Is Your Story For Sale? A Lesson From Patagonia

Anyone can tell a story. It’s an exciting time to be in. With relatively little effort, we can find information about anything our mind can question. We have phones that can capture these messages in a video and post it to a number of platforms for the world to see. Now more than ever people are sharing their personal stories and how they experience the world. 

Whether you believe it or not, everyday we all are telling stories. The jobs we choose. The things we read. The hobbies we pursue. Everything we do communicates a story or a message of what we believe or want others to perceive about us. Stories are the most powerful way to share information. So the question is, is our story for sale?

Portrait of Yvon Chouinard. Photo Credit: Campbell Brewer for Patagonia.

A Story Worth Protecting.

You may have heard the recent news that Patagonia owner, Yvon Chouinard, is giving away his $3 billion company back to the environment through a nonprofit organization. Yvon is known as an eccentric rock climber turned outdoor clothing specialist that has an unconventional way of doing business. This news has confused and dumbfounded people. Rather than going public or selling the longstanding profitable business,  he’s donating it back to what got him into the business. To those who have been a fan of the brand or even followed them, this is no surprise. In all of the money spent on branding or every piece of communication and marketing, it all goes back to the story he’s been telling all along. Protect the environment. I happened to catch a national news station covering the story. The one news host had a lot of negative sarcastic comments about Yvon. Regardless of his stance, something hit me. Here is this man who has been an outdoors lover and dedicated his entire life, time and money to preaching about protecting the environment and doing something so rare and unheard of in the new direction of where the profit would go, was being doubted and challenged for his reasons. 

Are You Being Intentional about Your Story?

There is no question anymore that our stories are for sale. We don’t take people at face value. In fact, when someone does something noble or awe-inspiring, we automatically think there must be an ulterior motive. Your brand is telling a story. We need to be intentional about the stories we are telling or the things we are communicating whether through action or word. If you’re buying Patagonia clothing, most likely you love being outdoors. Patagonia’s story invites you to act, not just purchase. It invites you to be a part of a community. It invites you to be personally responsible in your interactions with the environment. They aren’t selling stats or facts when they speak to their audience about clothing. No one would care about that. They speak to what their clients care about. What Patagonia cares about. A story worth living and telling.

If someone asked you right now what story your brand is telling, what would you say?

Say you were tasked to write a message for a billboard ad to promote your company. What would it say? How would it make people feel? While we may not be standing on a soap box or at an auction selling something, the world gets to decide what they believe. So the question isn’t is our story for sale, but are we telling a good story that’s worth believing? Is the story out there the one you want people to know or believe? If you're not sure, we can help you create stories that are intentional for your audience.