A Deep Dive on the Carhartt Brand
This is a fun one. I’ve done deep dives on many brands but there is some interesting magic in Carhartt. This billion-dollar, family-owned business, is a marvel of organic growth and deliberate marketing. Of course, one feeds the other and that explains Carhartt’s success. I love this brand and I don’t wear it. I just get it and am excited for where it will go. At the same time, I am nervous.
My interest started with the television program, Yellowstone. I’ve never seen product placement conducted with such extensive and blatant abandon within a show. It has no shame in collecting checks to feature brands, even if they don’t fit the vibe. Dodge, Coors, and Wrangler are constant stars. It is so obvious that it took me out of the soap opera plot. It borders on a Saturday Night Live parody.
Others found this crass too. Observations online were hilarious. One commentor pointed out that all the Dodge Rams were pristine, “No dents or bumps, no sagging or missing bumpers, hell even the tires look all shiny, no dirt on them.” The least accurate placement was Yeti coolers. These are sprinkled everywhere in the show. I believe Coleman is more popular on the farm, ranch or hunting trip but that brand missed the boat.
I am off topic. We’ll get to product placement later, but let’s break down the Carhartt brand to see what we can learn.
THE BUSINESS
Carhartt was founded by Hamilton Carhartt. It was 1889 in Detroit, Michigan. The company started with two sewing machines and five workers making tough clothing for manual laborers. It met with success early by focusing on railroad workers’ need for strong and long-lasting work clothes. From the beginning, the company solicited and listened to customers to constantly improve the products.
Within 20 years, Carhartt expanded its facilities into eight other cities, including locations in the United Kingdom and Canada. Its growth has been consistent with some ups and downs due to world events. The business contracted during the Great Depression and resurged with the Second World War.
Trademark features are the big draw. The clothes were built to last. Durability, including the use of heavy-duty thread, reinforcing rivets at stress points, and a variety of durable, high technology materials resistant to flame, abrasion, stains, and water were signature benefits. For the most part, Carhartt clothing was commonly found on construction sites, farms, and ranches. Now the products are hot with different audiences. You don’t have to be a rancher to wear Carhartt’s heavy-duty working clothes such as jackets, coats, overalls, coveralls, vests, shirts, jeans, dungarees, fire-resistant clothing, and hunting apparel.
Carhartt jackets are plain and manufactured in muted colors. The mustard coats are ubiquitous and can be spotted in every city and town in North America. They are usually waist-length or three-quarter length. Most are made from relatively stiff cotton canvas with triple-stitched seams. These don’t need a hanger; they stand up on their own. Pants and overalls made of the same materials and a handful of colors are also popular.
It is now considered street wear and a portion of the branding aesthetic looks more hip-hop than cow field. The clothing lines have softened literally and figuratively. It has expanded to women and designs have proliferated. The basic rough and tumble gear has been joined by items that look very much like Belstaff and Barbour. This is a clear signal to moving not only to a broader audience, but a more upscale one.
THE BRAND
Carhartt’s first slogan was “Honest value for an honest dollar.” The company is trying desperately to hold onto its roots and values but with huge growth, that is under stress. I don’t believe the brand will ever die due to lack of consumer demand, but it is headed for a bubble burst. The more it appeals to a wider audience with a street wear focus, the more it may alienate the core base, the one that has always been there and made it successful. This is a very common story, so I hope that the smart folks at HQ have it in mind.
More and more, I have learned that business boils down to distribution and then receivables and payables. That’s not sexy but it is fact. As a marketer, I have had a bias and potentially overweighted the impact of branding and advertising. That’s what makes Carhartt a fascinating brand to study.
Carhartt knows the importance of distribution and thrives on large regional farm stores. Blain’s Farm & Fleet and Fleet Farm and Tractor Supply Company are hugely important retailers to the brand. Carhartt itself operates retail stores in the U.S. and has a flagship store in downtown Detroit in a heritage building. Instead of a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremonies, new stores are opened with a sledgehammer smashing a wall.
Apparently, much of Carhartt’s marketing and advertising is conducted in-house. This is rare given the size of the business but does happen. Chobani famously does most of its advertising within its headquarters. The Carhartt marketing department is said to number over two hundred people. Many campaigns lean on actual customer testimonials which is an approach I always enjoy.
For a long time, advertisements in Popular Mechanics and American Cowboy ran with slogans like, “As Rugged As The Men Who Wear Them.” This is an important point. The audience was once distinct and easy to find. The target consumer worked the land or built homes. Wrangler went through something similar decades ago and managed the duality of appealing to a core audience and an expanded one. Wrangler jeans were only worn on the farm and ranch before taking off in the 1950’s with greasers and wannabe rebels.
The company has updated its marketing style and focus. It has partnered with actor Jason Momoa to make ads showcasing surfing, hunting as a family tradition, and women making donuts while wearing suspenders. Momoa reflects that core, tough guy aspect but the communications are signaling a wider use of Carhartt in one’s life.
THE MARKETING
Carhartt’s marketing department is not complacent or constrained. One only must visit the press section on the corporate website to see the extensive efforts. The brand’s newest campaign, “draws parallels to defining moments in Carhartt’s history that enables ‘History In The Making’ and personal legacies”. That tells me they are staying core to brand by focusing on the end customer and not losing sight of where and how their products are best used.
However, the campaign is subject to interpretation. It is focused on the notion of hard work. For me, that conjures up saddling a horse, working the back fields, and putting up the frame of a house. But it could apply to a graphic designer working into the night to complete a project or the real estate agent who handles rural properties. The idea of hard work is not constrained. This has been poked at before by Carhartt when it showed women working gardens, harvesting, and preparing foods (a bit old-school but you get the drift).
This is a very predictable path for the brand. Not to knock the obvious strategy, it will all come down to execution. The chief brand officer has stated, “Every time you put on Carhartt gear, you don’t just wear history, you make it.” Featured in the spot, is a “commitment to making gear that’s comfortable, adaptable to all environments, provides great fit and is built to last.” That is making the brand work harder. To date, it was about product quality and durability. Now it is straying into the territory of being a lifestyle brand. A label, I loathe. Here are key pillars in its strategy.
On Screen
Carhartt seems to have a standing agreement with Taylor Sheridan, the man behind Yellowstone. The products also show up in his other works including Wind River and Those Who Wish Me Dead where Jeremy Renner and Angelina Jolie are decked out in Carhartt gear. Product placement is huge for the brand. Beyond ubiquity, it reinforces the brand based on who wears it and in what context and environment.
I must point out how gross product placement has become. To give you an idea, shows in concept and production literally prostitute themselves to brand agents and brands directly. They are open to receiving revenue by placing products or mentions in the set and scripts even if it has nothing to do with the story and characters. The inauthenticity is troubling.
My theory is Carhartt’s screen appearances appeared organically at first. We catch glimpses earlier this century in Sweet Home Alabama, the 2002 movie with Reese Witherspoon, and the The 40-Year-Old Virgin three years later. Then something changed. Starting around 2010, the brand was everywhere. There came a tough guy era for Carhartt with stars wearing the gear:
Sylvester Stallone in Grudge Match (2013)
Bradley Cooper in American Sniper (2014)
Bill Paxton in Nightcrawler (2014)
Ben Affleck in The Accountant (2016)
Jason Momoa in Braven (2018)
In Interstellar (2014), Carhartt is onscreen for nearly half the run time. Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain wore coats in most scenes. The rebooted Frasier sitcom has the lead character’s son wearing Carhartt shirts and jackets almost exclusively. This is a smart one. While set in an urban environment, the character is a fire fighter. Carhartt is a set-piece in the Ashton Kutcher and Sam Elliott comedy-drama, The Ranch. It’s even more in-your-face than Yellowstone. Matt LeBlanc plays a Pittsburgh contractor raising three children in Man With a Plan. He’s always in Carhartt.
2023 signalled an ever-greater commitment to the practice. Jennifer Lawrence showcases overalls in No Hard Feelings. Seth Rogen wears pants in Slumber Party while Channing Tatum takes them off in Magic Mike’s Last Dance. Some efforts are random like Apple’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and the film, A Murder at the End of the World.
Other placements are strategic. City on Fire and Jury Duty hit upon urban audiences. More deliberate are The Other Black Girl, The Chi, The Upshaws, and Wu-Tang: An American Saga as efforts to connect with African Americans. Not all placements are flattering given appearances in Painkiller and The Righteous Gemstones. Smartly, Carhartt now outfits the broadcasters and reporters on The Weather Channel which is a great fit on many levels.
Good Works
The brand is borrowing from Patagonia but in its own way. It has aligned with America’s National Park Foundation on a program to entice Millennials and GenZs to work outdoors. It supports Team Rubicon that is “a veteran-led humanitarian organization, built to serve global communities before, during, and after disasters and crises.” They support Team Rubicon largely because of what they reference as “climate disasters”. It has donated essential gear to Ukrainian relief and American nursing students.
Carhartt’s Reworked program is a resale program dedicated to extending the life of workwear and reducing clothing waste. The company is also writing checks and bringing awareness to women in skilled trades. The brand does not wade into politics even when politicians of all stripes wear the brand to connect with workers and skilled tradespeople.
Company Gear
This is an amazing business within the business. Companies can personalize and uniform their people in Carhartt. It is co-branding as the logos appear side by side. The benefits are so clear, they don’t require mention with one exception. If you pull into a lumber yard and see the staff wearing this gear, it sends both a subtle and overt signal.
THE BRAND VERDICT
I love this brand and I don’t wear it. I just get it and am excited for where it will go. At the same time, I am nervous. It is walking at least four thin lines. So far they have not alienated their core audience. Even though it is loved by rappers, skaters and hipsters, the company knows it’s real customer which is critical. There is the associated risk of ubiquity and saturation.
Related is the design drift to street wear and upscale offers. And I am not sure about the glut of product placement. This already seems out of control and may impact authenticity.
Carhartt will endure if they never lose the quality of the product and remember the core, loyal audience. If I were Carhartt, I’d have a person on staff who analyzes Patagonia and Wrangler. Those two have been through similar evolutions and challenges of growth and relevance. Outside of apparel, John Deere carries some lessons.
This boils down to a simple summary, “Honest value for an honest dollar.” Carhartt makes damn good stuff, and they stand behind every stitch. They should remain relevant for years because hard work never goes out of style.
