PATAGONIA SAYS NO TO SHOPPING FESTIVALS
Patagonia is an outdoor clothing brand based in California, founded in 1973 by American Yvon Chouinard. Since its founding, Patagonia has taken environmental sustainability very seriously, committing concretely to environmental justice, climate change and nature conservation. Every year Patagonia has donated 1% of its profits to environmental causes; indeed one of the brand’s mottos is “One Percent for the Planet”. The brand’s green philosophy has also caught on in China, so much so that Patagonia boasts four flagship stores in major Chinese cities, not to mention numerous authorised shops and e-commerce channels to reach lower-tier cities too.
In September 2022, Patagonia’s founder astonished the whole world with his decision to give his 3-billion-dollar company to the environment, declaring that “Earth is now our only shareholder”. An extreme choice that was welcomed with enthusiasm by most of the global public and attracted even more consumers.
About 10 years ago, Patagonia distanced itself from promoting shopping festivals such as Black Friday: in 2011 its “Don’t buy this jacket” marketing campaign, which aimed to teach consumers to shop responsibly, caused a sensation. After the campaign, against all expectations, sales of Patagonia products soared, doubling within two years.
The anti-consumerist, green and philanthropic style has also taken firm root in China, the country with the world’s largest e-commerce market, as Chinese consumers have increasingly embraced these values in recent years. Although the brand has various official and authorised sales channels, it firmly refuses to take part in China’s big shopping festivals, which are almost a must for any brand wanting to do business in China. Patagonia stays well away from days such as Singles’ Day, 618 and the other Chinese shopping festivals. Despite this decision it still enjoys a large sales volume, because the Chinese public sees this stance as a dissenting voice worth supporting.
There are also numerous offline marketing campaigns that teach consumers the “Don’t buy” philosophy. One example is the exhibition held in Shanghai in 2020 on the theme “The stories we wear”, organised with New World Development, a Hong Kong company working in sustainability. This year, too, for 11.11, Patagonia decided to adopt an out-of-the-box marketing strategy: a 1% levy will be applied to every purchase. Patagonia has called it the “Earth Tax”, and it officially comes into force on 1 December.
Although it may seem that Patagonia is undermining its own interests, the reality is quite different: its environmental activities are winning the brand many supporters, which shows that profitability and sustainability are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
>> READ ALSO: THE SUCCESS OF GLAMPING IN CHINA (in Italian)
