Wearing a Face Mask is becoming mandatory in our area and the concern about covid-19 cases rising into the coming fall, companies need to start thinking about their official corporate mask strategy and sanitization standards to help keep their workplace clean and safe for employees, clients and other office visitors. They are also a huge component to figure out because there are so many choices on the market right now, and we have to decide which ones are safe as well as which ones we want our client-facing employees to wear.
Why is all of this important? Masks are going to be part of our lives for quite a while. According to experts, it’s likely that we’re looking at another six months of wearing masks. Afterwards, a large part of our population will still wear masks, or at least keep them on hand for any situations where they’ll be in a high density area.
At Swizzle, even though we’re small and have plenty of room, we wear our masks around the office, in the common areas of our building and when going to our warehouse. Like many others, it took us a while to get used to this. Up until a few months ago, masks were not a normal part of our lives. Now we wear them everywhere we go.
The Mask
My first mask was a black cotton mask that looked decent. I wore it all of the time and had three that matched so that I could always have a clean one. What we have all learned over the past few months, though, is that all masks are not the same.
For example, my black cotton mask was easy to wear and looked OK. It also seemed to function well when it was cold outside, but once the temperatures rose it was pretty hot and fogged up my glasses. You could forget running or going to the gym in it — it was way too stifling.
I recently found another mask that is light, comfortable and safe. I didn’t even know how much of a difference it made until last week when I was at the gym. At the end of my workout, I realized that I had never taken my mask off. Usually I’ll wear my mask to go into the gym and walk around, but I’ll take it off once I get on the treadmill. Why? Because I wasn’t breathing very well running in my old cotton one. With my new mask I was able to run for 30 minutes, and I didn’t even realize I had a mask on. This helped me see that I can function normally in a mask, but the proper mask makes all the difference.
When we look what makes the right mask, we look at four main categories:
Safety
Does the mask perform up to the standards set by the CDC? Does it protect you from others, and others from you?
Comfort
How does the mask fit, and can it be worn long term without hurting the nose, ears, cheeks and without causing chafing?
Breathability
Are you able to breathe in a regular environment as well as when you are walking, climbing stairs or performing other physical activities?
Appearance
If you are going to wear a mask all day, there is no reason you shouldn’t have a mask you like. People have really embraced personalizing their masks. The one area that is still in its infancy is branded masks. Having masks that are on brand — or at least that match each other or your brand palette — is an important piece of the marketing and service experience.
Corporate Mask Strategies
Now that masks are mandatory, businesses need to have masks and hand sanitizer for employees as well as visitors. If someone walks into Swizzle without a mask, I am going to hand them a mask. And if I’m handing them a mask, why wouldn’t I hand them a high quality, reusable mask that has Swizzle’s branding on it? This allows us to adhere to the laws while taking a progressive step forward in protecting our team and all our office visitors. It’s also an easy, on-trend way to increase brand awareness.
Another reason for having a corporate mask strategy is uniformity. We want our teams to look professional — like they’re polished, qualified individuals who all work for the same company, instead of a ragtag, motley crew.
Even more important, however, is making sure all the masks used by our employees and handed out to clients are medically approved. The masks Swizzle sells look amazing, feel comfortable and have been approved by our local hospitals’ infectious disease teams.
Swizzle is here to help. We’re supplying masks, hand sanitizer and other coronavirus social distancing tools to clients all throughout our great state. Call us at (775) 470-5297 or send us a message here. From simple disposable masks to massive branded orders, Swizzle is here (in our masks!) ready to jump on board and assist.
Stay Covid safe!
Stay Covid safe!
Swizzle Brand Solutions
400 Mill Street #104
Reno, NV 89502
(775) 470-5297
