• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, December 14, 2009

Cloudveil makes products for hardcore mountain climbing, backcountry skiing and fly-fishing enthusiasts.

 These hobbies depend highly on weather conditions, so plans can change at the drop of a hat. In other words, your presence isn't really needed at that important business meeting and your beloved pet can hold it until you return home from a day of skiing.

Since excuses are par for the course, Cloudveil launched a cross-promotional campaign that allowed consumers to purchase gear for themselves and buy an "I'm sorry" gift for someone at another Web site.

Cloudveil has been running an ongoing print campaign, its first in three years, featuring apparel available on Cloudveil's Web site, yet creative places prominent emphasis on a non-sports related product.

Enthusiasts can buy a jacket along with a "Fresh-Powder-Made-Me-Miss-Lunch-With-Your-Parents" bouquet for $39.99 from 1-800-FLOWERS.

A pooch left home all day might score $5.99 dog treats from kooldogkafe.com called "Sorry-I-Went-Climbing-Again-Instead-Of-Taking-You-For-A-Walk."

Zazzle.com has a $12.99 mug for an athlete's boss that says: "Sorry-I-Missed-The-Meeting-Because-Of-The-Stonefly-Hatch" on one side and "#1 BOSS" on the other.

Apology orders begin on cloudveil.com, which then brings consumers to a partner Web site for an additional purchase. Each partner product is sent with a Cloudveil-branded "I'm Sorry" card.

TDA Advertising & Design created the branding campaign, running in Outside, Backpacker, Backcountry, Powder, Telemark Skier, Alpinist, Rock & Ice, Fly Rod & Reel, Drake and Angling Trade. Backbone Media handled the media buy.

"Cloudveil attracts some of the most devoted athletes in the world. That devotion comes with a bit of sacrifice, often from the athlete's family, so we wanted to help alleviate any problems that might arise," said Suzie Hultman, Senior Marketing Manager of Cloudveil.

The most challenging part of this campaign was creating code that easily transferred customers from Cloudveil's Web site to a partner site.

Cloudveil doesn't receive a percentage of profits from purchases relayed to the third party sites: the campaign was created strictly as a brand-building tool.

"Selling the non-apparel items wasn't the primary goal. Getting people to stop and look, wonder, and get online to check it out was the point," said Hultman.