Is there a need for a thorough recap of 2020? Let’s keep it short: Economically, it’s been a year for the dumpster; a year we will never forget.
But maybe that is the good thing about the year?
Positioning
Special Edition: Post Covid-19 Omnichannel Retail
With consumer shopping behavior changing during Corona, the purpose of the retail store is shifting and brands are accelerating the omnichannel transformation
Our brand experts highlight the strategies some of the brands are pursuing: bringing the store experience into consumers’ homes and utilizing stores as fulfillment and delivery hubs improving stock utilization are some examples.
Post Covid: Best Read in Brand and Retail
22,144 readers, 3 new authors, updates from China, India and Europe, and 14 greatly diverse posts. It is great to be back with our best quarter ever. Thank you to all for contributing, reading and promoting. Post Covid, the best read in brand and retail.
We are living in-between most interesting times
As we wrap up our post-lockdown publishing, we realise the industry mood is somewhat in-between. In-between first and second lockdown. In-between a return to office or of stay at home office for good. In-between going on international travel or staying put. Slowly we start to see, in-between could be the new normal for some time to come.
Let’s Talk About Brand Culture
Culture is the very embodiment of a brand’s values, ethics and purpose. This instalment of our Let’s Talk About series dissects brand culture, the third pillar of the brand experience sweet spot.
Used Clothing: Changing the Paradigm for Business and the Environment
Leading apparel brands are tackling the challenge of recycling used clothing, helping to solve a major environmental issue while capitalising on a growing business opportunity.
How Patagonia built a most Sustainable Fashion Brand
This story is about earth beauty and why engaging in sustainable fashion makes for beautiful brands. It’s not a romance story, we are talking serious brand strategy business!
We have 2020, pre COVID 19, online and multichannel have long become your daily bread and butter, and building sustainable fashion brands is the next big brand strategy priority. (more…)
Cheese Please! A Lesson in Brand Building
How to turn cheese from an every-day commodity into a sought-after lifestyle brand? Join us for a brand building lesson from Cheese & More by Henri Willig.
Let’s Talk About Services
Take service experience one step beyond! This installment of our Let’s Talk About series takes a deep dive into service, the second pillar of building a future-proof brand experience.
We all know what service means, right? We all buy things, and we’re all familiar with the customer experience of being handed our purchase in a carrier bag to take home. That’s an example of a basic consumer expectation. (more…)
Let’s Talk About Product
Clear brand delivery is the ‘sweet spot’ that enables brands to stand out and succeed in a crowded marketplace. It’s built on three pillars: product, services and culture. Today, we talk about product.
How does product shape brand experience? How can a brand’s product experience create a meaningful connection to its customers?
Letʼs Talk About Brand Experience
What is brand experience and how can it be simplified in a more complex world? Focus on product, service and culture to break through the noise.
How International Brands Succeed in India
Global Brands in India look back on a history spanning more than 150 years. What success factors can today’s brands learn from the earlier waves of brand expansion to the subcontinent?
How to Drive International Expansion Without Escalating Complexity
Customise or standardise? That’s perhaps the most important question a brand at the beginning of its international expansion has to answer.
Depending on who you ask, you will get very different answers. If you ask your brand and marketing management, they will vote for as much standardisation as possible. If you ask your sales force, the answer will be quite the opposite.
Holzmarkt: Retailing Berlin Style
Ready for your trip to Berlin? If you want an authentic taste of Berlin, be sure to stop by this great retail insider tip: Berlin Holzmarkt, in the former East of the city.
Growth in Saturated Markets: Dreams in Chocolate and Ice Cream!
Selling chocolate in Europe is tough because growth in saturated markets is tough. Three case studies show how chocolate and ice cream manufacturers grow successfully by diversifying their assortment.
Strategic Brand Management at its Best
Shoppers love unique products and great brand stories. If on top you sell upcycled products, are a niche company from a small country, that makes all the ingredients for a great brand story. For us that delivers great learning on strategic brand management.
If someone had told you in 1993 that someone would manage to turn truck tarps into it bags in Seoul by 2019, and create a best practice brand development story in the process, you may have questioned their judgement.
Growth Market Cruises: Where Are the Brand Co-Operations?
The cruise industry is growing constantly, and those taking a cruise are mostly affluent potential buyers of lifestyle products. Why are brands not tapping this booming market for their own growth yet?
The Local Customisation of International Lifestyle Brands
The growing consumer trend of individualisation is counteracted by the global uniformity of international players. What can international lifestyle brands do to benefit from local customisation?
Goats on a Roof! And What’s Your USP?
As far as unique selling propositions go, goats on a roof are pretty unique. And this offline-only retail location on Vancouver Island has turned them into a long-term success story without selling a single goat.
Once upon a time there was a tiny fruit booth near the Trans-Canada Highway that served Vancouverites en route to their weekend and summer houses as well as tourists exploring an island full of natural beauty. That was back in the 70ies when Kristian and Solveig Graaten, who had migrated from Norway 20 years earlier, decided to start a small retail business on Vancouver Island.
In the meantime, this little fruit stall has become the queen of retail locations and one of the most frequented tourist attractions on Vancouver Island: The Coombs Old Country Market.
The Paul Smith Store in Berlin
Paul Smith has just opened his first Berlin store, and it wouldn’t be Paul Smith (or Berlin) if the store and its location were just ordinary.
Sir Paul Smith is a British designer of extraordinary fashion for men, women, children, and accessories. He has been for some 40 years, and in various collaborations he designs pretty much anything that can be designed. In an interview, he recently described himself as a ‘strange designer’. A few weeks ago, he opened his first small but nonetheless great Paul Smith store in Berlin. (more…)
