I truly believe that the retail space IS the brand space. Anyone who works with me knows I harp on about it.......alot. Why? Because (far from being the ugly cousin of marketing) retail is the place to create experiences - powerful, tangible interactions that keep customers coming back for more.
Look no further than Disney for rampant innovation and turnaround in the retail space.
No surprise with Steve Jobs on the board ...........they're about to launch a heap of new stores in the USA (at the cost of US $1m each) creating retail destinations where customers are completely engrossed in total sensory magic (Disney-style, of course).
I could go on but perhaps you should just hear it from the source.
Full the full overview, check out The Hub's interview with Jim Fielding (President, Disney Stores Worldwide):
http://www.hubmagazine.com/archives/the_hub/2010/mar_apr/the_hub35_disney.pdf
Monday, April 12, 2010
Another Reason to Love Lego
Lego is using play to help educate kids about renewable energy.
Is there anything this brand can't do?
I LOVE YOU LEGO!
From Calorie to Carbon Counting
Sweden, as a whole, usually never fails to impress me. They really are ahead of the curve ball across many issues - particularly related to diability, family and community.
But this post is not about any of those............
I've been impressed by how one particular burger joint ("Max Burger") has made the strategic leap from calorie counting to carbon labelling. To enable their customers to make informed choices about their menu, Max have assigned a carbon rating against each of their products.
According to the New York Times, sales of more climate-friendly products, like chicken fingers and veggie chili, have risen 20 percent since Max started putting climate information on the menu last year.
This is a definite prediction for our shores.........it may take a few more years but I know we'll soon to be choosing products on more than just calories alone.
Food for thought?
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Positive Exposure NYC
Positive Exposure is one of my most admired social cause ideas. The founder, Rick Guidotti, combined his talent as a photographer with his passion to educate and make an inspired difference.
The result is Positive Exposure.
They're about to run a fundraiser in NYC with Fashion Designer Ralph Rucci and Vogue Magazine’s Editor at Large, Andre Leon Talley as co-hosts. I would love to attend - shame I'm here in Sydney!
Positive Exposure fuse disability and fashion. They have created a conversation about genetic difference in a way that is humanising, inspiring, empowering.
Difference is rarely embraced in our society. Mainstream media bombards us with what "normal" supposedly looks, sounds and feels like. It's very misleading. We need to see people of all abilities depicted in brand-centric communication. The more we "normalise" disability and include it in our collective social image, the less we will unconsciously discriminate.
Packaging - A Key Brand Touchpoint.
Are many brands missing the trick when it comes to making the most of the branding real estate they have on pack?
Packaging is about both function and emotion. Traditionally, packaging was always focused on function but now, more than ever, marketers realise the opportunity for packaging to tap into the emotional. Those doing it well use packaging as a way to literally enable consumers to experience their brand promise.
Even once considered “value” or “staple” categories feature brilliant examples of packaging innovation (e.g. pet food, laundry, bread, salad mix).
Packaging = a brand experience, a place to communicate your brand values and essence to engage with the shopper. But even more so, it’s a way to ensure repeat interaction between shoppers and your brand.
Why in these tough economic times can packaging be a great way for brands to make the most of an asset when they all have to define what they are about and what the brand’s values are?
Packaging is a critical brand touchpoint – one of the last places for a marketer to engage a shoppers head and heart.
A shoppers decision to buy or not buy is affected by multiple influences – some are inside the control of the marketer and others aren’t. A big area that marketers can control is the look and feel of packaging. It is a critical communication touchpoint for brands – it is the last place for a marketer to engage a shoppers heart and mind.
More marketing dollars are going to be diverted from traditional paid-for media into enhancing in-store communication touchpoints, such as packaging. Internationally, P&G are diverting more dollars into shopper marketing budgets than ever before.
Big benefits of investment in packaging?
Beyond function and brand essence brilliant packaging helps:
Make using the product easier and thus more enjoyable
Cut-through amid the clutter of competitors and me-toos
Signal brand quality & innovation
Justify a more premium price point
Generate word of mouth (e.g. Another Bloody Water)
Are agencies concerned that in hard times, on-pack is actually an area that will suffer badly as brands ‘un-invest’ in it?
Only those who don’t do it well. Scarcity breeds innovation.
Great Packaging Examples
Uniqlo / pantone (USA)
Innovative, stand out design. Generates talkability long after store visit done.
Ella Rouge gift card (Australia)
Evidence that even “experiences” need to be packaged and that done well, it doesn’t take much to stand out.
Y water (USA)
Great example of multipurpose packaging – a water for kids that translates into a toy when clipped together.
Another bloody water (Australia)
Eevidence that not all who scream loudest, win.
Brilliant packaging from the truck to the bottle.
Method (USA)
Classic example of raising the bar on what it means to operate in a traditional “low interest” category (cleaning products).
Anything from Waitrose, UK.
Beautiful, clean, product-centric.
B_E_E Products (Beauty Engineered for Ever) NZ
A fantastic example of a product whose packaging lives and breathes its values and brand promise. It speaks to the shopper – makes it personal. Stands out a mile on shelf.
Febreze Décor Collection (USA)
Stands out a mile on the shelf. Good-bye to ugly and boring air freshener packaging.
Packaging is about both function and emotion. Traditionally, packaging was always focused on function but now, more than ever, marketers realise the opportunity for packaging to tap into the emotional. Those doing it well use packaging as a way to literally enable consumers to experience their brand promise.
Even once considered “value” or “staple” categories feature brilliant examples of packaging innovation (e.g. pet food, laundry, bread, salad mix).
Packaging = a brand experience, a place to communicate your brand values and essence to engage with the shopper. But even more so, it’s a way to ensure repeat interaction between shoppers and your brand.
Why in these tough economic times can packaging be a great way for brands to make the most of an asset when they all have to define what they are about and what the brand’s values are?
Packaging is a critical brand touchpoint – one of the last places for a marketer to engage a shoppers head and heart.
A shoppers decision to buy or not buy is affected by multiple influences – some are inside the control of the marketer and others aren’t. A big area that marketers can control is the look and feel of packaging. It is a critical communication touchpoint for brands – it is the last place for a marketer to engage a shoppers heart and mind.
More marketing dollars are going to be diverted from traditional paid-for media into enhancing in-store communication touchpoints, such as packaging. Internationally, P&G are diverting more dollars into shopper marketing budgets than ever before.
Big benefits of investment in packaging?
Beyond function and brand essence brilliant packaging helps:
Make using the product easier and thus more enjoyable
Cut-through amid the clutter of competitors and me-toos
Signal brand quality & innovation
Justify a more premium price point
Generate word of mouth (e.g. Another Bloody Water)
Are agencies concerned that in hard times, on-pack is actually an area that will suffer badly as brands ‘un-invest’ in it?
Only those who don’t do it well. Scarcity breeds innovation.
Great Packaging Examples
Uniqlo / pantone (USA)
Innovative, stand out design. Generates talkability long after store visit done.
Ella Rouge gift card (Australia)
Evidence that even “experiences” need to be packaged and that done well, it doesn’t take much to stand out.
Y water (USA)
Great example of multipurpose packaging – a water for kids that translates into a toy when clipped together.
Another bloody water (Australia)
Eevidence that not all who scream loudest, win.
Brilliant packaging from the truck to the bottle.
Method (USA)
Classic example of raising the bar on what it means to operate in a traditional “low interest” category (cleaning products).
Anything from Waitrose, UK.
Beautiful, clean, product-centric.
B_E_E Products (Beauty Engineered for Ever) NZ
A fantastic example of a product whose packaging lives and breathes its values and brand promise. It speaks to the shopper – makes it personal. Stands out a mile on shelf.
Febreze Décor Collection (USA)
Stands out a mile on the shelf. Good-bye to ugly and boring air freshener packaging.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Un-Celebrity
I came across an interesting commentary by Nancy Lublin today on Fastcompany. She talked about our social obsession with leadership and the fact that we've become too focused on the people with the sexy job titles (visionary/founder/entrepreneur) to the point where
I loved this point of view. It was really refreshing to read precisely because of it's anti-establishment view.
For me, Lublin tapped into a truth about our collective cult of celebrity and obsession with individuality. More than ever, people want to be famous. And more than any point in history, the ordinary guy on the street has got a pretty good shot at it if he can think of something clever enough to promote about himself via a Blog/ You Tube/ Reality TV. Dare anyone mention "chick chick boom."
What Lublin gets to in her piece is the tension between prominence versus significance. Surely it's better to be doing something of significance than something merely because of prominence? Think about how many "famous" people you can name. Now what about the people who aren't famous but who do something of significance? I bet a different list comes to mind.
I also liked her view because it also tapped into the paradox of choice (the more we have, the less we're happy) and the transparency and accesibility afforded by social media and Web 2.0.
As Lublin said:
"we're not spending nearly enough time crediting the folks who turn all that visionary stuff into tangible reality: the chief operating officers, the midlevel managers, the staffers."
I loved this point of view. It was really refreshing to read precisely because of it's anti-establishment view.
For me, Lublin tapped into a truth about our collective cult of celebrity and obsession with individuality. More than ever, people want to be famous. And more than any point in history, the ordinary guy on the street has got a pretty good shot at it if he can think of something clever enough to promote about himself via a Blog/ You Tube/ Reality TV. Dare anyone mention "chick chick boom."
What Lublin gets to in her piece is the tension between prominence versus significance. Surely it's better to be doing something of significance than something merely because of prominence? Think about how many "famous" people you can name. Now what about the people who aren't famous but who do something of significance? I bet a different list comes to mind.
I also liked her view because it also tapped into the paradox of choice (the more we have, the less we're happy) and the transparency and accesibility afforded by social media and Web 2.0.
As Lublin said:
"We have too many wannabe leaders. This doesn't sound like a bad thing -- the next generation should have dreams and ambitions. But which ones? The drive to start, grow, be in charge of something -- anything! -- has spawned a generation of people hunched over laptops at Starbucks, yearning for that big idea that will make them the next Larry or Sergey. But not everyone can create the Google of the future, and many of those who don't will think they're failures. In fact, they're just chasing the wrong dream. I recently met someone who said, "I'm the guy who makes sure the bills are paid and the numbers make sense, and I like that. I've got no desire to be the CEO." The working world would be a happier place if more of us aspired to roles that were just right -- if we valued job fit and performance at every level and stopped overemphasizing the very top."
For the full read:
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