Category: story telling

demand, exclusive product, four-wall, innovation, logic, magic, story telling, treasure hunt

Who Wears What? And Why?

datalovesinstinct

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When this spaceship arrives on our planet, what will we be wearing?

I wrote that line in late 2019 and this was a place holder for an idea that apparel as we know it was headed for a sea change.  Little did I know that the “spaceship” would be Covid-19 and our world was going to change for all kinds of reasons, including what we value to cover our bodies.  Comfort over fashion.  The Zoom Shirt.  Athletic shoes for socially distant exercise and an escape to the outdoors.  Slippers, lounge wear.

What comes next??  The ultimate test of instinct leading data, while capturing trends quickly.  Innovation.  No assumptions.  Calculated risk.  And feel good options.   Time to change.   We’re all explorers now.

customer experience, discounting, merchandising, omnichannel, story telling

Damn, This Traffic Jam

datalovesinstinct

Is it ever easy to identify the source of customers?  More sales channels + more marketing channels=less clarity. Where should we invest? How should we invest? What is the route to a unique location with a clear benefit for the customer. The journey will be multifaceted, but each aspect needs to clearly direct the traveler. All methods of transportation (print, digital and physical) need to send the same signals to reaffirm the story of the brand.  The clear message is the customer wants to be reached how they want to be reached…which can be different every day.  Something in the mail, a tease in social media, inspiration from a visual presentation online or in person…all of these play into decision making.

street lights
Photo by Jose Francisco Fernandez Saura on Pexels.com

Digital sign posts are the newest tools in driving traffic.  Much is to be learned there. Flashing an image of an item viewed on a site in future content feeds for weeks is not effective.  If a product was researched more than a week ago, the selection has been made, the transaction has been completed, and the customer has moved on.  Boring customers with redundancy does not maximize the fluidity of digital, print or physical marketing and merchandising.  The challenge is the combination of logic and magic.  Always has been…catching the eye of the very busy consumer in the best way for them.  Collisions of billboards(pop up ads in content), horns (social media ads) and vehicles (emails)  based on redundant images and price wars are not getting it done.  Refresh and delight.

Thank you, James Taylor!  https://www.streetdirectory.com/lyricadvisor/song/ppwlpw/traffic_jam/

 

 

 

 

 

customer experience, data, logic, magic, story telling, treasure hunt

Data Dump

datalovesinstinct

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There is some sense to this pile of whimsical stuff, but other than the fact that it screams “Circus” it would take a determined treasure hunter to walk away with anything desirable here.  If the story is wooden and battered metal signs and containers, that is obvious.  If there is a clearer intention, meant to drive business with the display, it is lost in the confusion.

The same can be said for data.  A dump of data, with several varieties of calculations, all derived without a clear point of view or principle, is meaningless.   It distracts the viewer, and arrives at no clear conclusion.  Data dependency, without understanding the why behind its existence, is worthless.  Mathematicians prove a theory: a collection of propositions to illustrate the principles of a subject.  Merchants/marketers/ data scientists should be doing the same for the business of selling stuff.  What are the assumptions, and how can they be proven, or not?  That is the way forward in this changing environment.

 

conversion, demand, marketing, merchandising, story telling

Creating Demand

datalovesinstinct

Bicycles

As an economics major, the very first lessons involve supply and demand.  When demand increases, supply should rise to meet the demand without flooding the market with excess.  If that happens, the product becomes ordinary and the price lever is utilized in an effort to reduce the supply before demand evaporates altogether.

Designers begin demand creation by developing inspiring products, often working with merchandising and marketing teams for input.  Flattering silhouettes.  Appealing colors.  Uniquely useful items.  Faster, smarter, better.  Items that make a statement about the person consuming them.  Without exposing those things to an audience, the creation has no purpose.  Merchants are constantly searching for the fresh, new “stuff” with a target audience, price tolerance, profit margin and end use in mind, often guided by details in financial plans and working with merchandise planning teams.  Marketers are critical in getting the story of those products in front of the key audiences using both visual and analytical components for the best ROI.  All together, they create demand while walking the razor’s edge of the right amount of supply as well as product expansion opportunities.  When the demand for the supply has begun to downtrend, price reduction can be used responsibly to liquidate the excess quantities.

This all leads to the right product, at the right price, in the right quantities at the right time.  The ultimate endgame for creating demand and maximizing profit.  Otherwise, why bother.  Driving demand with the hi/lo pricing game may drive short term results, but will ultimately reduce profitability and shorten the life of a product prematurely.