 October 27, 2008
I do give serious kudos to brands that find new and innovative ways to expand and thrive — especially when the economic outlook is grim. So finding new markets or selling more to existing customers is smart thinking, generally speaking. But tapas sets and wine bar accessories from the bookstore? Journals and desk accessories are one thing, but can Barnes & Noble really compete with Crate & Barrel for tabletop or Restoration Hardware for lighting? It’s truly a romantic notion to decorate your living room around your favorite book–but I’m afraid BN.com is going to have to add a lot more wine and roses to pull this one off. October 3, 2008
 Anthropologie’s Pioneering Web Site for its Pre-Commercial WomenTagged as: O.P.E.N., creative, engaging, new consumer journey, retailPosted by: Nita Rollins Few apparel and accessory brands have created worlds so thoroughly inhabitable, so completely unto themselves, as Anthropologie. The world of Anthropologie is where women play dress up their whole lives and dream of men but don’t really care if they ever show up. An asexual innocence pervades the rooms and visages of Anthrowomen, which is endowed with a nesting instinct that makes sartorial style an extension of one’s domicile. References are not to the catwalk but the artist’s canvas, the cupboard’s shelf liner, the arts and crafts potholder, the apron of your cookie-baking memories. The stores combine clothes and chest knobs with studied flea market intrigue—although I always thought they could take this premise further and thoroughly break up the categories. And navigating through the web site’s current “Black and White” in “Points of View” shows you just how clothes make the room—as well as the woman. Laying on the bed, hanging on the curtain rod, slung over the shabby chic straight back chair are black and white garments sometimes absurdly hard to decipher (is that wool or silk? Is that a top?), but there is much pleasure in swirling around a room where backdrop enhances foreground and vice versa. Generally, the print and the products on the site are too small to see, particularly those on the dress forms, and too swallowed up by the white background (which blends with many of the garments’ pre-washed quality) to actually make an informed buying decision about them. The zoom utility, you quickly realize, isn’t a luxury. But you excuse a lot of dead ends and inscrutable nomenclature (Where, do you suppose, “Adorned” will take me?) because everything seems designed to be a little Lost & Found in Anthropologie’s world. In particular, navigation of Anthropologie.com is increasingly off the beaten nav bar/drop-down menu path; it has a whimsicality that is near genius, except for a few oversights that cause excessive reliance on the back button. Throughout the entire “Adorned” section you find navigation redefined in Anthropological terms. In “Look Closer,” pretty objects are made preternaturally detailed under the movable microscopic pane, and take on an archeological intensity. The “Masterpieces” section features pre-Raphaelite beauties painted with artful smudges of blush or eye shadow. They also blink, which is to say the models are live, more or less, as they are posing as mannequins—or impersonating portrait sitters. This section fascinates—and reminded me of the likewise blinking digital portraits adorning the walls of Ian Shrager’s Clift Hotel Redwood Room. The “Spectra” section was a combination of Barneys’ floating products and the scattering effect of Visual Thesaurus. “Wonderland” lays the product over fairytale (magical mushroom) graphics, and, indeed, the entire site reworks the pristine white space of ecommerce with a collage aesthetic, with remnants, notions, paper scraps, lyrical word lists of studied desultoriness, like the following: Zephyr mist vast leaden loam moss Molten moonless salted frigid earthen light Gloaming volatile magnificence cold calm Iceland. I’m a deep admirer of the Anthropologie brand, and think the navigation and collage aspects of the web site are important digital shopping innovations disguised as whimsy. But by way of postscript, and as a true confession, I have to say I’m not much of a consumer of the brand. Those Anthro models find themselves in places that generally don’t show up on my fantasy map. (I’m more Manhattan rooftop restaurant than roadhouse. ) But I’m deeply intrigued by the pre-commercial Eden (all hand-me-downs and heirlooms) beckoning its targeted consumers. And given the prominent role the catalog plays in the found-object world of the web site, if I could ever find those Anthrowomen on the grid, I’d be tempted to send them their first Sears & Roebuck catalog. Before helping them log on to Anthropologie.com, of course. September 25, 2008
 Future of Online Retail as a Total Growth DriverTagged as: new consumer journey, retailPosted by: Mila Goodman
Last week, I attended Shop.org’s annual summit in Vegas. The vibe—online is still growing and more important—it is playing a larger part in the retail world. Having attended shop.org for the past five years, I felt a subtle shift in how the e-commerce groups are now getting a larger voice within their corporations—and many have a voice in shaping overall strategy. The value of the online channel is being realized as an extender and catalyst for the entire customer experience. Retailers such as Borders, Gap and L.L. Bean are improving their cross channel customer experience by leveraging the online channel. For some retail organizations (aside from the pure-play brands, of course), e-commerce is front and center and yet for others, it is still a business off to the side. For those, the challenge remains of transitioning e-commerce to one of the cornerstones of the enterprise. One of my favorite suggestions from the conference is that the head of e-commerce must report to the CEO.
This year, I moved from a participant to both participant and contributor. Resource Interactive was invited to host the Executive Afternoon session. Our preparation included three proprietary research studies. We synthesized our findings along with industry statistics and trends to share our perspective on how the online channel is the brand’s growth driver. So, how is the online channel contributing to the future of retail? Kelly Mooney, our President & CXO, hosted the Executive Afternoon session and shared 5 key takeaways, which should have heads of e-commerce as well as CEO’s and retail executives thinking and acting differently.
1. Expand the role of the web to be a strategic growth lever. The web is the fastest-growing channel and is responsible for disproportionate retail growth. The web accounts for approximately 7% of total sales and is expected to grow to 11% in 2012. However, it will represent approximately 43% of total sales growth. Additionally, the online channel as a contribution factor will influence up to 50% of total sales (both online & offline). Think of it this way: online will influence more offline sales than it will contribute direct sales. 2. Create relevant and integrated cross-channel experiences. The web uniquely catalyzes cross-channel shopping. The online channel is different than its counterparts as it can strengthen, extend or change the customer’s experience across other touch points. It can be the starting point (inspiration or research) within the customers’ purchase journey. It can also be the ending point (transactions, customer service). It can also include all the touch points that may be consulted in between—the inter-experience if you will. The online channel is a sales channel, a marketing channel—and a customer experience channel. 3. Map your customers’ purchase journeys to support their needs. The web has begun to rival stores for driving purchase decisions. In our August 2008 survey, we found that retail stores and online were nearly equally important in helping customers make a decision on what home electronics products to purchase. Despite the category’s online maturity, it revealed that there is importance equality across these two channels. 4. Reallocate marketing dollars to activities with proven effectiveness and ROI. Consumers’ diverse activities and time spent online is outpacing Internet advertising spend. It’s no surprise that customers are time and channel shifting. Digital Millenials will also throw a curveball into the mix because they have a higher rate of consuming multiple forms of media simultaneously. GM, the nation’s third largest advertiser, is shifting $3 billion from traditional advertising to online advertising over the next 3 years. As important as the shift or re-allocation of some budget to online is ensuring that it is spent properly. Please don’t invest it all in email and paid search because they have the strongest ROI. If your customers are social web-empowered customers, bookmark a reasonable amount for testing and learning with emerging media. 5. Prioritize and test branded micro-experiences that have high appeal for select customer segments. Appealing yet still emerging features can unlock new, differentiated growth potential. In a parallel path or even after you implement the basics of the online customer experience, focus on your customers—their behaviors, needs and motivations. Make their experience more efficient and enjoyable by creating appropriate micro-experiences that serve their need at a given point of time. If you think about your own online experiences, how often do you complete an “entire experience” in one sitting and within just one channel? If you’re on the go (as most of us are), you start and stop all the time—you have subconsciously mashed up shopping experiences with entertainment experiences, carrying expectations from one brand to the next. With your brand hat on, remember that and create the finite experience so that it can help move the customer appropriately through their defined journey. To view our presentation and white paper, please visit our site: http://www.resource.com/onlinedrivesgrowth Keep in mind as you’re negotiating your marketing budgets that customer experience is marketing. Customer experience is everything. It is the key for both acquisition and retention across channels. August 14, 2008
 Courage…Branded by NikeTagged as: O.P.E.N., creative, engaging, on-demand, retailPosted by: Dennis Bajec
This video micro-site gives me the chills. Especially when you see the likes of MJ, Arthur Ashe, Prefontaine, & Oscar Pristorious all in the same video. The levels of engagement are neatly defined as Watch. Discover. Discuss. At any time in the experience you can play the video starting at the point each athlete appears in the commercial. Nike sells the concept of competition like no other brand. August 8, 2008
 Let the (digital) games begin!Tagged as: O.P.E.N., creative, digital millenials, engaging, iCitizen, mobile, networked, new consumer journey, on-demand, personal, retail, social web, technology, trendsPosted by: Dan Shust
Here are my podium picks: Bronze Medal: McDonalds “The Lost Ring” In March 50 bloggers received a mysterious package in the mail. It contained an Olympic poster and a ball of string that, when unraveled, revealed a web address. Thus began “The Lost Ring” an Alternate Reality Game (or ARG) that is currently being played in 7 languages across 100 countries. The players work together to hunt for clues to solve an ancient Olympic mystery. Immersive gameplay leads them to websites, blog posts, wikis, podcasts and even Twitter. 4 million people and counting have visited the launch site. Silver Medal: Lenovo “Voices of the Olympic Games” In an attempt to bring attention to a variety of less mainstream Olympic sports, Lenovo has given laptops and Flip video cameras to 100 athletes. (No other compensation is being provided.) Their only direction was to tell the rest of the world about their Olympic experience. Their blog posts are revealing, touching and sometimes humorous. Mainstream media will blast us with Phelps, LeBron, Kobe and Torres, but Lenovo’s athlete bloggers allow us to partake in the “common” Olympian’s experience. Gold Medal: NBC - Digital Coverage In 2006 NBC streamed one hockey game live form the Turin Winter Olympics. This year the network will stream over 2200 hours of live coverage and 3600 hours of on demand video will ultimately be available. Their custom video player is ground breaking, allowing the user to enjoy such features as closed captioning, expert commentary even for less popular events, integrated trivia, picture-in-picture and a “control room” view in which you can enjoy up to 4 live events simultaneously. NBC’s coverage also includes a robust mobile web site, text messaging, e-mail alerts and mobile video. So, there are my “Digital Olympics” medal winners. Each effort is game changing in its own way, but just imagine if they were all on the same team. When you do, you can almost see the future… July 8, 2008
Location, Location, LocationTagged as: digital millenials, engaging, iCitizen, mobile, new consumer journey, retail, technology, trendsPosted by: Dan Shust Well, it is a very big week for a lot Apple fanboys (and girls) out there. The new 3G iPhone hits the stores on Friday. The faithful will start queuing up anytime now (if they haven’t already). Sure, the new iPhone is a bit sleeker and a lot faster, but that isn’t what makes it an important new device. What makes the new iPhone significant is that it STILL delivers the absolute best mobile phone user experience available—and the addition of a built-in GPS makes the iPhone truly location aware. The next generation of location-based applications currently being developed for the iPhone (and yes, other mobile devices) is going to blow minds and change the way we interact with each other. Friendspotting/meetups, citizen reporting, fitness tracking, impromptu group buys and location based ratings/reviews/tagging…it’s only the beginning. Mark your calendar. July 11th ushers in the “Location Aware Era.” Where are you? June 19, 2008
In this information age, we have so many different ways to get the news, but last night was the first time I got it first from a retailer. I wasn’t home in time to catch the Lakers/Celtics game (and DVRing a big sports game just isn’t the same for me), so I jumped online a little before midnight when this email came in from the CBS Sports Store with the subject line: Boston Celtics 2008 NBA Championship gear. (And of course I know CBS itself is a media outlet, but this email was about selling stuff, not communicating information.) So, congratulations to the Celtics, of course, but also to the CBS Sports Store for being prepared, proactive and on-demand by cutting to the chase quickly–true sports fans don’t need the news, just a way to celebrate when their team wins. Cha-ching. . June 12, 2008
HP releases TouchSmart 2Tagged as: branded manufacturers, retail, technology, trendsPosted by: Dennis Bajec
While everyone was busy chatting up the new iPhone, HP released the new much slimmer, sleaker TouchSmart PC.This is a huge improvement over the rather large and clunky first generation of this product. The really cool thing is you are able to quickly access and control a bunch of touch screen entertainment (movies, photos, music) functions without having to dive into Vista. May 30, 2008
 If I Controlled the InternetTagged as: iCitizen, new consumer journey, retailPosted by: Molly Metzger Last week at iCitizen, Doc Searls introduced project VRM to clients and associates. While more of mind-shift than actual code, Doc Searls believes in the next few years, consumers will disclose their intentions to marketers through something akin to a personal rfp. Marketers will respond to these intentions, instead of merely guessing at them via CRM systems and media. VRM is about giving more control to consumers so we can participate in the relationship. Huge. In 2006, slam poet Rives received a standing ovation at TED for a performance called “If I controlled the internet”. I gave the same standing ovation from my orange couch in Columbus, Ohio. I, too, believe that childhood.com should link to a picture of me on my banana seat bike pretending to be Sabrina from Charlie’s Angels. I want the internet to be about me. I want control over the experience because I know what I like and need. I am optimistic that I will, in the near future, have control of my relationships and data. The twitter backchannel and blogosphere were a bit more skeptical. Reality check: language counts. We need better words to convince both consumers and marketers that the intention economy is worth the effort. Terms like “VRM” or “personal rfps” evoke some of the biggest jokes of cubicle-laden America, the stuff of cartoons, not a revolution. The snarkosphere will have a field day. To change attitudes and behaviors, we need poets as well as coders. Over the next few weeks I’ll explore VRM, its contribution to The OPEN web and the steps marketers can take now to get ready for things to come. I welcome comments from poets, coders and everyone in between. |
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