Goorin history and the trucker trend

Goorin Bros. is one of the most recognizable hat companies in the world thanks to its popular collection — The Farm. Goorin began in 1895 and opened its first store in 1949 in San Francisco. While the company was widely known for fedoras and flat caps, these days Goorin’s animal truckers are stealing the show.

The Farm debuted in 2003. The Swine, The Beaver, The Cock, The Goat, and The Ass were the original farm animals that launched the line.

But it’s the resurgence of early 2000s wear that has propelled The Farm truckers into one of the hottest fashion trends today.

It started with a funky idea

Ben Goorin, the company’s CEO and the great-grandson of Goorin’s founder, Cassel Goorin, was experimenting with patch designs for truckers, and thus, The Farm was born.

I stumbled onto The Farm in 2021 while shopping for a fedora. They were cool, so I purchased one. Then I purchased more.

Over the last two years, I’ve noticed a growing trend — more and more people wearing The Farm trucker hats, which has made me pay closer attention to Goorin’s marketing.

If memory serves me, in 2021, The Farm was only available on Goorin’s website or in one of its stores. But when the collection’s popularity reached a tipping point, Goorin’s marketing ramped up.

Two strategies that help The Farm trucker hats fly off virtual shelves

1. Exclusivity

Goorin introduced the Friday Drop, where the company releases a new limited-quantity farm trucker. By signing up to receive Friday Drop alerts via email, you’d be the first to know about new additions to Goorin’s farm collection. But the hat company didn’t stop there. It gamified its marketing by creating an entire app dedicated to The Farm truckers — Goorin Drops.

2. Urgency

The Goorin Drop app is where Farm Heads go to get limited-edition farm animal truckers. Every Friday at noon PST, people with the app get an alert of the latest drop.

But those who want to add to their exclusive collection of The Farm truckers have to move quickly because Goorin’s Friday drops sell out fast. (I once had a hat sell out on me in three minutes!)

How Goorin is using gamification to win

Exclusivity and urgency aren’t revolutionary marketing tactics; they are tried and true.

“Only 2 left at this price!” “Limited time offer!” “Get this VIP-only merch!”

We’ve all seen and heard it before. But Goorin Bros. capitalized on a revitalized trend—2000s fashion, which includes the trucker hat once worn regularly by stars like Ashton Kutcher 👇.

Truckers are back in style, which has been a jackpot for Goorin, but the company’s gamification is truly setting the hat brand apart.

Hubspot defines gamification as incorporating common game elements — such as scoring points, leveling up, or earning virtual currency — into marketing campaigns to boost user engagement and drive conversions.

While there is no point system related to Goorin Drops (that I know of), the app is a players-only hub of sorts. There are even cryptic graphics, which act as clues, that leave you guessing what the next animal drop will be, and because they sell out fast, you’re actively competing against other shoppers.

Similarly to the Nike drops people utilize bots for, if you’re lucky enough to get a Goorin Drop hat before they sell out, you feel like you’ve won a prize. When you miss out, you’re relegated to resell territory where Goorin truckers go for upwards of $100 on sites like eBay.

Try to bag a Friday Drop an hour after release, let alone a day, and you’ll see the words SOLD OUT in bright red.

What you can learn from Goorin Drops

Using exclusivity and urgency to drive sales is the short answer. But high customer engagement exemplified by the Goorin Drops app is a standard to aspire to.

When you engage your market outside of purchasing behavior, you set yourself up for success.

A few ideas for implementing gamification to increase engagement👇:

1. Product quizzes
2. Points and rewards
3. Contests