THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!

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Strategy & Engagement

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YETI - Plan Your Wildest Year Yet

Finalist in Consumer Brand, Interactive Content, Micro-Site

Objective

YETI is globally renowned for its premium, ultra-durable products made for the outdoors. Instead of just marketing its tumblers, coolers, and outdoor gear, it’s built its business and brand around creative experiences and storytelling that inspire adventure seekers everywhere. Plan Your Wildest Year Yet was never intended to be solely a calendar; it’s a creative platform that injects YETI into the center of people’s lives—not just in their shopping carts but in their calendars. It turns intention into action, seamlessly integrating adventure planning into daily life.

This wouldn’t be another campaign that disappears after a few weeks. Plan Your Wildest Year Yet is an ongoing, always-on utility that people use, month after month, to shape their real-world experiences. To discover the best of the outdoors. That’s the difference between a brand that sells products and a brand that defines a way of life.

 

Strategy

Over half (57%) of Americans want to spend more time outdoors, but there is a knowledge and access gap between those who are involved in outdoor pursuits and those who wish they were. That white space galvanized YETI to share its vast knowledge of the outdoors with the world in a dynamic and accessible way, giving the outdoor-curious a year-long invitation to the best the planet has to offer. 

But the biggest challenge YETI faced was figuring out how to create an experience that felt engaging and personalized to each user, without the data that the Spotifys and Googles of the world have access to. 

Consider the fact that with Spotify Wrapped, you simply wake up one day, open the app, and the annual wrap of your musical listening is waiting for you.

But YETI has its own trusted and varied data in the form of vast outdoor knowledge, from deep roots in communities like surfing, fishing, and rodeo to its robust library of branded content. Instead of showing users a summarized version of their behaviors, YETI's goal was to feed users its data to affect their future behavior. 

At a time when most brands are looking back, YETI is looking forward. Launched at the end of 2024, “Plan Your Wildest Year Yet” is YETI’s innovative, interactive platform empowering adventure seekers everywhere to generate their very own custom calendar of global outdoor events to kick off 2025 right. From chasing waves to climbing peaks to discovering BBQ festivals, users can plan their best year yet with the help of YETI.

The experience embodies how YETI has reimagined commerce by moving its brand upstream. Traditionally, commerce happens at the point of transaction — you decide you need something, you buy it, and you're done. YETI disrupted this model by moving commerce upstream, embedding itself into customers’ lives long before they even consider purchasing. Instead of waiting for someone to decide they need a new cooler for a big trip, YETI inspires the trip itself. Instead of reacting to consumer demand, YETI creates the conditions where demand naturally emerges. Instead of selling products, YETI inspires experiences where its products are essential companions.

YETI's mission is to make the outdoors more accessible to everyone, and Plan Your Wildest Year Yet is YETI’s latest investment in that brand promise.

The experience starts with a quick, visually-engaging quiz built to capture the data necessary to curate each user’s calendar to their specific interests. Australia’s Big Wave Event? Check. Wyoming’s famous Jackson Hole Rodeo? Absolutely. TroutFest in Texas? Why not?

In less than four clicks, YETI provided users with something functional and inspirational to fuel their 2025. 

Whether you’re a seasoned adventurer or just dipping your toes into the Wild, Plan Your Wildest Year Yet puts the best of the outdoors at your fingertips, including over 250 events across 20 countries, available in three languages, and built into a fully accessible experience (meeting over 80 WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility standards). 

The outdoors can be intimidating to navigate, but Plan Your Wildest Year Yet makes it easy. The digital experience was the centerpiece of a campaign that spanned print, digital, social, and pre-roll ads that targeted outdoor enthusiasts and the outdoor curious in endemic media across surf, fish, culinary, and mountain pursuits. 

 

Results

Impact from Plan Your Wildest Year Yet has been a vibrant story of increased commerce, engagement and reach. 

 

 

 

Media

Video for YETI - Plan Your Wildest Year Yet

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Code and Theory, YETI

Links

Entry Credits