Brands, Retail, Technology (and more) by David Roth
The BrandZ Most Valuable German Brands 2019 was launched recently. I never shared on my blogs some of the key insight short films I narrated for the 2018 brand rankings. So before I share some of the 2019 insights, over the next few days, I will post these videos as the core insights within them are as sharp and as relevant for today …This one is about the Age of Innovation.
At STREAM Commerce in Miami I interviewed a number of the key speakers and participants as part of my “In Conversation with…” series. I am very grateful to everyone who graciously participated in the recordings and were were so generous in sharing their insights.
Todays “In conversation… is with Kim Snow, Creative Director at Google. Have a good weekend when you get there…
At STREAM Commerce in Miami I interviewed a number of the key speakers and participants as part of my “In Conversation with…” series. I am very grateful to everyone who graciously participated in the recordings and were were so generous in sharing their insights.
Todays “In conversation… is with Danielle Bailey Managing Vice President, Gartner L2
Each week I will be posting my picture of the week. An eclectic selection from my pictures taken from around the world.
Here is this weeks….from Peru.
THE MOST INTERESTING STORE IN THE WORLD… At least that’s what Showfields founder and CEO Tal Nathanel is confident he is creating.
In a world where many retailers are closing physical space, this plucky entrepreneur has gutted an iconic building in New York’s trendy NoHo area and is creating a new four story brick-and-mortar retail concept intended to bringing digitally native and direct to consumer brands to a physical life. Its proposition for brands centres on configuring their space online via a six-step process, which will then be fitted out and staffed by Showfields. It costs a flat fee per month (no turnover related element to it.). All the tech comes as standard – including mobile POS, data sensors and visitor analytics.
It’s currently in its “soft launch” stage. Just one of its four floors are open but that has not stopped a number of digital brands opening their space already including “Quip” electronic toothbrushes which started life as a Kickstarter project. Their space at Showfields actively encourages you to try out the brushes for yourself. Difficult to do that on a web site.
Or “Gravity Blanket” the weighted blanket for sleep, stress and anxiety. Which I have to say I had heard a lot about but never really understood or seen the value in until Tal persuaded me to try it out for myself at Showfields. It really was good and worth the premium!
Quod Erat Demonstrandum (QED).
Sometimes you really do need that physical experience…And that is what Tal is banking on.
As he took me on a behind the scenes tour of the yet to be opened floors Showfields strengths become more apparent. Its official opening will serendipitously be on the same day that Gordon Selfridge opened his Iconic Selfridges department store in London’s Oxford Street, back in 1909. That redefined retailing in Europe. And Tal’s betting on doing the same around the globe.And serendipity is what underpins the customer promise. He discusses this with me and other topics in this video interview you can see here. http://bit.ly/2TbglGx
Go see Showfields for yourself. It’s on corner of Bond and Lafayette Streets in NoHo, New York.
The world’s most interesting store…It could well be…It deserves to be successful.
At STREAM Commerce in Miami I interviewed a number of the key speakers and participants as part of my “In Conversation with…” series. I am very grateful to everyone who graciously participated in the recordings and were were so generous in sharing their insights. Over the next few days I will publish here the individual interviews as well as the consolidate live broadcast that we took pace each day.
Todays “In conversation… is with Brian Moroz, Creative Strategist, Google
Apple’s ubiquitous products do not change one iota from market to market.
But they are starting to dabble in limited editions that tap key moments in specific countries consumers lives.
Announced today for Chinese New Year is one such initiative.
Two Apple Sports watches to celebrate Chinese New Year – the year of the monkey. These will be available in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.
Expect more of this type of activity by manufactures, especially in wearable tech, in the future.
http://youtu.be/evq8GdSR5Hk
RoZie our BrandZ Robot made an appearance at The Intel Developers Forum in San Francisco today. Here she is doing some last moment limbering up.
She was a massive hit. Thank you David Brebner from Umajin and the team at Spark, Matt White and Rodrigo Solorzano.
Her next appearance will be in my key note for the “Retailing To The Customer of One In An Internet of Things Age” event on the 17th September in London.
Have just done a guest blog for Intel. You can read it here. It’s all about Getting Ready for the Radical Transformation of Retail.
Thank you Intel for asking me to contribute.
To Deliver Data Insight data is of course one of the most important and also complex keys to the retail castle. There are massive amounts available from ‘likes’ and ‘wants’ to shopping patterns and the Chinese consumer is constantly inputting data to social discussions, chats and review sites. However, for some time the burning question has been how to extract relevant and usable data for a brand. In the Year of the Horse, we foresee gaming will become a major part of the plan. Consumers in China love the novelty of gaming and we know they will provide information if asked. The ability to ‘gamify’ users’ experience with a brand to get the best quality consumer feedback has proved to be one of the most powerful forms of information gathering, and we expect to see this gain real traction and begin to drive brand behaviour. Social media has given us some insight into the users’ experience but none has engaged, connected or interacted with consumers in the way gamification has proved itself able to. There is no doubt that eliciting meaningful data is of the utmost importance in driving growth for brands and that gaming will play a key part in the process for smart brand owners and retailers.