Patagonia Climbs. How Other Purpose-driven Brands Can Follow

The owner's recent announcement has established bold steps to transform capitalism into a force for good

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Sports metaphors are often the stuff of narrative clichés, but in the wake of Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s announcement last week that the company would transfer its full ownership to a nonprofit trust, a climbing metaphor is apt. Patagonia is most definitely climbing into the lead, not just for other purpose-driven companies but also for reforming capitalism.

Since his early days as a dirtbag climber, Chouinard has been putting up first ascents in the climbing world. And through his relentless commitment, Patagonia has consistently ascended to new heights in terms of what a business can do as an environmental activist.

In the 1970s and 80s, Chouinard pioneered standards for sourcing and quality of outdoor gear via his company, Chouinard Equipment. In 2002, he and his team created the One Percent for the Planet commitment, to which now over 3,400 companies are signatories. And in 2017, the brand introduced its own Worn Wear resale platform, which has since sold over 150,000 gently used products back to consumers pioneering the circular economy within the fashion industry.

But this action is different. It positions Patagonia as a leader in the reform of capitalism, the likes of which we purpose proponents love to discuss but have far fewer ideas on how to enact. It demonstrates that for businesses, the real impact on climate is more of a structural challenge than a communication one.

New ascents don’t come without risks. The lead climber proceeds with less protection and risks a potentially fatal injury if they fall. But if they succeed, they gain glory and establish a route that others will attempt to follow. In climbing, as in business, where one brave soul goes, others will follow.

Patagonia’s announcement has established that businesses can take bold steps that materially transform capitalism into a force for good, from extracting value from the earth’s resources to creating value that directly renews them. Whether or not companies should follow this lead isn’t the right question to ask—because they inevitably will and, with a world sitting in the midst of a climate emergency, they must.

The question is, which purpose-driven actions will companies take today to follow Patagonia in the future? As clean climbing gear (which, by the way, Chouinard invented) saves climbers from falling on a rock face, these actions serve as protection along the way, cushioning against risk and allowing for further progress upward.

And it’s here that partnerships with finance, legal and HR can be more important than those with agencies, influencers and media to deliver those actions. Consider the following.

Governance: Establishing a charitable giving arm or foundation as a separate legal entity so that a portion of proceeds can be appropriately allocated to actions that deliver the business purpose. This can be done without yet establishing a public commitment to X or Y% of sales.

Corporate communications: Carving out a section of investor-facing documents and presentations that tackles the purpose gap head-on, detailing the actions to deliver purpose and a roadmap to pursue them in the future. These plans should not be delivered in quarters but in decades.

Talent: Codifying the business’ purpose through recruitment materials, hiring process and onboarding so that employee culture builds up around a common pursuit of purpose and bold moves do not require as much arduous stakeholder management.

Of course, you can’t climb The Nose of El Cap on the first try. The biggest risk of all is a business attempting to reach the heights of Patagonia’s activism without first learning the ropes of brand purpose. If we think of the purpose as the destination at the top of our mountain, the ascent is likely to get tougher the higher we get.

The clients coming to us tend to know the peak they’re aiming for but often lack the sequence of actions over time that will help get them there. With Patagonia’s ascent as an inspiring example, we can all pull on our climbing shoes and take steps toward the summit.