About the Company

The challenge in 2012 was to create a new mountain lifestyle apparel brand from the ground up. Stio was an aggressive start up intent on blending small town mountain living with modern designs. The opportunity was to build the business uniquely focused on direct to consumer via eCommerce, catalog and retail.

Our Partnership

The goal was to define a niche connecting on an emotional level with customers living an authentic mountain lifestyle. Although product was to maintain the standards of legitimate technical outdoor apparel, this was not the hinge with the consumer. Rather, the premise was to engage in a more authentic dialog with and about the modern mountain lifestyle.

Strategy Focus

Research conducted specifically with representative mountain town residents provided the underpinnings via the Customer Activation Cycle and the Story Universe for defining the brand environment and multi-channel customer experience that would fully expresses Stio's unique point of view. Penning strategy for a multi-channel startup that was to launch on the premise that a direct to consumer catalog would carry the lion’s share of prospecting was somewhat unprecedented in this category, but the research provided the confidence to build it all at once.

Demonstrated Impact

Stio resonated with its target customer right from the outset. Growth followed rapidly and steadily. Privately held, the numbers and percentages of growth are not to be shared publicly however, the migration of customers to regular, repeat purchase patterns rival much more established brands. Achieving this in a relatively crowded market is to be noted. “Working with Craig Wilson, on the fundamental brand positioning and execution was key in our brand launch. Going through Compass and Nail’s process allowed us to identify what is most important to 'sweet spot' Stio customers and execute on creative touch points that establish the right kind of connections. The process, deliverables have been essential tools for our launch.” —Noah Waterhouse, VP of Marketing