By Stephanie Tonneson
Blue disposable masks started as the most common type of mask. Today, they are still the most common, but now they are also the most boring.
And how could they not be? In addition to the average cotton and plastic competitors, they are competing against this one by popstar The Weeknd, trademarked with his famous XO logo, along with Louis Vitton’s new set of “protective gear initiatives” — not to mention every other option listed on Vogue’s recent article “Where to Buy Masks That Are Stylish Online.”
While it seems somewhat comical to think that humans, in a matter of a few short months, have already come up with an onslaught of unnecessarily extravagant variations of what’s become a very necessary item, it is also unsurprising.
This is because this is what humans do: We experience, we adapt, and then we create.
Turns out, so do businesses.
New products surge, but partnerships dip at start of pandemic
Last month, we released data on how businesses have released more products in 2020 than in 2019 and 2018, a shocking stat given how so many establishments have taken a hit from the pandemic.
In taking a deeper look, we see data that’s even more surprising: Not only have businesses released more products in the year 2020, but the peak of those new products came in the months of April and May, which was when the pandemic effectively began to take place.
In just two months, the number of product launches grew by a whopping 216%, only to then immediately drop back down by 60% from May to June.
So, why did this happen when it did? Were businesses trying to survive, either by capitalizing on the crisis or trying to help end it? Were people experiencing a boost in performance from the working-from-home transition?
Likely, all of the above. According to a recent survey conducted by Edelman:
- 89% of people expect brands to “shift to producing products that help consumers meet the challenges of today.”
- 54% of people are not paying attention to new products unless they are related to the pandemic.
- 71% of people say that they’ll lose trust in a brand forever if they sense that it’s prioritizing profit above people.
With expectations of brands dramatically shifting, the stakes are high for all business moves, which may also explain why partnerships took a dip in the same two-month period.
Although they didn’t decline as rapidly as product launches surged, their steady decrease over the course of five months led to a cumulative drop of 66% between January and May.
Could it be that companies used that time period to audit not only their workforce, but also their business relationships — ultimately better preparing them to create new partnerships (reflected in their rise June-July) in the aftermath of new products?
One risk at at time
When faced with unprecedented circumstances, businesses are given the opportunity (perhaps without a good alternative) to take risks. If there are no guidelines, what is there to do besides create them?
With the data on product launches versus partnerships, we see this idea play out one at a time: First, more creative risks, then risks on new relationships.
This begs the question: If the beginning of the pandemic was what sparked this last period of risk-taking, will the end spark another?
Stephanie Tonneson is a content writer & storyteller at ZoomInfo, serving you people-driven insights from the latest data & trends.
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