Expanding Brand Positioning: Taking Mountain House Beyond Gear

Case Study: Mountain House

From backpacking legends to delicious base meal anywhere.

A long-time staple in the backpacking world, everyone loves Mountain House as the go-to for adventurers seeking a warm, satisfying meal on the trail. Following a record-breaking sales year during the pandemic, the Mountain House team asked us to help maintain their post-COVID growth and drive awareness of all the ways Mountain House can be used beyond the trail.

Insights: Consumer Research

Surveying Mountain House users, the results affirmed our initial hunch – Mountain House consumers were open to eating their pouches beyond the trail — even at home — but they needed some inspiration on how to take them from the gear box to the dinner table and beyond.

Customers were also diversely outdoorsy, participating in a range of activities – from hiking and hunting to biking and walking – whereas current marketing initiatives focused on the super outdoorsy, altruistic targets. Our creative approach tapped into these findings.

Strategy

To meet the goal of expanding usage and transition the view of Mountain House from gear to food, we set out to create new content that showcased their cooked meals in various settings, incorporating the brand’s expanded target consumer audience and new view of ourdoorsyness.

Here's How We Did It

– Concepted, styled and shot new photography for both Mountain House’s website and general marketing use, highlighting cooked product and different usage occasions

– Developed content graphics and GIFs, showcasing the real food that goes into each pouch, and ways customers can hack their meal for a weeknight-friendly dinner

– Built and executed paid digital ad plans to expand the brand’s reach

– Created outdoor-themed graphics and tips, to encourage consumer engagement and position Mountain House as the go-to resource for a variety of activities

– Developed lifestyle-focused newsletters highlighting usage occasions, recipes, etc., vs. sales

– Partnered with a diverse set of influencers to better reflect a broad range of eaters/outdoor activities