Middle-of-nowhere outlet stores, mall stores, flagship Michigan Avenue entertainment-driven stores, temporary pop-up sampling stores: There are many incarnations of brand stores, but with the recent growth and sophistication of in-store marketing, they have changed. In a nutshell, consumers expect more.

With new technology on hand and constantly changing, consumers expect brand stores to be brand playgrounds in some respects. Brand stores need to entertain and educate.

Retail industry veteran Frank Jones, a director of the retail consulting team at AlixPartners in Southfield, MI, says it's important to educate consumers on the brand value proposition and do it in a way that delights consumers and enhances their connection to the brand, not to mention provide an opportunity to gauge consumers' reactions to a new concept and refine accordingly. Do it right, and you also create buzz and pick up free media coverage.

"There are few limits to the type of consumer packaged goods you can push in this format," according to Jones.

It's certainly an evolution of marketing, says Tim Ross, a principal at brand development firm Kendall Ross in Seattle. After all, anchor stores also disappear from the shopping mall landscape. "Our society is more experiential, so if we can create an event or presence or destination, we are mimicking what people are asking for," he explains. "Maybe it's all leading to this idea that a Crate & Barrel doesn't have to be embedded into a mall for 10 years. Maybe they are now a two-year store and then go elsewhere. It's that change and variety that has to happen to keep people interested."

Read the full article, as featured in "P-O-P Times" - October 2007

To learn more about this project, or any of our featured work, contact our client development team via email or call +1 206.262.0540.

Download this article as a PDF