During the era when the North Face solidified their reputation as making great gear they were the first, or one of the first, to grasp the idea of modern marketing and creating a brand image. The North Face did this with the great catalogs featuring exploits in exotic locations by Ned Gillette and Galen Rowell and the like. I think sponsorship of these expeditions helped propel the North Face far ahead of many competitors. To this day, the North Face still has ads featuring high profile climbers such as Conrad Anker. The sponsorship doesn't make their gear any better, but it does make it more desirable by the average reader of Outside or Backpacker.