Neelendra Singh, Senior Vice President and Global DTC Franchise Adidas, and George Gottl, Co-Founder and CEO of FutureBrands UXUS , told World Retail Congress delegates that the industry should think outside the box, to create spaces that resonate with our customers.
The brands that are making it today, are the ones interacting with, and creating experiences for their customer, they said.
“You don’t need a big budget, what you need is a deep understanding of the consumer and focus the experience towards those customers' needs.” Gottl said. “Retail is becoming more and more like hospitality. We are focusing on creating an experience by immersing the senses through brand rituals and treating customers like guests. If done correctly, you enable them to create memories that they care about and share through social media.”
According to Gottl, stores should be seen as more than a transactional point. “When creating a brand experience in store, consumers are given endless opportunities to feed their social status, sharing the experience with their online audience,” he said.
“Brand desire is at the centre of the Adidas strategy.” Singh said. “Instead of only looking at every channel independently, we also look at the experience that connects the channels. Ecommerce takes a far broader view than just the physical stores or just the website. With the app, we focus on creating both excitement and activation, while also tracking numbers in customer engagement. Investment in data collection through mobile phones is definitely worth the investment. Even though not all experiences are scalable, technology, staff and the location of physical stores are still the most valuable assets in creating a positive experience for your customers.”
“Store staff are the reason a customer hates or loves a brand.” Gottl added. “Staff provide the human connection between the consumer and the brand. The implementation of social media is giving the consumer the opportunity to share the brand with the people they know, online.”
