The 50% Rule: Patagonia’s Content Adventure

Patagonia is not a clothing brand.

Last year I bought a nice winter jacket from Patagonia. Now I get a catalog in the mail (yes, print!) every month. Some people collect National Geographic. I collect Patagonia catalogs. These colorful 68-page beauties are an incredible catalog-gone-magazine hybrid. Out of 68 pages, I count 34 in the latest issue that are either interviews, stories of adventure, or amazing full spread photography that may not even feature a Patagonia product. When they do feature products in full spreads, it’s minimal.

Patagonia Winter 2014

I call this the 50% rule. If your catalog, or any of your content experiences, be it website or social media, feature product after promotion after sale after new line, your customers might get a bit overwhelmed. There’s certainly a place and a brand for that strategy, but I can’t help but swoon over Patagonia’s style of and confidence in their content. If you go to Patagonia’s website, the experience continues. Out of five images on their homepage slider, just one features product:

This speaks volumes to me. And I think there’s a lot to learn from what Patagonia’s doing here:

1. Have faith in the brand. Patagonia has a strong reputation as an adventurer’s outfitter. And they know that. So instead of pushing for product features in everything that they do, they can have faith that the clothing will always be top of mind so they can use valuable real estate to feature other things that are important to the company. From the environment, to reuse initiatives, surf and snow featurettes and how to make a good Tsampa soup. What Patagonia knows is that each of these things reinforces their brand and creates advocates for both their brand and their mission.
2. Make it about the experience. In Patagonia’s latest monthly catalog, there’s a full spread that mostly features snow. Maybe 5% of the photo is a guy shredding down a slope, likely in Patagonia gear, though it’s impossible to tell. It’s not just some models standing around at the ski lodge enjoying some hot cocoa with clear product shots. It’s totally aspirational. Here’s where you can snowboard with Patagonia:
3. Make it compelling. If there’s one thing I keep repeating to myself very recently, it’s something I eard at our trip to the Motley Fool in September: make it compelling. Make me want to flip through your catalog. Send a statement straight to my mailbox to ensure I don’t throw it out with the junk mail. How does Patagonia do that? Maybe they take notes from magazines that inspire them in design, articles or rich photography. To me, the most compelling things break boundaries or patterns and are totally unexpected.
4. Stay consistent in voice and content. Patagonia’s communications reinforce theirbrand experience with each exposure. If the catalog is only half-filled with product listings, the website landing page should probably also go light on pushing product. Email marketing efforts should follow suit and mix compelling content with product.
5. Adopt the 50% rule. Get creative with your content. Go down the rabbit hole and see what wild (but relevant) ideas you can come up with that buck the trend of sale, feature and product focused content.