Hybrids

We all know that hybrids are everywhere (and I'm not just talking about the cars). You take two popular movies like “Roman Holiday” and “The Prince and the Pauper” and you get “The Princess Diaries.” Soft drink companies take two flavors--one tart and one sweet--and you get (neither tart nor sweet) pomegranate-kiwi tea. Geneticists have grown the fuzz off of peaches and (although I don’t know how they did it) even crossed a firefly and corn on the cob to create a kind of glow in the dark ear. (Double yuck!) Granted, you take two great things to create one not-so-great item, but it has the allure of a two-for-one. Anyway, while hybrids are neither feast nor famine, everyone is doing it. Clever marketers try to convince us we’re getting something new and improved…sort of.

Retailers, slow on the draw, are now catching up to Hollywood and Madison Avenue. Today’s retailers are creating hybrid concept stores. The first sector that really has caught on to the concept are supermarkets, like Whole Foods, which has a spa in select stores, where you can get a pedicure, manicure, light facial or massage. All spa products are “not tested on animals” and meet Whole Foods' stringent organic requirements. Other supermarkets have eliminated food products from their shelves to introduce movie rentals, greeting cards, and expanded their take-out areas to rival most franchised chicken joints and sushi places. Frankly, if a date asked me out to have sushi and took me to the A&P, the romance would be over. Some clever menswear shops are installing barber shops where you can get a shave and a hair cut while the hem on your new pants is being altered. They’ll even shine your shoes. Unfortunately, ever since I saw “Sweeny Todd” I’m terrified of straight-edge razors.

Borders bookstores are integrating digital centers where customers can download music and books that might not be readily on their shelves. This in essence offers the retailer access to nearly every title printed without the need to stock it. Borders, cognizant of its techno-inclined customer, also has computer kiosks to research family histories and print out family photos. The first "hybrid" store opened last year in Ann Arbor, Mich. It must be successful, as 13 other stores are set to open in 10 states this year.

The Gap's Fifth Avenue store in New York has partnered with Pantone (paints), havaianas (sandals), “Pure Body Yoga Studios” and trendy French retailer Collette to create pop-up shops to draw customers into their adjacent store where their perfunctory T-shirts and jeans are sold. This ever-changing hybrid concept seems to support Gap sales and makes the Gap a destination spot to pick up something extra and unexpected--an incentive goes a long way these days.

The jury may be out on some hybrid concept stores, but rest assured it does seem to invigorate sales. I’m all for hybrids, with one notable exception to the book publisher (shame on you) who reported that they were taking two classic books to create a new fantasy series. Rest assured, I will not be reading “The Diary of Anne Frankenstein.”

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Borders photo credit: Laszlo Regos

A Social Media "How To" for Retailers

Online retail sales have grown at a staggering rate—from $5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009 to $30 billion in the first quarter of this year, according to the U.S. Census. And while this growth is extraordinary, it still represents a relatively small portion of all retail sales activity—only 3.5% of sales are transacted online. However, even though retail sales are still dominated by brick and mortar stores, the influence of the Internet on offline purchasing is becoming increasingly important. Website visitation, online advertising and social media all impact offline purchasing. Visibility into online behavior has become critical across the entire retail enterprise.

Twitter has seen an increase of almost 1500%

Mainstream phenomenon
The social media frenzy—also known as consumer-generated media (CGM)—refers to content being created 24-hours a day online on blogs, message boards, social networks like Facebook and platforms like Twitter. CGM has come a long way from the early newsgroup days and continues to grow rapidly.

Traffic to Facebook is up almost 200% over the last year, and Twitter has seen an increase of almost 1500%. Social Media is no longer just for techies or younger generations—it has become a mainstream phenomenon. Compared to a year ago, not only are more people visiting these sites, but they are also spending more time there—time spent per person is up 67% over last year.

So, why is social media so big? The answer is relatively simple: it taps into a few basic human needs and emotions. Social media satisfies our need to be heard, it provides us with a platform to reach more people than ever before and it enables us to advocate for and promote the brands and topics we feel strongly about.

Social media provides a platform to advocate for products and stores…

Amplified advocacy
The purchase consideration process has always been a social endeavor. Before the advent of social media, a shopper may have consulted with a limited number of friends and family members before making a purchase. Today, shoppers’ networks have gone from being composed of just a handful of people to hundreds—or even thousands—many of which are likely strangers.

Social media has not only transformed the research and purchase consideration phase, but it also provides shoppers with a platform to advocate for the products and stores they love. Advocacy has always existed, but social media has made this stage even more critical, amplifying the size of the audience reached.

Listen and engage
CGM provides retailers with a unique opportunity to not only listen to what consumers have to say, but to actively take part in that conversation. Through online listening, retailers can observe conversations that occur naturally to understand consumer attitudes and needs—and then proactively engage customers transparently to answer key questions or concerns.

Listening to consumers through CGM is complementary to other more traditional methods of market research, and provides unique value. Instead of soliciting feedback through a survey or focus group, social media allows retailers to tap into what consumers are passionate about and what they proactively discuss.
Below is a framework for how retailers should think about listening through social media:

1. In-Store Experience—Shoppers actively discuss their experiences at brick-and-mortar locations online. Find out what consumers are saying about shopping experience, employees, return policy, store layout and more.
2. Web site—Understand how consumers are using your website regardless of whether or not you sell products online. Are they using it as an informational or couponing resource? If it is a transactional website, what are shoppers saying about the shipping charges and delivery windows?
3. Products—Learn how shoppers feel about your product selection, availability, pricing and quality, as well as private label brands.
4. Marketing—From brand health to community relations to coupons and circulars, listening to social media gives retailers the opportunity to gauge awareness of corporate initiatives and marketing.

Reaching out
According to Forrester Research, almost two-thirds of retailers have already invested in CGM in some way, and another 22% plan to get involved in the next year. Additionally, Internet Retailer reports that more than 30% of retailers say that social networks perform better as a marketing vehicle than paid search engine optimization.

Give shoppers a reason to visit the website and keep them engaged…

Retailers should give shoppers a reason to visit the Web site and keep them engaged—know that many shoppers are not going to come proactively. Because of this, the majority of online effort should be concentrated on expanding the digital footprint and reaching shoppers where they are already congregating by participating and encouraging conversations through third-party tools (blogs, forums, social networks, Facebook, Twitter). Importantly, all forms of social media outreach, whether through the retailer website or third party tools, must be transparent and should support a common goal.

There are a number of retailers who are using best practice principles to successfully engage customers through social media:

• Zappos uses Twitter as a key customer service platform in addition to a 24/7 phone line and email.
• Walmart takes advantage of product review platforms.
• Starbucks’ “My Starbucks Idea” program encourages customers to submit ideas for new products and services.
• Best Buy uses a private social media network for internal communications with its employees to promote employee satisfaction and idea-sharing.

Assume that consumer control/power will continue to grow—now is the time to listen to your customers. When you are ready and adequately resourced, engage, participate, and respond to customers through CGM. Nurture and protect brand credibility by being honest, open and transparent. Do not neglect your website, it is one of your best marketing vehicles, but focus majority of effort on reaching customers where they’re already congregating. Think about how you can provide better customer service through social media and turn your loyal customers into advocates. And lastly, learn from everyone in your organization.

--Maya Swedowsky, Associate Research Director, Online Division, Nielsen

Cereal Killers

We all know that “Secret” is just for women, and “Irish Spring” is a “manly soap,” but that you (lasses) “can like it too.” But now Wheaties is doing them one better and rebranding itself as Wheaties “Fuel.”--the manly cereal. Yes, its packaging looks like “Axe” or “Tag,” those super-stinky body washes for tween males, but if five hunky athletes in tight tees set against a dramatic black background doesn’t grab your attention in the techni-colored world of the cereal aisle, then you might as well resign yourself to a rocking chair.

Out with yesterday’s newspapers, Wheaties, which used to use the 1933 tagline “The Breakfast of Champions," has re-emerged with the declarative, three-word, direct tagline: “Fuel. Win. Evolve."

The new product was created with the guidance of a sports nutritionist and five athletes, including Colts quarterback Peyton Manning; Boston Celtics power forward Kevin Garnett; Albert Pujols, first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals; Bryan Clay, a decathlon gold medalist; and Hunter Kemper, a triathlete. But are athletes any good in the kitchen? Okay, I might like Peyton Manning making me breakfast in bed (there I admit it!).

"Fuel" is being marketed specifically to men, using a variety of samplings given out at sporting events and samples promoted in Men's Health magazine to get the word out. The updated cereal was honed down to a top three to undergo final analysis. So far the changes in the actual product are minimal, less folic acid (too feminine) and more vitamin E. And how about more sugar (quick energy)--Wheaties was a basic wheat flake, whereas Fuel is much sweeter than the original. Fuel will not include snips and snails and puppy dog tails. The new-and-improved Wheaties will hit supermarket aisles in January 2010.

(Original) Wheaties, which has a 60% male customer base already, has never been male-exclusive in its marketing--its box has featured female athletes many times, but it may have found an approach with legs this time, catering just to guys.

In today’s uncertain times, guys need all the reassurance they can find. So not surprisingly, the cereal and the marketing are centered around the idea of “performance” and performance enhancement. While testosterone and Viagra may not be in the mix, it is suggested in the advertising. This cereal is so masculine looking that the cereal bowl doesn’t even have a spoon. After all, cave men eat their cereal right from the bowl, like Labradors. 

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Factoid: Wheaties (the original) was invented accidentally when a health clinician in Minneapolis, who was simmering bran gruel for intestinally distressed patients, spilled it onto a hot stove and it dried into flakes. It was introduced by the Washburn Crosby Co. (now General Mills) in 1924.

Pitch, Pitch, Whine, Whine

So it seems we find ourselves at that inevitable point in the design cycle once again. You know the one I'm talking about--where pitching is table stakes. Seems just a few short months ago when the economy gave us the buffer we needed to stoically fold our arms and say "we don't do that," but ahhh how times change. Now it's like our industry's dirty little secret, the thing everyone is doing but no one is talking about...kind of like Botox.

I wanted to start by saying there's an argument that pitching is a necessary evil in the times we find ourselves in and I understand that--really, I do. The stakes have never been higher for our clients and every firm out there wants to make the best first impression on what is essentially a first date. In its simplest form, pitching is one thing you can use to try and get people to like you...again, kind of like Botox.

Pitching of course falls into two categories, one quite different from the other. First there is the paid pitch, where some sort of stipend is offered up as a gesture of good faith and to deaden the inevitable pain of the resources that any one of these presentations can suck up. You still lose your rear end on these assignments, but you feel a little better about it. It's the other one I'm talking about here though...the nasty one...the free pitch.

There isn't enough room here for me to get into all the reasons why free pitching is bad for the client, the agency and the industry, and you've probably all heard them before anyway. But rest assured, circumventing a design firm's process--a process intrinsically based on interaction with the client--is not going to yield many magic bullets. Sure the ideas are free (and free is good right?), but exercises like this are the design equivalent of pinning the tail on the donkey--and all parties involved should accept that going in.

But rather than get into all that, the point of this little missive is actually to highlight a client who surprised me recently with their approach to the pitch process.

This client (who obviously shall remain nameless) deserves note for sticking to the letter and law of what pitching is supposed to be about. The line we have all heard a thousand times is that the client "just wants to learn a bit about how you think." All of which sounds great until the next pages tell you that thinking needs to be presented in "floor plans, four perspective views of the interior, a materials board, oh and if you could take a quick look at the bathrooms while you are at it, that would be great." Yuk.

I half expected one of these on this aforementioned pitch, but imagine my surprise when this went a wholly different route. They set a creative challenge for the firms completely unconnected with the job. It was a brilliant little brief and, while clearly referring to their brand, it wasn't something they could just take in house and build when the work was complete. I thought it showed them in the most wonderful light. Recognizing they needed help making their decision, but having a sensitivity to those firms they considered potential partners.

I wanted to hold this up as a truly great solution to a challenge we all face in these trying times. From what I have heard, the lateral nature of the assignment led to each of the firms truly thinking outside of the box, perhaps thinking more about the client than a standard beauty parade might have caused them to do.

They did such a great job, I honestly wish I could name them, but a few of us are still "under consideration" so to speak. Perhaps when the dust has settled and someone has got the job I'll spill the beans.

Oh, one last thing before I go. A friend in the biz told me recently their client justified the free pitch request by saying, "Well, our ad agencies do this all the time."  To which I would always respond that retail design firms are not ad agencies. Nor are they compensated in the same way on the back end. The model is not the same, neither should the process be.

Hang in there folks...and of course, as always, comments are very welcome.

--Christian Davies, Guest Blogger

Let Them Eat Cheesecake

With a spiraling luxury market, and a decided downturn in the ready-to-wear market, what is one of America’s most gifted designers left to do? If you are the talented Isaac Mizrahi, you start selling cheesecake. Well, we all have to eat.

These will not be your run-of-the-mill cheesecakes. These are designer cheesecakes, including a tartan plaid version for Christmas, and one he describes as “enrobed” in white chocolate, albeit dyed in signature red with navy plaid stripes. In spring, you can look forward to polka dots…”Obviously!” retorted Mizrahi. Ever prolific, he recently decided to make a cheesecake using goat cheese. Mizrahi reports…“It’s amazing. It sounds bad, but it is so good.” Baaaaa! Celebrity chefs are all the rage. It will sort of be like having Mizrahi in your kitchen when you bring out dessert for the in-laws and neighbors and boast that Isaac Mizrahi whipped this up…just for you…girlfriend!

Would I buy a Lagerfeld cheese log or Swedish meatballs from Diane Von Furstenberg? Probably not, but a cheesecake from Isaac…I’d go for it. To promote his exclusive line of cheesecakes, Mizrahi is even getting his own show on QVC called "Isaac Mizrahi Live!" Rest assured that while Mizrahi will be designing a large range of items for QVC, he professes the most excitement about designing couture cuisine.

At age 10, he says he was browsing through recipes and became intrigued by the word “sauté.” “I liked the way it sounded…sauté, sauté, sauté!” Mizrahi says, adding that he used to spend weekends cooking peppers and mushrooms in a pan until they were mushy. (He obviously didn’t see "Julie & Julia.”) “Call my mother. This is what I did on Saturday mornings,” reports Mizrahi. I believe you, but there I was watching reruns of “Sabrina and the Groovy Ghoulies"--my wasted youth.

Mizrahi’s show will begin airing in December, eight hours a month to start, the company says. According to the WSJ, the show is part pitch, part reality television and "will follow Mizrahi as he pitches items like a $200 handbag or $80 shoes, while he engages in his other activities, riffs extemporaneously about his life (he might even sing if coerced) and takes questions from callers," i.e., real people. He also reportedly paints his toenails orange. Well you have to do something while those cheesecakes bake.

The resurgence of Mizrahi, a designer known as much for his charisma as his clothing, is tied to the many changes sweeping the fashion industry. With cost-conscious conglomerates increasingly in control, many designers are searching for ways to broaden their sales beyond the high-fashion customer. At the same time, the growth of collaborations with mid-American retailers, the rise of cable television, the birth of reality television and the Internet have created a surge of opportunities…like cheesecakes.

Is it a comeback? Mizrahi--like a phoenix--has had multiple incarnations. Now 47, Mizrahi seems to be having his moment in the QVC sun again. He already designs for the Liz Claiborne brand--while sales are struggling amid the recession, retailers say he’s added buzz to a line that’s been considered frumpy for years. He’s hosting a fashion reality TV competition on the Bravo network, “The Fashion Show,” which is a “Project Runway” wannabe, and he has been a frequent guest judge on the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America.” Two seasons ago, he resumed showing a high-end line under his own name at New York’s fashion week. And any day now, he’s scheduled to open his first boutique on Madison Avenue.

Remember when Dorothy, Rose, Sophia and Blanche used to gather around their kitchen and trash men over a chocolate-covered cheery cheesecake? I miss the '80s. Isaac, if you're listening, you’re welcome to come over anytime and we can dish Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford and Michael Kors--providing you have a cheesecake in hand.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger