"Seeking a way to improve the experience of its customers in checkout lines, a major European discount grocery and general merchandise chain, comparable to Wal* Mart in the U.S., turned to Prolitec for a solution.
Prolitec developed an Ambient Scenting program using a fragrance called “Nature After Rain,” which was diffused over the checkout area in a test store. Prolitec’s utilization and understanding of Aromatherapy and Performance was central in the choice of this particular aroma, which is known to be helpful in shortening people’s perception of time passed in a space.
Positive response to the test program moved the retailer to expand the service to additional outlets and also to add a “wine cellar” fragrance to enhance the consumer experience in its wine departments."
Posted by Ed Cotton
The CNN story mentions the brand's beer for bags promotions and the tagging of their logo, even as stickers on fruit, as some of the more unconventional approaches the brand has taken.
Posted by Ed Cotton
(1) Many analysts tell us that brands have to deliver consistent experiences if they want succeed and that homogeneity is what consumers want and desire.
It's therefore interesting to read about the demise of Starbucks in Australia.
According to the BBC..
"The mighty Starbucks coffee empire has been handed a heavy defeat by thousands of small Australian cafes in the fight for a nation's taste buds.
Eight years after it began selling its espressos and frappucinos in Australia, the US giant has succumbed to powerful financial and cultural pressures and has closed 61 of its 85 shops across the country.
Savouring a morning cup of coffee has become a ritual for millions of Australians - yet one that Starbucks failed to capitalise on, in spite of the way the chain had become a global cultural phenomenon during the 1990s.
"It was maybe too standardised," says Michael Edwardson, a consumer psychologist in Melbourne.
"Early on it was unique and different, but as it became a global chain the standardisation made it lose some of that coolness and edginess. It was quickly copied and lost its lustre.”
What does this suggest for brands?
Perhaps brands need both consistency and inconsistency; they need to flex and play with both elements. It's clear that consumers today probably need a mix of both. Certainly parts of brands need standardized elements, but they also need to surprise and delight their customers. They need to get ahead of the curve, rather than behind it.This is incredibly demanding and challenging for brands; the idea of staying ahead and bringing surprise to consumers depends on having great intelligence and brilliant execution, not to mention the investment required to support change.
Too often, brands sit back and wait too long to make changes. Instead of getting ahead, they wait until the last minute to do something. They try to get away for the longest possible time without making changes.
As this story shows, culture has the power to move much faster than brands. Brands need to recognize the rapid pace of change and invest not just in the intelligence to stay ahead, but act on it before it's too late.
Posted by Ed Cotton
However, that's not the case with Patagonia, who despite building a brand that's focused on supporting the environment, it's recently turned its attention to the eco-footprints of its products.
There's a dedicated space on its website that examines the footprints of four of its products.
While this is a very limited selection of its total SKUs, the manner and honesty in which the information is presented is refreshing for the following reasons.
1. It explores the breadth of the issue from materials to transportation
2. They acknowledge that things aren't perfect
3. They highlight the fact they want to improve
4. They encourage others to comment
5. The translate the impact into language we can all understand- the energy to produce a rain jacket is the same as leaving a regular lightbulb on constantly for 42 days!!
It would be good to see other brands follow Patagonia's lead.
Posted by Ed Cotton
Nice work if you can get it, but there's even more upside because the show is all about creating beer that actually makes it into production.
Apparently, leading grocery chain Sainsbury's is interested in carrying the new brand.
The integration here is fantastic, no bolt-on or add on association, but a deep education in the form of programing that becomes a three hour ad for a new brand.
Although, it will be tough for this fledgling brand to compete against the established players, the rich level of content and the emotional journey that the programming will take viewers on, will be so much deeper than any ad campaign from one of the leading brewers.
The challenge will be building and maintaining the momentum after the initial wave of coverage and PR.
However, it does show an opportunity for a new way to think about branded content.
What if Bud was to develop a new brew with a programming idea like this, rather than simply attach its name as a show sponsor or have featured product placement?
Obviously Anthony Bourdain, is the one guy who could do this in the US- let's see what he does next after the success of No Reservations.
Posted by Ed Cotton
It's constantly looking to level the playing field, which can be something of a challenge as the company grows.
However, they are continuing to innovate in this area of outreach, as witnessed by its announcement for an AGM in April.
"We’ve always liked to know what you think of our drinks. That’s why we ask you to ring the banana phone or pop into Fruit Towers. And it’s great when you do because we get to have a chat, and find out what you’d like to see innocent doing next.
This year, we thought we’d go a step further and have our very own AGM. It’s not going to be particularly formal (no men in suits telling you about profit engineering). We see it as being more like a get together in a village hall where you find out what’s going on, have a bit of a debate and then vote on a few things.
We’ve never done anything like this before, but the general idea is to try and get about a hundred of our drinkers to come along and find out a bit more about life at Fruit Towers. And, more importantly, get involved in voting on what we should be doing next as a business.
So you get to tell us what to do, and we’ll give you lots of free smoothies. And that’s it really. It would be great if we could get every single person who ever drank a smoothie to come along, but we think it might be a bit of a squeeze. Which means we’re going to have a ballot where everyone who fancies it lets us know their name, and says why they’d be a good person to have along on the day.
It would be great to hear your thoughts about what you’d like to know about most. And if you don’t get picked, we promise to make sure we update you on everything that happened on the day, and give you a chance to have your say too."
Posted by Ed Cotton