Patagonia’s brand strategy: developing a purpose-led brand
From surfer dudes to ‘finance bros’, Patagonia is a favourite amongst thrill-seekers and professionals. Founded in 1973, the brand has a long history of working with nonprofits and environmental conservators, staying true to their mission of being in the ‘business to save the planet’. In a world where brand values can either make or break a company, let’s take a closer look at how Patagonia has championed being purpose-led.
Purpose lead.
Purpose is increasingly becoming the 5th “P” of Marketing (alongside Product, Price, Promotion and Place). Defining your brand’s purpose and committing to it can build your brand’s reputation, increase consumer trust and help win brand loyalty amongst your target audience.
59% of shoppers prefer to buy new products from the brands they trust. (Invesp)
The brand that wears its values on its sleeve - quite literally. Continuously advocating for environmental grassroots non-profits and investing in sustainable apparel initiatives, Patagonia embeds their purpose into every aspect of what they do and are also inspired by other purpose-led brands who do the same such as Ben & Jerry’s.
The Director of Digital Impact at Patagonia said one of the brands he appreciates in terms of authenticity and community is Ben & Jerry’s in their approach to packaging their content and boiling down complex ideas to a more inclusive, uplifting language and their activism for social injustice.
Community activation.
They support the work of over 1200 environmental non-profits. From getting their petitions out there, driving attendees to events to finding volunteers for their organisations. Rather than owning the conversation in their communities, Patagonia tries to be part of it instead. This is the same approach that they take to social media as a community management strategy. Instead of talking at their audience, they engage with their audience by adding to the discussion where it’s happening rather than defining it themselves, places like eco-conscious Reddit threads tend to be an interesting space for them.
Director of Digital Impact, “We focus on a ladder of engagement upwards rather than a marketing funnel downwards to create a flywheel effect.”
Repair what you wear.
Patagonia is also purpose-led in the way that they invest in their brand initiatives. In 2015, the company launched the ‘Worn Wear Wagon’, a mobile repair shop that travelled across the US to not only mend gear free of charge but to educate people on how to fix their own garments for free. They also host plenty of repair guides on their website to further encourage their consumers to repair their garments. This campaign perfectly encapsulated their ‘Common Threads Initiative’ of Reduce, Repair, Reuse and Recycle.
Black Friday adverts:
In 2011 and 2016, Patagonia used Black Friday, a hyper-consumerist event for apparel brands, as an opportunity to further step into their purpose as an eco-conscious brand. In the Black Friday edition of the New York Times, Patagonia titled their advert ‘Don’t Buy This Jacket.’ In this ad, they listed all the environmental factors that go into making a single jacket like the 135 litres of water needed to produce it. The ad also highlighted the phrase ‘Reduce, repair, reuse, recycle, reimagine.’. The key message was to get people to make more eco-conscious purchases decisions and buy only what they need during the event.
Patagonia reached a record-breaking $10 million in sales. (Source: Patagonia)
In 2016, for Black Friday Patagonia increased their 1% for the planet pledge to 100%, meaning all revenue during this period was donated to environmental grassroots nonprofits. This ended up costing them $10million and is clearly not something every business can afford to do. However, this is another instance where Patagonia has shown their commitment to their purpose.
Content Marketing:
As far as hero content goes, Patagonia takes the cake. The brand takes storytelling to a whole new level by producing full-length feature films based on the stories of their brand ambassadors and the environmental organisations they support. The Patagonia films project allows its audience to further become immersed in the brand world, allowing their audience to further connect with the timeless and sometimes emotional stories of their subjects. At a time when many brands are pivoting towards short-form content for those quick wins, Patagonia still embraces long-form content marketing, publishing their content to their Youtube channel with over 350k subscribers.
64% of women and 68% of men have felt an emotional connection with a brand. (Consumer Thermometer)
Controversy:
In recent years Patagonia has been recognised as the unofficial official uniform for Big Corp, finance Silicon Valley-type workers. In 2021, they decided to end it’s tradition of adding corporate logos to their clothing and in 2019 stopped accepting finance clients for their iconic fleece vests.
The bold move to cut ties with clients further highlights the way that the brand actively chooses to align themselves with their mission being in the business of saving the planet.
What we can learn:
So as marketers, what can we learn from Patagonia’s brand strategy? It's very likely that we don’t have Patagonia budgets, so what can we take away?
- Define your brand’s purpose - Customers want to buy from brands where their values align. Think about how your company can create an impact, is there a charity or social organisation that you can team up with that shares the same values as your target audience?
- Live in your purpose - Use your brand purpose and mission as a way to stand out from other competitors in the market.
- Community - Nurture your community and provide them with meaningful content.
Next: How Square honed in on their target customer.
