The Success of Patagonia’s Marketing Strategy

Patagonia, a manufacturer of upscale outdoor clothing, is known for its various environmental sustainability efforts. The privately held company has been known to promote used wear and ask consumers to think twice before buying its products.

In spite of what looks like an anti-marketing effort, the company has seen its revenues grow in the face of a challenging environment for traditional retailers and is valued at about $3 billion. How has Patagonia managed to pull this off?

Key Takeaways

• Patagonia is an apparel retailer known for its upscale outdoor clothing and various environmental sustainability efforts.
• The company continues to grow by offering products that are designed to last.
• Patagonia announced in 2017 that it would give merchandise credits for used apparel.
• The company has been active on the environmental and political fronts, which resonates well with Patagonia’s loyal customer base.

‘Don’t Buy This Jacket’

With consumers becoming more frugal during the Great Recession and its aftermath, they were less inclined to buy on impulse and tended to shop more for value. Consumers were becoming more interested in goods that lasted long, and Patagonia saw an opportunity there to tout its own long-lasting wares.

The marketing strategy led to the company’s running an advertisement during the 2011 Thanksgiving season that read “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” The advertisement talked about the cost to the environment of one of the company’s best-selling fleece jackets, asked consumers to reconsider before buying the product, and instead, opt for a used Patagonia product. In spite of this, or because of this, the company saw its revenues grow about 30% to $543 million in 2012, followed by another 5% growth in 2013. By 2017, the company reached $1 billion in sales.

Walking the Walk

What resonates with Patagonia customers is that the company doesn’t just talk the environmental talk. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, an accomplished rock climber, also backs up the company’s talk with its actions. The company donates a portion of its revenue to environmental causes and uses recycled, “Fair Trade” certified, and organic material in its clothing. It also uses solar energy at its company headquarters in Ventura, California, and is one of the founders of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, a group of companies that has promised to reduce its environmental footprint.

Patagonia has also engaged in initiatives such as sending out an environmentally friendly truck on a trip across the country, in a bid to help consumers repair their outdoor gear and sell used Patagonia wares to them. Moreover, as a way to promote used Patagonia wear, the company has invested in Yerdle, a startup that aims to cut down on people’s purchases of new products. And another Patagonia advertising campaign in 2013 warned against the sort of development that used up the planet’s resources.

In 2017, the company said that certain Patagonia merchandise that is in good condition could be returned for credits. The used merchandise is cleaned, repaired, and sold on Patagonia’s “Worn Wear” website.

The company was active on the political front in 2017 as well. It organized a boycott of the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City after Utah passed a bill to cancel the Bears Ears National Monument. Later, Patagonia also sued the U.S. government and then-President Donald Trump in 2017 regarding proclamations to significantly reduce the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and reduce the size of the Bears Ears National Monument by 85%. Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, restored the original boundaries as president in 2021. Trump returned to office in 2025 and has not yet indicated whether he will reduce the monuments’ size again.

In 2022, Chouinard announced that he was donating Patagonia to fight climate change. He transferred 100% of Patagonia’s voting stock to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, “created to protect the company’s values.” Meanwhile, 100% of its nonvoting stock was moved to the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit “dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature.” About $100 million in annual profits are expected to go to this cause.

Resonates with Target Audience

It seems that the company’s message has resonated with the sort of environmentally conscious and upscale consumers that Patagonia sees as its target audience. These sorts of consumers like the idea of buying a product that is made by an environmentally friendly company in an environmentally friendly manner.

Beyond lasting a long time, the products can also be recycled for further use. As the company has tapped into more consumers in this target market, it has managed to expand its sales. And the company’s consumers could also have taken advantage of its efforts to facilitate the sale of used products and have used the money to buy new Patagonia products.

Of course, others who were not so environmentally conscious just bought the company’s products because they became trendy. Those customers tend to be less interested in recycling, used clothing, and the company’s environmental initiatives.

Note

In 2018, Patagonia donated $10 million that it received from then-President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts to groups committed to protecting the environment and finding solutions to the climate crisis.

As a result of its successful marketing and quality products, Patagonia has achieved a high degree of success with over 70 stores worldwide. The company also launched an environmentally friendly food business.

What Is Patagonia?

Patagonia is a privately held American outdoor apparel company known for its high-quality clothing and gear, with a strong focus on environmental sustainability and activism.

What Is a Target Market?

A target market is a group of people that have been identified as the most likely potential customers for a product because of their shared characteristics, such as age, income, and lifestyle. Patagonia’s target market is environmentally conscious and upscale consumers who like the idea of buying a product that is made by an environmentally friendly company in an environmentally friendly manner.

What Is the Status of Patagonia’s Monuments Lawsuit?

Patagonia sued the U.S. government and then-President Donald Trump in 2017 regarding proclamations to significantly reduce the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and reduce the size of the Bears Ears National Monument by 85%. For administrative purposes, a U.S. district court consolidated Patagonia’s lawsuit with four other lawsuits about the two monuments.

Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump as president, restored the original boundaries in 2021. In light of Biden’s action, the consolidated lawsuit was stayed (or paused) by a federal district court and remains in that status as of this writing.

Voters again elected Trump president in 2024, and it is not yet known in 2025 whether he will reduce the monuments’ size again now that he is back in office.

The Bottom Line

Even as Patagonia has led an effort to expand the useful life of its products, an effort that is at odds with the planned obsolescence approach of many manufacturers today, it has seen its sales rise. It seems the company’s environmentally friendly efforts have resonated with the sort of consumer it targets. More of these people are buying Patagonia products as they see the company’s long-lasting wares as a way to express their values.