Some marketing strategies manage to truly resonate with society and drive change. One can see an example of such great impact when exploring the Patagonia marketing approach. Learn more about it here!

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About Patagonia

Patagonia is a US-based outdoor clothing and gear retailer. Yvon Chouinard founded it as a small company that manufactured tools for climbers in 1973. Nowadays, Patagonia is an industry giant that has earned an impeccable reputation for its high-quality products, sustainability initiatives, and original marketing approach.

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Patagonia Advertising Strategy

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During and after the Great Recession in the late 2000s, consumers became more frugal and tended to opt for goods that would last long instead of buying items on impulse.

Patagonia noticed this tendency and saw it as an opportunity to promote its own long-lasting wares. This led to one of the company’s most renowned marketing campaigns.

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“Don’t Buy This Jacket”

Published preceding Black Friday in 2011 in New York Times, this full-page ad featured an image of a Patagonia jacket and a detailed explanation on why one should NOT buy it.

The Patagonia advertising campaign described how the brand’s best-selling R2 fleece jackets affected the environment, mentioning that the manufacturing of one such piece involved:

• 35 liters of water, enough for meeting the daily needs of 45 people
• The generation of 20 pounds of carbon dioxide in transportation 
• Two-thirds of the jacket’s weight was lost to waste

The campaign suggested consumers think twice before purchasing the item and marked the launch of Patagonia’s Common Thread Initiative that lists the 5 R’s of smarter consumption:

1. Reduce – The brand encourages consumers to shop only for necessities and care for them well to reduce the environmental impact with laundering, ironing, and drying.
2. Repair – Patagonia agrees to repair flawed garments free of charge or at a fair price in case of regular wear and tear. 
3. Reuse – The company offers the possibility to sell or pass on used Patagonia clothing. It also donates last season’s unsold items to activists in the field or for disaster relief.
4. Recycle – The brand enables clients to return an item the life of which has come to an end and recycles the item into new fiber or fabric. With the help of this method, Patagonia has already manufactured over 34 tons of new clothes. 
5. Reimagine – Patagonia protects the environment and recognizes the potential to reimagine a more sustainable future for our planet. 

As counterintuitive as it seems at first glance, the ad drove massive sales, with the company seeing revenue growth of 30%, equaling $543 million in 2012. The success streak continued in 2013, with another 5% growth in revenue. By 2017, Patagonia reached $1 billion in sales.

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Short Films 

In the Patagonia Films section of the website, the brand brings up real-life stories of challenges people face worldwide when protecting the environment. This long-term Patagonia advertising campaign raises consumer awareness regarding environmental issues and explores their possible solutions. Such storytelling through short films inspires change and has found a mass following.

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Patagonia Social Media Marketing

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Patagonia also manages to successfully convey its values, mission, and vision through social media platforms. Here is an overview of the key aspects of its social media marketing strategy:

• Effective use of multiple channels. The brand consistently promotes its ideas through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, producing different content for every platform and keeping its audience engaged.
• Separate location accounts. Apart from the main company account, Patagonia also has location-specific pages on social media, making the content tailored to each specific area.
• Community events. Patagonia hosts a multitude of events bringing members of the community together for good causes. 
• Photographs. The company promotes visual content provided by its clients and ambassadors, boosting the sense of community among its clients and providing a realistic representation of its products to the consumers.
• Brand over products. Patagonia goes beyond obvious promotion of its products to customers on social media. Instead, it builds up a strong brand image and voice that motivate users to support this company.

Besides, Patagonia is involved in activism and shares its initiatives with the followers - more on this below.

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Louder Than Words: Patagonia Activism

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Apart from the brave Patagonia marketing campaigns, the brand also attracts consumers by taking action to address environmental issues. 

Here are some of the efforts the company undertakes:

• The brand uses solar energy at its headquarters in Ventura, CA.
• It’s one of the founders of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), a group of companies that has promised to reduce its environmental footprint.
• The company donates a part of its revenue to environmental causes.
• Patagonia uses recycled, “Fair Trade”-certified, and organic materials to manufacture its products.
• It sent out an eco-friendly vehicle across the country to repair the consumers’ outdoor gear and sell used Patagonia items.
• The brand also invested in Yerdle, a startup that works to cut down on the consumers’ purchases of new products.
• In 2013, Patagonia launched the Responsible Economy campaign to promote sustainable development.
• In 2017, the company offered an opportunity for clients to return some Patagonia merchandise in good condition and receive credits in return. The collected items would then be repaired and sold on Patagonia's Worn Wear section.

Apart from solely environmental efforts, Patagonia also made an impact on the political front in 2017. The company hosted a boycott of the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City due to the fact that Utah passed a bill to transfer federal lands to the state. 

Besides, the same year Patagonia filed a lawsuit against the US government and Donald Trump regarding the claims to reduce the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by almost 50% and the Bears Ears National Monument by 85%.

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Final Thoughts

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Patagonia marketing undertook the less-traveled path of expanding the life of the items it sells over promoting new products. This risky approach paid off with increased sales and a strong brand image. 

The sustainability efforts that the company projects are resonating with the Patagonia target market and inspiring potential customers to adopt a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.