REI has a high level of corporate transparency …show more content…
Last year REI gave all their 12,000 employees a paid day to spend doing activities outside, on black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. REI encouraged people to not participate in black Friday shopping, but to #OptOutside. 1.4 million people committed to this idea. This alternative to a day of consumerism took off; state and national parks, nonprofits, communities and other companies joined in. It speaks volumes to the work of REI when other companies not only use REI’s hashtag, but jump on the campaign and link to the retailer’s website.
Social media was key to this movement. Last year, REI had a landing page that would aggregate user pictures with #OptOutside. They also provided graphic overlay with text “On Black Friday I’ll be ___ #OptOutside”, people could choose between different activities such as hiking, camping, biking, etc. Their target ads were location based and provided user resources for local outdoor activities. This allowed for other organizations to jump on board. For example, Kansas State Parks picked a winner who submitted pictures through #myksstatepark for a free overnight cabin