John Cleese Talks Creativity and Business Innovation

If you haven't heard or watched John Cleese discuss creativity, you should. It will inspire you to think differently about the possibilities you face in your business.

Here are my notes and a link to a 36 minute video:

Business Innovation and Creativity Via John Cleese

Thanks for reading and watching!

Best,

C.B.

11 Ideas for Connecting With Customers....

How do you connect with customers?

Here are ideas I came across...

11 Ideas for Connecting With Customers - Not All Based on Technology!

I'd love to hear what you think!

Best,

C.B.

NYC's 2010 Holiday Windows

Macy's - 2009 Gold Award from DDI Magazine

I love retail store windows - particularly at holiday time - and thought you might enjoy a virtual overview of NYC's 2010 Holiday Windows.

After all, store window displays communicate so much about the retail store within to passers-by: passion, imagination, product selection, commitment to the customer experience... Don't you think?

NYC's 2010 Holiday Windows

The best place to start for this virtual tour is via PSFK's Best of the 2010 NYC Holiday Windows with photos of Bergdorf Goodman, ABC Carpet and Home, Anthropologie, Barneys, Calvin Klein, CITE, Diesel, Dior, Flos, Hermes, Moss, Paul Smith, and Polo Ralph Lauren.

The post links to David Pinter's 2010 Holiday Windows Flickr photo set which you can enjoy via Fashion Trendsetter's Best of the 2010 Holiday Windows. The slideshow is breathtaking!

Bergdorf Goodman's windows were, once again, phenomenal and well covered in articles. By the way, they consider themselves to be in the "Surprise Business" - isn't that delicious?

Bergdorf surprised this year by creating a Holiday Windows Challenge in conjunction with Polyvore. You can read about it in Bergdorf Goodman's blog - 5th/58th - in a post titled And the Winner is...  

Check out the making of those windows in The Classicist: Bergdorf Goodman Unveils High-Tech Holiday Windows [video] titled Follow Me: the Making of Bergdorf Goodman's 2010 Holiday Windows with music by emerging artist Audrianna Cole [love her "Follow Me"!]. Note that the post refers to QR Codes for an online gift finder and the Follow Me video. Very cool.

Here is Sphere Trending's post: Holiday Trendspotting - Bergdorf Goodman.

Macy's NYC Holiday windows captured the magic via Virginia [Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus] and a 1000 reasons to Believe. Check out these resources:

• Macy's Brings Theater and Tech to Holiday Windows
• New York City department store window displays evoke holiday magic - refers to Lord & Taylor as well as Bloomingdale's in addition to Macy's.

Speaking of Bloomingdale's, not everyone liked theirs: Bloomingdale's Holiday Display: a New Low for all Windows

This display reminds me of the kind of magnificent timed spectaclesI've encountered in Las Vegas: Saks Fifth Ave Snowflake & Bubble 3D projection 2010


Having [virtually] seen all of this, it's no surprise, then, to read eMarketer's take on how department stores have incorporated technology into their Holiday window displays in an article titled "Department Stores Take Digital Out-of-Home Marketing to New Heights". Most fascinating is the deliberate integration of technology to give shoppers a reason to visit physical stores rather than shop entirely online - aka 'digital out-of-home' marketing. Talk about creating a memorable retail experience for customers!

2009 NYC Holiday Windows

To Put the 2010 NYC Holiday Windows into perspective, I thought I'd share with you 2009 Holiday Windows Itinerary  - Department Store Christmas Displays as well as a few photos I took at the end of the 2009 Holiday season, when I took my daughter in to NYC to check out the windows.

In her mind, Macy's was number one [she loved the focus on Letters to Santa and the interactive displays], Lord & Taylor second [you can't beat the amazingly detailed storytelling that L&T does at Christmas] and Saks a very distant third with what seemed to be overly commercial references to Microsoft in every single window.

Lord & Taylor's window

More Lord & Taylor

More yet of Lord & Taylor's windows

Macy's window

Macy's Write a Letter to Santa Device

How's this story for reinforcing a brand's commitment to the customer experience? Lego Shop Rushes Watch to Child's Door for Christmas.

I'd love to hear your take on Holiday Windows. What trends did you observe as you checked out Holiday windows in your neck-of-the-woods? How have you integrated some of those observations into your own windows to create memorable 'out-of-home' retail experiences?

Unique, Relevant, Memorable Retail Experiences

Do you remember Rethinking the Mall & Uncovering Retail Creativity? Here's another angle worth pondering: what about creating truly unique, relevant, memorable experiences?

How? But purposefully deciding NOT to be all things for all people.

For example, opting to focus on only serving the needs of a specific ethnicity.

According to Ethnic Malls Are Buzzing from 8/31/2009, malls like Kam Man Mall in Quincy MA, La Gran Plaza in Fort Worth, TX or The Great Wall Mall in Seattle, WA have created shopping environments that are bustling with customers despite the recession.

These malls each serve a specific demographic whose needs aren't being met elsewhere. Not only do they sell necessities, but they also offer valuable services and a sense of community. The end result is authentic, highly relevant and memorable. It also generates loyalty. Not a bad combination.

Another approach to creating an unique, relevant and memorable experience is by repurposing existing urban spaces, actively using everything that the building and space represents, to create a retail setting that reflects and engages a brand's customers. For example, Urban Outfitters Inc., which has "built an empire on knowing its customers intimately - then growing with them," routinely takes over pre-existing spaces, repurposing them without stripping away all of the history and character. The end result delivers no two stores that look or feel the same way and an experience that customers seek out because each is unique.

[Note: Apple took over a former post office building in SoHo and created a similarly memorable [yet different] unique experience relevant to the Apple brand.]

Given the frustration inherent to dealing with too many choices and the resulting extreme complexity, consider an unique, relevant and memorable retail experience based on simplicity! Become a curator as suggested in Sales Down? Time To Dial Down The SKUs [also see Refocus Product: Retail As Curator & Less But Better.] Imagine offering your customers solutions that cut through complexity and clutter and are relevant to them, even at a local level.

A powerful means of creating truly relevant retail experiences comes from asking your customers. That's the premise that Tom Jennings bases his 12/1-5/2008 Floor Covering Weekly article titled "Does one size fit all in your store?" He recommends finding out from your customers "what is it that turns ordinary product into extraordinary fashion" in their eyes. What a great question!

Interestingly, as I learned in In Hard Times, Is Best Buy’s Best Good Enough?, Best Buy has established the "Omega Wolves program, a focus group made up of 3,500 working women in the United States and London, [which] has a page on Facebook; Omegas socialize and give the chain feedback..." [See WOLF @ Best Buy for more information.]

Tom Jennings suggests "tour[ing] businesses successfully specializing in fashionable products not sold in [y]our industry." You see, most customers look for relevance to themselves, for something unique and in a retail setting that is comfortable from all perspectives [lighting, display, service, selection...]. Learn from others.

Finally, consider experimenting, possibly using pop-up stores! Pop-Up Stores Pop Up as Inexpensive Way to Build Buzz describes how brands can test and evaluate retail experience concepts using pop-ups. The article includes 5 watchouts, though, before 'popping up:'

1. Do your research.
2. Don't scrimp.
3. Get creative.
4. Don't expect a profit.
5. Take a chance.

What other approaches have you found conducive to creating unique, relevant, memorable retail experiences?

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Dornbracht - The Spirit of Water and Transforming the Mundane

Have you heard of Dornbracht? I hadn't until I met Jon Spector, president and CEO of Dornbracht Americas Inc., and listened to him describe his company, which - from a very basic perspective - manufactures designer kitchen and bath faucets. [There's more, lots more, if you visit the website and explore products. For example, imagine a 'RainSky.']

I was immensely intrigued.

You see Jon immediately began talking to me about Dornbracht's 'spirit of water' and not about kitchen or bathroom fixtures. He spoke of the experiential nature of what the products enable and then the strong design sense and commitment of the company. He described these fixtures as design elements.

What came to mind was a post I wrote back in August 2006 about the Water Droplet Girls and transforming faucets into fashionable items.

This conversation though went much further because it highlighted what my friend Chris Ramey forever chastises me for when I say that flooring is fashion. He reminds me "Christine, Flooring isn't fashion - it is design. Fashion is a subset of design. It's an important difference."

These Dornbracht products as Jon described them and the company philosophy truly were design elements and not fashion ones [e.g., Check out ModerneMama's description of the Champagne SuperNova from Dornbracht], reflecting the company's design sensibility and commitment to culture. Explore the website and you'll come across some of the culture projects the company supports: Global Street Food at Art Basel, Noises for Ritual Architecture, the Farm Project, Energetic Recovery System, 3 spaces in one, bath modules, conversations, ... and even more Cultureprojects by Dornbracht.

Given the commitment to culture and design, I wasn't at all surprised to learn that the company, although it distributes products in the United States and Canada, is an almost 60 year old German company, founded in 1950.

Given that same commitment to culture and design, I wanted to experience more of the Dornbracht Spirit of Water sensibility - it's so different from what we are used to in the U.S. - at the Bloggers Bash I attended. That's when I met Jon Spector back in February during an event hosted by Veeder + Peerman and sponsored by several home-related organizations: Allsteel, Villeroy & Boch, Karastan, Dornbracht, Benjamin Moore, and Wii [yes, Wii]. I was invited to attend as a home-related blogger [because of the Carpetology Blog] and also got to spend time with some of my Karastan friends [at the time, my Wear-Dated customers].

Jon was the first person I met. I have been thinking about The Spirit of Water ever since, wondering how to transform other basic products into comparable transformative experiences.

Take flooring. How would you capture what it enables? Soft surfaces re-energize, don't they? And dance surfaces celebrate life. No?

Intriguing, isn't it?

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Tom Guarriello On Bridging New & Old: Social Media Series

This week's guest for Flooring The Consumer's Social Media Series: Bridging New & Old is Tom Guarriello.

Tom Guarriello in addition to co-founding VloggerHeads, a community of video bloggers, is Chief Idea Officer of TrueTalk, a management consulting firm that focuses on organizational social systems to bring out the best in an organization. He's passionate about innovation and challenges us to break down silos and think differently. Example: his latest video on Innovate? Great.. But How?

In fact, you can find more thought-provoking inspiration on the TrueTalk YouTube video channel and on his TrueTalk Blog which we started in 2004.

I find fascinating how much Tom bridges from new to old as he helps rethink how people within organizations operate, immerses himself in a digital social community and actively participates in new, social and digital media to communicate his passion for creativity and innovation.

I routinely bump into Tom Guarriello at the twice yearly Columbia Business School BRITE conferences and look forward to doing so again soon. Meanwhile, he can be reached via Twitter @TomGuarriello; look for him, too, on Facebook at the TrueTalk Fan page.

C.B.: Tom, how/why did you get involved in social media?

Tom: I'm a psychologist by training (my Ph.D. is in clinical psychology), so I've always been interested in the way people function and interact. I got involved in technology in 1982, when I managed a system for the mental health center in which I was working at the time. My first "social media" experience was on CompuServe. Even then, I was amazed by the number of special interest groups, newsgroups and forums that offered an inside look at how people were thinking and feeling about the world around them. I knew we were about to see unprecedented changes in the way people interact with one another.

C.B.: What do you like most about social media?

Tom: The immediacy. We can connect with people about the things we care about practically instantly, unencumbered by time and space.

C.B.: What do you like least about social media?

Tom: The degree to which these channels amplify human shortcomings. One disruptive individual can still distract our attention from the things we most want to focus on. The ongoing battle against spam is an example.

C.B.: How has social media changed how you interact with the marketplace as a consumer or customer?

Tom: I do practically all my business as an online customer. I expect to be able to interact with the companies I work with. If they make that interaction difficult, or impossible, I definitely look for alternatives. They don't have to be members of social media communities like Twitter or Facebook but they do need to understand the need to present clear channels through which I can connect with them. If a lengthy customer service phone menu is the only way to communicate, they're on my "look for alternatives" list.

C.B.: What 5 suggestions do you have for companies to implement so they can more effectively bridge old media with new media and connect with end users?

Tom:
1. Listen. If you're not plugged in to the things being said about your brand in online conversations you're missing a tremendous amount of valuable information. Dell showed they could listen after the Jeff Jarvis ""Dell Hell" incident. After stumbling badly, they turned listening into millions of dollars of sales and good will.

2. TrueTalk. We named our consulting company TrueTalk about a decade ago to reflect our belief that the language of business too often obscures meaning. Listening to real people and telling them the truth in plain language is a key to being successful today. See Jeff Bezos' video about the Zappos acquisition for an example.

3. Experiment. Distrust anybody who tells you s/he has the answers to effectively using new media. Your business and its customers are unique. Try things. Measure the results. Ask customers what worked and what didn't. Numbers are great but descriptions of experience are also very valuable. Google is the ultimate in this regard.

4. Don't forget your workforce. Everyone in your company is a 21st century citizen. That means s/he leaves your offices and goes out into the world. If your company's culture and practices are out-of-whack with the rest of her/his experience, you're in jeopardy. Use social media tools to connect your workforce with itself and with your leadership. You'll learn a lot. Much of it will surprise you, no matter how many employee surveys you're doing today. IBM has a vibrant network of workforce connectivity.

5. Culture is destiny. If your organization's culture is still rooted in 20th (or even 19th!) century mindsets, no amount of investment in new tools will be adequate. Re-think everything about the way you approach your customers, your workforce, your business model. Disruptive innovation is lurking. The failures are already b-school cases. W.L. Gore is a great example of success.

C.B.: Tom, any other thoughts to share about the effectiveness of social media in forging stronger relations with customers and how best to do so?

Tom: Read, or re-read The Cluetrain Manifesto.

I'm continually amazed at the number of smart leaders who approach social media as if it were a theology: either "believing" or "not believing" in using these tools. These were the same objections that were raised to using every communication device.

A telephone on every desk was once wildly extravagant. Locking your workforce out of social sites because you're concerned about people "wasting time" is akin to prohibiting them from making "personal calls" on company time.

The 21st century demands a fresh re-conceptualization of the idea of "control."

Thank you, Tom!

Comments? Questions? Feedback?

I love that Tom addresses employees and organizational culture. And, that we are all 21st century citizens!

And what about these statements?

+ "The language of business too often obscures meaning. Listening to real people and telling them the truth in plain language is a key to being successful today."

+ "Distrust anybody who tells you s/he has the answers to effectively using new media."

+ "Use social media tools to connect your workforce with itself and with your leadership. You'll learn a lot."

Definitely worth thinking about.

For additional insights from other participants in the Social Media Series: Bridging New & Old, please visit The Entire Bridging New & Old Series, including a link to the e-book based on the first 26 interviews in the series.


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Rethinking the Mall & Uncovering Retail Creativity

Mosaic Mall originally uploaded by /\ltus.
What's next for retail? How to reinvent the mall experience? How to adapt to 'changing consumer attitudes about consumption' and the desire for more sustainable environments? Start by reading the article Allison Arieff from The New York Times wrote on 6/1/09. It's titled Rethinking the Mall and reviews entries to the inaugural ICSC Future Image Architecture Competition.

In addition to touching on some of the retail frustrations I've encountered in Las Vegas, she expresses disappointment that so few of the entries "paid [attention] to things like sustainable architecture, alternative transit or changing consumer attitudes about consumption."

However, Arieff highlights intriguing concepts around rethinking the mall, looking at human behavior in conjunction with physical space and at "technology not as some sci-fi fantasy, but as something that could enhance not only the shopping experience but environmental and social conditions as well."

One example reexamines the relationship between customer and retailer, to offer services like:

- "assist[ing] consumers in budgeting for purchases"

- how to deal with the "brilliant dilemma of 'after-wear' management"

- allowing customers to "donate a percentage of their purchase price to charity"

No surprise, "walkable mixed-use community" comes up -- enhanced for "multi-modal access [not just car but rail, transit and pedestrian]." Social center, too [the author brings up The Ainsworth Collective in Portland Oregon's Cully neighborhood as successful interpretation of a local, cause-oriented retail mall]. Another concept refers to "self-sustaining, self-generating scenario of distributed shopping experiences" that work hand-in-hand with iPhones for easy purchase online. And, yet another concept specifically addresses the "powerful forces shaping a retail renaissance... Internet, social networking, women, food, energy, sustainability factors will determine their [i.e., surviving retailers'] functionality, form and location."

In addition to validating previous posts like Injecting New Life Into Dead Malls, Getting Ahead By Being Local and Retail Experience of the Future, what I appreciate from this article is that there's wonderful creativity yet to be uncovered at retail. And, although about malls and rethinking the mall experience, the learnings, observations and possibilities from this article are much wider-reaching. They are relevant to any retail experience.

David Polinchock makes that same point in his post Rethinking the Mall - Allison Arieff Blog - NYTimes.com, touching on the growing trend to "socialize the retail environment instead of just merchandising the real estate space."

I don't think that the Sears new test concepts [see Sears tests MyGofer prototype store in Joliet] is the answer.

But, look at how museums are socializing their spaces. Intriguing, don't you think?

The question then becomes: how do you socialize YOUR retail space -- regardless of the product category?

----------------------
Other posts that address 'Rethinking the Mall':

+ From Labelscar: The Retail History Blog, see New York Times on Rethinking the Mall.

+ From Greater City: Providence Blog, see Rethinking the Mall.

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Links of Note: People, Passion and Customer Experience

Entropy ≥ Memory . Creativity ² originally uploaded by jef safi.
What delights me about the current evolution of marketing is how focused it is on people, passion and the customer experience, all highlighted in today's Links of Note.

A truly memorable customer experience isn't possible without people. Right? People who put their heart and soul into delivering or sharing or communicating a message/product/ service. They relentlessly pursue a vision with passion to create an overall experience unlike any other, with relevant meaning and a story to tell.

From Tim Girvin - mesmerizing storyteller [I introduced you to him in Tim Girvin - Trends in Story, Brand and Experience Design] who weaves the stories behind brands in with the meaning of words, the context of the original story, and the people who breathe life into those brands - I share with you these links of note:

• Human Brands | The power of the feminine | retail gurus: Geraldine Stutz and Dawn Mello describes two passionate human brands who shaped style and retail, developing concepts and forging relationships that redefined the customer experience.
  

• Neil Fiske | Eddie Bauer and seeking the heart of brand story read carefully the 3 points Girvin makes about the retail proposition. And, further down, note that "as with any brand story, simplicity is key to the telling - people want stories that they can tell; and if they're too complicated, it's harder for the community to bridge and ripple out the telling."
  

• Bonus: check out Brand Culture | The Spirituality of TATA. Have you thought about the meaning of the word 'culture?' and how that relates to your organization?
  

Grant McCracken, fascinating cultural anthropologist, writes about Consumers in a downturn: a new consumer habit, outlining the range of consumer possibilities as we weather the economic storm [Note that he refers to the same Fiske mentioned above.]. Regardless of the motivation, the quality of your people and the passion they exude as they interact with customers can only benefit your experience.

Experience Matters describes the Word of Mouth Marketing Summit 2008: Zappos’ Case For Customer Experience as a Core Competency. Talk about focusing on the customer experience and making that a core part of company culture.

Finally, an extremely grounding post written in 2005 from Leigh Duncan Durst's LivePath Customer Experience Blog: Five Experience Fundamentals.

1. Deliver the basics.
2. Diversify with discipline
3. Wear the customer's shoes [yes!]
4. Create and engage in ritual
5. Authentically humanize the brand.

The Retail Customer Experience matters. And the best way to ensure a memorable one is to have the right people who feel as passionately as you do, with the right culture and a simple, memorable brand story that all can believe in.

Do you agree?

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Museum Innovation To Connect With Customers

The New York Times published a special section on Museums on 3/19/2009. Did you see it? It's filled with interesting innovations on how to connect with customers [a.k.a. customers, visitors, audiences...]

The articles that particularly appealed to me were:

+ Wish You Were Here by Carol Vogel

+ When the Gallery Is a Classroom by Dorothy Spears

+ Putting a New Emphasis on ‘Family Friendly’ by Karen Berman

I encourage you to read all three as they may inspire you with new ideas for your business.

To prove my point, here are some highlights.

Wish You Were Here offers several examples of unusual - i.e., really non-traditional - museum programs. Imagine combining Yoga and Art. Preposterous? Not if you are taking part in "Put the oM in MoMA." The reason: MoMA wants to connect with people.

The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles has organized a bike night around the screening of Breaking Away. Doesn't that sound like a blast? If you attend, would you let us know what you thought of it?

Museums have been forced to reexamine and reinvent themselves given the economic downturn and I applaud these creative solutions to draw visitors in. The article quotes the Met's director, Thomas P. Campbell: "This is a good moment to refocus and reinvigorate... we want people to know we're here and have been for 138 years. We're a place of infinite experiences." [The Met hosted over 20,000 different type events in 2008.]

Yes, museums certainly are - although they might not have been traditionally considered 'hip' or exuberant experiences. More like introspective and cerebral and perhaps more about the past than the present or the future.

Museums are rethinking their web presences, experimenting with 'new forms of marketing' and 'expanding public programs.'

This I consider particularly exciting: museums "have adopted the same mission: to transform the once-hushed museums into vibrant cultural centers where the activities go far beyond what's hanging on the walls." Wow!

Even advertising has changed from focusing on special blockbuster type exhibits to showing people "we're a haven, a place to explore, discover and find inspiration."

What that means is that museums have the potential to transform themselves into community centers. Isn't that a powerful way to showcase culture? Make it come alive and create renewed relevance for visitors in a much more inclusive and participatory way?

The benefit for museums is tangible: if audiences feel that they are being listened to, respected and served, they will be more willing to visit and give money in exchange.

Not too different from what retailers should be thinking about for their customers...

Other interesting points:

+ facebook pages to draw younger audiences to museums [e.g., the Brooklyn Museum even has a new social networking based tier of membership]

+ using the web to add dimension to an exhibit [e.g., the Walker and Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes or the Hammer which has extensive videos/podcasts]

The Brooklyn Museum of Art, BTW, has 10,449 records available online from its collections! And, then, definitely check out the Brooklyn Museum bloggers! Talk about bringing art to life...

The Walker Museum has a whole section dedicated to social media interaction.

MoMA encourages you to register to create your own collection of favorite works [look at bottom of page].

As with all things, don't forget the basics. Like expanding your hours or staying open on Holidays.

What I really like about In When the Gallery Is a Classroom is the desire to move "away from the authoritarian voice of a museum" and moving toward one where "everyone's perspective is valid, by providing a vibrant, intellectually rich - and safe - destination for young people from the local community." Imagine transforming a museum from a mausoleum to one of lifelong creativity and relevance [not too far removed from our need to reinvent our businesses so our experiences remain relevant].

The way to do that is "by creating an environment that's as warm and open as possible." Read about the Miami Art Museum's Brick by Brick program that connects artists, designers, educators and students and check out Brick x Brick, the program's blog.

The article brings up, particularly at the Cleveland Museum of Art, an increase in transparency - offering a behind-the-scenes perspective on the museum's activities. The better visitors can understand what you offer, the more they can be involved and derive value from you. I love the deliberate attempt to involve teachers to better expose children to the creative type of thinking that museums can offer.

"Putting a New Emphasis of 'Family Friendly'" describes others innovative approaches to attracting families into museums to ensure that younger generations become interested and find relevance. Here's the challenge: "people don't expect the museum visit to be passive. They need more than three dry sentences of wall text."

That's also our challenge in retailing. We offer primarily a passive experience, and it's a turnoff.

As you think through your retail experience, consider what museums are doing. There's plenty to be learned about Refocus Product: Retail As Curator & Less But Better, but even more when you consider how museums are reinventing how they connect with customers.

I'm really intrigued. Are you?

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Links of Note: BRITE '09 Conference

Links originally uploaded by Paul O'Connell.
It's Friday. Late. What an amazingly thought-provoking and inspiring week after BRITE '09 at Columbia University. I count my lucky stars to be actively participating in these truly unprecedented times with marketing taking on the role of a lifetime facilitating conversations with customers, redefininig customer service and leading the way toward cooperative, co-creative, interactive ways of creating and delivering value with customers.

Although I took copious notes and will be sharing insights with you, I need to digest them all and put them into context.

In the meantime, though, I thought I would share with you Links of Note relating to BRITE '09.

By the way, major kudos to David Rogers, Executive Director of Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership, host of the center’s BRITE conference and jazz musician extraordinaire. This week's event was outstanding!

And, Thank God! for my friend, David Polinchock from the Brand Experience Lab, who did a masterful job live blogging and tweeting the event. I don't know how he does it -- and I sat next to him and still couldn't figure it out! However, his summaries are terrific:

Day One:
+ BRITE 09, Digital Marketing that Works -- Cases from the Front Lines with Jeff Fleischman, Senior VP, Customer Experience, Citibank, and Darryl Gehly, Executive VP, Isobar.

+ BRITE 09, Digital Marketing that Works with Max Kalehoff

+ BRITE 09, Digital Marketing that Works with Sanjay Sood [and a terrific article from the conference from MediaPost on Movie Marketing].

+ BRITE 09, The Future of Media and the Prospects for Brands with Avner Ronen, CEO of Boxee [also, see boxee: the open, connected, social media center for mac os x and linux].

+ BRITE Conference: The Future of Media and the Prospects for Brands with Steve Rubel.

+ BRITE Conference: Crowdsourcing, Tribes, and Online Communities with Jeff Howe, Contributing Editor, Wired Magazine, and author of "Crowdsourcing"

+ BRITE Conference: Crowdsourcing, Tribes, and Online Communities with Mark Yolton, Senior VP, SAP Community Network, SAP

+ BRITE Conference: Crowdsourcing, Tribes, and Online Communities with Adam Nash, Senior Director of product development, LinkedIn.

+ BRITE Conference: Innovation and the Next Generation of Business with Umair Haque, Director, Havas Media Lab with an amazing presentation tool and an intense message.

+ BRITE Conference: Innovation and the Next Generation of Business with Aaron Cohen, Founding Partner, TechAviv & Yaron Samid, Founder, TechAviv.

From David Rogers' BRITE Blog, here is his summary from Day 1 -36 Ideas I Got from BRITE '09 (Day 1).

Day 2 kicked off with Seth Godin discussing his most recent book Tribes. Agenda: BRITE '09 conference on branding, innovation, and technology.

And, then, we broke into small groups. I attended the same first session that David P. did. Agenda: BRITE '09 conference on branding, innovation, and technology called "Beyond Advertising: New Practices in a Digital Age." Participants included:

• Ross Buchanan, Director, Digital and Relationship Marketing, Molson
• Alyson Meranze, VP, Digital Content & Strategy, American Express
• Freddy Mini, CEO, Netvibes
• Eli Noam, Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School, and Director of the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information
• Don Sexton, Professor, Columbia Business School, and Director, the Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business

He then attended Bernd Schmitt's session - BRITE '09 Next Wave of New Media and How It Will Shape Customer Experiences of Brands - discussing how brand advertising went from very feature/benefit advertising to more emotional advertising.

And from NY Convergence, additional perspective on Seth Godin and Session 4.

I attended a fascinating session on creative breakthrough thinking where we took part in a practice exercise re: saving the New York Times.

Stay tuned for more from me. Definitely check out the BRITE Blog and the BRITE Twitter stream.

[For reference, here is the Agenda: BRITE '09 conference on branding, innovation, and technology.]

And let me know what kinds of ideas and possibilities these Links of Note from BRITE '09 generate. Have a wonderful weekend!

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Five In The Morning Guest Post

Five's originally uploaded by ArtByChristy.
Are you familiar with the "Five in the Morning" series that Steve Woodruff has created? Every morning he posts links to five interesting posts he has come across - often at 5 AM.

It's a wonderful and user-friendly way to offer readers a window onto other thoughts and thinkers in the blogosphere 5 links at a time.

When I expressed my awe to Steve, he explained that the series has helped him stay atop of his feeds - something I've been struggling with for a while.

He also invited me to participate in "Five in the Morning" and get my own taste. Hence, today's post!

Here are my "Five in the Morning" links for Friday, February 20, 2009.

• I am a visual thinker and visuals delights like the ones that Carol Gillott brings to life in Paris Breakfasts make my heart and soul sing! I have visited the streets and walked by the stores that Carol captures in her photos and artwork. I can smell the bread and pastries from her images, and hear the sounds of Parisian traffic.

• Another visual treat for my soul is Elizabeth Perry's Woolgathering. Every day she shares another creation inspired by the most improbable source around her. These are fresh impressions that celebrate what's marvelous around us.

Consider these two sites perfect starting points for a daily brainstorming session. Let your mind loose as you absorb how pen, ink, a dash of color, camera and an unusual perspective can transform your outlook on your gnarliest issue.

• Maria Palma, formerly blogging at Customers Are Always, has recently launched People To People Service. Check out Five Unique Ways To Show Love For Customers in which she grounds and inspires a focus on customer service in unexpected ways.


• This post from Andrea Learned titled Recession-savvy Consumers Don’t Buy. They Shop. gets to the heart of the opportunity available to all retailers. The grand prize as she explains consists of "long term customer relationships that last beyond this recession."

• Lisbeth Calandrino says Get Smart, Be Different, and Try New Things using Anthropologie as an example. Understand who your customer is and what she wants so you can develop the kind of relationship that Andrea describes, and show the kind of love that Maria alludes to.

Are you ready to tackle the world and make a difference? Excellent! Now, go to it!

Steve, thanks for this wonderful opportunity to step back and appreciate the wonderful wisdom and inspiration available from people I admire... and make progress on being caught up on my feeds!

Subscribe to Steve Woodruff's StickyFigure blog and follow him on Twitter: Steve Woodruff.

And, if you are new to Flooring The Consumer, consider subscribing. You can also follow me on Twitter: CBWhittemore.

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Spectacular 2008 NYC Holiday Store Windows

I'm sorry to say - I didn't make it into NYC to admire the holiday store windows as I promised in Retail Window Displays Matter. I tried, honestly, I did. There was a snowstorm one weekend; I visited my parents in DC another weekend; and then it became January and I got the OK on Saturday to go to Dallas on Monday for the week... And, now they're gone.

But all's not lost thanks to the digital world. I have several visions with enlightened commentary to share courtesy of others more disciplined than I.

Retail Customer Experience published this delicious article on 12/20/08: Photo gallery: The retail windows of Christmas 2008 which led me to David Pinter's 2008 PSFK NYC Holiday Store Window Survey and amazing Flickr 2008 NYC Holiday Windows Survey set.

Feast your eyes on what David captured in approximately 100 photos!

He highlights three of the stores visited in 2008 PSFK NYC Holiday Store Window Survey: Bergdorf Goodman, ABC Carpet and Home, and Anthropologie. Tradition seems to have been a common theme across many of the retail store displays. [Given Social Media Series: Bridging New & Old, I'm particularly taken with the Bergdorf window that celebrated traditional forms of communication... ]

Did you know that About.com publishes a Christmas Windows Walking Tour Map? It's a 2 mile and 1.5 hour walking tour that mirrors most of my intended retail store windows tour.

Here's where it gets even better. About.com also offers an historic perspective on NYC Holiday Store Windows. Can you imagine? Check out Holiday Windows at New York City Department Stores with details [including timing on when the windows are unveiled] on Macy's, Saks, Barneys, Bergdorf, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor.

Budget Travel's Exclusive: New York's holiday windows as festive as ever includes fascinating comments in reaction to the various NYC holiday window displays. They include a terrific slide show.

Chic In Paris showcases some wonderful images of Bergdorf, Barneys and other 5th Avenue stores in New York Holiday Windows.

And, then, check out these posts from Susanna's Sketchbook:
+ December 13, 2008: New York Holiday Windows, Bergdorf Goodman
+ December 10, 2008: New York Holiday Windows, Bloomingdales
+ December 9, 2008: New York Holiday Windows, Lord & Taylor.

To the tune of Vince Guaraldi's Christmas music, you can enjoy steveisaacs' New York Holiday Windows on YouTube which puts many of the images and descriptions above into context.



By the way, the winners of DDI Magazine's 2008 eighth-annual Winning Windows competition are Bergdorf Goodman, Macy's Herald Square and Sony Style. You can read about Sony Style in Sony Style stores offer scent of the holidays; they put together a truly sensory experience including in their holiday window displays chocolate-inspired replicas of cameras and a gingerbread replica of the New York City skyline. Furthermore, the stores featured a holiday scent -- chocolate peppermint -- in their product displays. Wow!

So, do you forgive me for not making it in person?

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Upcoming Underground Potters 2008 Pottery Show & Sale

It's that time! If you're in the New York City area, the Underground Potters are exhibiting again at:

The Art School at Old Church located at 561 Piermont Road, in Demarest, NJ, 07627.

The exhibit starts October 24 and lasts until November 14, 2008 in the Art School Cafe Gallery.

[In the neighboring Mikhail Zakin Gallery, you can also experience the Wearable Art Exhibit.]

Join the Underground Potters at their reception on Saturday, October 25 from 2pm to 4pm. It's a great opportunity to meet them and ask them questions about their work. There's also a really good chance that you'll get to speak to Mikhail Zakin...

The Underground Potters include:

Susan Bogen-Zarrabi

Alan Drossman

Itsuko Ishiguro

Ellen Mulligan

Sandy Pancrazi

Cynthia Shevelew

Ted Whittemore

I'm also happy to announce that The Underground Potters have launched their own blog. It's worth a visit to learn more about them and their pottery.

By the way, in addition to meeting the potters, you can also buy beautiful pottery! Their work is quite varied, so there's sure to be something for all sensibilities.

[Note: The Art School is closed on Sundays.]

Related Post: Underground Potters 2007 Show and Sale

Disclosure: My husband is an Underground Potter.

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