Home»»
At a recent conference tour called Events Marketing Innovations, renowned speaker and retail branding consultant Robyn Waters did what she often does when I hear her speak--she blew me away. Her session, titled "Design with Heart," echoed everything this magazine and myself personally are seeing occur in the ever-wide retail landscape on a daily basis. Consumers--myself included--are stuck in a "claustrophobia of abundance," Waters exclaimed, swimming in pools of "stuff" with too many places to go, too many things to buy and too many choices once we get there. There are upwards of 300 cereal brands to choose from at my grocery store. At some point, I opt for bananas instead of cereal, choosing not to choose because the choice is too much (say that three times fast). Waters calls this the "paradox of choice," and man, does she hit it right on the nose.
The contradictory consumer today also recycles religiously, but drives an SUV, owns a Prada purse and shops at Costco. I personally love to wear name-brand clothing, but am quick to point out that I only purchase when it's 50 percent off or greater. And I don't think I'm in the minority there.
Waters spent 10 years working with Target Corp.--or "Tarzhay" as many are wont to call it--the upscale discounter (now there's a paradox!) that has brought design to the masses. Target's recipe for success included three ingredients: 1) being trend right (not trend forward); 2) being guest focused; and 3) being design driven (what Waters refers to as "the secret sauce"). She pointed out that a Philippe Starck-designed sippy cup for children that was released during her tenure then retailed for $3.49. The product's design is now so widely embraced, the item now sells for $50 on eBay. "Now that's designing with heart," she said.
She pointed out how important it is to design an experience, and really connect with consumers in a high-touch way. She told an anecdote of Steve Jobs mentioning that he wanted the buttons on the new iPhone to look so good "that people would want to lick them." Have you seen the menu screen of an iPhone lately? It looks like you're looking into a box of colorful, delectable French chocolates. To pull the parallel into the retail sphere, Waters mentioned that the French term for window shopping is leche-vitrines--which translates literally to "lick the window."
How's that for a powerful design message?
--Alison Embrey Medina
Comments