In 2015, Patagonia's founder updated his ten year old book, "Let My People Go Surfing." Not only is it a philosophical manual for Patagonia's employees, it is also a reflection of what they've done and where they are headed. In this post, we dive into the book's section of marketing philosophy. We explore the fundamentals of marketing and branding through the lens of Patagonia.
What is marketing?
How is marketing defined from Patagonia's vantage point? The Patagonia founder begins with a simple premise. Marketing and branding at its core is about the "public image" of a company or brand. It is how others perceive you. Marketing and branding is about controlling this image.
Chouinard explains that there are two approaches, which are both valid in the context of building a "successful" business.
Fictional approach: With this approach you create an artificial image where the public image is different from the people behind the brand or build the products. Other examples including creating fictional characters and mascots or developing a campaign aligned with what's trending in the business climate.
Nonfiction approach: This is an approach rooted in what Chouinard refers to as the "simple truths." It is focused on who the brand really is.
Patagonia takes the latter approach. Chouinard explains in the book:
Patagonia's image arises directly from the values, outdoor pursuits, and passions of its founders and employees... Our image is a direct reflection of how we are and what we believe.
Brand image evolution
Another key insight from the book is that a brand's image evolves over time. Perception of Patagonia began with the best climbing hardware and the beliefs of climbers and surfers who worked at Patagonia. The image has involved and now includes "the culture of a new generation of climbers, trail runners, fishermen, and surfers who try to make the best outdoor clothing in the world."
The four areas of marketing and sales
It should be noted that a brand's image is not just a result of marketing and sales activities. A brand's image is tied to its actions and its products, services, and experiences. That said, in the context of marketing and sales, Chouinard breaks down marketing and sales down to four areas for managing a brand's narrative.
Telling the entire story
Photography
Copy (text)
Promotion
Telling the entire story
For Patagonia, their catalog (it has now evolved into a journal today) is the key medium they tell their story. The catalog's goal is to share the Patagonia philosophy of life, which includes a deep appreciation for the environment and a strong motivation to combat the environmental crisis. This catalog is the foundation for how other medium (i.e., website, hangtags, retail displays, press releases, and videos) tell the story.
However, what is important and applicable for many companies is the underlying idea of the catalog. The catalog is a means of capturing the customers' undivided attention in today's distracting world; it creates the best situation for Patagonia to tell its story without interruption and distraction. The essential marketing question derived from this is: where and how can our brands tell our stories with the customers' undivided attention?
Photography
Patagonia was one of the first outdoor companies to start using photos to real people and customers using their products. Chouinard explains that honesty is a key principle of marketing and photography. From that lens, a photo of a real climber is more honest than a photo of a model posing as a real climber. Today there is much talk about the importance of authenticity and honesty. The fact that Patagonia has long cultivated a loyal customer base with its honest marketing is further proof.
Copy
Patagonia has two kinds of copy:
Personal stories: these are contents that promote a cause or expand on one of Patagonia's values
Product copy: these are descriptive text that sells products
What stood out for me in their thinking around copy was the style. Chouinard states, "we write as though we were the customers." This is a reminder that empathizing and seeing what the customers see is essential.
Promotion
Patagonia defines branding as telling people who they are and promotion as selling people on their products. The have three key principles that guide their promotional efforts:
Inspire and educate rather than to promote
Earn credibility instead of buying it. (The best resources are word-of-mouth recommendations.)
Advertise only as a last resort. (For Patagonia, if they advertise, it is usually in sport-specific magazines.)
Complementing these three principles, Patagonia also has a clear picture of their customers.
We make certain assumptions about our customers, not just that they are intelligent. We assume that they don't shop as entertainment, that they're not out to "buy a life," that they want to deepen and simplify, not junk up, their lives, and that they are fed up with or indifferent to being targets for aggressive advertising.
Wrap Up
I have gone over the key points of Patagonia's marketing philosophy which includes a definition of marketing, how the brand image evolves, and the four promotion and sales area for controlling the image. The book also goes in depth about Patagonia's philosophies around product design, production, distribution, finance, human resource, management, and environment. I highly recommend this book as it provides an unconventional, yet, relevant take on brand building.
