Turning Fashion Inside Out: Patagonia’s Commitment to Bettering the Planet
Can being unfashionable save the planet?
It’s an unfortunate fact that fashion, including haute couture and the fast fashion trends it inspires, is the third largest polluting industry – contributing more annual carbon dioxide emissions than the shipping and aviation industries combined. In light of this, and following their decades-long commitment to environmental justice, Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard recently said in an ad, “We’re in business to save our home planet, fashion has nothing to do with it.”
The premise is simple: fashion moves fast, resulting in a domino effect of mass production, consumption, and waste as trends come and go. Patagonia’s response is to buck what’s fashionable and create quality, recyclable clothing that buyers won’t need to replace. Yet as we grapple with a world where weather extremes are becoming the new norm, does a company’s commitment to environmentalism resonate with buyers?
Using our Rapid Message Test tool, we tested four recent Patagonia ads to measure their effect on brand favorability, brand trust, and interest in purchasing.
Final data on the four messages tested showing which ads had a measurable increase from the baseline for brand favorability, trust, and interest in purchasing.
Each Patagonia ad focused on a different aspect of the brand:
- Their “Escape Responsibility” ad was product-focused, showcasing a lightweight, easy-to-fold and pack jacket.
- “Kin” discussed a project in which they partnered with local families to protect the oceans they rely on.
- “Fair trade” and “Unfashionable” highlighted two of the company’s core values: fair trade/labor practices and their commitment to environmentalism while pushing for industry change and less pollution.
The Results
To answer these questions, we launched a Rapid Message Test to an audience of 1,029 adults. Grow Progress’ Rapid Message Tests use randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the premier standard in message testing, modeled on medical trials. First, we randomly assigned each respondent to one of five groups. Then each group viewed one ad (one of the four Patagonia ads or a placebo message) and answered the same three questions regarding Patagonia. In less than 24 hours, we had results.
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the brand Patagonia?
All of the video ads increased brand favorability but Patagonia’s ads focusing on fair trade and environmentalism saw the most brand lift. The “Unfashionable” ad in particular, where Chouinard discusses being the antithesis to modern fashion brands to protect the planet, caused an 18 percentage point increase in brand favorability.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: I am interested in purchasing products from Patagonia.
All four ads were effective when it came to persuading consumers to purchase Patagonia products, with “Fair Trade” and “Unfashionable” increasing purchasing likelihood the most with a 20 percentage point and 24 percentage point lift, respectively.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Patagonia is a brand that I trust.
Once more, all of the ads indicated an increase in brand trust with “Unfashionable” being the most effective ad. “Escape Responsibility”, the specifically product-focused ad, outperformed the other ads for the first time, increasing brand trust by 13 percentage points.
Resonating with Repeat Buyers
Patagonia’s ads performed well across the board, especially with their target audience of people who have purchased outdoor equipment in the last two years. While looking at repeat buyers, the level of persuasiveness for each ad is even more impressive – often outperforming the topline results by 15+ percentage points.
If we look at the crucial question of whether the ads increase intent to purchase from Patagonia, for example, the “Unfashionable” ad increased the likelihood to an impressive 83% of people in this repeat buyer subgroup – an increase of 23 percentage points from the topline results.
The Takeaway
Patagonia’s messages about protecting their workers and the environment were the most effective in all three categories, especially their ad about being “unfashionable” to protect the planet.
Critically, all four messages indicated an increase in purchase intent and brand trust, perfectly highlighting the importance of finding messaging that truly resonates with your core audience. Ready to find the messaging that resonates with your audiences? Learn more about Grow Progress’ Rapid Message Testing, and be sure to sign up for our newsletter and never miss a beat.
