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Outdoor apparel brand Cotopaxi sponsored the Sundance Film Festival this year, after the Sundance Institute ended a decade-long relationship with luxury outdoor apparel retailer Canada Goose. The pivot created space for Cotopaxi, a smaller, Utah-based retailer known for its mission-driven strategy and colorful products.
Partnering made logistical sense, since Cotopaxi already operated a store on Park City Main Street. For the festival, it partnered with the publication IndieWire, which sold Cotopaxi products at its own Main Street pop-up location.
Cotopaxi’s chief brand officer, Brad Hiranaga, joined the company in 2022 after previously serving as General Mills’ chief marketing officer. He told ADWEEK that the festival partnership worked because the Sundance Institute’s values align with Cotopaxi’s commitment to sustainability, cultural exploration and adventure.
The CMO spoke with ADWEEK about Cotopaxi’s new role as a Sundance sponsor, its commitment to economic empowerment and whether Cotopaxi will get more involved with filmmakers.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
This is the first time you’ve activated at Sundance. Tell me about the partnership.
Cotopaxi has been around for about 10 years, but it has never activated [at the Sundance Film Festival]. As a smaller [Utah-based] brand, it was always great to have [the festival] in the backyard of Park City. Canada Goose had been doing the director’s jacket for quite a while. When they ended that partnership, the Sundance Institute called us.
Sundance Institute had a patch and a logo that they wanted to design. We had a jacket that we thought was pretty iconic, and the colors match really well.
They’re a nonprofit. We’re for profit, but we operate much like a philanthropic company does.
The reason I was excited for the partnership is that Sundance is all about having filmmakers show people the world, and giving access to culture and community through their filmmakers’ lenses. Cotopaxi’s beliefs are all about [the message], “See the world and make it better.” When you see the world, when you go explore other places—cities, states, just a town over even—you start to learn about other people who maybe have different cultures, communities, beliefs, eat different food or have different stories. We love that connection because it’s very similar to the mission that we believe the brand is built on.
