The Christmas Clown*, and I, wish you a happy and prosperous new year.
Keep us in mind for all your retail and consumer strategy needs!
Chuck Palmer
ConsumerX
Retail + Experience + Strategy + Design
614.562.9315
cX Blog: http://bit.ly/4ozN4X
www.ConsumerExperienceDesign.com
Chuck Palmer's RetailWire BrainTrust Blog http://bit.ly/3fnCTb
*The Christmas Clown is a magical ornament that has been in our family for generations. He brings us luck prosperity. We’re not sure what happened to his hands.
Good consumer experience: @Snapfish sent a preemptive apology email. 50 free prints because there MAY be a weather delay shipping my order (that I placed today). That Rocks. I had a great idea today for photo gifts. I choose Snapfish because they had the photo book product that fit my need, and I’m a loyal HP customer and somehow that made me trust them with these family images.
What a nice surprise. Given that we have yet to print the perfect family shot for our yet-to-be-sent Christmas cards, we will take them up on that offer.
I love John Lasseter. Not only does he have the coolest job ever on the planet ever, but he has always understood the people he is entertaining. He, and Pixar, are stand-out examples of consumer-centricity best practices.
This piece in the LATimes http://bit.ly/6ohRus offers a view into his thinking about merchandise and product development. His understanding and respect for kids is paramount to making the products compelling to play with, but also his insistence that all the characters are given their due.
Whether he calls it Design Strategy or not, he surely understands the rational and emotional drivers of a brand and how they should be translated into the rules and tools designers, manufacturers and marketers need to use. Be sure to read about the use of light green in the development of the new Princess Tiana products associated with Disney’s new “The Princess and the Frog”—spot on and defendable.
This, of course, is informed by his inherent understanding of storytelling and the connections made with audience and consumers. When Bug’s Life came out, our daughter was very young. Over time we collected plush doll of all the characters. Some were easier to find than others, but they were out there and that complete collections is somehow satisfying to us and our daughter. You see, people define a brand and the brand needs to give them the opportunity and voice to do so.
That’s the reason Toy Story is still relevant and will continue to be.
To answer my own question:
KNOW THE CUSTOMER. IDEALIZE THE EXPERIENCE.
RetailWire posed the question: Which apps or other tools make the most sense for retailers to incorporate with mobile phones?
You can see the base article and the BrainTrust discussion here: http://bit.ly/8TivDA.>
In the opening piece, the author notes that a "number of consumer packaged goods brands have introduced iPhone apps that give consumers direct access to the brand and include recipe ideas, nutrition info and special offers. But the reality is, shoppers are not going to download all the brand applications that come down the pike. More realistic is an application offered by a retailer, store-branded and shopper-focused, that enhances the entire shopping experience, starting from home and the creation of the shopping list.
"The greater challenge in using technology as a practical tool is ensuring the accuracy of the data and the ongoing relevance of the offering. Novelty will drive trial for many, but continuing value is the only way to keep people using the service or application."
I couldn't agree more. Most of the apps we're seeing are technology driven--use gps to find Crest White Strips; take a picture of a product and get more info--not human behavior driven. Cool once or twice, but will I do that with every purchase? Who has that much time in the grocery? (Or even Best Buy? I'd rather play with the stuff and not the phone I already have.)
At ConsumerX, we start with the idealized experience. In this case, which essentially is a grocery occasion, our intrepid customer is shopping with a list. She is balancing influential messages received through various sources--broadcast, print, the weekly circular, friends ideas and recommendations--with the emotional drivers of doing what's right for her family and her self.
The potential for mobile in the shopping experience lies in understanding her and what drives her behavior. Odds are, she has spent a good deal of time reconciling all the offers and clipping paper coupons. How will, at a minimum, mobile mimic that (so she can easily migrate her behavior to a new construct)and more importantly, how will mobile make it better in ways she cannot imagine?
The article puts the opportunity at the feet of retail store and I think this is spot on right. Retailers know more about us than we do (or perhaps they realize) or any single brand can. We know that and the average consumer knows that. As a matter of fact, the average consumer, would LOVE it if we used all this information to make her life, not just easier, but cooler, nicer, better.
Combine the insights gleaned from thoughtful, attentive qualitative research, with the broad and deep data from loyalty programs and point-of-sale data and work with consumer packaged goods brands on her behalf.
Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter has launched Square, a company that uses the iPhone as a cash register (that cannot take cash). This is great--for small retailers, iPhone enthusiasts and, well, Jack Dorsey.
Where's the app for the customers that will let them design their own shopping experience? Hell, just keeping track of hundreds of coupons is a cottage industry.
So, come on retailers, let me access the information you and the brands have about me and what you're willing to offer and I'll try new stuff, buy more from you and keep coming back.
Friday Diversion: Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them - Fake user interfaces - Gizmodo http://bit.ly/7obvJi
Friday Diversion 2: Ataque de Pánico! Awesome effects laden robot attach short film. Worth five minutes. http://bit.ly/54IThe
Take a look at my retail store over at http://www.amadonweb.com/anvil.html. We’re featuring our line of Wire-O bound notebooks/sketchbooks. All are on sale.
| Laura Bauer 2008 These beautiful notebooks and journals have been among our best sellers for years. Bold graphics paired with heavy stock paper and thoughtful details--the Wire-O bind is big enough to hold a Sharpie and the faint dots on each page lets you make each page lines or grid, your choice--make them a great place to archive your greatest sketches and thoughts. Our customers buy them in bulk and keep them forever. Here's what they are saying: "Size is right, plus there’s the place to stick the pen so it comes along with the pad. Two positives. The light dots on the paper is an interesting effect. One could easily draw out a sketchy design of a space, or connect the dots horizontally in one’s mind to write with. While not necessarily the same as lined paper, definitely an intriguing angle here." --Donald "I LOVE this notebook: unlined is the best, good quality spiral binding so you can lay the thing flat open or 1-sided, subtle little gridded dots so my sketchy scribbles don’t meander more than I want, but unlined so I can draw amongst my writing." --Alice In size, quality, hard front and back covers and heavy-weight pages, the Anvil notebooks will remind you of those formerly produced by Oh Boy Artifacts. In fact, we found out Anvil uses the same production factory that Oh Boy used. But, these are no knock-offs, they are wonderful in their own right and are sure to become your new favorites. Available in eight patterns: Monkeys, Geisha, Sputnik, Butterfly, Green Asia, Octopi, Love Hurts and Plum Pretty. 7" by 9.5", 96 pages |
We just discovered Later…with Jools Holland on @OvationTV. Presented by co-founder of Squeeze, the show presents and incredible line up of eclectic pop music. Every night at 7pm eastern, Ovation reruns the show originally broadcast on BBC2. Tonight’s show was Estelle, Green Day and an interview with the Clash on the reissue of London Calling among others (US broadcasts are cut down to accommodate commercials). Go here to see the incredible line ups: http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/ and here to see Ovation’s schedule http://www.ovationtv.com/programs/jools/.
It’s like the western pop version of @KEXP.
#END
Twitter? Flickr? flickr@posterous.com Facebook? facebook@posterous.com
We just discovered Later…with Jools Holland on @OvationTV. Presented by co-founder of Squeeze, the show presents and incredible line up of eclectic pop music. Every night at 7pm eastern, Ovation reruns the show originally broadcast on BBC2. Tonight’s show was Estelle, Green Day and an interview with the Clash on the reissue of London Calling among others (US broadcasts are cut down to accommodate commercials). Go here to see the incredible line ups: http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/ and here to see Ovation’s schedule http://www.ovationtv.com/programs/jools/.
It’s like the western pop version of @KEXP.
#END
Twitter? Flickr? flickr@posterous.com Facebook? facebook@posterous.com
Not sure what to write about this yet, but you'll want to see this. SquareUp http://squareup.com @Jack Dorsey's new company. He’s one of the founders of Twitter .
GAME CHANGER
