Once upon a time, not that many years ago, most companies with important new products just announced them, perhaps with a press conference, and maybe a big advertising push.
These days, new products -- not just from chic fashion brands but also fast-food chains and mattress makers -- get "dropped." And what that means, and why it's become pervasive, says a lot about how the twinned technologies of social media and e-commerce have changed the way people shop -- especially for Generation Z and millennials, for whom drops are almost inescapable.
