“All you have in business is your reputation – so it’s very important that you keep your word”
– Richard Branson
Patagonia’s mission is to “build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis”. Their marketing material, in-store and online, highlight their mission statement and core values, and tell the story behind Patagonia, a brand built for climbers and surfers and the “minimalist style they promote”. Now, Patagonia’s staff and customers are described as having a love for wild, beautiful places, and the common desire to save nature. They pride themselves on their environmentally friendly business activities, such as the type of lighting used in stores, to the type of dye they use. Due to the abundance of such marketing content, Patagonia has the heavy burden of maintaining these values across all their business decisions in the present and future. A single deviation could lead to a downfall in reputation, causing them to lose their massive competitive edge in the outdoor clothing industry.
Although Patagonia’s reputation isn’t stain free, a general overview, would lead one to believe that Patagonia is well on their way to mending their reputation.
– In 2011, an internal audit done by Patagonia found that some of their mills in Taiwan were using exploited labor to produce their clothing.
– In 2015, Patagonia acknowledged that they were using a durable water repellent in their jackets that had toxic byproducts
– In 2015, PETA released a video of Patagonia’s suppliers in Argentina showing cruel treatment towards lambs and sheep
With these scandals that clearly don’t align with Patagonia’s values, the company is still growing. Some campaigns that has aligned with Patagonia’s values are:
1. 1% for the planet
– “Pledged 1% of the sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment”
– 1% of Patagonia’s total annual sales donated towards the planet.
– This initiative helped Patagonia demonstrate that caring for the planet is not in the conflict of running a successful event.
2. Fair Trade
– “To change our internal procedures and work across many departments to embed the Fair Trade principles.”
– “15,700 factory workers are directly benefiting from every Patagonia Fair Trade purchase”
3. Worn Wear (Don’t Buy this Jacket)
– Partnership with iFixit : help fixing up an old patagonia garment
– A short film “Worn Wear” to raise awareness about sustainable clothes
– Anti-Black Friday
4. Common Threads Initiative
– Partnership between our customers,Ebay and Patagonia
– Reduce, repair, reuse, and recycle
With no doubt, Patagonia has raise awareness and engagement within its target segment and ensured that consumers “take the mutual responsibility to extend the life of a product.” Therefore, Patagonia is considered one of the most sustainable companies and I hope that more companies follow this tread and help reserve the planet and its’ resources.
References:
http://www.patagonia.com/company-info.html
www.patagonia.ca/one-percent-for-the-planet.html
https://wornwear.patagonia.com/
https://www.patagonia.com/blog/2011/11/dont-buy-this-jacket-black-friday-and-the-new-york-times/
AshleenBajwa
November 25, 2017 — 1:58 pm
Hi Pavani,
I fell in love with the Patagonia brand when we watched a short clip of Richard Branson, the founder of the company talk about the organizational values. What I liked the most was the fact that the founder was not promoting rapid consumption but instead asked consumers to make one time purchases and repair clothing. The company values are all about producing the best sustainable garments while having a significantly reduced impact on the environment. After reading your blog, I was shocked to find out Patagonia is not always aligned with their values. This news makes me question the degree of greenwashing that occurs in there “extreme green” companies and how they can be held responsible for their deception.
robertleung
November 27, 2017 — 12:34 am
This is a great in-depth explanation of why Patagonia is one of the companies that our class constantly refers too, and for good reason. Another Patagonia initiative that I found interesting is their approach to solving supply chain waste. You touch on this with the “Worn Wear” section in your post. To further expand on that, besides fixing gear, “Worn Wear” is also a Patagonia revenue stream where buy used clothing from past wearers of Patagonia. The incentive for people to supply the “Worn Wear” ecosystem is a result of Patagonia buying the used gear back from its customer.