We would love to have been in on the creative meetings when the team at Patagonia came up with their “Worn Wear” campaign a couple of seasons ago. Screened inside their stores on Black Friday, the video tugs on the emotions of customers by pointing out the loving memories they made in their own worn clothes. And it made them think twice about buying those news duds.
“It inspired viewers to be conscious of their purchases and repurpose old clothes instead; alongside the screenings, Patagonia had stations where experts patched up worn Patagonia gear. It may sound like a counterintuitive message for a retailer, but it’s that kind of transparency and humility that consumers love,” writes Julia Lynn Rubin in Contently.
Retailers are getting really good a content marketing by truly understanding what’s important to their customers, rather than simply pushing their products in the traditional marketing sense. Rubin gives a nice summary of some of the creative content being created on out there.
“Riffing on Robin Williams’ famous speech in Dead Poets Society, Apple launched its recent ‘Your Verse’ campaign. The almighty question, ‘What will your verse be? challenges consumers to make their voices heard and create powerful works with the help of Apple products,” Rubin writes.
Rubin also covers the century-plus content work of John Deere’s The Furrow, which still reaches two million print readers worldwide.
Technology is allowing marketers to tell their stories – printed, digital and otherwise – in entirely new ways, and retailers like these are knocking it out of the park.