Recently surfing the Treehugger site and couldn’t help but notice the two square banner ads over on the upper right hand side of the screen. One on top of the other and so close they were almost linked, I couldn’t help but see the serendipity of the moment. On the top was the Patagonia ad, which was static and displayed just their logo and nothing else. On the bottom, flashing between various frames pitching an organic cotton tee shirt promotion and showing models wearing the product, was the new apparel company NAU.

Of course those of you who are familiar with NAU know that there are quite a few Patagonia alums that jumped ship to join the nascent ranks of this cool new company that dedicates itself to changing paradigms in the outdoor industry. So there’s that.

But what struck me were the different approaches to their ads. They were directly “on brand” and, in fact, not surprising at all.

First, that they both were pitching to Treehugger readers was no surprise–although, I do find it interesting that NAU is doing more advertising recently when I had heard from one high level NAU executive a distinct aversion towards advertising. (A necessary evil, I suppose, when you are launching a socially responsible apparel brand that needs to sell product in a crowded category, which in itself, is taking on many shades of green.)

Mainly, I smiled just thinking about the two different brands. One the one hand, Patagonia is the stand sure, no frills, confident, and unwavering original. On the other hand, their new competitor is the bright, shiny, new kid on the block with flashing animated ads, promotional offers, and the need to stand out.

Patagonia is relying on its logo to carry the day, feeling confident in the established recognition and emotional connection that its logomark carries, while NAU is just trying to get our attention. NAU laid a solid groundwork coming out of the gate earlier in the year with a well financed public relations push and a cool online social community strategy, but in the end, a brand isn’t created overnight and NAU knows this.

It will be interesting to watch these two brands over the next two years, as they each go after the same evolving mainstream consumer (beyond Patagonia’s Core consumer) who is looking for social responsibility in the brand they display on the streets and trails.