athletes at the Transgrancanaria ultra-trail race, publishing 87 unedited, athlete-led posts that reached 1.1M accounts in a week.

1.1Mreach
54Kengagements
763Kinteractions

About the campaign

The North Face wanted a strong presence during race week at Transgrancanaria, the ultra-trail event it title-sponsors, but SAMY's reading was that race-week content only lands with the trail community if it feels immediate and credible rather than polished brand output. Endurance sport fans distrust glossy brand content around races, and the harder and messier the event, the more staged marketing stands out against the athletes' real experience, which made the raw, physical reality of a multi-stage race the asset rather than something to edit out.

SAMY embedded with The North Face athletes across race week and briefed them to capture their own experience, then published 87 posts spanning unedited clips, intimate image carousels, structured recap edits, race-day storytelling and live activations, with VECTIV footwear in use during competition. Content captured by and with competing athletes, left deliberately unedited, was designed to read as testimony rather than advertising.

Briefing sponsored athletes gave the brand credible event content an outside crew could not replicate, and pairing raw moments with structured recaps served both real-time immediacy and shareable summaries from one production effort. Publishing 87 posts across the whole week kept the sponsor present rather than hanging everything on one hero asset. The source does not name the platforms used or the edition year. SAMY reports the content reached 1.1M accounts and generated 763K interactions and 54K engagements, though all figures are self-reported, no independent source verifies the campaign, and how interactions are defined is not disclosed.

Case in 60 seconds

The North Face wanted a strong presence during race week at Transgrancanaria, the ultra-trail event it title-sponsors, but race-week content only lands with the trail community if it feels immediate and credible rather than polished brand output.

The trail running audience responds to on-the-ground coverage from athletes actually competing, so the raw, physical reality of a multi-stage race is the asset, not something to edit out.

Capture the unfiltered reality of race week through the brand's own athletes, pairing unedited clips and intimate image carousels with structured recap edits, with VECTIV footwear in use during competition.

SAMY embedded with The North Face athletes across race week, briefed them on capturing their own experience, and published 87 posts spanning unedited clips, carousels, recap edits, race-day storytelling and live activations.

The agency reports the race-week content reached 1.1M accounts and generated 763K interactions and 54K engagements. Figures are self-reported and not independently verified.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

The trail running community following Transgrancanaria, an audience the agency describes as responsive to credible, on-the-ground coverage of endurance sport.
Endurance sport fans distrust polished brand content around races; the harder and messier the event, the more staged marketing stands out against the athletes' real experience.
Outdoor brands sponsor races heavily, so a title sponsor needs its race-week content to prove genuine involvement rather than badge the event from a distance.
The North Face acted as title sponsor and team owner, putting its athletes, community and VECTIV footwear at the centre of the coverage rather than the brand itself.
Content captured by and with competing athletes, left deliberately unedited, reads as testimony rather than advertising, which is what earns attention from this audience during race week.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Unedited video clips
  • Intimate image carousels
  • Structured race recap edits
  • Social-first content series with athletes
  • Race-day storytelling and live activations

Partners

  • The North Face athlete team

Participation mechanic

  • Athletes briefed to capture their own authentic race experience
  • Agency team embedded with athletes throughout race week

Creator role

  • The North Face sponsored athletes as on-course content creators and subjects

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult typeConfidence
Accounts reached1.1MreachAgency reported
Total interactions763KengagementAgency reported
Engagements54KengagementAgency reported

Why SAMY's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Briefing sponsored athletes to capture their own race gives a brand credible event content that an outside crew would struggle to replicate.

  2. 2

    Deliberately unedited clips and intimate carousels can outperform polish with an endurance audience that values proof of the real experience.

  3. 3

    Pairing raw moments with structured recap edits serves both real-time immediacy and shareable summaries from one production effort.

  4. 4

    Publishing volume across the whole race week, 87 posts in this case, keeps a title sponsor present throughout the event rather than hanging everything on one hero asset.

  5. 5

    Putting product in genuine use, here VECTIV footwear in competition, integrates it without turning athlete content into an ad.

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