One of my passions is the retail arena - and more particularly, retail space. Over the past ten years there has been a shift, as I like to call it, from retail as bland space to retail as brand space. More prominent in markets such as the UK, Europe and USA, Australia is just starting to catch up which is great.
The brands which take a "brandspace" approach to their store space stand out a mile from those who don't. You only need to take a walk through any local shopping mall to sense this. Just take BankWest, T2 and Apple as a few examples of brands that achieve this in spectacular fashion.
The retail space is where brands come to life. Every single touch point inside the store is an opportunity for a brand to create a connection and create a seamless, integrated story that enhances (rather than compromises) brand positioning.
The store space is the coal face where brands need to work their hardest in order to convert browser to buyer. In my mind, every touch point (from packaging to the store headers) is media space that has a responsibility to communicate messages that are "on brand". From the way staff dress, speak, understand the service or product through to the the sales tags, merchandising, colour scheme......each touchpoint must integrate seamlessly to bring the brand story alive.
On this point, the other thing I think that we need to get better at thinking about is the Shopper versus Consumer. Consumers are the "users" of the product whereas Shoppers are the "choosers". Yes they can be the same person, however it is important for brands to recognise (and plan) for the fact that in many instances, they are two separate identities. This requires an understanding into the different motivations, needs and messaging requirements that will move each group.
Marketing companies around the world that realise the massive value of taking a "consumer" and "shopper" approach to their business are investing in Shopper Marketing whereby the in-moment needs of shoppers are analysed and understood in order to create a better shopping experience that puts the shopper at the heart of marketing decisions in-store.
I'm really interested in what Proctor & Gamble are doing - particularly in the US - with Shopper Marketing. They invest heavily in developing shopper insights and aligning closely with retailers in order to produce the best possible shopping experience for their customers.
