{"id":7824,"date":"2020-05-04T15:57:14","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T19:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=7824"},"modified":"2021-10-22T15:38:16","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T19:38:16","slug":"covid-19-companies-21st-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/covid-19-companies-21st-century\/","title":{"rendered":"It Takes a Crisis: How the Coronavirus is Dragging Companies into the 21st Century"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\">6<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>\n<p>What moves a company forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes the force is a new leader\u2014a visionary executive who sees opportunity in doing things differently. Sometimes it\u2019s an acquisition\u2014a tech-savvy parent company comes in and updates things to match the rest of its organization. And, sometimes, it\u2019s a crisis. Because the company in question has no other choice. It\u2019s forced, by some unseen market force or force of nature, to adapt to the 21st century, and if it doesn\u2019t, it can\u2019t operate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/originals\/covid-19-safety-guide\/\">coronavirus pandemic<\/a> has been that crisis for a number of companies, and one upside is that it\u2019s forced a transformation that was, in some cases, years overdue. The digital reformation\u2014that back-of-the-mind idea these companies just never quite got around to\u2014was happening now. Here are the stories of a few companies that were launched into the 21st century by social distancing.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Shifting sales<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Al DiLeonardo\u2019s entire business had been upended by the coronavirus. DiLeonardo is the CEO and president of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vectormarketing.com\/\">Vector Marketing<\/a>, the sales and marketing arm of Cutco cutlery. Since Cutco\u2019s founding in 1949, its sales reps, mostly enterprising college students, have scheduled in-home presentations, demonstrating the quality of Cutco knives by cutting objects like pennies and leather swatches right in the customer\u2019s kitchen. Some past reps include presidential candidate Andrew Yang, comedian Daniel Tosh, and former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Cutco\u2019s sales process has largely stayed the same since those famous names were reps\u2014even since DiLeonardo himself was a rep as a college student in the late \u201970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 73.86%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-5eb072c7c0ad9\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.35382956\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/ceros-marketing\/test-pull-quote-2-2-2-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-3-1-1-1-1?heightOverride=927' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Forced Into 21C PQ1' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe whole idea was that the knives were high-quality products,\u201d DiLeonardo said, \u201cand when the quality is demonstrated in person, it was a benefit to the customer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then social distancing forced Vector to adapt or miss out on months of revenue. And that meant reps taking their sales demonstrations online. While there had been a protocol in place for virtual presentations before the pandemic, DiLeonardo said it was an afterthought, compared to the in-person experience. Now, the Vector executive team had to rethink the company\u2019s virtual strategy and devote significant attention to refining the online presentation. Because the process isn\u2019t the same when you can\u2019t hand the knife to the customer, or have them do the cutting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So now, for the time being, all Cutco demonstrations are conducted on the customer\u2019s preferred online bridge, whether it\u2019s Zoom, GoToMeeting, FaceTime, or another. The presentation has been refined to better complement the virtual setting. And business has been strong\u2014DiLeonardo said that sales volume was up 114% last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen I started as a rep in 1977, I was taught that the customer had to touch the knife, feel the knife, cut the leather, cut the penny to understand,\u201d DiLeonardo said. \u201cAnd now, it seems like that might not matter as much as we thought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cutco has the benefit of being in a booming industry\u2014at-home cooking has skyrocketed over the past two months\u2014but companies in other industries are also seeing success transitioning to virtual consultations. <a href=\"http:\/\/frette.com\">Frette<\/a>, an Italian luxury linen company with its North American headquarters in New York, sells its linens both directly to consumers and in wholesale to hospitality companies. Its sheets dress the mattresses in hotels like the Four Seasons in Milan and the Mandarin Oriental in Boston. But with most hotels forced into closure, the hospitality side of the business has grinded to a halt. So that means the majority of the focus is on its direct-to-consumer side, generating business through e-commerce.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a 170-year-old brand, Frette was already pretty technologically savvy. The company had a pre-existing e-commerce setup which generated adequate sales, according to Paola Pugliese, global head of marketing and communications. But since the team could no longer count on in-store sales or substantial business from the hospitality side, it knew it needed to do more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve started doing a virtual styling studio, which allows a customer to have a personal appointment without having to go to a store,\u201d said Colton Kegley, Frette\u2019s senior designer. \u201cWe\u2019ve now put emphasis on making sure that option is there digitally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because Frette is a traditional company that cares about maintaining the human touch online, the virtual styling studio is surprisingly simple. The team set up a dedicated email address, called out on a popup on Frette\u2019s home page, to which interested customers can send a message. From there, the Frette team\u2014meaning a real person, not a chatbot\u2014facilitates a conversation with a specialist over the customer\u2019s preferred bridge. While the company is working on an integrated booking system for the future, Pugliese says, it\u2019s important to Frette to keep the experience highly personal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what makes Frette so special to our customers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And though it\u2019s still early, Pugliese says she\u2019s encouraged by the direct-to-consumer sales that the virtual style studio has generated over the past few weeks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But of course, Frette hasn\u2019t abandoned its partners on the hospitality side during the pandemic. Allison Vajda, Frette\u2019s global marketing and communications manager, said that while the team isn\u2019t expecting purchases from hotel partners in the short term, they\u2019re reaching out via email to offer a shoulder to lean on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRight now, it\u2019s all about the personal relationship and the connection with our hotel partners,\u201d she said. \u201cThose people will remember that we checked in on them and didn\u2019t push our product on them when the hotel was shut down and they had no clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The revolution for Frette wasn\u2019t restricted to external business. Kegley also mentioned that Frette wasn\u2019t very well-suited to handle remote work before the pandemic started, a common refrain at old-school companies. Now that his team has been forced to work remotely for a number of weeks, it\u2019s come a lot more naturally to the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vector, too, experienced some benefits internally. Previously, the company conducted only in-person interviews and training sessions. Those, too, have all shifted to the virtual world. Not only might that save Vector some money on real estate and office space, but it allows the executives to perfectly standardize onboarding and training, leading to more consistency across the board.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Learning to lead with empathy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.averydennison.com\/\">Avery Dennison<\/a> is a multinational company that produces labels and logos for apparel manufacturers, like the company logo or the label on an athletic t-shirt. In that regard, its clients in apparel and footwear (and thus, Avery Dennison itself) are facing an unprecedented challenge: no one is buying clothes right now, and the winds in e-commerce aren\u2019t offsetting the losses.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That especially hurts companies in an industry that remains dominated by in-person selling at conferences or trade shows. \u201cIn this industry, sales teams in general think a lot about being on the ground, meeting people, forging those connections in-person,\u201d said Emily Spiegel, senior marketing manager for apparel and footwear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But trade shows have been cancelled across the globe. Plus, as Spiegel mentioned, people aren\u2019t buying clothes anymore. So, what can Avery Dennison do in the meantime to keep business humming?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, the company\u2019s apparel and footwear division boiled down its best approach to an increased focus on empathy. Spiegel and her fellow marketers have launched a charitable campaign to support those fighting the pandemic. For the campaign, called Patched Together, the Avery Dennison team is featuring 23 limited-edition digital patches honoring essential workers and calling for togetherness. The physical patches will go on sale to consumers in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, the team created virtual stickers and GIFs on GIPHY that its audience can share on social or add to photos. Proceeds from the campaign will benefit the Avery Dennison&#8217;s preferred charity, Doctors Without Borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"256\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/1586385436914-1024x256.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7855\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/1586385436914-1024x256.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/1586385436914-700x175.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/1586385436914-768x192.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/1586385436914.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><figcaption>Avery Dennison&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/rbis.averydennison.com\/en\/home\/patchedtogether.html\">#PatchedTogether<\/a> campaign.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For Spiegel and her team, it\u2019s not about generating ROI right now, at least not in a traditional sense. She\u2019s trying to reach her audience on a human level, appreciative of the struggles that all people are going through right now, and let them know that she cares.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople will buy clothes again,\u201d she said. \u201cSo when they do, the onus is going to be on marketers to really evolve, and to reach people who have a whole new set of priorities, and reasons for buying clothes.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Are the changes here to stay?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One big question remains: will the technological improvements made during the COVID-19 pandemic stick, or will these companies revert to their previous methods once social distancing restrictions are lifted? DiLeonardo isn\u2019t quite sure yet\u2014there\u2019s far too much uncertainty on the other side of this. Pugliese agrees there\u2019s so much that we don\u2019t know. DiLeonardo still believes in the power of in-person selling, but noted that his reps can access more people with more efficient demos by conducting them online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 73.86%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-5eb074a6e02d4\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.35382956\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/ceros-marketing\/test-pull-quote-2-2-2-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-4-2-2-1-1?heightOverride=927' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Forced into 21C PQ2' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what the future holds,\u201d DiLeonardo said. \u201cI think there are some things that are working for us in this pandemic situation. The question is, will they still work in a normal situation? But I really believe that the virtual presentation is here to stay, and I think it will continue here in some capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kegley, too, anticipates that virtual appointments will become a bigger part of Frette\u2019s sales strategy going forward. \u201cWe probably should\u2019ve had (the virtual styling studio) before,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be something that we continue to build out over time.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As some of these pillars of old-school tactics experiment with technological advances and experience their benefit, it\u2019s fair to wonder how long those traditional tactics have left. But it\u2019s clear to see why some of these insightful strategies are coming into focus now. Sometimes, all it takes is a crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople have this false idea of creativity,\u201d Spiegel said. \u201cPeople think,<em> <\/em>\u2018if I had a blank canvas and all the time in the world to produce something, what could I create?\u2019 I think true creativity is being able to work with constraints. That\u2019s why you\u2019re seeing all these amazing ideas lately.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"myclass\">Sometimes, it takes a crisis for an old-school company to modernize. The COVID-19 pandemic has been that crisis for many. Read about those companies here.<\/div>\n<p><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":7830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How COVID-19 Dragged Companies into the 21st Century - Ceros Inspire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sometimes, it takes a crisis for an old-school company to modernize. The COVID-19 pandemic has been that crisis for many. 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Read about those companies here.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/covid-19-companies-21st-century\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ceros Inspire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-04T19:57:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-22T19:38:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/how-brandsHeader.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"557\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom DeVoto\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/\",\"name\":\"Ceros Inspire\",\"description\":\"Just another Ceros Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/covid-19-companies-21st-century\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/how-brandsHeader.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":557,\"caption\":\"covid\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/covid-19-companies-21st-century\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/covid-19-companies-21st-century\/\",\"name\":\"How COVID-19 Dragged Companies into the 21st Century - Ceros Inspire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/covid-19-companies-21st-century\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-04T19:57:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-22T19:38:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#\/schema\/person\/00e84059a2a9860a3fb5eefb5f5a3f2a\"},\"description\":\"Sometimes, it takes a crisis for an old-school company to modernize. 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