Patagonia Politics

Douglas HoltMarketing, Culture & Society

University of Oxford

(with Jill Avery)

Politics of Consumption

University of Wisconsin

October 2006

Social Mission Brands

• Central “solution” for global problems?– Social enterprise, social entrepreneurship,

sustainable business, CSR etc.

• SMBs led, so much celebrated– Ben & Jerry’s, Body Shop, Stonyfield, Tom’s of

Maine, Patagonia, Red– Mgmt books, biz mags

• Seldom studied

Research Interests

• Social Mission branding– How to build powerful SMBs?– What are political effects?

• Extend cultural branding model – Authenticity from citizenship-org myths (Holt 2002)– Push customer segments (Holt 2004)

• Commercial Activism• Political analogy

• Yvon Chouinard, iconic mountaineering innovator, Ventura, CA 60s-70s

• Patagonia tech clothing -- late 70s

• Took off in mid-80’s amongst UMC

• $300 million/year

• Catalogue driven branding – $7M vs $1M print ads

Patagonia Social Mission

• In business to help resolve environmental crisis

• Introduced PCR Synchilla fleece • All cotton to organic, Beneficial T line• Greenest supply chain in the biz• Eco advocacy in catalogue since early 90s• 1% of revenue to grassroots activism

• Left/Green politics

Academic literature: literal consumer-citizen model

• Ethical Consumption (Europe)• Mindshare Branding (Aaker, Keller)• Social Identity (Bhattacharya, Sen)

• Brand equity stems from identification with pro-social business policies

• SMBs conflated with CSR

Patagonia’s SMB equity?

• Academic– Brand equity from identification with eco-business

policies

• Popular Understandings– Hardcore

• eco-activism tied to fully committed lifestyle

– Wannabes • BoBos buy Patagonia symbolism, adventure-lite and eco-lite

Contradictions

(tensions)

Brand Myth Ideological POV, via expressive culture,

which repairs contradictions

Target Identity Projects

PopulistWorld

Source materials

Cultural Branding Model (static)

National Ideologies

Cultural/Political Equities

CommCodes

CulturalReferences

Expressive Culture

SMBs and Cultural Branding

• Successful SMBs are identity brands

• So become iconic via cultural branding mechanisms

• Similar customer segments to commercial iconic brands– Insiders, Followers, Feeders

• Do hypotheses hold?• What does this mean for political effects?

Method

• Genealogy of Patagonia Brand (‘72-present)– Catalogue + Yvon media coverage + retail

• Identity Interviews– 23 informants in Boston/Cambridge– Patagonia loyalist screener– Social network (HBS heavy)– 2 hour inductive lightly structured interview – Patagonia discussion via catalogue photos + essays

ExtremeAdventure

Literate Essays

Wilderness Eco-Advocacy

Intimate in-the-wild biographies

Identity myth = 4 interwoven narratives

• Dirtbag Culture = ?– Extreme Adventure– Eco-Wilderness– Back-to-Nature Bohemian – Frontier Cosmopolitan

• Classed articulation of revived Frontier.• Perfect identity symbolism for post ”Reagan Revolution”

upper-middle class• Stitch a tailored eco-activism to multidimensional identity

project

Patagonia Stimulus Materials (Winter 2004 catalog) Story #1: El Dorado [Extreme Adventure x Back-to-Nature Bohemian] Photo: woman climbing a rock wall next to the ocean Story: 2-year trip visiting desert (Joshua Tree), mountains (Boulder), ocean (Pacific) to learn nature’s ways and to determine if they were desert, mountain, or ocean people. Story #2: Simple Customs of Salmon Nation [Eco-Wilderness] Photo: Native American drawing of burnt orange and white skeleton-like salmon Story: Celebrates salmon ecosystem with in a metaphorical new-age style, interspersed with memories of Native American culture and lore. Call to action to join Salmon Nation. Story #3: On Being First [Extreme Adventure] Photo: B&W of man on wintry, jagged mountain looking up steep incline. Story: Climb in Patagonia ice field besieged by bad weather. Trying a first ascent. They summit after great difficulty, but sensation of being first that has driven them is missing. Photo #4: Yosemite Climber [Extreme Adventure] Woman clinging to rock face on Chouinard-Herbert route way above valley. Photo #5: Australian Adventure [Back-to-Nature Bohemian] Guy on tailgate of old truck/van stuffed with gear in New South Wales, Australia. Photo #6: Tree Climber [Extreme Adventure] Scientist in Australian tropical tree canopy, high above misty forest floor. Photo #7: Fixing the Truck [Back-to-Nature Bohemian] Woman is under the hood of an old Ford truck parked outside of a barn in Durango, CO Photo #8: Machu Picchu, Peru [Frontier Cosmopolitan] Young girl celebrates her birthday entering the ruins of Machu Picchu. Photo #9: Headless Fish [Eco-Wilderness] Wolf biologist holding and staring at gory headless salmon in middle of forest.

IdentitySymbolism

ExtremeAdventure

DirtbagCulture

None

Patagonia Politics

Eco Movement Eco Wilderness None

Identity Myths

• #1: Dirtbag Myth– Identify with all 4 facets of Patagonia brand

• #2: Extreme Adventure Myth– Very competitive-achieving articulation of

extreme adventure dominates– Frontier cosmopolitan is similar– Ignore both bohemian and eco-activism

Patagonia Politics

• Eco Movement– Patagonia as one player in broad movement

pushing for sustainability– Leopold eco systems language: restorative,

balance, harmony

• Eco Wilderness – Conserving Wilderness (Roosevelt tradition)

• None

Bruce SteveDwight MarthaEric LauretteMartha Sarah

LizDavidPhoebe

Afshan DougAngela RickBrendanFrank

Heather

Helena AshleyAudrey

IdentitySymbolism

ExtremeAdventure

DirtbagCulture

None

Patagonia Politics

Eco Movement Eco Wilderness None

Michael

Mark

Bruce SteveDwight MarthaEric LauretteMartha Sarah

LizDavidPhoebe INSIDERS

Afshan DougAngela RickBrendanFrank FOLLOWERS: MYTH #1

Helena

LITERALISTCITIZEN-CONSUMER

AshleyAudrey

FEEDERS

IdentitySymbolism

ExtremeAdventure

DirtbagCulture

None

Patagonia Politics

Eco Movement Eco Wilderness None

Michael

Mark

FOLLOWERS:

MYTH #2

Advocacy?Marginal Ideological Effects

• Eco-Movement Insiders– Fellow traveler, marginal solidarity

• Dirtbag Culture Followers– Patagonia plays minor pedagogical role

• Extreme Adventure Followers– Don’t know Patagonia as eco-activist

Key: Gramsci x Business

• Patagonia has built broad-based cultural formation around progressive business practices

• Interpolate into radical green business customers who reject– Products for the enlightened

• 7th Generation, Tom’s, Hain, etc

– Advocacy Organizations• Greenpeace, Sierra Club, WWF, Friends of the Earth