The purpose of this report is to analyze the four components of the marketing mix of the Patagonia brand.
To discuss and examine possible changes to Patagonia’s product, pricing, placement, and promotion.Marketing Mix Analysis Overview Patagonia, Inc. is a Ventura, California based clothing company, focusing on outdoor clothing. The clothing is focused on outdoor environmentalists who are willing to pay a premium for the Patagonia brand name and ethic.The company is accociated with several environmental movements and is considered a socially responsible company.
It was founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1972. Patagonia is owned by Lost Arrow Corporation.Product Patagonia clothing line is for skiers, hikers, surfers and mountain climbers. Their marketing strategies show how concerned they are with not harming the environment in any way. Patagonia will not participate in promotion will negative effects on the environment, such as billboards.
Patagonia does a large portion of their sales through catalogs. Four Catalogs are produced each year; all of them are printed on recycled paper. It is pricied at a premeium, take their cotton line it is constructed out of 100% pure organic cotton. Patagonia has a commitment to making more durable products so that people don’t have to buy as often. Their replacement of nylon and polyester (petroleum based products) with recycled polyester fleece made out of soda bottles, are supposed to last three times longer. The company continues to search for ways to package their product in enviormentally safe packaging.
Pricing Patagonia is a leader in the retail industry, continuing to find new enviermentally safe fabric’s. Their pricing is in line with the quality of the product and the cost of manufacturing the product through enviormentally safe means. Their product is considered a premeium product line, many consumers call it the Gucci of outdoors clothing. Competition Price shopping research found that Patagonia has the highest retail price in almost every category.
Patagonia believes their pricing is only reflecting their higher costs to produce better quality clothing. They claim that in the long run their prices will be lower, but that this will be seen over a period of time.Placement The company tries hard to stay in touch with its market through its catalog and ecommerce ordering. The company relies on product innovations that benefit consumers. Although their products are higher priced, customer satisfaction is great.
Patagonia is recognized as a leader and, according to retailers, consumers come into their stores intending to buy only Patagonia products so much so that high end retailers frequently only carry the Patagonia brand. Chouinard and Patagonia have been compared with The North Face with respects to their commitment to excellent products. The company does a self limit because of their belief in protecting the enviorment. If Patagonia wasn’t a firm believer in our enviorment then they could branch out and get their product out there to more consumers, by means of billboards etc.Promotional Mix Patagonia relies on innovation to sustain sales. For example, it was the first firm to sell products made of polypropylene.
Today, Patagonia has established a no-growth policy because Chouinard believes that consumption should decline that we are depleting the earth’s resources. This type of marketing is new to the retail business, and now many other companies like Nike for example are learning how to manufature their products without depleting the earth’s resources. Patagonia relies on their catalog and web site as well as word of mouth to get their advertizing out to the consumer. This is a company with low volume, high prices yet they continue to grow financially.
Patagonia has created a quality product in an enviormentally safe manner all the while with only their target consumer in mind, the planet! This message is so strong people are loyal to the product even at a high price.
