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| Patagonia: getting close to customers. |
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Patagonia grew out of a hobbyist business and evolved through a close connection to its sports (climbing, skiing, fishing, walking), such that the people who work there from the receptionist to the marketing director to the CEO are active sports enthusiasts. Also because the company has such a strong environmental ethos, alongside the sport orientation is a commitment to environmental activism: the company's purpose statement is 'to use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis'. The company's core customers represent a rich source of inspiration and via the dialogue between employees and customers there is an active listening process at work, which feeds through into product design and communications. The fostering of the dialogue seems to be related to the nature of the company's business and the nature of its foundation. For example, climbing, like many of the outdoor sports that Patagonia is connected with, involves much waiting and then a burst of adrenalin filled activity ? which is when stories are told. Then because of the blurring of the boundaries between Patagonia and its customers the stories get retold in Patagonia shops, which tend to be populated by climbers and canoeists and surfers; they get retold in Ventura (the head office); they get retold in advertising; and they get retold in the form of field reports. People within Patagonia maintain a natural dialogue because their interests are entrained with customers.
Stories flow into the company anecdotally or in writing and then flow back out. Rob BonDurant, Chief Marketing Officer says, 'we invite everyone to be a contributor to the Patagonia story'.
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