The North Face TracKING APP Sets Up A Unique Run & Hike Community-Driven Platform

20.04.2012

The North Face has launched The North Face TracKING, a new proprietary performance APP which enables participants to digitally compete with their friends via social media to show performance over distance, altitude and speed.

Downloading The North Face TracKING instantly allows participants with an explorative spirit into an exclusive online community of like-minded trail runners and hikers gathered at The North Face Europe's Facebook page. After completing a hike or a run, The North Face TracKING records your current and previous results in a personal performance library that can be compared and contrasted with your friends’. Each participant can also submit their results to weekly competitions to win top The North Face prizes for running the fastest, holding the highest elevation, or reaching the furthest distance.

Features of the APP include positive voice prompts to alert participants as to how far they've gone, number of calories burned, and distance remaining. Unlike other performance APPs, The North Face TracKING APP also runs an algorithm against data retrieved from the mobile device’s internal GPS antennae in order to calculate positive elevation. This way, the effort put into a steep hike versus a flat run of the same distance will be highlighted on the individual’s results’ page.

Additionally, during activity, the APP makes a series of API calls to Wikipedia to retrieve geo-located data about points of interest that surround the participant whilst they are moving. The participant’s ranking can be found on their personal Facebook Dashboard on The North Face Europe Facebook page.

"Our mission for mobile activation is to bring together exploration, performance and community. The North Face TracKING APP was developed for our fans to live the brand's ethos of Never Stop Exploring™ with the added ability of sharing their results with our community and getting rewarded for it," states Michele Scarano, Head of Digital Marketing The North Face EMEA.

Download The North Face TracKING APP from The North Face Europe website, Facebook Page or iTunes Store.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/thenorthface.europe

website: http://uk.thenorthface.com/blog/eu/en/tracking 

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-north-face-tracking/id516701239?mt=8