While many felt it was in their brand mission and ethos to push on, for Hiki, a personal body-care brand, adapting meant not launching as a brand for sale at all. Instead, they decided to donate all of the ready-to-ship products to hospital and medical facility workers on the frontlines fighting the pandemic. "It was extremely difficult to evaluate, but with how quickly the world changed, we felt it was the only choice," said Ariel Wengroff, co-founder and chief content officer of the brand. "The response has been incredible and humbling."
Other brands delayed their launch date by a few weeks to leave room for processing, both mentally and physically. Topicals, for example, released free samples of their product as a workaround to get their supply chain up and running quicker, while other companies moved forward with launching fewer products than initially planned.
With the Wldkat office being closed, Zunzunegui had to have all of their inventory shipped to her home. "I've got my children and my husband helping pack out press boxes, and we have an assembly line down the hallway," she said. "It's kind of what you have to do."
Where money was allocated for in-person activations, it was then redistributed to the bottomline or digital events, experiences, and content. At Topicals, they created an online skin horoscope that educates and donates to Sad Girls Club, a mental health organization, with every play. "We're really leaning heavily into the space of digital experiences and creating digital communities that have these skin conditions," said Teng. "And we think that that is just as important to physical products."
Similarly, Goodhabit created digital events around meditation to help promote self-care during this stressful time, One Click B.eauty created a social media campaign called "Face the Week" to promote positivity and empower women, and Hiki gave away products to non-medical workers who shared a kind message on social with the hashtag #todayimfeeling.
