Aug 23, 2018 Guest Author

The Culture Club: Connecting Consumers and Brands in Stores

We’re not gonna lie: creating brand culture is much easier on a large scale if you have your own retail stores. Take Warby Parker, for instance, who transformed their SoHo store into a bibliophile’s fantasy—comfortable chairs, vintage magazines, engaging books. It’s almost enough to forget that Warby Parker sells glasses, unless you need a pair to read that pesky small print.

While consumer brands may not be able to go quite as all-in, that doesn’t mean you can’t create an incredible brand culture in your retail locations (and drive significant sales in the process).

Catch Attention with The Right Signage

While you might not be able to create a full library in your retail locations, you can showcase eye-catching signage and displays that exude your brand culture. Let’s say you’re an apparel and accessories brand looking to drive your winter collection. To create a fun—and immersive—experience, think big for small spaces.

What better way to connect with consumers than to bring them to a cozy mountain chalet where your clothes are the perfect fit? Your displays can show roaring fireplaces, plush furniture, and windows peeking into snowy landscapes, all without needing to bring anything more than pop-ups and tabletop signs into stores.

Or let’s say you’re a health foods company and looking to grow. While demos are always a good idea, why not up the ante with mouthwatering displays? Showcase the amazing meals your products can create on your signage, along with other engaging visuals—a dinner party with family and friends or a picnic in the park takes your products everywhere your consumers want to be.

Test, Taste, and Try It All Out

It’s definitely worth repeating: demos are always a good idea. What better way to create brand culture than to literally and figuratively connect consumers to your products? From samplings to try-ons to blindfolded scent experiments (see: Febreze), there are endless ways to let consumers experience your brand and products right in stores.

Let’s go back to our health foods company example. Product samplings are a key way to bring in new consumers, but there’s so much more you can do to take them from just consumers to consumers that champion your brand. What about an Iron Chef-style cookoff, where shoppers compete to whip up a quick three-ingredient dish they can enjoy right after? Or a blindfolded taste test where the first sampler to guess the right flavor gets a free regular-size product?

What about if you’re a footwear brand looking to sell a new line of sneakers: Sure, having consumers try on the shoes and walk around is important, but why not make the experience fun? Try setting up a “slam dunk” contest, no flying basketballs necessary—just bring in a hoop and challenge shoppers to see who can jump the highest. The shopper with the most height wins a pair of socks to go with their new shoes, or gets a discount coupon towards their purchase. Not only will this be a lot of fun for the shoppers, but it’ll catch a lot of attention and associate a lot of fun and engagement with your brand.

Use Branded Agents to Strengthen Your Identity

Are you relying on store associates that haven’t been properly educated on your products’ selling points? Or worse yet, are you not relying on associates at all?

Having the right team in stores is key to connecting with consumers, building brand culture, and closing the sale. How can you create brand evangelists if you don’t have any of your own? And how successful could a slam dunk contest or Iron Chef faceoff be if you don’t have the right people managing your brand and products?

Educating associates—or creating a full field force—is the best way to ensure your brand’s products and culture take center stage. By having the right people in place, you know that your products' key selling points, features, and differentiators will connect with consumers when it's needed most. And you’ll know your signage is set up the right way, your demos are conducted properly, and your brand culture is flourishing.

Interested in learning more about how ThirdChannel can help your brand? Request a free demo now!

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Published by Guest Author August 23, 2018
Guest Author