GO Outdoors staff lead by example in new TV ad campaign 
Everybody needs a little adventure in their lives, and at GO Outdoors we’re hoping to inspire the adventurous side in you with our new TV ad. The ad is inspired by that ‘Lets just go’ reaction, leaving excuses behind and getting out there to try something new, it’s the year to make your sofa feel lonely.
It’s no secret that at GO Outdoors our staff love to practice what they preach. Our store and head office staff are keen campers, anglers, mountain bikers, climbers, walkers and that is just scratching the surface. With that in mind, there were no better people to put in our ad than those you would be speaking to when you visited our stores.
Watch: Behind the scenes of the GO Outdoors TV ad
25 store and head office staff from around the country gathered in North Wales for a week in late April for the filming, and luckily for us it was a stunning week for weather.
Ian Mac of GO Outdoors Youtube fame recalls the week:
The idea for our new Summer advert was a simple one – to show the range of products that we sell and the activities we cater for, and to make the outdoors look accessible and fun. We believe that the great outdoors is there for everyone to enjoy no matter what their skills or budget are.
We really wanted the advert to look and feel authentic, so instead of devising complicated scenes – we simply got our fantastic cast of staff to just get on and do the things they love! For example our climbers from the Sheffield store just went climbing and the camera crew followed them around – thankful they had a head for heights!
We chose North Wales as it has some of the most beautiful and varied scenery in the UK from beautiful beaches to the impressive mountains of Snowdonia. The only challenge was, it is also 2 hours from the nearest GO Outdoors store which meant everything we needed for the shoot had to be packed up in our huge van and driven there! This included 30 tents, 6 bikes, 6 boxes of clothing, 30 pairs of boots and shoes, 20 camping chairs – basically a mini GO outdoors store in a van. Our base was the fantastic Ty’n Coed campsite in Morfa Nefyn.
Day one
Our first scene was filmed on a remote hilltop overlooking Nefyn – a beautiful spot framed by the most vibrant gorse flowers and owned by a very friendly farmer, the Sheffield staff found a great slate quarry there too and nipped off for some climbing on the last day before heading home.
We then made the trip to the sea cliffs by Pistyll to film some walking scenes and had a close encounter with some angry bullocks that clearly didn’t want to be filmed!
At sunset we were all down on the beach by the world famous Ty Coch pub, that literally sits on the beach and was recently voted in the top ten beach bars in the world.
We then had the chance to shoot some great footage of seaside fun – which basically involved the kids throwing seaweed at the producer.
Day Two
A 4 am alarm call for the crew and Duncan from our Colchester store to head to Llyn Padarn near Llanberis to shoot our fishing scene as the sun came up. It was a magical location and looked stunning when the orange morning light bounced off the lake. Duncan showed incredible commitment as he had to stand in the freezing lake barefoot for over an hour, but sadly didn’t catch us a trout for breakfast.
The rest of our cast arrived at 8am and we headed around the corner to film our climbing scene. This part of the advert had been planned as a bouldering scene, but when we got to the location, tucked around the corner we found a fantastic crag that looked like the alps. Luckily the Sheffield crew had all there climbing equipment with them (always be prepared) so we decided on the spot to try and film a trad climbing scene which looked incredible and ended up in the final version.
After lunch we took everyone to Anglesey, to Newborough beach and forest. This was a breathtakingly beautiful location and has to be one of the best beaches in the world! Here we had a hectic afternoon filming 6 different scenes including horse riding, mountain biking, adventure camping, running and ended up with a game of rounders with all the staff as the sun was setting.
An hours drive back to the campsite followed to film a night time camping scene – we lit the barbecues and lit the tents with lanterns whilst the cameras rolled as our cast ate their dinner. Everyone got to bed at about 1am and definitely slept well that night!
Day Three
Another early start to film our family camping scene – we had filled the campsite with 30 tents and had a great morning shooting the staff as they lounged around the campsite trying not to get sunburnt.
After lunch everyone pilled into the minibuses to head back to Llanberis to film our road biking and road running shots before driving to Snowdon for the final scene of the week.
This was a huge logistical task getting all the cast and crew halfway up Snowdon to a remote lake where we had built a mountain camping scene with a campfire and marshmallows. Most of the equipment had to be driven there in a trailer behind a quad bike which was an exciting ride for me to say the least! We kept on filming until it went dark, then a quick pack up and a headtorch lit walk back down the mountain before hearing the welcome words ‘that’s a wrap!’
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Fans of GO Outdoors may notice this ad is rather different to anything you have seen from us before, we hope you like the finished product. Stay tuned throughout the summer as we share expert advice in all the areas featured in our advert, and if you’re having your own little adventure in 2015, be sure to let us know using the hashtag #LetsJustGo.
Our new TV ad debuts Monday 18th May 2015
