
The Patagonia Clothing Company’s Anti-Growth Strategy - riskarb
http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/patagonias-anti-growth-strategy?sf9473030=1
======
eplanit
"Yet anti-consumerism is clearly helping to build the Patagonia brand. Indeed,
the company is seeing double-digit annual growth."

My mind spins on that statement. Kudos to the marketing genius who increases
sales (= consumers) by convincing customers that they're being "anti-
consumers". Companies that use group/political identity (in their case perhaps
even 'cult') as part of their scheme take quite a risk in doing so, but
Patagonia is one of the companies that has proved remarkably effective and
successful in that genre -- consistently over a long time.

Regardless, I actually like their products.

~~~
calinet6
The wild part, in the grand scheme of things, is that their message is
significantly _true._ They're not convincing consumers that they're being
anti-consumers; they're actually consuming less by buying more durable goods
that last longer and have a better lifecycle.

It's not only true, the truth of it makes it incredibly authentic, and if
there's anything that appeals to the market these days, it's authenticity.

The supposedly 'crazy idea' that sustainability is, in fact, economically
sustainable and even beneficial is a pretty amazing thing. It's a way to be
more successful; it is not a cost. For more, check out Bill McDonough's
excellent book "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way we Make Things" \--
[http://www.mcdonough.com/speaking-writing/cradle-to-
cradle/](http://www.mcdonough.com/speaking-writing/cradle-to-cradle/)

Side note, I grew up extremely close to Patagonia for about 25 years
(literally—went to kindergarten there), my father was highly influential in
the leadership and direction of the company, helped come up with the "Don't
Buy This Jacket" campaign and led many sustainability efforts. Ask me
anything.

~~~
pbowyer
> Ask me anything.

Wow, what an opportunity!

I'm intrigued by motivation: did they set out to make great clothing, or did
it prove to be the most profitable (and morally acceptable to the owners) way
to make money with which to do what they really wanted to do?

And did they have pointers that this approach (from "Don't Buy this Jacket" to
now) would work, or was it a gamble that could've taken down the company if it
hadn't paid off? Trying to apply it to my online business, I'm struggling to
even start thinking this way.

~~~
sliverstorm
If it gives you any clue, here are some famous photos from the early days of
Black Diamond, Chouinard's first company:

[http://www.prolificmagazine.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/07/P...](http://www.prolificmagazine.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/07/Profile-41.png)

[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Tom_Frost...](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Tom_Frost_-
_One_cup_of_tea_-_1960.jpg)

They sold their gear off picnic tables in Yosemite. They themselves were (are)
climbers, and they climbed on the gear they made.

(I think the answer to your question is "both")

------
ucaetano
"The company’s anti-materialistic stance ramped up on Black Friday, 2011, with
a memorable full-page advertisement in the Times that read, “Don’t Buy This
Jacket.” (...) The attention the ad received helped to bump Patagonia’s 2012
sales significantly."

They don't have an anti-growth strategy, they have a marketing strategy with
an "anti-growth" message, targeting rich people who are willing to dump money
into anything that will clean their consciences.

And that isn't bad, it is a brilliant marketing strategy!

~~~
irrigation
There's a large retailer here in Canada -- Canadian Tire -- that I personally
think should be legally forbidden from selling a good portion of the products
they sell: Tools that break on the first use. Toys that have a very short path
to the landfill (I feel a pang of guilt when a relative gifts one of my
children with a "New Bright" or whatever utter junk brand toy is that they
picked up at CT, knowing it won't make it through the night, immediately
gauging just how large of a garbage bag it will need). Ultra low quality
outdoor wear and tents. Cheaply made bicycles. BBQs that rust out 3 months
into their life.

They are purveyors of poor satisfaction garbage dump filler products that only
barely fulfill their stated purpose. Most consumers have become so accustomed
to this that they don't even realize there's an issue.

It's a _serious_ problem. A minimum level of durability for a given purpose is
one of those things that is a benefit of the commons -- it is good for the
entire planet.

~~~
kejaed
There's a reason they have the nickname Crappy Tire, eh?

------
Tiktaalik
All the things mentioned in the article are great, but I think the dominating
factor in Patagonia's double digit growth is likely the larger activewear boom
(see Nike sales) and growing interest in technical outdoorswear from the
fashion industry.

[http://fourpins.com/style/is-outdoors-menswears-new-
heritage...](http://fourpins.com/style/is-outdoors-menswears-new-heritage/)

------
philip1209
Is there a good blog that discusses marketing strategies of various companies?
I loved "Ogilvy On Advertising" and would enjoy the occasional case study
about modern marketing campaigns and brands that features plenty of photos to
demonstrate the point.

For reference, the image of the "Don't Buy This Jacket" ad is in this article:
[http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-
patag...](http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-
patagonia-136745)

------
famousactress
Yvon's book Let My People Go Surfing [1] is absolutely one of my favorite
business books, and it gives quite a bit of color and insight into how he
thinks about their business and the culture that they've built there.

EDIT: Another anecdote - In 2010 I bought one of Patagonia's new wetsuits. At
600$ it was twice as expensive as the nicest suits on the market, I'm lucky
enough to live near a Patagonia store though and they had a yearly wetsuit
sale so I paid 450$. Still an outrageous price for a suit. Most wetsuits last
me about three seasons, I still wear that first Patagonia suit though. It was
starting to show it's age last year so I brought it to the store and they
shipped it to their repair shop up north, and then back to my house. They
replaced all of the inside seams, a zipper, and added a key loop (a feature
the original didn't even have). They did all this FOR FREE.

I wouldn't describe them as anti-consumerism, because they sell stuff. I do
think the brand encourages thoughtful consumerism though, and mostly by
producing products and services that reset your bar for value against cost.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Let-People-Surfing-Education-
Businessm...](http://www.amazon.com/Let-People-Surfing-Education-Businessman-
ebook/dp/B000SEGEVC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432346408&sr=1-1&keywords=let+my+people+go+surfing)

------
snowwrestler
Chouinard's book _Let My People Go Surfing_ is an excellent overview of the
history and philosophy of Patagonia, as well Chouinard's thoughts on
innovation. I would highly recommend it to any entrepreneur.

I think Patagonia is growing primarily because they make really nice stuff,
and a little bit because of their great PR. Basically, their products deliver
on the promise of their PR. They really do work well and last a long time. I
have Patagonia jackets, gloves, socks, even lightweight cotton Hawaiian shirts
from the late 90s that I still wear today.

------
jacquesm
Quite a few tool companies (hand tools, mostly) have a similar strategy and
you buy their tools for life.

More about the 'worn wear' tour here:

[http://www.notcot.com/archives/2015/04/patagonia-worn-
wear-t...](http://www.notcot.com/archives/2015/04/patagonia-worn-wear-tour-
delia.php)

~~~
vram22
>Quite a few tool companies (hand tools, mostly) have a similar strategy and
you buy their tools for life.

Names? I'd be interested to know some, so I can check them out.

~~~
jacquesm
P+E, Irwin, Rigid, Snap-On, Sealey etc, even some not-so-good brands like
craftsman, but there it's more of a marketing gimmick, they don't expect to
have to deliver on it because the tools they sell tend to be sold to people
that use them lightly.

------
4ydx
It may well be a pipe dream, but I am simply waiting for the day when open
sourced 3d printable goods are being designed and improved by more and more
"consumers". It may not ever happen on the scale I would like to see it
happen, but that model of pull (rather than the current pushing of new goods
on people followed by a sales cycle) is much more appealing to me. Maybe
people don't really know what they want and are more slaves to advertising
that I would like to believe.

~~~
calinet6
Not to rain on this parade, but I think we're a long way off from having a
generic method to 3D print a wide variety of things that are of useful and
respectable quality.

It's kind of like generic programming frameworks: the more generic a framework
is, the more generic its output, and the less tailored to the needs and human
nuances of the end user. The highest quality experiences are often layers of
abstraction gradually growing more human and more unique as they get closer to
the user.

3D printing can achieve a level of quality in many ways and for many purposes,
but it remains to be seen if it can reproduce the important levels above the
logical.

------
dr_bloodmoney
I love that I have been able to send in a few things to get repaired over the
years. They encourage it and make it so easy to do. I have memories connected
to that stuff - being in the Weminuche Wilderness above the tree line and my
down jacket making the difference between a somewhat uncomfortable night and
total misery. Their stuff is made well and has been good to me.

------
boothead
Patagonia gets a few mentions as a so called teal organization in this book
[http://www.reinventingorganizations.com](http://www.reinventingorganizations.com).
It's a great read if you want to understand how some of the counter intuitive
bahaviours come about.

------
lg
I don't know about the values (though buying less and repairing more seems
smart to me?) but I think the popularity is more because patagonia was the
first company to make down coats that actually fit people nicely and didn't
look like space suits. or if they weren't, then they were the first company to
get such products in front of my face. that's the only reason I started seeing
them everywhere and got one myself. also for a hip fashion brand, the prices
aren't any higher than what you'd find at some other outerwear retailers like
ll bean that target the grandpa demographic.

------
vram22
The OP and the comments in this thread, remind me vaguely of the book
"Maverick" by Ricardo Semmler about his company Semco. That's a pretty
interesting read too, about unconventional but successful and people-friendly
company management techniques that Ricardo sort of pioneered with his company
people.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maverick_(book)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maverick_\(book\))

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Semler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Semler)

------
jedmeyers
I have noticed out during the last decade that a lot of more expensive
products usually end up being cheaper if carefully maintained. For example, a
lot of Arc'teryx (and Patagonia by that matter) products that I own are quite
old but still look good and retain their functionality, and if I tear them
Arcteryx will do the repairs for a nominal fee. So by paying 50%-150% more I
end up with the item that can be used for at least three times longer, than
the comparable products from some cheaper brands.

------
steveax
Tons of respect for Yvon. He has been thinking about how to do things better
for a very long time. Here's a seminal bit of climbing history from the 1974
Chouinard catalog by Yvon and Tom Frost: A Word [1]

[1]:
[http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=3316](http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=3316)

------
gcb0
not growing up on these parts i'm usually lost when it came to branding
history (which is mostly a very good thing)

I've always thought patagonia was a cheap, generic branch from china. Since
all they seem to sell are ugly jackets made from the shortest polyester
fibers.

i'm actually shocked that patagonia is supposed to be a high end shop. now
thinking of it, i recall seeing one or two boutique stores from them. but
mostly, i just encountered their products in costco or some corner of
department stores.

------
david-given
Important point: they're talking about the clothing company, not the part of
South America.

~~~
paganel
Yeah, I had expected an article about the Argentinian province and was curious
about why people in there would be "anti-growth". Patagonia is one of the few
places on Earth where I'd run to were things to turn really, really bad
(nuclear war, world war, a global epidemic).

~~~
aortega
Specially because being 99% desert, Patagonia is very similar to a place
already destroyed by nuclear war, sans radiation of course.

Being born there, I was also surprised, specially because Patagonia economic
activity is surging thanks to both fracking and (ironically) wind farms.

------
beastofthefield
Vapid company offering its naive ideological vapid customers a vapid fairy
tale. This article and the company are just an exercise in childishness. The
anti-growth narrative that is often pushed by self-serving hypocrites is
dangerous and anti-human, it can only serve a small communist-like minority
who wishes to gain all the power while the rest of humanity starves. They're
doing the same heinous thing the minority elites have done to control the
populations since ancient times - gaining power by inducing unwarranted guilt
in the people.

