Tuesday, December 13, 2016

3 Ways Patagonia Has Established Quality:



Patagonia: A status, a fashion, a sponsor.

A company that has established its brand at the top of the mountaineering food chain. All while still developing and creating new and revolutionary ideas. Yes, that is Patagonia. So, how has it managed to make leeway in such a competitive market? 

Well, I believe the answer to this is quality. Patagonia has instilled a sense of quality within its brand that has caused consumers to prefer its products over its competitions. It has done so by utilizing these three factors:
  1. Price
  2. Sponsors
  3. Social Responsibility
#1: PRICE

The price of a product is strongly correlated to the brand that it is associated with. Setting higher prices for its products gave Patagonia the opportunity to separate itself from generic brands that already existed in the market. This in turn gave Patagonia the ability to create a sense of prestige for its brand in the market. It was then able to influence consumer perceptions by instilling that its brand prestige was linked to the high quality of its products. Therefor, now when consumers are making purchasing decisions for which outdoor gear product they should buy they recognize that Patagonia's products 

#2: SPONSORS

A second way that Patagonia has established quality for its brand is by teaming up with professional athletes in the outdoor sports industry. For example, it has sponsored Ryland Bell, a professional snowboarder featured in the film Deeper, by Jeremy Jones. This sponsorship has allowed Patagonia to advertise its products to a vast majority of the snowboard consumer base. These consumers then begin to recognize that Ryland Bell actively wears Patagonia gear within ski films. This in turn allows them to interpret that because a professional snowboarder, featured in many ski films, is wearing Patagonia, the gear must be of the highest quality.


#3: SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY


The final way that Patagonia instilled a sense of quality in its brand is through the use of public relations, and more specifically, taking social responsibility. Due to the fact that Patagonia is an outdoor gear based company, it prides itself on donating to nonprofits that are based on saving the Earth's natural environment. For example, on Black Friday the company initiated its, "100% for the Planet," campaign, where it donated 100% of sales that day to grassroots organizations. This donation allowed Patagonia to demonstrate that it cares more about its social responsibility to the planet than it does about money. By demonstrating this Patagonia was able to, yet again, emphasize that in order to use high quality outdoor gear consumers first need a high quality planet to adventure in.

Overall, Patagonia has used strategies, such as, setting high prices, sponsorships, and taking social responsibility by donating to a great cause, to establish quality and push itself to the top of the outdoor gear market.


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