The company is running the mobile ads within Pandora. Through the mobile ads, consumers can find the nearest store location or shop via their mobile device.

“The ability for any retailers customers to be able to shop via the mobile for an instant purchase is becoming more and more critical these days,” said Marci Troutman, CEO of Siteminis, Atlanta.

“Consumers are checking their email via mobile, making sure that the email ad lands them on a mobile friendly-site for an instant ROI shows the ability to link the email campaign to a print ad, to a social media piece, to signage and brings the entire campaign full circle with a provable purchase caused by the chain reaction,” she said.

Marci Troutman is not affiliated with The North Face. She commented based on her expertise on the subject.

The North Face, a division of VF Outdoor Inc., is an outdoor product company specializing in outerwear, fleece, footwear and equipment such as backpacks, tents and sleeping bags.

The clothing and equipment lines are catered towards the wilderness chic, climbers, mountaineers, skiers, snowboarders, hikers and endurance athletes.

The company did not respond to media inquiries in time for publication.

The mobile ads read “Athlete Tested. Expedition Proven. Click to Find a Store Near You.”

When consumers tap on the mobile ad they are redirected to a mobile-optimized page where they can either find the nearest store, view their account or shop for winter gear.

Users can shop by category such as men’s, women’s, kids’ and equipment.

Consumers can also use the search function on the top of the screen if they are looking for a particular item.

The company is also offering free shipping on all orders more than a $100 for a limited time only.

Mobile effectiveness
Running a mobile ad such as this could be very effective for The North Face.

Consumers are always on the go, and with the holidays coming up, they are searching for winter gear.

Running a targeted at that lets them complete a transaction is smart.

This is not The North Face’s first foray into mobile.

Last year, the company rolled out its first-ever location-based mobile marketing campaign in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle.

The retailer partnered with location-based mobile advertising company 1020 Placecast to power the campaign using geo-fencing technology to identify the handsets of opted-in consumers within a certain radius of bricks-and-mortar retail locations in the four cities (see story).

“Retailers don’t need to rely on customers being in their area or passing by their shop for a purchase, the purchase can be made and shipped no matter where they are – using this medium to add to their bottom line is an extremely smart business move,” Ms. Troutman said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York