THE 5 ‘SO WHATS’ WHICH IMPACTED CONSUMERS AND BRANDS THIS WEEK

1. The only baker in the whole village

Ted Baker have set up a village! The store, called Tedbury Village, is split into 4 different sections based on areas of the village – a country pub, a butcher’s shop, an old apothecary and a tea shop. Tedbury Village also includes a local paper called the Tedbury Times. This is a quirky way of establishing a connection with visitors.

So what?

Ted Baker is playing with the idea of a quaint country village that is also an immersive brand experience. The retail experience is a cluttered one & to stand out from the crowd you need to differentiate the shopper experience for your consumers. For the experience to connect with shoppers it must be reflective of the brand identity & essence which is why the Tedbury village works so well. As consumers’ motivations move away from conspicuous consumption & indulgence they are looking for more of an experience when out shopping. Once you can tap into this & merge the element of shopping with exploration you’ve reached the pinnacle of shopper experience.

For some more insight into shopper marketing read Susan’s blog entry here

2. Pushing the expectation levels & delivering a platform for like-minded souls

Dublin band Delorentos latest album – Little Sparks- will be released in conjunction with a magazine of the same name which the band have published. The magazine focuses on creative individuals across the arts in Ireland.

Delorentos says the publication is an attempt “to shine a light on the work some of the people that we’ve worked with or that we like and respect but, more importantly, people that have managed to be creative in their chosen field of expression”.

With bands increasingly experimenting with different methods of packaging music, Delorentos has gone a step further by creating a new product through which the sentiment of its music – creativity and independence – can be digested.

So what?

The music industry is working hard to add value & worth to their products which can be obtained for free due to illegal downloading. In the past 6 months we’ve seen the Kaiser chiefs offer fans the chance to select the tracks for the album & Bjork delivering her latest effort in an app format. The Delorento’s magazine delivers something to consumers who are increasingly looking for something more dynamic. What can be done to break the norms within your brands category & add value to the consumers outlay?

3. Christmas (the remix) – can you create the white space?

Survey results from the Irish League of Credit Unions found that Christmas 2011 will push 38% of people into debt, with 4% still paying off Christmas debt after seven months. 70% of people plan to shop online this Christmas with 47% of those that do because there is better value online with 29% stating that it is more convenient.

So what?

Shopping at Christmas is an enjoyable for some & stressful for others. Does the overall Christmas shopping experience need someone to step in & re-establish consumers feelings towards shopping at this time of year? Moving beyond BOGOF’s, free wrapping, Christmas songs in every shop what can a brand do to step in & make the experience better. For instance, Ikea created a ‘man creche’ for wives & girlfriends to leave their partners while they go about their shopping stress free.

4. Change of design to realign

French designer Patrick Norguet has created interiors for a number of McDonald’s branches in France, creating an identity for the restaurants as places for families. The redesign in France is a move back to the company’s original premise of being a family restaurant. The interiors feature family booths with nearby terminals for ordering.

So what?

The shopper marketing experience is different for the customers of McDonalds – adults & children. Recent research from TNS remarked that for children entering the fast food retail was “a rollercoaster ride of emotions, from the anticipation when arriving and waiting for the food, to the thrill of getting their food and Happy Meal toy, interspersed with the boredom of queuing and the misery of departure”. While for parents the visit was task-orientated – queuing, controlling children, scanning for tables.  For mums, the mission was highly task-oriented, simultaneously queuing to order, scanning for available tables and keeping an eye on kids who wanted to go exploring to find toy displays. This new design appears to address both parents & children’s needs creating a great family experiences.

5. Game Changing Idea of the week: Join the Village Wall

The small village of Obermutten has hosted a social media campaign that has propelled its Facebook page to the most active in Switzerland. The campaign offered people the chance to appear on the village notice board by ‘liking’ the page on Facebook. Local residents printed pictures of each of the page’s fans and posted them on buildings around the village.

The campaign has been hugely successful in promoting the village as a tourist destination, and from an initial cost of €10,000 has generated a media equivalent of €2.4m

So what?

With tourism being one of the most acutely affected industries in the face of the global recession an innovative idea like the one Obermutten has used. Allowing would-be tourists (customers) to feel involved for no expense has created emotional currency to the location. In a period when we’re noticing consumers choosing tried & tested holiday destinations because it has emotional attachment with low risk, such a move could be key in changing people’s tourism habits. On a grander scale this shows brands that there are tools available (i.e. Facebook) at their disposal that can be used effectively at little cost to connect & engage consumers