20 Ideas Worth Stealing
Luxury Goes Recession Chic
When the recession hit in 2008, many luxury brands struggled with a choice: reduce prices and take the chance of cheapening their brands, or hold fast to their pricing strategy and risk seeing margins slip precipitously.
Executives at Coach decided to adapt. Believing that shopper habits and expectations were undergoing a profound shift, they designed a line of handbags and accessories that could be priced to fit the times — without diminishing the Coach image.
The Poppy collection debuted in late June. With an average price of $260 — about 20 percent less than the average Coach purse — it quickly caught on with shoppers who were looking for something new, but couldn’t bring themselves to plunk down $300 or more.
The decision to offer a “good enough” version of a premier collection required executives to find some new sources of leather, fabric and hardware, renegotiate deals with suppliers and collaborate with them more than they had in the past.
As it turns out, the process was not as painful as anticipated: Coach found suppliers more willing to make deals and renegotiate contracts in an effort to preserve relationships and future business.
Temporary Stores, Lasting Impressions
Some try a pop-up store; others opt for a mobile store. Nomenclature aside, these once-scoffed-at temporary shops are making a lasting impression on shoppers — and proving to be a boon for retail landlords seeking to fill vacancies.
Until recently, Halloween and Christmas shops were the most likely to fit the pop-up plan. Over the last 12 months, however, luxury brands, specialty retailers and others have begun dabbling in the concept with notable success.
Gap unveiled its 1969 premium jeans collection in pop-up stores in key markets. Gucci Icon-Temporary, a “flash” sneaker store, is currently traveling the world. The first store opened in New York City in October, moved to Miami’s Design District in December and is scheduled for London and Tokyo this spring.
Argos, a U.K. retailer selling general merchandise and products for the home, tested a mobile store format during the summer at the Isle of Wight music festival, operating out of a specially adapted 60-ft. trailer.
Toys “R” Us takes the prize for the most ambitious program, however. During the holiday season, the toy seller took over more than 80 spots in malls and shopping centers across the country.
Tapping Outside Expertise
Kudos go to Netflix executives for recognizing that great ideas and innovation can come from outside the four walls of the corporate headquarters.
In 2006, the online video rental company announced a contest challenging researchers and software specialists to develop a means to boost the accuracy of its recommendation system, called Cinematch, 10 percent by 2011.
In September, Netflix awarded the $1 million grand prize to BellKor’s Pragmatic Chaos, a seven-person team of statisticians, machine-learning experts and computer engineers from the United States, Austria, Canada and Israel. Not surprisingly, Netflix executives decided that the competition was such a good investment that it has already launched another one.
Driving Sustainability
Experiments around sustainability continue at the world’s biggest retailer.
Wal-Mart is testing a dual-mode diesel/electric hybrid vehicle powered solely by battery at speeds of less than 48 mph. In Phoenix, 15 trucks are being retrofitted to run on reclaimed brown waste cooking grease from Walmart stores – also the first of their kind.
Working with Eaton, a power management company, Wal-Mart has five diesel-assist hybrid trucks pulling loads in Texas, California, Georgia and Maryland. And five liquid natural gas (LNG) trucks are hauling loads in Southern California.
Keeping Gen Y Engaged
Marketing to the Gen Y crowd can be an out-of-the-ordinary affair.
Red Bull energy drink recently hosted a scavenger hunt on Facebook as a way of saying “thanks” after it surpassed the one million fan mark.
The company hid multi-packs of Red Bull Energy Shots all over the country and invited participants to enter their ZIP codes to get clues on their city’s scavenger hunt. The Facebook campaign, developed by youth brand marketing agency Archrival, reeled in more than 700,000 new fans.
Nestle USA brought an online game to life by giving away candy bars at Circle K stores nationwide — limited-edition, vintage Butterfinger bars, just like the one stolen from actor Seth Green and the object of the nationwide online search at DudeWheresMyBar.com. Nestle USA reported that thousands of consumers were playing the online games to help solve the mystery surrounding the October 2 theft of Green’s vintage bar.
