Patagonia WetSuit mystery

I've read on 70 percent a post about the Patagonia wetsuit. In this post, it is mentionned :

I estimate the guy has $400 or so in the wetsuit and $400 to $800 dollars of billable time in making the site. That’s either some serious brand loyalty or a very sneaky guerilla marketing campaign. Given Patagonia’s stellar reputation and the fact the the photos on the site are pretty bad, I’m going with the latter.

Well, I would like to clarify some points.
First of all, I am not an employee of Patagonia. I've been working years ago for Patagonia, as a consultant for Russia. Since then I only kept some very good contacts with some people inside the company, and this is true that I really like the brand, the products, the spirit etc etc. So, on my side, I am not doing any paid viral marketing.

Then, as far as I know, (but this can be easily validated by Ali) the website done by Ali, about the Patagonia wetsuit, has not been ordered by Patagonia, and is not inserted in any viral marketing campaign. You can see the comments Ali put on my blog .
To tell you the story of the post I've done about the Patagonia wetsuit, I received from Patagonia a mail about the award Patagonia received for this mail (because, as I told you, I kept good relations with Patagonia Europe). So I asked Patagonia Europe if I can receive more details and publish it on the blog. They sent me the PDF, and I wrote a post. That's it.
Only content publishing, and from my point of view, people who are ready to pay a little bit more some products, but they know the money will be partly used for the planet. Nothing really elaborated and calculated behind this. If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask them on this blog.

Comments

[rob70]

My comments on the time spent making the site were ment to illustrate how much Ali valued the suit. The post should have read "I'm going with the former" vs. "the latter" and was not ment to intone that the site is a viral marketing campaign.

Patagonia doesn't need to promote itself through intricate marketing efforts. They simply make great products which drive people like me, you and Ali to do a bit of marketing for them.

Sorry for the confusion.

Happy Holidays!

[Pierric]

No pb Rob, I just wanted to underline to everyone that there is not any special stratregy behind the simplicity of blogs :-) Only passon, people and readers.
Merry christmas !

[Ali Mills]

"...as far as I know, (but this can be easily validated by Ali) the website done by Ali, about the Patagonia wetsuit, has not been ordered by Patagonia, and is not inserted in any viral marketing campaign."

Pierric, you're absolutely correct. I will validate/verify that neither the site www.patagoniawetsuits.com nor I have anything to do with Patagonia besides being a long time customer and having friends who have, now-and-again, worked for them. I like the company's products, values, and leadership and thought it'd be helpful for Patagonia and their customers for me to share what I know about the wetsuit. The easiest way for me to do that was in the context of a simple web page.

I intend to comment on 70percent.org (http://www.70percent.org/blog/patagonia-wetsuits-again/) with answers to the questions, "...are they worth the price? Do they rash you? How is it holding up?" when I get a chance. I'm on vacation right now...

Have fun, and happy new years!

Ali

[Niegà]

Seen that you have good contacs in Patagonia...

...maybe you can tell me wether their book "Bend to Baja" can be bought in Europe through their european website, amazon or any shop/e-shop or not?

Thanks

Niegà

[Pierric]

The book is avalaible on Amazon.fr

[Niegà]

Thanks. I've also found it (and ordered it) through Amazon.co.uk. it's a shame though that Patagonia Europe is so behind Patagonia USA.

Niegà

[ulupalakua]

first day in my 3 ml patagonia wetsuit, medium fits well; hope the shoulders loosen up just a hair, very warm; much warmer than my oneill psycho 2 bought a year ago, almost dry inside !
the fletcher chouinard 7'6" swallowtail i just bought rips !