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At the end of the last century, every brand was rushing to participate in a new form of commerce, e-commerce.

With everyone shopping online is there now more of a value on the real shopping experience? Is the retail-shopping environment, one of the most popular pastimes of global consumers, the place you need to be establishing your brand?

This isn't about participating in the retail business as a retailer, but using it as a core part of your branding strategy.

With media costs escalating out of control and reach becoming increasingly questionable, the retail store is fast becoming the branding tool of choice for brands that are looking for global reach and to leave an indelible mark in consumer's minds.

Brands that aren't tradtionally retailers are making the leap across into this space.

Obviously, it also helps if you have something to sell, but it's especially interesting to see some surprising new entrants.

The global soccer organization FIFA has just opened its first store in Singapore airport and plans to open others in London, Tokyo and Los Angeles.

Then there's Ferrari, who many would have expected to be the last brand to open stores, are using stores as a branding tool and a revenue generator. The company is opening them at a fast pace. In 2007, it opened Beijing, Los Angeles, Shenyang, Barcelona, Al Kobar, Abu Dhabi and Macao and this year will see openings in San Francisco, Miami and Honolulu.

While opening retail outlets might seem strange in a world dominated by technology. However, it's clear that certain areas of specific cities- Rodeo Drive in LA for example or Las Vegas are quickly becoming experience retail centers. Places where people spend time and indulge themselves in experiences. This is not shopping as chore, but shopping as entertainment and it certainly makes sense for certain brands to be present in this emerging media channel.

Retail allows brand to create a media that performs two functions; a brand experience and if done correctly and with the right partners, a revenue generator that allows the brand to recoup some of its expenses.

It will be interesting to see the role agencies and media buying companies will play here, but I somehow can't imagine anyone putting global store openings as a line item on the media plan.

Perhaps, it would be the mark of true integration, if one of the large holding companies could make this type of cross-functional thinking happen

Posted by Ed Cotton People want to know a brand is authentic and that it performs like it says it does.

In a transparent world where people have information at their finger tips, brands are having to prove themsleves to people in the most authentic ways possible.

Oakley has always been a hard-core, rugged brands with its own unique style, but the appeal lies right in the "bombproof" part of the brand.

To demonstrate this important aspect, Oakley has created the O Lab- (a rolling lab) to show the extreme lengths the brand goes to test and make sure its products work. It's a neat idea and  step above the classic event marketing model.

Oakley's Rolling O Lab: The Science Of Sunglasses - video powered by Metacafe

More on the lab here from Notcot.



Posted by Ed Cotton A couple of days ago, Influx discussed the potential for brands and retailers to add experiences to their offering.

In the piece we incorrectly classified Apple as a pure brand retailer with no brand experience elements. We are wrong most of the stores have classes and group training. Which adds an educational experience element to retail. Apple also has its One 2 One Personal Training program which allows people to get personal training in a range of skills from photography to web development.

For just $99 a year, it's a great deal and a clever way for Apple to enhance its relationship with its customers.
In 1999, when Pine and Gilmore wrote the  “Experience Economy”, marketers rushed to bring more experience to their brands and especially their retail environments.

NikeTown’s evolution exemplified the movement, starting off as celebration of the brand, more like a museum and then shifting emphasis to become more of a traditional retailer, with specks of experience.

Brands moved into retail experiences because they liked the idea of control and they saw an opportunity to immerse consumers in the brand.

Today, the concept appears to have evolved into two strains.

a.    Pure branded retail- Apple Stores- are the best example and in fact deliver the highest sales/sqft of any retailer in the US. These are stores; they don’t deliver much in the way of experience or celebrating the legacy and history of the brand. Apple is very much about the latest and the now, its stores don’t need to dwell on the past.


b.    Museums-Brands that have equity in the past are using brand experiences as an additional arm of their brand communication strategies. Mercedes is a great example of a brand that’s building museums to communicate its history and heritage.

Yesterday, Sharper Image announced it was  selling flights with the Zero Gravity Corp.

“The experience starts with a brief training session followed by a 90-minute flight aboard G-Force One, a Boeing 727, during which parabolic maneuvers are performed. The controlled ascent and descent of the plane allows flyers to experience apparent Martian gravity (1/3 Earth's gravity), Lunar gravity (1/6 Earth's gravity), and weightlessness.

ZERO-G flights depart from Las Vegas and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.”

This announcement moves Sharper Image into the experience selling game.

Yankelovich has been telling us for years that consumers value experiences more than material possessions, but it’s taken ages for retailers and traditional brands to get in on the act.

However, the potential is boundless for those that get it right, just imagine:
 
-    The Container Store should be selling “life simplification” courses and consulting
-    BevMo could sell wine tours and wine tasting classes
-    Pottery Barn could package interior design courses
-    Car dealers should be aggressively selling courses for performance racetrack driving and rallying
-    PF Chang’s could be selling cooking experience tours to China
-    Target could sell overseas trips to accompany their buyers

Consumers want to these things, if only brands and retailers could find a way to sell them. Beyond the obvious revenue benefits, these experiences would generate greater loyalty for brands.

Influx believes we are likely to see a shift towards “experience selling” that will demand imagination and ingenuity. It offers an interesting opportunity for retailers and brands that are bold enough to make the leap and prepared to experiment and develop new ways to sell experience.

Eight years on, the “Experience Economy” is finally becoming a reality.
  Tesla, the electric car darling, is determined to re-engineer not just the concept and workings of the car, but also the buying experience.

They openly admit to modeling their new dealerships on Apple and Starbucks and good restaurants where you can see the chef working.

Here’s what they plan to do:

-    The overall concept is Tesla dealerships as VIP Lounges
-    The service area will be front and center, not out the back. Since the technology is clean, visitors will be able to see the techs working on the cars
-    Techs are company shareholders and are assigned by name to customers
-    Install comfortable lounge areas, with free Wi-Fi, coffee, snacks and flat screens
-    No salespeople, just assistants to help with information and assist the purchase, rather than “sell” it

Tesla's stores will open in Los Angeles and Bay Area stores in the fourth quarter, followed by New York, Chicago, and Miami in the first quarter of 2008.

However, the designers have yet to be chosen and the company is open to suggestions and ideas from customers and prospects.

There’s nothing extremely radical in this "brief". Most luxury dealerships are already doing most of this, the big difference is putting the tech/service center and the technicians front and center, this will create a new type of experience. Hopefully, the design companies pitching this project will come up with ideas that stretch the "brief" a little bit.

Something obvious Tesla has to do is to make sure these dealerships are the “greenest” they can possibly be, their customers will expect nothing less.

Via Autoblog
stoli opens hotel (34.09915438284843 , -118.32889080047607) Stolichnaya vodka is another example of a brand creating a three dimensional experience in the real world.

This Wednesday, Stolichnaya vodka will open the Stoli “hotel” in LA, not a permanent fixture, but a pop-up venue inspired by the Hotel Moscova; the hotel shown on the vodka brand's bottle. The 10,000 sq ft venue has a bar, guest rooms, an elite suite for VIPs and design wise combines the vodka’s Russian roots and heritage with modern elements.

The venue will be used for DJ nights, film opening after parties and magazine events (GQ, InStyle and Playboy).

For those interested in checking it out, the hotel is located at 1555 Ivar Ave Hollywood, CA 90028

The hotel will “travel” to Chicago, New York and Miami and there will also be a website.

This idea is a step-up from the usual drinks brand sponsorship of events. The pop-up hotel gives Stoli greater control over the experience and allows for endless branding opportunities.