The brand washbnb had recently achieved enormous revenue growth from washing and ironing goods, primarily bed linens and towels, which it delivered to its clients, Airbnb hosts. As travel has become rare on the list of things people want to do this summer due to the pandemic, Airbnb, like similar travel services, has seen a drastic drop in earnings, and washbnb’s business model has also come into question. However, instead of succumbing to despair, the company decided to launch a new brand – washero. This is a service that offers washing, ironing, and delivery services based on the principle of ‘pay what you can’. It targets the most vulnerable groups, primarily the elderly, who have been most affected by the coronavirus crisis.
Fortunately, this is not the only company that has decided to transform its business during these, to say the least, challenging times, to make a complete turnaround, a dramatic, unexpected step, or, whether out of altruism or urgent need, to enter a business it had never dreamed of before.
Great Expectations
Due to such examples, trendwatchers have detected the trend of bold, agile brands that have decided to step into new paths primarily due to the pandemic, and then due to increasing consumer expectations to become a more active part of the ‘new normal’. This is not surprising considering that research whose results are mentioned by trendwatchers has shown that 90 percent of consumers expect brands to help in the fight against COVID-19 (or to mitigate the damage it has caused). Interestingly, 79 percent of small and medium-sized businesses in America are considering a pivot in their business or have already done so, but only seven percent have started a business that directly helps in the fight against the virus.
Caring for Consumers
Although brands differ in the reasons they decided to change their business, as well as in the scope of those changes, trendwatchers consider them all to be bold. Their innovations reflect and set new consumer expectations from brands. As the first example, trendwatchers highlight the company IBM, which decided to stop supplying American police officers, or the Department of Homeland Security, with facial recognition technology and analysis software after the tragic death of George Floyd.
In a press release, the company explained that it does not want the police to use its technology to profile citizens on a racial basis and thus endanger their fundamental human rights and freedoms. It has been shown that this technology sometimes misidentifies citizens based on race, but also somewhat encourages racial prejudice. Although this represents a significant financial loss for IBM, the brand assessed that this radical move would benefit not only them in the long run but also citizens.
Sephora also decided to take a stand in the protests against racial inequality and in June of this year became the first retailer to accept the challenge of the 15 Percent Pledge. It committed to filling fifteen percent of its store shelves with brands owned by African Americans. Additionally, it publicly promised to dedicate itself to education on racial inequality and to try to identify blind spots and inequalities in the market.
Trendwatchers also cite the example of Change Please, a British nonprofit company that educates homeless people to work in bars. In April of this year, it launched Serious Tissues, toilet paper made from 100 percent recycled paper. The money from its sales was donated to healthcare workers, although it was initially designed to help organizations dealing with climate change. Instead of planting one tree for each roll sold, Change Please assessed that healthcare workers need help more at this moment.
