Creating Relevant, Cutting Edge Retail Branding Doesn’t Mean Reinventing the Wheel
In 2012 fashion retail brand Burberry launched their remodeled store at 121 Regent St London. But what at first glance looks like a traditional retail re-fit is -on closer inspection – a blueprint for reinventing a brand experience inspiring for retailers across every category.
Stand Back, its the Multi Proposition Super Brand
The first thing I have to admit is we didn’t create this brand – it’s not one of ours, but what the hell – something this cool should be celebrated all the same. And a truly clever bit of brand building it is too. Who Gives A Crap is a new entrant into the established toilet paper category, a category typically viewed as a commodity with undifferentiated product offerings. And-yet against this less than inspiring backdrop we have an inspiring challenger brand with the DNA to make a significant splash in the market.
Wine critic Huon Hooke in The Age 3/5 suggests that Penfolds Grange may be regarded as Australia’s greatest wine by some, and that the 2008 vintage is one of the best, alongside 2006, 1996 and 1990. In wine terms he says impressive things about Grange – its ability to build great complexity of flavour over many years of cellaring. The top vintages age well for 50 years, and the ’08 will be one of those. According to Huon the full payoff is the wonderful aroma and flavour nuances that build over time, and the 2008 needs 15 to 20 years, minimum. Personally I do not have the time, but this is not about me.
Ever fancied a work place exchange, or a working holiday with all the comforts and conveniences of your studio at home? Or maybe you were wondering when the next airbnb/couch surfing, peer-to-peer consumer brand would focus on studio space rentals… If you have, the “Open Studio Club” is the brand for you. It consists of a free listing website to help you find affordable studio spaces all over the world. Each studio listing specifies whether the space has such things as: internet access, power supply, parking availability, music policy and computer support. The spaces advertised are always affordable and suitable for all types of creative professionals.
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There is much written about the challenging future of department stores in Australia. Both David Jones and Myer are household names with a rich heritage in retailing, but for many years their relevance in an ever-changing retail landscape is being questioned. In more recent years, the impact of the GFC, combined with enhanced competition from online players and strong international fashion retailers opening stores in Australia, means Myer and David Jones are facing significant head winds.
But it is a phenomenon that is not limited to Australia. Around the world the department store concept is being challenged. In March the Financial Review quoted the chief executive of Paris based department store Galeries Lafayette as saying that he was convinced that the department store format faces extinction. What is instead being proclaimed as the future for Galeries Lafayette is to position itself as a ‘multi-specialist lifestyle retailer’. Their aim is to build a house of brands under one roof that offers the best of French and international premium and luxury goods.
Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting in on a workshop with management consultant and trainer John Spence for a day. It was stimulating on a number of levels from a business strategy perspective, but it is in the context of personal branding that I wish to share. In personal branding one needs to understand and be committed to owning something by way of expertise. Like business brands, individuals need to have a value proposition that is compelling. Spence suggests that there are 4 P’s to being an expert. They are:
Passion – a need to love what you are doing
Persistence – being prepared to the hard work (a decade or 10,000 hours type thinking)
Practice – deliberate and systematic
Pattern recognition – see data and information insights others don’t see
La Wine Agency is the brainchild of Brad Ball, a creative entrepreneur, restaurateur and sommelier. While completing his MBA in Bordeaux, Brad was assigned to create a business plan. As it turned out, this was the opportunity Brad needed to combine his love of wine and business ambition. Using his contacts in South America (former classmates while studying in Bordeaux) Brad turned his business plan for La Wine Agency into reality with the help of Fuzzco and Grassroots Distribution. Read the rest of this entry »
There is evidence to suggest that when brand managers are steering their social media activities they need to operate in the shoes of their customers, with the view to satisfying their self interest. The motivation for a lot of consumers connecting to brands on social media is not ‘social’, rather it is what is in it for me.
These are the findings from New York based strategy consulting firm Vivaldi Partners, who towards the end of 2012 conducted research with 1,004 adults from Ipsos’ U.S. online panel. Participants were interviewed to understand the drivers that have them connect and disconnect from brands on social media.
Amidst a fitness craze, many Melbournians are looking for ways to get into shape – and with the number of gyms operating across the city, they aren’t short on options. But it all looks a bit monotonous, from a brand standpoint. There really isn’t much imagination in this industry. The wildly successful Fitness First have left behind a glossy, pearly-white smiles blueprint that has been appropriated to the point of genericness. One notable exception however, has taken its own approach in differentiating itself from the rest of its industry – and for that it has enjoyed quite a bit of success since its humble beginnings. Read the rest of this entry »
Why in the world of brands, heritage aint worth what it used to be.
In the world of brands, consumer trends will over time create a tipping point, changing the way markets engage and respond. When this occurs, established brands see their market share eroding and at the same time opportunities appear for new, competitor brands to successfully launch. Potentially one of the strongest and most influential trends we’ve seen in the last five years has been identified by trendwatching.com as ‘clean slate brands’. This trend has been the result in a shift in consumer behaviour with the potential to disrupt a wide range of brands, especially those in B2C categories. This shift is demanding established market leaders sit-up and take notice, as it provides significant opportunity for also-ran and start-up brands to gain ‘fast mover’ advantage.
