Meridian Field Notes Campaign
A creator-led content engine that gave an outdoor gear brand a voice people actually followed.
The Story
Challenge
Meridian made genuinely good gear and marketed it like a spec sheet. Their social was product shots and percentages. Engagement was thin, and they had no idea which of their 20-odd product lines to even talk about.
Approach
We reframed the brand around the people using the gear, not the gear itself. "Field Notes" became an ongoing series — real trips, real conditions, honest reviews — with me directing a small roster of creators and shooting the anchor content myself.
Creative Process
I built the content pillars, wrote the creator briefs, and set up a monthly rhythm of one hero film, a set of field photography, and a batch of short-form. Then I trained their in-house marketer to run the system so it wouldn't collapse when I stepped back.
Gallery
Results
- Grew the account from 11k to 47k in seven months
- Short-form completion rate improved from 24% to 61%
- Two "Field Notes" films drove the best-selling launches in company history
- The system now runs in-house with quarterly creative check-ins
Reflection
The lesson I keep relearning: audiences don't want to be sold gear, they want to be invited somewhere. Once we stopped talking about the jacket and started talking about the cold morning, everything moved.
Next project
Wilder & Fern Rebrand