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👕 The Sustainable Brand Magic of Patagonia
76 Plays1 year ago
This recording is based on one of the top 5 most read newsletters of the last year on The Sustainable Brand Magic of Patagonia.
You are listening to the Summer Edition of the FutureStrategies Podcast - A show about where marketing, strategies and sustainability intersect. I am currently taking a break from interviews. So you will get 5 short episodes over the summer, where I will lead you through the most read postings of my newsletter. Interviews will be back in autumn 2024.
About the FutureStrategies podcast and your host:
I’m Florian Schleicher, a marketing strategist. I help brands gain clarity, spark momentum, and turn strategy into something that actually moves people. In 2022, I started my marketing studio FUTURESTRATEGIES. to do exactly that. I currently work with corporate clients from 11 countries.
If you want more, check out my FutureStrategies newsletter – weekly inspiration on marketing, strategy and sustainability.
And if something’s blocking your brand from doing its best work, let’s talk.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Summer Edition
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, my name is Florian Schleicher and this is the Future Strategies Podcast, a show about where marketing, strategies and sustainability intersect. You're listening to the Summer Edition, where you will get five short episodes where I will lead you through the most read postings of my newsletter. So over the next couple of weeks, you will get a best off with me. And if you want to read them all, you can sign up anytime with the link in the show notes. I will be back with more exciting interviews from inspiring leaders in autumn this year. So now you can just relax, enjoy, and we'll jump right into it.
Patagonia's Transformation Journey
00:00:40
Speaker
When you talk about sustainability, there is no getting around to Patagonia, the outdoor fashion brand. Let's jump today in on what are five things that we can learn from their success for our brand's marketing. Wherever there's a ranking about the most sustainable brands, one is always upfront, Patagonia. But did you know that they once were considered to be an environmental villain? How did the company become a champion of sustainability? Well, they used capitalism to save the planet.
00:01:13
Speaker
The brand has an estimated value of $3 billion. dollars It sells more than a billion dollars in outdoor clothing and gear and brings in 100 million US dollars in revenue every year. So today, let's talk about why is Patagonia so famous and what are they doing? How did Patagonia end up where they are now? And five things that we can learn from their approach for our own marketing strategy.
Sustainability Strategies
00:01:42
Speaker
So why is Patagonia so famous and what are they doing? Patagonia is an American company that manufactures clothing and equipment for outdoor and adventure sports. From the beginning, or almost, the company pursued a vision that went beyond mere profit. Their mission was to make products that had as little impact on the environment as possible, while inspiring people to make a positive contribution to the environmental crisis.
00:02:11
Speaker
Zachary Novak writes, yes, they sell high-end auto-aware, but they are focused on building a more sustainable planet. They partner with other organizations that are also working on sustainability, as well as their customers, creating a true following of believers. Their hearts beat for sustainability and environmental protection, and these values became Patagonia's brand's essence. With the slogan, build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis, they codified their identity. They don't just talk about products, they talk about the importance of actions.
00:02:57
Speaker
The brand itself took a back seat while the environment and the need to protect it came to the fore. That is why they lead a lot of sustainability and purpose rankings and why they were named UN n Champion of the Earth in 2019. So how did Patagonia end up where they are now? To fully understand what makes them so famous and successful, we first have to look into their history. The company was founded by Yvonne Jouenard, a passionate climber who loved being out in nature and was just not satisfied with the current equipment back then. Specifically the pythons. These are the metal spikes that are driven into a crank or a seam in the climbing surface using a climbing hammer and which acts as an anchor.
00:03:45
Speaker
So he started making his own gear, and soon his friends wanted him to also supply them, which he did back then in his parents' garage. Then, in 1965, Yvonne went into a partnership with Tom Frost and started Schooner Equipment. They redesigned and improved climbing tools to create the best ones available, adhering to an interesting guiding design principle, outlayed by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the French aviator, which is, in anything at all, perfection is finally attained, not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness.
00:04:31
Speaker
As the current Patagonia website states, they then ran into a challenge. By 1970, Chouinard equipment had become the largest supplier of climbing hardware in the United States. It had also become an environmental villain because its gear was damaging the rock. The same fragile cracks had to endure repeated hammering of pythons during both replacement and removal, and then disfiguring was severe. So the co-founders decided to minimize the harmful Python business. Little did they know back then that it would be the first big environmental step that would shape the company's journey.
00:05:10
Speaker
The next really interesting step was that toward the early 1980s, when all outdoor products were in very simplistic colors. They drenched the Patagonia line in vivid color, a great symbol to be distinctive. Their growth continued until the 1990s. They even made fastest growing company one year. when they then had to lay off a lot of their employees due to the recession. But it was with that challenge that they then started focusing on their values even more, giving employees more and more freedom, for example, to go surfing during lunch breaks. They provided on-site childcare and they refocused on their purpose. So when another crisis emerged, they already had a framework of thinking.
00:05:59
Speaker
What we began to read, they say, about global warming, the cutting and burning of tropical forests, the rapid loss of groundwater and topsoil, acid rain, the ruin of rivers, and creeks from silting over dams, reinforced what we saw with our own eyes and smelled with our noses during our troubles. So what began as an inquiry into stopping a dam development project to protect a surf break supported by Mark Capelli, a 25-year-old biology student, became their environmental commitment. They began to make regular donations to smaller groups working to save or restore habitat,
00:06:41
Speaker
rather than give the money to NGOs with big staffs, overheads and corporate connections.
Corporate Responsibility Initiatives
00:06:47
Speaker
They also started the 1% for the planet movement in 2002 where you donate 1% of your annual sales and where my own marketing studio Futures is also a part of. Their aim is to make it easy for other companies to do the same. Through that they raised more than 530 million US dollars with 6500 environmental partners. And in 2011 they ran one of the greatest ads in sustainability advertising.
00:07:17
Speaker
Don't buy this jacket. In the Black Friday edition of the New York Times, Patagonia published an audacious full-page ad telling viewers not to buy their jacket. That was a massive step, not only to do sustainability, but to ask consumers to change their behavior too, stating that it would be hypocritical for them to work for environmental change without encouraging their consumers to think about before they buy. To reduce environmental damage, we all have to reduce consumption, as well as make products in more environmentally sensitive and less harmful ways.
00:08:01
Speaker
Why is that so big? Because globally, consumers acquire 80 billion new items so per year, a figure that is up 400% from 20 years ago. In US America, consumers buy about 68 new garments per year, and most people wear only 20% of their clothes. The rest just sits there. One year later, Keith and Lauren Malloy started Worn Wear, Patagonia's clothing and repair program. They envisioned a place for people to share stories about their favorite Patagonia products and the badges of honor, the rips, tears, patches, and stains that recall treasured outdoor memories.
00:08:52
Speaker
They inspired the organization to expand its back then minimalist repair service into what it is now, the largest garment repair facility in North America. With sustainability now deeply integrated into their core business model, they were no longer satisfied with lessening the brand's impact on the planet. They wanted to heal it. And to be clear, they also wanted to benefit from a shifting economy, because the second-hand market is not just growing, but really exploding.
00:09:25
Speaker
Then in late 2018 Yvonne Julinar and CEO Rose Marcario changed Patagonia's purpose statement to reflect their new strategic shift. We are now in business to save our home planet, they
Ownership and Commitment to Environment
00:09:39
Speaker
said. And finally, in 2022, they took it one step further, proclaiming, the Earth is now our only shareholder. So nearly 50 years after Schooner began his experiment in responsible business, ownership of Patagonia was transferred to two new entities, the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Nonprofit Hold Fast Collective.
00:10:02
Speaker
Every dollar that is not invested into Patagonia will be distributed as dividends to protect the planet. Yvon Chouinard said, instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we're using the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source. I am that serious about saving this planet. Which brings us to 2023.
Marketing Insights Inspired by Patagonia
00:10:28
Speaker
Patagonia launches the warmest winter jacket yet, filled with plastic fished from our oceans. That's brand consistency.
00:10:38
Speaker
So what are five things we can learn from their approach for our own marketing strategy? After all of this, you might realize that you and your brand can't simply become the next Patagonia. You have to be on a journey. And so here are my five key takeaways for your marketing strategy. Number one, strategy is hard, but it is the main source of long-term growth. All of this is only possible because Patagonia integrated sustainability deeply into their strategy. They started with a sharp analysis creating their current approach in the diagnosis. The apparel industry is responsible for as much as 6.7% of global greenhouse gases emitted in the world and releases 2 to 3.29 billion tons of CO2 equivalents into our atmosphere every year.
00:11:31
Speaker
The cleaning and disposal of garments too often in a landfill only adds to this impact, which is increasing as people buy more and more stuff. If we don't change course soon, we will lock in catastrophic effects on climate change. in their guiding principles. Patagonia focuses on a clear mission. We protect our home planet. We do this by building the best product, providing the best service and constantly improving everything we do. The best product is useful, versatile, long-lasting, repairable and recyclable. Our ideal is to make products that give back to the earth as much as they take.
00:12:12
Speaker
This gives them a perfect guideline for their objectives. It serves like a destination postcard, as Chip and Dan Heath wrote in their book switch. Destination postcards show where you are headed and why the journey is worthwhile, they write. And lastly, their are coherent actions are all aligned to get to their destination and achieve their mission. Their marketing messages resonate with the sort of environmentally conscious and upscale consumers that Patagonia sees as their target audience. Second, love what you do and your target audience.
00:12:50
Speaker
Looking at their history, one step followed another and it all started with a love for nature and preserving the places that they enjoy most. This feels authentic because they did not have to reverse engineer their strategy to fit some new mental model, but they always were connected with nature and their passions and with their target audience. they have understood what makes them tick and drives them. These sorts of consumers like the idea of buying a product that is made by an environmentally friendly company in an environmentally friendly manner. Patagonia has built a brand around their strategy and not the other way around.
00:13:34
Speaker
Their brand is about drastic measures to save the earth, such as suing the US government and rebuffing the very VCs that turned the brand into a West Coast status symbol. These were tactical decisions, made through the lens of the brand, is what Jasmine Bina writes. Their actions, their marketing, their sustainability activities are all aligned and coherent, and they walk their talk as Emily Hayward writes in Obsessed. When Patagonia began refusing to sell its fleece vests to corporations that don't prioritize the planet, it may have disappointed some Wall Street bros, but it augmented the love of its environmentally conscious audience who felt even more connected to its values and therefore more loyal to the brand.
00:14:22
Speaker
So when people know what a brand stands for, they agree with it. And this creates an intimate bond. This costs them money, but it also pays into their brand. Third, start small, focus and dream big to shape the market. Every journey has its beginning. Patagonia did not set out to become the champion of sustainability and outdoor wear. They started with a small problem and created a solution for a small aspect, climbing pythons. From there they expanded to other climbing wear, then to more gear. And from the very beginning that led to them shaping their market, from colors to sustainability, they were not focused on building the most profitable business, but the best and most beloved solution for their target audience. This is very similar to Apple, about whose brand story I wrote on my newsletter.
00:15:18
Speaker
4. Minimize environmental impact authentically Not even Patagonia is perfect, but they are transparent about their progress. As of 2023, 91% of their fabrics are made with preferred materials. 86% of their products are made in a Fair Trade certified factory. There are a lot of good things you will find online, so I will spare you the fanboying from my side, but I really love their authentic approach. Authenticity builds trust, and trust creates sales as well as loyalty.
00:15:54
Speaker
Their founder, Schoena, wrote, we follow our beliefs, our customers follow us, and positive change tends to follow that. People who believe in what we're doing gravitate towards our message. They become our advocates. That's why our marketing philosophy is so simple. We tell people who we are and what we do. That's it. Fiction is so much more difficult to write than non-fiction. And as mentioned, they are great at combining their sustainability approach with the shift of markets to a more circular business model. Fifth, and finally, they tell great stories in their marketing. I write a lot about storytelling on my newsletter, and Patagonia really masters this approach.
00:16:37
Speaker
be it on their own story hub or on their social media accounts. The secret of their brand success lies in the ability to communicate their values and vision through powerful stories. They tell stories about trailblazers and role models that inspire their customers and encourage them to take action for the environment as well.
Conclusion and Engagement
00:16:59
Speaker
Their unique approach to sustainability appeals to an adventurous and environmentally conscious demographic that is willing to pay more for products that align with their values. Patagonia is now planetary. They have proven that you can succeed as a brand by being authentic, transparent and committed. They are a beloved outdoors company for many reasons, its superior products and its sustainability strategy.
00:17:28
Speaker
Their dedication to equity, sustainability and environmental stewardship has not only inspired their target audience, but also created a strong brand love. By putting their purpose above their profit, they have sparked a true revolution in the brand world and proven that brands can be a powerful force for positive change in the world. They invest heavily into marketing and into sustainability as a business principle. But as one of the godfathers of marketing, Bill Birnbach, founder from DDB, put it, it's not a principle until it costs you money. So with a global revenue of $100 million dollars per year, several multinational initiatives and a love brand, I think that principle pays off very well for Patagonia.
00:18:21
Speaker
That's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. If you have enjoyed this episode, please give me a rating and forward it to a friend. This means the world to me because I pour my heart into the production of these episodes. If you're looking for an easy way to learn the basics of strategic and sustainable marketing, check out the Simple and Sustainable Marketing Academy. This is my online group learning format for founders and future marketing experts. Or you can sign up to my newsletter where I write about marketing strategies and sustainability with a lot of examples and methods that you can use yourself. And finally, if you want me to help you with the project, please just reach out to me through LinkedIn or my website with the link in the show notes. Thank you so much for listening and I look forward to sharing more with you in the next episode.