Issue #43: A Lesson in Crisis Comms from Nuuly

Here's what we can learn.

If you’ve been reading Brand Baby for a while now, you know that I’m a die-hard fan of the clothing rental service Nuuly. I’ve convinced pretty much all of my friends to try it, and nearly everyone falls in love with it. It’s quite possibly the best $98 I spend every month.

This past week, everyone was talking about them – and not for all the right reasons. Last week, a TikTok went viral describing a girl’s recent experience when she sat in someone else’s shit on the subway, while wearing black cargo jeans that she had rented on Nuuly. Please just watch the original post. (FYI: static TikTok carousels don’t seem to be embedding on Substack??)

You have to pay for any item that you don’t return to Nuuly, and these pants would have cost this poor girl $200. So instead of throwing the pants away, she washed them and returned them, but of course, that caused a stir. Immediately, people took to the comments and created reactionary content to express their sympathy, disgust, and fear that Nuuly might send the same jeans back out to another renter. Some people had already ordered black cargo jeans in their Nuuly box and were scared that they would receive the shit jeans. For others, the story just made them realize that Nuuly clothes, most of which have been worn by countless others before us, are potentially super gross.

@savanna.donaldsonRETURNING THE PANTS WAS DIABOLICAL (praying for nuuly’s marketing x pr team rn)

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Nuuly had a PR nightmare on their hands, and I was worried that it might be their demise. We know that audiences aren’t shy about airing grievances with brands on social media these days, and often, brands fail to respond appropriately – or at all. But instead of remaining silent, Nuuly responded in the best way possible: an empathetic post using the exact image and song from the original renter’s post.

So why did this crisis comms response work?

1. Nuuly handled the situation with empathy. They shared their remorse in a timely manner, immediately demonstrating that they’re supportive of our concerns. At the same time, they also had some fun with their response…

2. Nuuly used the same carousel format with the same song and screenshot of a muppet for their response. So yes, they responded with empathy, but they also injected some appropriate humor into the post, which was warranted because the situation was simply so absurd.

3. They also responded with important information about how rental items are cleaned (or in this case, thrown away), so that audiences don’t get grossed out and cancel their subscription.

Nuuly met what could have been a PR nightmare with empathy, authenticity, helpful information, and a little bit of fun. They managed to walk out of this literal shit show unscathed. It’s a great example of a brand successfully responding to a crisis.

And during a time where consumers aren’t shy about airing grievances or voicing criticism about products and brands online (whether their issues are the brand’s fault or not!), I think a lot of other brands can learn from Nuuly’s response. I didn’t think it was possible for me to love Nuuly more than I already did, but I’m really proud of them this week 🥹

Thanks for reading!! See you next week. xx