Thinking Digitally This industry trend explores how brands can embrace ‘digital thinking‘ in our ever-connected world.

MAY 2013

The Monthly Review explores the key themes that have dominated Stylus coverage over the past

month. From a wealth of new directions through to exploration of cutting-edge ideas, Stylus offers a

carefully conceived summary for review.

Stylus Monthly Review

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Milan Design Week Coverage of this year’s fair includes reports dedicated to colour, materials and application.

Fashion & Beauty We present our winter 2014-15 women’s and menswear concepts Re-Connect and Embedded.

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Vision presents highlights and key directions from May, aggregating our thinking across the science and technology, consumer lifestyle and gastronomy sectors.

In May, we present key insights from the food, beverage & hospitality industries, bringing together monthly reporting as well as our cross-sector industry trend Redefine.

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In May, we presented our Winter 2014-15 women’s and menswear concepts Re-connect and Embedded, as well as an exploration of music’s influence on fashion. Global event coverage included industry insights from the annual WWD CEO Footwear News Summit, as well as Melbourne Fashion Festival 2013.

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Milan Design Week – where big furniture brands and emerging designers showcase their latest ranges and ideas – is one of the highlights of the year for interiors. Our comprehensive coverage of this year’s fair and Milan’s designated design districts includes reports dedicated to colour, materials and application.

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Culture & Media launched its latest industry trend in May, exploring the myriad ways in which brands can embrace ‘digital thinking’ in our ever-connected world. Elsewhere, our round-up of this month’s reporting reveals new music icons and shifts in entertainment models.

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May looks ahead to Stylus’ Christmas 2014 concepts with three varied key trends that take inspiration from elaborate catwalk fashions, computer-aided design and architecture, and the nostalgic charm of rural Russia.

We also spotlight the growing product market for pets, and unveil the newest concept cars showcased at Auto Shanghai motor show.

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Retail coverage in May analysed how a broader lifestyle focus can enrich the multi-channel retail mix – from in-store restaurants, to food brands tailoring meal suggestions based on the contents of a food cart. Community and convenience also surfaced as key components in creating long-lasting consumer traction.

This Monthly Review explores the key themes that have dominated Stylus coverage in May.

From a wealth of new directions in fashion and interiors through to exploration of cutting-edge ideas in retail and marketing, Stylus offers a carefully conceived summary of last month’s innovation in product development and much more besides.

Stylus coverage always explores how different sectors of industry relate to each other – or can learn from each other – to encourage cross-fertilisation of ideas.

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Vision presents highlights and key directions from May, aggregating our thinking across the science and technology, consumer lifestyle and gastronomy sectors.

Advancing Apparel

The rise in popularity of wearables has prompted many designers to reassess the potential for integrating technology into clothing and accessory design. Advances in technology and electronics are enabling designers to utilise technology in more sensitive and intuitive ways. Meanwhile, scientists, government agencies and big brands are developing future materials that are more sustainable and functional than today’s textiles.

In Advancing Apparel, we spotlighted the key directions in fashion and technology that emerged from the Fashion and Technology Symposium in New York (April 18). Clothing has morphed from being wearable and protective to a carrier of information, and the desire to become superhuman is shaping materials advances, speakers noted.

Related Reports

Advancing Apparel

Jan Chipchase: Understanding Consumers

Product Design + Innovation

Redefine

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Moondial at the 2011 Arnhem Mode Biennale, Netherlands © Moondial Unreal Candy© Unreal Candy

Designers are embracing new opportunities presented by technology to create garments that respond to the behaviour of the wearer. Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde believes wearable technology will move away from using embedded displays and LEDs to become a “second skin”, reacting to human responses such as blushing or sweating. Designers are also experimenting with sensory and gestural technology to create interactive garments that employ the body as an interface. Note the Midi Controller Jacket, developed by global tech start-up Machina, which enables the wearer to compose music through gesture alone.

Understanding Consumers Jan Chipchase, executive creative director of global design agency Frog Design, has spent much of the past decade observing the everyday habits and customs of consumers around the world. “I specialise in understanding and identifying nuanced patterns in human behaviour and using this to inform decision making and inspire design,” he says. “The research helps clients gain a deep insight into current and future customers, which can drive the design and innovation process.”

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We identified key research and design strategies for brands from Chipchase’s new book, Hidden in Plain Sight, published in April. Threshold mapping, which helps pinpoint the times and places a user is likely to interact with a product or service, is particularly useful in highlighting new opportunities or unmet consumer needs. Cultivating consumer trust in digital services should be a top priority for brands, as consumers place higher trust in self-selected content than brand-led advertising. Time now to think local: understanding local culture – whether by assessing levels of trust or experiencing the pressures of the morning commute – is key to effective design and marketing.

Rethinking Product Design

The message was clear at this year’s Product Design + Innovation conference in London: look beyond product. Speakers from all sectors of the design industry pressed the need to draw on new sources of inspiration to create innovative design solutions. Talk centred on using emotion to develop premium products, the role of 3D printing in user-centric design and the push to respond to disruptive technology.

Thomas Troch, research innovation manager at global market research agency Insites Consulting, urged designers to harness the creative power of the consumer: “Not only can consumers collaborate – they want to. And Gen Y? They demand to!” Consumer-generated product lines could yield higher revenues and bigger profit margins than designer-generated lines. For example, a 2012 study by researchers at Hosei University in Tokyo found that user-generated products at Japanese consumer goods brand Muji performed significantly better than designer-generated ones.

Designers need to forge collaborations that go beyond their own industries to produce hybrid service offerings that meet consumer needs now and in the future. Anne Asensio – vice-president of design experience at French 3D software company Dassault Systèmes – stressed the need for auto designers to connect with software developers and other professionals to drive the next stage of automotive innovation. Meanwhile, the challenge for premium brands is to connect with their target markets to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Redefine

May also saw the publication of the Stylus industry trend Redefine, which explores the insights and influences shaping the worlds of consumer lifestyle, consumer product and consumer engagement. The industry trend considers how changing attitudes to the concept of family are causing a shift in the way we live, the products we buy, the services we use and the spaces we reside in. It also spotlights today’s teenagers. These agile and adaptive thinkers are digital natives who have grown up with accessible, portable technology. Brands should look to emulate their confidence and adaptive mindset.

In Global Food Love-In, we examine how food has become the new cultural capital in the West, where it is viewed as an increasingly precious commodity. “We are currently in a ‘post-acquisitive’ era, whereby food experiences are considered more covetable luxuries than objects like jewellery and cars,” notes a recent report by US media and marketing magazine AdAge.

While the obsession with food spans many demographics, millennials (those aged 19 to 34) appear to be propelling the movement forward. We explore this market segment’s eating habits, which include mindful consumption, thrill-seeker dining, eating-and-tweeting, and adopting inventive new flavours and ingredients.

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In May, we present key insights from the food, beverage & hospitality industries, bringing together monthly reporting as well as our cross-sector industry trend Redefine.

Global Food Love-In

In Global Food Love-In – part of the Redefine industry trend – we examine how food has become the new cultural capital in the West, where it is viewed as an increasingly precious commodity. “We are currently in a ‘post-acquisitive’ era, whereby food experiences are considered more covetable luxuries than objects like jewellery and cars,” notes a recent report by US media and marketing magazine AdAge.

While the obsession with food spans many demographics, millennials (those aged 19 to 34) appear to be propelling the movement forward. We explore this market segment’s eating habits, which include mindful consumption, thrill-seeker dining, eating-and-tweeting, and adopting inventive new flavours and ingredients.

However, as food safety, ethical production and global food security become front-of-mind for consumers, it’s not just millennials taking a deeper interest in the provenance of their food. We look at how consumers are taking food production into their own hands, while on a larger scale, the food start-up scene is booming, with heavyweight investors backing innovative products that aren’t reliant on the industrialised food chain.

For more in-depth reporting on consumers’ attitudes to food provenance, see The New Hunter-Gatherer, as well as Fermentation Moves Forward and Social Seafood.

Related Reports

Consumer Lifestyle: Global Food Love-In The New Hunter-Gatherer Fermentation Moves Forward Social Seafood: Tracing, Tracking and Mapping Chocolate Innovation: Breaking the Mould

The Ice-Cream Dream

Packaging Design Meets Store Concepts Tech-Enhanced Packaging Packaging: Rebranding Alcohol

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The Gourmand © The Gourmand

Lucky Peach © Lucky Peach

Ohso© Ohso

Heineken© Heineken

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Ingredients Focus: Chocolate

This month, we examine how creative confectionery brands are using chocolate as a vehicle for ingredient and flavour innovation to stand out in a competitive global chocolate market, which is predicted to be worth almost $100bn by 2016.

Challenging conventional tastes, bold brands like US-based chocolatier Vosges are incorporating vegetables such as carrots into their creations, while functional or probiotic chocolate – that helps to lower cholesterol, for example – may help brands to win the custom of health-conscious consumers.

With chocolate markets flourishing in Asia and the Middle East, manufacturers are also rethinking traditional formulas and flavours to better serve these markets. Forward-thinking solutions include:

• Non-melting chocolate to withstand warmer climates

• Incorporating familiar tastes and flavours into the product – Swiss multinational Nestle used black sesame for its Kit Kat bars in China

• Aligning packaging and marketing with local festivals and events to create cultural relevance.

The innovations seen within this category are by no means restricted to confectionery. The incorporation of functional, health-boosting properties in surprising food formats is already being extended to fizzy drinks, with US brand Pepsi launching a fat-blocking variety, and even pizza being given a nutritious makeover. For more research into new formats for established food products, see The Ice-Cream Dream.

Interactive Packaging

Further developing our investigation into interactive, immersive packaging, this month we highlighted three new tech-enhanced packaging solutions in the alcoholic drinks industry.

Dutch beer brand Heineken unveiled its first ‘interactive’ beer bottle concept, Heineken Ignite. Using a combination of LED lights, micro sensors and wireless networking technology, the vessel lights up when clinked with another, or when the drinker takes a sip. It can also be programmed to illuminate in sync with music, making it ideal for use in nightclubs.

Heineken-owned cider brand Strongbow is trialling the world’s first digital bottle cap for its limited edition Strongbow Gold bottles. When flipped open, an embedded tag within the Start Cap activates RFID (radio frequency identification) scanners in the surrounding environment. US beer brand Budweiser is also employing tech-enhanced packaging with its Facebook-integrated beer glass, the Buddy Cup, trialled at an event in São Paulo in April 2013.

For more on how brands are incorporating package design into their interior strategies, see Packaging Design Meets Store Concepts. To read more about technology being leveraged as a consumer engagement tool, see Tech-Enhanced Packaging, and for a closer look at developments in the alcohol-branding arena, see Rebranding Alcohol.

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In May, we presented our Winter 2014-15 women’s and menswear concepts Re-connect and Embedded, as well as an exploration of music’s influence on fashion. Global event coverage included industry insights from the annual WWD CEO Footwear News Summit, as well as Melbourne Fashion Festival 2013.

Fashion &Beauty.

Related Reports

Re-ConnectEmbedded

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Iris Egbers by Stefano Moro Van Wyk © Iris Egbers 2013 by Primal Scream, directed by Rei Nadal © Rei Nadal

Henna Lintukangas by Axl Jansen. Encens Magazine Fall 2012 © Speedimpex Australia Pty Ltd

Elliot Joseph Rentz by Maja Stina © Maja Stina

Winter Concepts 14-15

Re-connect: As consumers feel increasingly overwhelmed by the speed of the modern world, this womenswear concept is inspired by new ways of positively disconnecting and re-energising by embracing digital downtime and our own personal space to find a greater meaning in life. Celebrating the outsider, a melancholic, sensorial spirit is championed, with faded sumptuousness and the avant-garde creating an alternative fashion perspective. A subdued palette of mid-tones with iridescent metallic highlights encompassed the mood of Re-connect.

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Embedded

- - Metallic polyester shirt, hommestyeeed.com © hommestyleeed.com Dazed & Confused, Japan © Pearlfisher Metallic polyester shirt, hommestyeeed.com© Haymann

Open Lab, March 2013© Open Lab, March 2013

10men magazine© 10 publishing

Henrik Vibskov, 2012, ISBN: 978-3899554359© Die Gestalten Verlag

Embedded

Embedded technology and future-focused digital aesthetics are changing how we communicate, live and purchase. This menswear concept explores new ways to balance digital experiences and analogue applications. The effect and influence of technology combined with analogue craft inform a modular approach to garment construction, with contrasting textures and sportswear materials and detailing key. An iridescent melange of hues alongside bright white and digital blue reflect the future-forward attitude of Embedded.

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Related Reports

Punk, Revisited

- - 21st century punks at the 2013 Met Ball. © Metropolitan Museum of Art Abbey Lee Kershaw © Metropolitan Museum of Art Vivienne Westwood © Vivienne Westwood

Early 1980s Punk© Tumblr

1980s London punks© Tumblr

Punk, Revisited

What does Punk look like in 2013? Our Punk, Revisited report discussed the recent resurgence of this iconic movement in light of the opening of Punk: Chaos to Couture at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and noted the importance of focusing on the original spirit of the movement as opposed to a literal reworking of stereotypical trappings. This new punk is representative of a contemporary form of activism, current ideals of rule breaking, and a DIY approach.

Championed on the Autumn/Winter 2013-14 catwalks by a multitude of big-name designers including Versace, Fendi and Chanel, as well as an exclusive capsule collection from e-tailer Moda Operandi, we highlighted the influence that the original anarchic spirit of punk is having on fashion’s current zeitgeist.

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Future Female Music Icons New Branding Lessons from the Catwalk

- - Feathers © Feathers Savages © Savages Gus + Scout© Gus + Scout

Cara Delevigne in the H&M A/W 13-14 show© H&M

Whistles A/W 13-14© Whistles

Future Female Music Icons

With a focus on four distinct styles – Goth-gaze, Girl Jams, The New Grimes and Decades – we highlighted the young female artists who are emerging as influencers for both the music and fashion scenes. Key takeaways included the irrelevance of genre boundaries with a mixed-up, multi-reference approach, both in terms of music and style. We also explored how female artists represent themselves today online, and the multi-faceted face of feminism in 2013.

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New Branding Lessons from the Catwalk

The way in which brands utilise the catwalk is evolving season on season. A/W 13-14 welcomed several high-street brands including H&M and Whistles onto the international catwalk stage. In contrast, an increasing number of luxury brands chose to scale down their events into exclusive salon shows and intimate industry-only presentations, adding a heightened kudos and air of intrigue to proceedings.

This report discusses the brands that are making the (some might say tired) format of the catwalk work harder for them. Brands of note include Italian label Versace’s Versus diffusion line, whose recent relaunch was more music event than traditional catwalk show. British brand Topshop Unique also continues to pioneer with the use of social media. For A/W 13-14, it offered an interactive shoppable live stream of the show as part of a link-up with Google+.

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Milan Design Week – where big furniture brands and emerging designers showcase their latest ranges and ideas – is one of the highlights of the year for interiors. Our comprehensive coverage of this year’s fair and Milan’s designated design districts includes reports dedicated to colour, materials and application.

Milan: Colour

Milan is a vital indicator for colour and finish directions for the coming season. Clean chalky colours refresh iconic products, while primary tones brightened the shows, and the warmth from caramels and tans offset the dominance of grey.

Chalky hues of mint, pale coral and dusty pink are prevailing colours for new releases. These pastel shades remain sophisticated in flat matt or soft-sheen finishes. A commercial colour choice for tabletop and used for upholstery, these chalky colours are a good neutral counterbalance to natural wood furniture.

Digital-inspired primaries peppered the shows. Bright hues of yellow, red, green, orange or blue are used for accent detailing, glass and upholstery. Combining these colours through grouping, strong patterns and stripes is a directional trend this year.

In this current economic climate, ‘buyability’ is a real concern, leading to black, white and blue retaining their dominance as the classic safe colours of choice. Warm tans emerge as the new comforting neutral, shifting the dominance of grey.

Related Reports

Milan: Colour

Milan: Colour and Application

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Kristine Five Melvaer at Salone Satellite © SMG 2013 Schemata Architects / Jo Nagasaka, Spazio Rossana Orlandi © Jo Nagasaka Haze Series by Wonmin Park at Rossana Orlandi© Milan Design Week

Poliform © Milan Design Week

Bocci © Bocci

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Studio Besau-Marguerre, at Ventura Lambrate© Studio Besau Marguerre

Nendo for Dilmos© Milan Design Week

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Milan: Colour and Application

This year, experimentation seems to be behind some of the best design concepts. Ingenious use of materials and colour elevates simple ideas into exceptional products.

Metallic alchemy is a big story this year – the science of metals drives experimental treatments and concepts for metal patina finishes. Anodising and oxidising creates an array of metallic hues and finishes.

Considered colour application and design sees colour accents, detailing and tonal colour effects at play. Evolving from last year’s spray-paint effects, colour diffusion moves beyond a surface finish and is reinterpreted with the clever use of material or design.

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Milan: Materials

- - Biological Marble by Victoria Wilmote at Nouvelle Vague © Milan Design Week

Waitrose© Pearlfisher Dan Yeffet & Lucie Koldova, Nouvelle Vague Volume 2© Haymann

Missoni Home© Missoni Home

Michael Anastassiades and Henraux, Wallpaper* Handmade© Michael Anastassiades

Tabletop Collection by Bethan Gray and Lapicida at Wallpaper* Handmade© Bethan Gray

Francois Dumas© Francois Dumas

Eva Shelf by Francois Dumas Nouvelle Vague© Milan Design Week

Milan: Materials

Exciting and progressive material choices were unveiled by both big brands and emerging talent at Milan 2013. Relief texture experimentation, tactility and flexibility were the key themes. New approaches to wood focused on surface treatments including etching techniques and embossing. Glass and plastic are reworked with intriguing techniques, from coloured finishes to complex fabrication and treatments. Silvered glass is a key trend; colouring the glass adds subtle hints of colour and softens the high shine of silver.

Marble and stone are the materials of choice this year, and designers are working with manufacturers to push the boundaries of these mediums. New dynamic forms emerge as stone relinquishes its association with kitchen and bathroom interiors. Marble pattern is also a growing trend.

Reworking materials continues to fascinate creatives. Sustainable materials like coconut fibre are still exciting designers, but even more compelling are the unexpected materials and techniques used to make products. Soft, flexible materials are moving beyond accessories, with silicone and EVA foam emerging in furniture, lighting and shelving.

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Culture & Media launched its latest industry trend in May, exploring the myriad ways in which brands can embrace ‘digital thinking’ in our ever-connected world. Elsewhere, our round-up of this month’s reporting reveals new music icons and shifts in entertainment models.

Thinking Digitally

Split into nine dynamic themes, our Thinking Digitally industry trend offers insight into how brands can adapt to the changing technological landscape and keep up with the agile behaviour of their digital-savvy consumers. In a multi-device, always-on world, how can we market to cut through the noise, and how is design being affected by the merging of the digital and real world?

In Start-Up Thinking, we analyse how the agile working methods of start-up tech companies can inspire brands to be more disruptive. This method is increasingly being adopted by the new generation of Datasexuals who, powered by digital technology, can code and create their own software, products and services. Read more about this in Everyone’s An Engineer.

Also take a look at our coverage of Chicago’s graphic, industrial and interactive design conference Fuse, which addresses this start-up thinking strategy as the way forward for brands in established product markets.

The influx of data generated by increased use of mobile and digital devices can provide brands with more tools to better engage with their consumers. In Data Crunching, we explore how to make sense of this ‘data noise’ and create greater value for both brand and consumer.

The importance of big data is also highlighted in The Internet of Things, which discusses the future of inter-connected devices for a seamless, digital-led existence. Body Tech also looks at how wearable devices (such as Google Glass), bionics and gestural interfaces are providing digital solutions to real-world problems, as well as enhancing our experience of the everyday.

From a marketing perspective, a sense of Digital Wonder can easily be created to wow consumers thanks to increased access to emerging technologies. Austrian energy drink Red Bull’s Stratos space jump in 2012 set the precedent for how brands could inspire activists, push scientific boundaries and entertain global audiences.

Consumers are increasingly expecting a cross-platform narrative (such as Stratos) from big brands. In The Future of Transmedia, we see how experimental and interactive experiences can open communication pathways between brands and consumer and enhance a brand’s narrative.

Aesthetically, as the analogue and digital worlds begin to blur, a new visual identity is impacting design. Synthetic Aesthetics decodes this spliced, riffed and pixelated visual language and its speedy adoption by Gen Y, while Hyperreal Design addresses the impact of the digital world on real-world objects. Think 3D printing, New Futurism and enhanced packaging.

Related Reports

Thinking Digitally

Fuse 2013

Digital Shoreditch: Future Brands

Taco Bell Joins Snapchat

Daft Punk Launch Random Access Memories

Future Female Music Icons CSM Students Launch Fashion Magazine

US Television Season Shift

Fashion Brand AllSaints Launches Film Division Comedy Flourishes on Social Media

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Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories © Daft Punk

ABC’s Mixology series starring Rebel Wilson © ABC

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Icons of Music

The much-anticipated release of French disco-house band Daft Punk’s latest album Random Access Memories has sparked a revived interest in the retro styling of disco and funky house music. Amidst the controversy (the album has received polar opposite reviews), the duo managed to master the slow-burn marketing effect, which took place over a month across multiple media touchpoints.

Elsewhere, we look at the continuing influence of young female artists on the emerging music and fashion scenes. In Future Female Music Icons, we explore the adoption of a modern goth aesthetic among new bands such as Savages and Melody’s Echo Chamber, as well as a post-punk vibe channelled by newbies Daughter, and Gus & Scout.

Shifting Entertainment Models

The pressure on broadcasters to provide crowd-pleasing television has never been greater, as online and on-demand models force a shift towards a more instantaneous, engaging model of distribution.

In the US, the recent announcement of the Autumn 2013 to Spring 2014 show slate revealed how moves by the likes of video-on-demand service Netflix (which released all the episodes of its new House of Cards series in one go) are inspiring broadcasters to be more inventive with their release dates. They are now staggering them rather than fighting for prime viewing

spots in order to remain relevant and avoid failures. Take a look at US Television Seasons Shift for more on this, as well as a run through of all the potential big hits coming up. Our favourite? A New Girl-inspired dating comedy called Mixology, starring smash comic newcomer Rebel Wilson.

Comedy certainly had its moment on social media this month, as both Twitter and YouTube hosted week-long comedy festivals – testing the potential of humorous viral content on shareable platforms. In Comedy Flourishes on Social Media, we observe how projects like these lead the entertainment shift towards instantaneous online platforms.

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May looks ahead to Stylus’ Christmas 2014 concepts with three varied key trends that take inspiration from elaborate catwalk fashions, computer-aided design and architecture, and the nostalgic charm of rural Russia.

We also spotlight the growing product market for pets and unveil the newest concept cars showcased at Auto Shanghai motor show.

Christmas 2014 Concepts

Take inspiration for festive trims and detailing as illustrated in the three Christmas 2014 concepts, with added seasonal colour palettes taken from the Stylus Spectrum.

A sumptuous mix of opulence, heraldry and excessive decoration encapsulates Baroque Christmas. Follow fashion’s lead, where the opulent traditions of Catholicism have inspired elaborate and rich decoration on the catwalk. Gilded, jewelled and cut-work details should be adopted.

Rich, pigmented colours with gold and foil finishes are used throughout, making this aesthetic a perfect fit for occasions steeped in ritual.

Revisit the folk traditions and nostalgic charm of Russia and Central Europe in Rural Lands, embracing pattern, textiles and natural materials. Intrepid and nostalgic, we look back at a lost way of life through the photographer’s lens.

Related Reports

Baroque Christmas 2014 Rural Lands Christmas 2014 Wrapped Christmas 2014

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Baroque Christmas 2014 Inspiration Moodboard © SMG 2013 Wooden Churches: Travelling in the Russian North, Richard Davies © Richard Davis

Home& Industrial Design.

Colour is graded, resulting in a vintage palette. Use natural materials; carve, paint, emboss and knit to make craft central to this Christmas trend. Spatial and sensorial, Wrapped Christmas explores digital processes and new materials noted in design, fashion and architecture. Curved, undulating lines and iridescent finishes blend seamlessly with LED lights to create immersive and multi-sensory environments.

Consider computer-aided design and manufacturing processes for sculptural pieces that are faceted, folded or perforated for a technical and modern statement.

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Pet Design: A Growing Market

The increasing number of pet owners in the US and UK is leading to growth in the value of the pet product industry worldwide. The latest trend is for products and services that mirror owners’ lifestyle choices. Stylus highlights everything from sophisticated furniture design and apparel, to the brands tapping into the online community of pet lovers to help publicise new products.

Auto Shanghai

Auto Shanghai continues to be a springboard for international brands to unveil new concept and production cars in the region. The Chinese car market is now a huge global player. Stylus notes how it is evolving at a rapid pace, and how domestic marques are quickly adopting the lessons that Western carmakers have taken years to learn.

Related Reports Pet Design: A Growing Market Auto Shanghai 2013 - -

Architecture for Dogs, Kenya Hara © Architecture for Dogs

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Retail coverage in May analysed how a broader lifestyle focus can enrich the multi-channel retail mix – from in-store restaurants, to food brands tailoring meal suggestions based on the contents of a food cart. Community and convenience also surfaced as key components in creating long-lasting consumer traction.

Hybrid Horizons: The Benefits of Broadening Brand Extensions

With successful retail increasingly becoming as much about communicating the wider lifestyle experience and benefits of a brand as it is about the product (see The Rise of Edutainment for more on this topic), diversification into new horizons is a shrewd strategy – so long as the leap is sufficiently logical.

In Retailer Restaurants: In-Store Hospitality, we examine how some brands are using in-store eateries to revive relevance in the multi-channel era. It’s a vital strategy to observe as stores shift towards becoming more dynamic product playgrounds and brand hubs.

British fashion brand AllSaints launched a film division this month in a move it declared was focused on far more than just fashion. Trading on the fashion industry’s enduring love affair with both music and film, the brand’s new in-house film division will apparently create everything “from music, style and street documentaries to cutting-edge moving-image installations”.

Brand extensions need not be a grand venture, however. The Hellmanns’ Interactive Shopping Cart initiative in Brazil involved food brand Hellmann’s Mayonnaise trialling NFC-enabled shopping trolleys, which displayed recommendations based on nearby products as consumers browsed the aisles. It’s an initiative that helps consumers make the leap from product to dining experience – resulting in a significant uptick in sales.

Related Reports

The Rise of Edutainment

Waitrose Welcome Desks Bridge On/Offline Divide

Retailer-Restaurants

Hellmann’s Interactive Shopping Carts Boost Sales, Brazil

Click + Collect Retail Hits the Luxury Sector

Waitrose Welcome Desks Bridge On/Offline Divide Me-Ality Virtual Fit Booth, Bloomingdale’s, NY

Buycott App Aids Ethical Consumerism

BevyUp Turns Online Shopping into Group Activity

Community & Commerce

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All Saints launches film © All Saints Waitrose welcome desks © Waitrose

Starbucks Mumbai © Starbucks

Retail.

Courting Convenience The extra choices that multi-channel retailing presents are inherently twinned with delivering greater convenience. The more fluid the retail experience, customisable to the consumers’ schedule, the more alluring the proposition.

With its eye on just such practicality, UK supermarket Waitrose announced the launch of its Waitrose Concierge Desks this month. As part of an overarching strategy to boost its consumers’ multi-channel experience, the desks – also dubbed hubs – will dabble in personal services such as gift-wrapping. However, they will mainly serve as a hot-desk-style portal for those using the online Click & Collect ordering service.

Convenience isn’t just a mainstream pre-occupation. In Click & Collect Retail Hits the Luxury Sector, we observe how UK department store Selfridges plans to add a Click & Collect drive-thru to its London flagship in 2014.

Rapidly advancing garment-fit technology is also playing a valuable role in expediting the in-store retail experience. The new Me-Ality Virtual Fit Booths are high-speed body-scanning booths used to determine a shopper’s sizing across a number of brands. They are currently being deployed by US department store Bloomingdale’s as an alternative to long changing room queues.

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People Power: Know Your Consumer Communities The relevance of tapping into consumer communities to gain the trust of individuals remained prominent in May.

In Community & Commerce, we analyse why all brands should be looking to penetrate the groundswell of consumer communities developing both on- and offline. We explore the evolution of global/local retailing, community-sourced buying, new brand advocates and community-first retail platforms.

While not a direct shopping service, our analysis of the Buycott App – which is designed to support ethical consumerism – also demonstrates the necessity of understanding the group mentality. Brands that do good hit the spotlight just as much as those in the frame for less laudable activity.

Not anchored in retail ethics but equally attuned to the power of the group, in May we also examine the BevyUp app. Grounded in the validation that social networks bring to the shopping experience, the app is an e-commerce innovation conceived to allow shoppers to share their online shopping journey with friends.

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