Pattern co-founder Nick Ling: Marketing investments now can have very uncertain outcomes

If Nick Ling's latest brand launch wasn't so right for this moment, he would have delayed bringing it to market. "If I was launching a new brand I'd wait. There's just too much change in consumer behavior," Ling said on the Modern Retail Podcast. But Open Spaces, the second brand under the umbrella company Pattern (where Ling is CEO) is all about getting the most out of the place many consumers are stuck in these days. "How also do we help separate home into different activities, where now work is a much bigger activity at home than it used to be?" Ling said. Open Spaces makes and sells containers, racks and shelf risers (Pattern's first brand serves another domestic need: cooking). To help you figure out what you might be in the market for the company offers an online guide, including a listening exercise -- you'll need 10 minutes, headphones and pen and paper -- designed to make you want to stay a while.