While our annual 2010 State of the Retail Industry report delineates the challenge for retail brought about by consumer behavior changes in reaction to the great recession and the rapid adaption of mobile technology—many of those challenges will take several years to address. To find seven things that retailers can do right now, we asked our experts.

Scott Jeffrey, Chief Creative Officer 

Push for differentiation. There is no time to rest on your laurels. Realize that innovation isn’t a stage, it’s an ingrained brand behavior. In fact, stop thinking of innovation as a  “next step” all together–”step” as in a phase of something that stops and starts, or merely cycles through.

My ideal retail brand would be one that never completes a store design prototype. The “never done” mentality is always asking, “What else? What else can we do to make it better?” That type of thinking requires courage. Belief in the importance of change. Granted, not every one of your new ideas will be a game changer, but once you entertain doubt and back off, you pretty much lose momentum. Particularly now, when the customer expectations are so far ahead of what most retailers are delivering in terms of the brand experience.

The minute you rest on your laurels and let your brand and your stores get outdated, you have a really big, hardest-to-do maneuver on your hands: a turnaround. If you have a fleet of any size, you’re in danger of being too big and too rigid to manage a turnaround. But if you’re a constant seeker, a brand that remains loose and nimble, the maneuvers are much smaller and easier to manage. Your creative adjustments and transitions will be happening all the time. Knock down any silos in your way and get to that mindset as soon as you can.

Bill Chidley, Senior Vice President, Shopper Sciences

Consumers’ rapid adoption of the smartphone means it’s time to start thinking about connecting and communicating through that little screen. To make the most of the opportunity to drive demand, mobile optimization should be a top priority for your brand. It’s all about being in the game. Don’t try to justify mobile initiatives with ROI.  Move forward with a reasonable hypothesis and prepare to learn and adapt.

Don Rethman, Senior Vice President, Architecture

Consider doing a site survey. Do your shoppers expect to share their shopping experience instantly? Do you plan to make fast calls to action in the store? Your building needs a wireless-based backbone to support that, with wireless connectivity that allows for transitions.  This goes even beyond the creation of mobile hot-spots. Buildings must have a distributed, robust and flexible IT infrastructure which will allow technical access to all spaces. It helps if you’re working with architects who are aware there is such a thing as a path to purchase so they can help create a store that increases productivity and doesn’t skimp on the brand experience.

Amanda Yates, Vice President, Strategy & Analytics

It’s vital to map the “customer journey” to understand where best to make the wireless investments, as well as other investments that help your brand drive choice. Mapping will provide the insights that will help you gain advantage and protect sales by offering shoppers what they want in the modes they desire. Not every retailer will need a full-blown program, but each must understand the needs of its customers, what information and access they are looking for and where or how they want to access it. Once these insights are known, the appropriate level of investment and how to spend it will become much clearer.

Dave Nixon, Executive Director, Digital Strategy

The multi-channel ideal is a seamless transition from the physical shopping experience to the virtual experience through every digital touchpoint–one that’s painless for the shopper and profitable for the retailer. However, for most retailers that’s not the first thing you can do. There will be silos to take down, brand strategy work and brand engagement initiatives to adopt before that nirvana is reachable. I’d like to elucidate further on what Bill says (above)—“Get in the game.”

Companies that spend too much time planning their next technology steps will find themselves playing catch up to those that are already moving. One of the main benefits of digital is the ability to deploy it quickly and then modify or adapt the solution depending on the performance metrics for success. In that respect, adopting new digital platforms into your channel strategy is less expensive and presents less risk than physical channels. The time is now to leverage digital technologies for increasing revenue, efficiency and customer loyalty.

Kris Medford, Ph.D., Director of Shopper Sciences

Get to know your shoppers again. Segmentation that is a few years old is downright archaic so make sure your insights are recent and actionable.  Who are your shoppers—both those in your store today and those you want in the future?  What’s important to them from a digital perspective, and how can you use digital help to make your brand be more relevant to their lifestyle?

Justin Wartell, Senior Consultant, Brand Strategy

The physical store needs to evolve from its position as the “jewel in the crown” to a “tool in the arsenal.”  For retailers, the most important thing that can be done right now is to (re)examine the relationship between the physical brand experience and all of the other expressions of the brand.  Brand experiences are inter-connected organisms that create an overall customer feeling about the brand.  By understanding the role that retail plays in the context of the other touchpoints that are, or can be, deployed, retailers can drive loyalty, reputation, efficiency and value across their organizations. 

Brand assets and touch points are like words in a sentence. By themselves they might have their own independent meaning, but when combined they add up to convey a larger meaning and message or voice. Everything a brand says or does has an impact on a brand’s voice.

Historically brands and the business they represent were viewed by the general public simply as a business, with basic economic and strategic issues to deal with. However, right now we are witnessing a shift in the way consumers think about brands. Consumers are now seeing brands more as living, breathing entities with personalities and voices all their own. As a result, brands are being asked to act more like good citizens and have an overall net positive impact on the world or at the very least to limit their negative impact.

It wasn’t that long ago that the majority of consumers had no clue about a product’s life cycle. They didn’t know or care where their food came from. They had no idea what a brand’s policy on energy was of if it recycled. Consumers didn’t think about human rights issues in the factories of the developing world.

Fast forward a decade or two. Thanks to the Internet and its 24/7 fact-sharing availability, consumers are much more informed about all facets of the way brands do business—and they have learned to care.  As for brands, it’s not just about earning a merit badge and sleeping well at night. Being responsible and working in a sustainable manner is seen as an aid to business growth and attracting top talent.

Managed brand assets such as ads, packaging, websites, etc. communicate your message to the consumer. As such, they need to help reinforce a brand’s citizenship initiatives. When the consumer knows more about the good work your brand is doing in the world, brands improve the chance that consumers will select your brand over a competitor. But they need to hear it in your voice.

On a recent trip through LAX, feeling like a co-star in the George Clooney flick Up in the Air, I began the habitual routine: head to self check-in, find a seat near the front of the plane, drudge to security, get my identity squared away, enter the waiting game, strategize about which line is shortest at the security check and prepare my belongings for scrutiny.  

I’m pulling out my computer and liquids; taking off my shoes and jewelry; and—what’s this?!  The security bins aren’t the normal smudged grey. Rather, each display a shiny, newly installed advertisement—for none other than the Skechers Shape Ups.

Putting aside the misconceived brand marriage of health and wellness with Skechers, let’s consider the advertising locale: the airport security bins. At no other point during my airport visit do I feel more vulnerable, valueless and at edge than when standing barefooted with my personal belongings projected for the viewing pleasure of four complete strangers. While I grow increasingly more concerned about how the TSA agents stare at the x-ray of my purse like it’s this summer’s blockbuster while I’m waiting there shoeless, Skechers wants me to consider wearing Shape Ups. I almost feel mocked.

If the viral marketing hasn’t made you aware: Skechers has entered the workout authority arena. You read that right: Skechers, the manufacturer of sub-par street shoes, claims you don’t even need to really work out. Skechers’ Shape Ups gives you toned legs and buttocks by doing nothing more than routine walking. Adidas, Nike and Reeboks—move over! Gym membership—sayonara! Beach body, here I come! Pardon my sarcasm, but you get my point. It feels like a major brand misstep to me. 

I understand that airports allow brands to reach a great number of diverse individuals from a variety of locales hourly. However, brands risk being associated with one of the most time consumptive, potentially frustrating and blasé modern day institutions. When the weary traveler trudges through the airport in detest, your brand might well be smeared into the mud if it does nothing to lighten the load or provide much-needed respite.

Delightful disruptions do make the monotony of airport travel bearable. Conveniences like replacement headphones, culinary treasures in greasy bags and intellectual fodder in the form of trashy magazines provide a welcome distraction for travelers and lucrative income statements for brands alike. However, brands should tread lightly when entering the airport showground.

When pondering advertising locales, brand alliances and implementations, be certain to ask yourself: what value is our brand delivering to consumers?  If you can’t make a proper case for consumer delight, I insist you reconsider.

On June 18, Pixar Animation Studios released the third installment in their flagship franchise, simply titled “Toy Story 3.” Now that the reviews are in, Pixar just missed the mark in producing the first movie trilogy to receive 100% fresh ratings on the popular movie rating site Rotten Tomatoes. A 100% rating is near impossible for any individual movie, considering the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes are not a single opinion but an aggregate of hundreds of movie critics’ ratings.  Doing so for all three movies in a trilogy, or even coming this close, would seem to be an impossible task. And yet, they came within inches.

Also, this eleventh feature-length offering from Pixar has all the indications of another smashing financial success. While any individual moviegoer may have some negative opinions about some of Pixar’s movies, it’s hard to argue against the overall universal acclaim and the respective worldwide box office returns.  

So how does Pixar do it? Three simple words: Story is king. From the very beginning, Pixar has followed one simple mantra, which is engraved in stone at their studio: “No amount of technology can turn a bad story into a good one.” Eleven critically acclaimed feature movies, eleven financial successes, all based upon original stories and characters. This seems to fly in the face of the current Hollywood thinking that if you use more special effects, they will come. Make the movie 3D and they will come. Cast the actor-du-jour and they will come. Base it on an existing property (book, TV show, remake of older movie, video game, board game) and they will come. In many current Hollywood offerings, story and characters take a back seat.

Tell a good story with compelling characters, and they will come. It seems so simple and common sense, yet it seems to be forgotten. Pixar’s track record speaks to the effectiveness. They single-mindedly stick to their mantra and always strive to deliver against it in all they do. Now that’s a lesson that any brand could take a cue from.

I love Apple. I fiend over the stickers they give me when I buy a new Apple gadget. I’ll talk about why I love Apple with total strangers. And I’m quite sure my family and friends think I might be emotionally unstable with my constant pro-Apple rhetoric. But one of the reasons I like Apple, is I get Apple. And I believe that “getting” a brand is the all-important step that must be in place before we can love a brand.

We interact with thousands of brands every day, some by our choosing, some not. At any given moment you can step back and identify several brands you’re engaged with—the one you’re wearing, what you’re using, what you’re watching, eating…it goes on. What are these brands about? What do they stand for? Do you love them, hate them? Do you care? And ultimately, “Do you get it?”
 
I would like to offer up a 3-step formula that leads to success and the coveted “getting it-ness.”
 
1 Be Passionate. No, be wildly passionate about something, not 10 things. One great, brand defining something. What is the basic thing your brand does? It’s great when that idea is differentiating, but even if it,s not, what is it? And once that idea/attribute/principle is identified, talk about it, make sure it’s not a secret. Internally and externally, it should be the signature thing that your employee or customer would say the brand is.
 
2 Simplify. Get rid of everything that doesn’t deliver on that one great passionate idea! Stop trying to do everything for everyone. I know, you want every 15-year-old and 55-year-old to enjoy your brand, right? Wrong, what you really want is a core set of customers that connect with your brand in a powerful way and so they can mutually feed off of the engery and passion both of them create. When that magic happens, an amazing thing happens. Those customers demand that their friends, family and anyone who will listen to them use your brand. But if the brand’s message isn’t simple, then no one will ever understand or care enough to be excited.
 
3 Ruthlessly Execute. That works on a couple of levels, be ruthless with killing any and all parts of the brand that confuse, contradict, or fail to build the brand. And make sure every touchpoint can in some manner link back to what the brand stands for. A customer should get the same experience in-store, on-line, from an ad, or opening a package. Every time a customer has an interaction with the brand (no matter how small) the experience must deliver that special passionate idea.
 
Most brands have an incredible amount of information that talks about their values, attributes and mission, to help articulate the brand essence. I have been trough my fair share of day-long presentations to help me understand what some brand is all about and many times I find myself saying, “Okay, great. I don’t get it.” And if I don’t get it, your customers won’t either.
Love
R

There’s little doubt about it, Corporate Citizenship has become a force within many brands and organizations. Some of these efforts are very large in scale and highly publicized (think Pepsi Refresh project). Others are as simple and small scale as creating an office recycling program. Either way, it seems as if people within organizations of all sizes and types are actively seeking out opportunities to be better corporate citizens. The momentum behind the movement seems so great that it almost seems assumed that something must be done by each and every brand and organization.

One question must be asked, though, when considering whether or not your brand should engage in an activity;  what is my motivation for doing this? That’s right, I said it. As much as it pains me to say, your brand better have very specific reasons for being a better corporate citizen, or you may be doing more harm than good.

I’ll spare you the lecture that economist Milton Friedman would give on this topic. I’ll just say that anything that takes a brand’s eye off of the singular focus it was created to achieve makes the brand a little less competitive in its market and a little less viable as an ongoing concern. In an ever more competitive world, it doesn’t take much of a slip to lose your competitive edge and set you back. So, if you’re considering doing something in the Corporate Citizenship realm, you need to ask yourself a very important question. “What is my brand getting in return for this effort?”

The problem I see with the body of knowledge on the topic is that nobody really knows how much these efforts drive purchase. Aside from some very specific situations, there is simply nothing but anecdotal evidence suggesting that engaging in these activities will actually drive people to purchase your brand more than a competitor. There have certainly been research efforts suggesting that X% of people believe it is important and that people are willing to pay $X more for a product, but this research is riddled with overstatement and social bias. Nobody wants to say that it’s not important to them. Is it actually enough to overcome the objections they already had that were keeping them from buying you in the first place, though?

The best advice we can give at this point is to evaluate these efforts as you would any other opportunities your brand has. A holistic business case should be built before you go green or start to give a portion of your revenue to a certain charity. Keep in mind, this case does not need to be built strictly on an expected increase in purchase behavior by your customers. Keeping employees or other stakeholders engaged and happy can be every bit as valuable as increases in sales. There could also be other financial benefits such as tax incentives or savings on fuel expenditures. 

The bottom line is this; don’t do it just because you see everyone else doing it. Make sure that a thorough investigation has been conducted and that there is a clear benefit to your brand. Otherwise, you might be wasting valuable resources and energy.

The new Stoli ad on tv caught my eye the other day.  If you haven’t seen it, it depicts Hugh Hefner sitting down and having a drink with himself.  Smoking jacket Hef on one side and a suited Hef on the other.  The conversation gets at the idea that Hef wants the same things as any regular guy, companionship and the like. (I for one, think he’s set the bar stratospherically high in that dept, but that’s just a hunch.)  It’s a thought-provoking display and it made me wonder what a conversation with a brand might be like.

I think that the idea of persona is evident in many brands, but not all brands might have that much to say.  Having a distinctive personality or tone of voice can be such a huge competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace.  I look at the personality that Starbucks has been able to create over the years and compare that to their Seattle’s Best rebrand.  Both sell a similar product, but their voices are much different with how they talk and relate to their customers.  If I sat down with both brands, the conversation from one to the other would be vastly different I think.

What might your brand say if you sat down and had a heart to heart conversation with it?  Would it be a happy conversation?  Would it be engaging?  Would you still be interested after an hour or two or would you be looking for the check?  Your brand has conversations with your customers every day in many ways…do you know what it’s saying, and more importantly, is anybody listening?

Once. Twice. Yes, starting very soon, Apple will have done it for a third time: changed the way we buy and listen to music. Apple acquired digital music startup Lala in December and shut the site down in May, leading tech pundits to speculate on the coming of “an iTunes in the cloud,” once the streaming music service is incorporated into Apple’s business model.

Although Apple won’t comment on its plans, as a loyal Lala.com user and Apple fan, I’m fully expecting to enjoy a cloud-based iTunes experience in the near future, and I think it’s great that Apple continues to advance their retail strategy and break paradigms of the industry by sourcing great ideas, making them profitable and bringing them to a larger audience.

I look forward to having full access to my music library anywhere an Internet connection is available, as well as being able to add/purchase songs from any computer with the added benefit of instantaneous downloads to mobile equipment. I hope Apple is able to keep some of Lala’s unique features, such as letting customers listen to an entire piece of music for free before purchasing it. Also, I really appreciated being able to pay 10 cents for the rights to stream a song an unlimited number of times from the Web as opposed to downloading a song.  I think Apple’s genius lies in asking questions like: Why do I have to download music?

Forty-two.  This answer to the question of life, the universe and everything from Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a classic illustration of the disappointing results that arise when a project is not sufficiently defined.

Business questions are the key to defining business problems so that they can be understood and solved in ways that are actionable and beneficial. An example business question is, “Which of these store designs will most increase store visits by current customers?”  When well drafted, they deliver guidance to successful strategy, design, research, analytics and operations problem solving. Business questions do these things by aligning resources to needs, making sure everyone has similar understanding of what is to be accomplished, and ensuring that the work to be done will solve the problem at hand. It is easy, however, to run into problems while developing these questions.

Common problems in business question development are:

• Not creating or communicating the business questions.

• Using absolutes as goals for the solution.

• Failing to prioritize success criteria.

• Being ambiguous.

Here are some suggestions for making business questions work better.

In the drive to deal with business problems, business questions frequently do not get created or do not get communicated to all participants in solving the problems. This will often lead to team resources diffused over multiple, potentially conflicting problems, rework, and failures to solve key issues.  Always define one or more business questions to clarify what any work project is intended to solve and communicate those questions to all team members.

Everyone would typically like to be the best, have the best solution, or otherwise succeed at an absolute level against the problem. While the desire is admirable, absolutes do not serve well at defining a business question. There is a primary reason absolutes are a problem in a business question like “How do develop the best restaurant?”  There is no way to know if success has been achieved, since there is no definition available for what constitutes “the best.” Develop business questions with goals that are objectively measurable.  

Business questions often have multiple measures of success that can lead to internal confusion if the goals are not prioritized.  For example, a problematic business question might be “How can we increase the revenues and profit margins for our new product?”  While there may well be paths to increasing both revenues and profit margins, the optimal path cannot be determined without knowing the priorities, revenue increases or profit margin increases, as improvement in one frequently requires trade-offs against the other. If a business question has multiple success criteria, define the priorities of achieving each criterion. 

Ambiguous questions generally occur when the business question has not been reviewed by enough people before it is committed to action. Most of us have preconceptions and ways of thinking about the world that are so familiar we do not realize that we may not have made important assumptions explicit. Others, not having a clear view to our assumptions, may misjudge the intent of the questions as they bring their own assumptions to bear on any ambiguity. Make questions as explicit in their assumptions as possible, and have the questions read and commented on by individuals unfamiliar with the business issue to reduce chances for ambiguity. 

Adoption of these suggestions will enable business questions to guide projects and activities to actionable and beneficial results.

There wasn’t an Evolutionary War for a reason. In the pre-dawn of U.S. history, the new settlers wanted more than to just evolve the British rule, it had to be overthrown. A new start, a clean slate. Imagine the pressure that those founding fathers must have felt when deciding that enough was enough, let’s try something new. Today, many brands find themselves in the same place. The status quo isn’t working. It’s time to differentiate. But I wonder if the ideas of “revolution” and “evolution” aren’t being confused.

It’s easy to tell yourself that your brand needs something revolutionary, something that breaks paradigms and reveals new ways of talking to your customers. But all too often, companies follow the evolutionary path—a new coat of paint, a few new fixtures and a new sign on the storefront. A quick win here, a quick win there.

Starting your own revolution isn’t easy and that first step can be scary. One of the most important things to do once you’ve determined to change is deciding how far you can and are willing to go. Look at every facet of your brand, from the most obvious things to the very subtle.  Deep unbiased introspection will uncover opportunity for a new attitude, a new set of guiding principles, a new market space.

In retail, change is life. So overthrow the old paradigms.  Delve into your brand and find that crazy idea, the one that’s worth fighting for.