FCUK make shopping (more) personal

Touted as the world's first personal shopping experience on YouTube - FCUK have just launched YouTique - check it out here

As reported on NMA:

The site was created by digital agency Poke. It features a series of stylist videos, such as How to Look Cool on Casual Friday, or How to Sparkle at a Wedding.

Stylist Louise Roe selects and talks through items and accessories from the retailer’s latest collection.

Users are given the option to select an item from the video when it has ended and can click through to a page of the French Connection online store to buy it.

The fashion retailer is the first UK brand to use YouTube’s Annotations feature, which has already been trialled in the US by brands such as Old Spice and Toyota.

(Virtual) Try Before You Buy

Using the power of apps and AR (Augmented Reality), Neuvo a Montreal based watch making company are enabling customers to virtually try-on products before they buy.

As described on Apples app site:

Try It Before You Buy It' is the app that lets you try on and select watches in the Neuvo watch collection without physically touching them.

This app works with your iPhone's camera to overlay a scaled image of the Neuvo watch of your choosing over a picture that you take of your own wrist. To get the full effect you can hold the iPhone up against your wrist to see what the watch really looks like when you wear it. If you like the watch but want to try other models and compare them you can save the image to your iPhone's photo library. When you've made your choice the app can connect you directly to Neuvo's website and on-line store.

AR is being used across a whole host of other areas - check out Shiseido's virtual cosmetic counter and Lego's kiosks (now being rolled out globally) as two well-known, recent examples

IKEA rocks it with Facebook in Sweden

This is all over the web but wanted to share as a great example of how IKEA utilised existing social media (in this instance, Facebook) to promote a new store opening in Malmo, Sweden.

Click this link to view the clip

Macca's Japan Contactless Payment

Brilliant article about what Macca's Japan are doing with their contactless payment system, "Toku". According to the article published in Mobile Commerce Daily, 8 million customers have already signed up.

The author of the article, Red Gillen stated:

“Customers (now about 18 million of them) register as members of McDonald’s “Toku” promotional program. On a weekly basis (in time for the weekend), McDonald’s sends program members a mobile e-mail, with a list of coupons and promotions available that week. Customers then have two choices. One is to use their mobile browser to open mobile coupons, which are shown to McDonald’s cashiers (a promotional code is clearly visible). The other, if customers have already downloaded the McDonald’s app (which 8 million have already done), is to download the coupons to their contactless mobile wallet.”


What's amazing about this is that we're not only seeing a contactless payment system in place but a loyalty-redemption program that can be tailored to specific shopper preferences.

There continues to be a lot of talk in the market at the moment about NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled devices with iphone 5 (and Nokia next-gen) predicted to be the handset leaders in 2011. Having NFC enabled mobile phones will likely be the tipping point for contactless payment in the US.....probably about 5 years away in our market but definitely still something for us to keep a close watch on.


(via mobile commerce daily)

Facebook Gets Physical

Been meaning to blog about this one for a couple weeks now...

Earlier this month Facebook launched the sale of gift cards through Target stores in the USA.

For me, this launch provides another great piece of evidence of the online-offline blur = a totally online brand (Facebook) merging into a physical store location (Target USA). According to Mashable, Facebook are looking to launch the card through three other national US retailers this year.

The Facebook "credits" card will operate as virtual cash redeemable on games (think Farmville), web applications and virtual goods.

According to one report on Inside Facebook, "the virtual goods market is expected to reach $1.6 billion in the US alone this year... with $835 million coming from social games alone"

Muesli direct to your door

Came across this little gem today - a company called muesli mixer based out of Melbourne. They allow you to choose and mix your own muesli from 55 ingredients then home deliver to your door. Sure it's a bit on the pricey side (and from what I can tell, they're not the first to market with this concept) but I predict these guys are going to go gang-busters. Why? They've taken a simple idea and created an engaging online ("store") experience making it personal, convenient and fun along the way. They're being talked about a lot on blogs and in-press at the moment so keep an eye out.

Hit Refresh scores more votes than the US election

Mashable has just reported on the continued success of Hit Refresh in the USA. This is one of my favourite examples of a big brand 'doing good'. Hit Refresh has seen Pepsi redirect their entire superbowl spend into making this program happen.

I love it because it leverages a brand truth beyond "CSR" to join, create and embed positive difference into culture.

Nic Mackay from The Human Race spoke about brands 'doing good' a few months back at Battle of Big Thinking in Sydney. He said " When 'doing good' is at the centre of everything a business stands for and does, genuine business advantage will arise'

Couldn't agree more.

Read article here

(article via mashable/ thanks Christian)

Retail Futures

This year's "Best Global Brands 2010" report from Interbrand held some particularly interesting refrences to the future of retail. Key points of interest for me were their predictions surrounding multichannel retailing, retail-as-brand space and convergence of technology into the retail space.

Three stand-out points for me related to the following:

Store space as brand place:

'For the first time in history, retailers are
being forced to see themselves as brands"

Retail as anywhere a transaction happens

Mobile shopping effectively
flips the priority from the box to the screen.
Retailers have no choice but to focus and
concentrate their brand power in order to
create experiential moments of delight and
emotion at these wireless touchpoints.
However, in the short-term, most retailers
still lack an understanding of the qualities
of their brand and how it translates in the
shopper’s mind. Acting like a brand demands
clarity of voice, diff erentiation, innovation
and value-add like never before. Virtual
and physical brand spaces both need to
become rich, personal and meaningful

Changing the way we shop

Consumers aged 16–34 are most likely to use technology, including
smartphone apps and e-commerce sites. Smart retailers are testing iPad apps, text
alerts, mobile sites and social networking to become more involved with multichannel shoppers. The more closely engaged the shopper, the more loyalty and frequency can be expected. Over the next five years, companies will gain even deeper insights into behaviors around mobile shopping so that they can create multichannel strategies, shelf principles and store designs that are in sync with the mindset of tomorrow.

For full report visit brand channel and download the white paper

APG Awards

Happy to say that the McHappy Day APG entry is now in......took some work but happy with the result....fingers crossed it makes the finals....

No cash? No worries

Contactless payment is a technology more brands are adopting into their retail* spaces.

For me, this is direct evidence that the promise of "convenience" is now far, wide and even more expected by customers/ shoppers.

In the US, Visa has just recently launched their contactless payment alternate for New Yorker commuters using a bus, subway, train and taxi. Payment can be made via a pay-wave card or by downloading an app to their smart phone. According to the article in Mobile Commerce Daily "the programs in New York and New Jersey are part of Visa’s long-term strategy of extending the speed, security and convenience of Visa acceptance to new locations."

To a different type of Subway, contactless and cashless payment is starting to evolve more rapidly particularly in high-demand convenience industries such as QSR. In countries such as Asia (think Japan and Korea) and the USA it's helping to facilitate easier customer transactions. Customer benefits include convenience (ie: 'order ahead'), speed and personalised service whilst restaurants are being attracted by increased revenue from larger order sizes (evidence from GoMobo points to this), faster order handling and greater opportunity to build & retain loyalty.



* retail = defined as anywhere a transaction occurs (not just a physical store)

30pc of consumers accessing retail content on mobile are not online or in-store

The August SMART report just published by Millennial Media USA, has found that nearly 30 percent of subscribers accessing retail content on their phone cannot be reached online or in-store.

The research was conducted in partnerhsip with comScore with the purpose of investigating mobile retail advertising, usage and growth over the past year.

The study points out the opportunity for brands to connect with this potentially 'forgotten' audience when planning their forthcoming retail Christmas campaigns.

For the full report look under 'research' on Millennial's website here