There are a seemingly infinite number of vitamin and supplement brands in stores (and even more on Amazon). But with the timeless power of graphic design, Olly Nutrition broke through the healthy competition.

It didn’t hurt that co-founder Eric Ryan had already done branding wonders at Method. He no longer felt challenged with selling eco-friendly body wash, taking the leap to vitamins in 2013. Back then, Method was exclusive to Target, so Ryan gave Target first dibs on Olly, which had memorable labels, a distinctive square bottle, and delicious gummy flavors.

We’re not suggesting you try to market melatonin, but whatever your business, check out our guide to product label design tips to help you attract customers.

Sonos: How it’s listening to upset customers

Generations: Can we not focus on differences?

Job interviews: Some candidates use AI to answer questions

(Source: Shutterstock)

It was one of the most disastrous app updates in history. In May 2024, Sonos — a venerated player in the premium audio space — released new software to improve performance, introduce features and replace archaic code. Instead, the update rendered many Sonos speakers useless, wiped $600 million from the company’s valuation, and led to a change in the CEO.

Here’s what Sonos is doing to make things right with users — and how your business can avoid a similar record-scratch moment.

More stringent testing

Moving forward, Sonos is promising “a longer testing period” so all technical changes are first put through the proper paces. Even if your company doesn’t have an app that has to work across numerous devices, quality control remains paramount for every industry. As the old saying goes — measure twice, cut once.

Refocusing on core competencies

Instead of trying to do everything, sometimes it’s better to do one thing well. 

Sonos’s customers mostly just wanted their speakers to work, but top brass were focused on areas of potential growth. They were keen on launching Sonos Radio HD to compete with Spotify, which required a radical software redesign instead of an incremental, stable one. R&D is important but shouldn’t come at the expense of what you do best.

Wisely, Sonos is now emphasizing an “unwavering focus on customer experience” and “approaching change with humility.” Speaking of which …

Keeping an ear to the ground

Experienced Sonos engineers and designers had reportedly tried to warn senior leadership that the new app wasn’t ready for prime time. A healthy corporate culture should allow for and encourage, not ignore, such constructive internal feedback.

Even worse, when irate Sonos customers began to complain, a (now-departed) chief product officer defensively insisted that the redesign was the result of “courage” and “may require taking a few steps back to ultimately leap into the future.” Unsurprisingly, this riled people up even more and created a bigger headache for Sonos’s crisis comms team.

It remains to be seen whether leaders at Sonos can mend their broken relationships with consumers and employees. But new CEO Tom Conrad — who even has a Sonos headphones tattoo — has received praise for hitting “all the right notes.” More importantly: The app sounds great these days.

(Source: Shutterstock)

Dr. Steven Rogelberg is a chancellor’s professor at UNC Charlotte, former president of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and author of Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings.

We constantly hear media tropes about generational differences. For example: Zoomers don’t work hard and aren’t committed to employers, while millennials are entitled and need lots of feedback.

In general, extensive research has not found support for these widely made claims. Minor generational differences may emerge, but there is greater diversity within a generation than between generations.

Just like saying “all women are … ” or “all men are … ,” treating an entire age group like a singular entity is simply not productive. Overgeneralizing can lead us to treat others in a way that does not align with who they are or what they want at all. Stereotypes will lead to mismanagement of a team.

Instead of focusing on generations, encourage managers to connect with and understand their people as individuals with unique needs and motivations. There are many ways of doing this:

• Schedule consistent one-on-one meetings. Use these opportunities to explore employees’ aspirations and obstacles to better grasp how to offer meaningful support.
• Demonstrate genuine curiosity. Engage in conversations about direct reports’ lives, interests and hobbies to reinforce their individual value.
• Foster a culture of openness. Encourage employees to express their thoughts and ideas by creating an environment where they feel safe and appreciated.
• Actively listen. Give employees your undivided attention when they speak, showing respect and gaining valuable insight.
• Be open. Sharing your personal experiences, challenges and lessons learned increases relatability and trust within the workplace and can lead to others feeling comfortable to share.

With this approach, you’ll be the best manager possible for the people you lead whether they’re old souls, young at heart or anywhere in-between.

Our long-tenured (yet anonymous) recruiter for a major company answers burning questions about interviews, resumes and everything else related to getting hired in today’s competitive and changing job market. Submit your questions to b.newsletter@business.com.

Q: I’ve heard about job seekers using AI to provide answers in the middle of interviews. Is that an automatic disqualification?

In the last several months, we’ve indeed had multiple instances where one of our interviewers has suspected a candidate of using AI during their interview to answer questions. How can we tell? Usually, they’ll be looking off-camera a lot, pausing after each question, and answering with what can feel like overly vague and canned language.

As it stands now, in suspected cases of candidates using AI during interviews, they have been rejected.

The goal of the interview is to assess a person’s skills and learn about their experiences, solutions, challenges and successes. If someone isn’t demonstrating these skills on their own, how can you confidently hire them?

This is a new frontier and everyone is still trying to figure out the rules. AI is going to evolve, and company policy will evolve with it — but until then, you’re likely to get caught. Don’t take that risk.

Written by Elizabeth Barton, Steven Blum and Jake Kring-Schreifels. Comic by John McNamee.