Wear it out and wear it again
"When you pay for quality, you only cry once."
I'm reminded of this adage time and again when I wear my Patagonia clothing.
Through their Worn Wear program, I've returned clothing to Patagonia for repair several times. For those of you who aren't familiar with Worn Wear, here's how it works as illustrated by my most recent experience.
The front zipper on my Down Sweater Jacket went kaput. Nothing more frustrating than a zipper with teeth that don't mesh, but rather gnash, and the ensuing feat of dexterous magic trying to get them to work.
So I sent it back to Patagonia. Pretty easy. I paid fifteen bucks for shipping, printed out a mailing form, packaged it up in a mailer I'd saved from a previous Patagonia purchase, and sent it off.
A couple of weeks later, there it was, good as new, waiting at my front porch.
Beyond the functional experience, I was impressed with how Patagonia uses the opportunity to cleverly reinforce its brand messaging at numerous touch points. When I received an email letting me know they'd received the jacket, it said, "Your repair has entered the fray." The next email let me know my repair had been completed and would arrive shortly (Sew Much Better Now!). And when I opened the package with my repaired jacket, there was a thank you card - for me, for taking the positive environmental step of repairing the jacket. They made me feel like the sustainability champion!
Back in the day, the company was often referred to as "Patagucci" for its premium pricing. I haven't heard that term used very often. Perhaps it's because of the way Patagonia and its Worn Wear program amortize the price over a lifetime. The experience was good for me. Good for Patagonia (talk about a customer loyalty builder! And, hey, how much is a write-up like this worth to a brand, anyway?). Oh, and of course, good for the planet, too.
That's how you do it, friends.
Godspeed,
Russ
💬 Quote of the Week
“It's a folk singer's job to comfort disturbed people and to disturb comfortable people.” Woody Guthrie
💥 Quick Hits
• Baking bread for climate - Our friends at King Arthur Baking Company are kneading climate action into loaves by using regeneratively grown climate blend flour. They're giving back 💰 to the stellar scientists and researchers at the Washington State University Breadlab for each bag sold - jump on it now through December 6.
🤔 Trivia Time
What is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2023?
- Rizz
- Deepfake
- Artificial
- Authentic
- ESG
Today's trivia answer can be found at the bottom of this newsletter.
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Trivia Answer
Authentic is the 2023 Word of the Year, and as Merriam-Webster says, "Although clearly a desirable quality, 'authentic' is hard to define and subject to debate," though clearly something that is increasingly important in an age of mis- and disinformation.
If you selected "Rizz," you get partial credit - it is the Oxford English Dictionary's Word of the Year.
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