Three things you may not know about brands – Patagonia
Don't buy our jackets! This is an advertisement for Patagonia, one of the largest outdoor clothing brands in the United States, what kind of company will tell its customers not to buy their own products? Patagonia has its own unique corporate culture, and has been selected as one of the top 100 companies to work with, and explore the anecdotes about the brand.
Why is it called Patagonia?
Patagonia originally refers to the Patagonia Plateau, located in the vast mountainous region east of the Andes In South America (Argentina and Chile). Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and his friends have climbed the ridge several times, just as Yosemite's Half Dome is to The North Face, where many challenging peaks in the Patagonia mountains have been inspired by their gritty and adventurous spirit of exploration.
And the brand logo is also influenced by the most representative Mt. Fitz Roy is designed with unique mountain-shaped inspiration.
Mt. Fitz Roy influenced several great climbers, including Tommy Caldwell, the first free-climber to climb Chieftain Rock, who named him Fitz.
From nails to rock tools – starting with commodities that changed the development of the American climbing ecosystem
In 1957, Yvon Chouinard taught himself to strike iron with pliers and hammers, trying to make his own climbing gear. At that time, the common use of European nails had to stay in the rock after use, destroying the rock surface and the environment, and he improved and made reusable rock nails, which began to be widely acclaimed from the circle of friends, and promoted the birth of Chouinard Equipment, the predecessor of Patagonia.
Although reusable nails were well received, they could not solve the damage to the rock, and then he began to make rock tools that could be inserted and removed by hand without changing the structure of the rock wall. In addition, he wrote an additional environmental report in the catalogue of the product, explaining the use of rock tools, and vigorously promoted clean climbing without leaving a trace, which completely changed the ecological habits and future development of rock climbing at that time.
Black Diamond is part of the same company as Patagonia?
Patagonia's predecessor, Chouinard Equipment, was embroiled in legal action in late 1980, and in order not to affect the development of Patagonia (mainly clothing), it filed for bankruptcy in the court, and at the same time let employees raise funds to buy the company's assets, and moved Shona outdoor products to Salt Lake City, restructuring it into Black Diamond. It is still the outdoor brand that produces the world's best climbing ski equipment.
Black Diamond, an outdoor brand known for its headlamps and climbing gear, originally belonged to the same company as Patagonia: Chouinard Equipment.
Entanglement with The North Face
Patagonia and The North Face can be said to be the leading brands in the outdoor industry today, but many people do not know that von Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, and Douglas Tompkins, the founder of The North Face, are very good friends. The two usually like to go outdoors and climb mountains together to engage in various outdoor activities. In addition, it is often involved in environment-related conservation work and protecting the natural ecology.
Douglas Tompkins (left), founder of The North Face, Rick Ridgeway (center), acclaimed outdoor author, and Yvon Chouinard (right), founder of Patagonia ( Patagonia).
However, the founders of The North Face sold The North Face two years after the brand was founded because Douglas Tompkin wanted to raise funds to produce the film. Still, the relationship between the two brands wasn't over, and after that, Douglas Tompkin married Kristine L. McDivitt, the former CEO of Patagonia, continuing his relationship with Patagonia, even wearing Patagonia's outfit instead of The North Face when he was outdoors.
Levy 1% of the Earth Tax on yourself to the Earth Initiator
Patagonia's long years of experience in outdoor activities have made them more aware of the importance of ecological conservation, and from 1986 onwards decided that they would impose a global tax on themselves, donating 10% of the company's profits to eco-conservation-related NGOs every year, and later increasing this amount to 1% of turnover (or 10% of net profit before tax), depending on which amount is higher, regardless of whether the turnover is good or bad.
In 2001, he founded the 1% For The Planet business alliance, hoping that more corporate owners would join the action to protect the earth, donating at least 1% of their annual turnover to non-profit environmental organizations scattered around the world, which in turn led to the environmental movement among business owners around the world.
Are FCD surfboards also associated with Patagonia?
FCD's full name is Fletcher Chouinard Designs (Surfboards) Fletcher Surfboard, the son of Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia. Influenced by his father from an early age, he decided as a teenager to make surfboards his life's work. At that time, people needed to carry 6-10 surfboards to surf abroad, because more than half of them would break off during the transportation process. In order to solve the durability of the surfboard while maintaining the quality it should have, Fletcher continued to develop, sorted out all the criteria that defined the quality and performance of the surfboard, made hundreds of boards to test the strength, elasticity, weight, etc., and finally made a lighter, stronger, and equally excellent surfboard under the strict requirements.
Rock climbing and surfing are two of the main outdoor sports that the founder and early employees are engaged in, pictured with Fletcher Chouinard and his handmade waveboard.
DON'T BUY THIS JACKET THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MARKETING IN HISTORY
On Black Friday 2011 (the nation's most coveted shopping day for retail), Patagonia ran a full-page ad in The New York Times, with the slogan Don't Buy This Jacket, explaining the possible environmental impact of a particular jacket (they made their own), and publishing an article about the environmental challenges that consumption patterns may cause, among other things. By punching the face of the damage caused by their own goods to the environment, we urge consumers to think twice before shopping and not to buy things they don't need.
The ad did not affect the company's sales situation, and was designed to attract people who agreed with the brand's philosophy to develop friendlier spending habits. At that time, it caused a wide range of repercussions.
Worn Wear Used Clothes Refurbishment Sales Program
Patagonia has been passing on the concept around four Rs: Recycling, Reusing, Repairing, and Reducing Consumption. In 2013, the company decided to start with Repair and started the Wooln Wear program.
They employ more people in garment repair factories, set up simple repair centers in general retail stores, and circulated instructional videos online on how to repair zippers, sew buttons, and other handmade techniques. Patagonia re-sells old clothes on the Wooln Wear platform at a cheaper price, advocating the concept of restoring and reusing the environment.
In 2015, it began to dispatch modified trucks across the country to perform maneuverability repair work. Patagonia products receive lifelong maintenance services, but it is more inconvenient for the country to repair the base.
Patagonia is a private company and the best company to work with
In the past period of explosive turnover growth, there have been many buyers who have approached Patagonia in the hope of making the company grow and expand more rapidly and go public. But Patagonia is well aware that becoming a public company or partnership will constrain the brand's operating model, limit the way it handles surpluses, and set itself on the path of growth and destruction. Patagonia has remained a closed private company, focusing on the basic core philosophy of the company, maintaining the original corporate culture and core values: fairness and justice and environmental sustainability.
Yvon Chouinard
In recent years, Patagonia has not forced itself to be the most prominent company in the outdoor market, but it does not match the original character. Control the growth of the enterprise at the pace of its own organic growth. A constant focus on the environment and a unique corporate culture have led Patagonia to be named one of the top 100 best companies to work with and one of the world's top 25 medium-sized companies.