This is a post in our socially conscious media series. Here’s what our new column is all about, in case you missed it.

Whether Cheryl Strayed’s journey in Wild gave you the camping bug or swear off the outdoors, United By Blue’s recent Social Media campaign #CampLikeaLady truly captured the ideals of their brand in one campaign.

Don’t believe me? Just search Tumblr and Instagram to find the beautiful photos from the #camplikealady weekend.

Waterfalls, snow, sleet and run-ins with park rangers. #camplikealady coming soon to United By Blue! #bluemovement photo by @morningslikethese

A photo posted by United By Blue (@unitedbyblue) on Oct 20, 2014 at 6:52am PDT

Who is United By blue?

Just in case you’ve been sleeping under a rock and avoiding Old City, United By Blue has been making waves since 2010.

Founded by Brian Linton, United by Blue (UBB) is a local apparel company with a mission: to remove one pound of trash from our waterways for each product sold.

Their cleanups draw hundreds of volunteers and has removed over 203,500 pounds of trash to date. After Hurricane Sandy, I joined a cleanup in Staten Island with the UBB crew. It was great to participate, seeing UBB in action for their mission.

#camplikealady Hiking Trip

So how did United By Blue’s #Hikelikealady begin? I chatted with UBB’s Creative Director, Brianna Nieman, to learn how this brilliant campaign transpired.

Originally from Seattle, Nieman is passionate about the outdoors. She noticed a marketing trend: Outdoor companies tend to traditionally show a man and woman hiking. But in actuality, a lot of women enjoy hiking on their own or in groups.

There was a gap between what outdoor companies were showing and what was actually happening.

So Nieman gathered 15 women together from PA, VA & DE – mostly bloggers, photographers and United by Blue employees. The response was great: they were super enthused about the trip. The lady hikers stayed excited throughout the weekend, although nature threw a few curveballs: hiking at Ricket’s Glen through cold and ‘terrible’ weather, even waking up to snow. 

This morning. Caught in the act by the spectacular @dailysomething I went a little crazy with textures and comfygirl vibes in the vanagon. Woke up to freezing high20/low30 degree temps, ready for bacon and tea. Thank you to all the wonderful women that made this weekend happen with @unitedbyblue #bluemovement #camplikealady A photo posted by Katharine Anne (@tkowkat) on Oct 19, 2014 at 9:56am PDT

UBB provided the lady hikers with a gift pack, where they could choose UBB products: a bookbag, scarfs, hats and other outdoor apparel to use throughout the weekend.

The best part of allowing the women to pick their own items? Many of the items weren’t on the market yet, so the ladies styled the pieces in their own ways and provided feedback to the company. United by Blue actually borrowed from their unique tastes for marketing the collection, likely drawing to new styles they wouldn’t have considered otherwise. Double win for knowing your customer base, right?

// caught this sweet moment of @dailysomething & @morningslikethese [ @joye.jaynes ] looking lovingly at the little one. I absolutely adored meeting these two wonderful & kind ladies on the @unitedbyblue camping trip. Rebecca was a trooper!

A photo posted by Melissa Tilley (@melissa_annetilley) on Oct 22, 2014 at 4:23pm PDT

Instagram

UBB used two main hashtags for the weekend, both #Camplikealady and #bluemovement, which is used to for their ‘waterways’ movement.

The #camplikealady hashtag expanded from UBB’s audience to all of the lady hikers followers. Plus, these photos were Instagram-ready: real women in beautiful, PA nature.

Plus, they tried a few discount codes to test their engagement. One that went out for free shipping received a couple of orders. But the big winner? They gave a special discount code for the hikers to give to their followers (20% off the collection), which got a ton of feedback from their followers.

The main lesson? You can expand your reach using the right influencers that fit your brand. They chose women who enjoyed the outdoors, who likely drew likeminded followers. UBB expanded their reach to the perfect audience.

UBB plans on trying similar efforts in the future based off their success.

Readers, have you tried anything similar with visual campaigns for your brand? Or do you know of a campaign we should discuss in an upcoming post? Tell us in the comments!

Want to know how we can help you in social media & similar campaigns? Send us an email to find out more.

Photos: United by Blue & Social Media as noted.

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher