The Lynx Effect on British High Streets

This week has seen a flurry of discussions around the future of the high street and what indeed may lay ahead. Its been a topic of hot discussion at The Yard too with suggestions of everything from 'turf it over and make it a leisure destination' to 'online retailers becoming offline'.

Back in 2010 we engaged with ASOS to try to challenge them to explore this possibility and become one of the first major players to push the boundaries of bricks and mortar, just like they did online.

But just as online brands have a new potential era ahead of them, what of the FMCG brands? Think about those brands that are really pushing bondaries. The brands who almost don''t care about the norm. The brands who almost do an 'Adele' to the authorities and do it their own way.

We've already seen M&Ms open massive, crazy stores with huge pillars filled with small bits of sugar coated chocolates. Never would I have thought customers would want or even care about going to a shop full of M&Ms. Buts its packed every time I go by with kids beaming from ear to ear!

So maybe this idea's not a crazy as first thought.

The first conceptual inhouse project this year has been for Lynx. A brand that has used augmented reality to allow customers to 'engage' with an angel! A brand who shows what young men REALLY think about and who is not afraid to put 500 women in bikinis running across a beach. A brand that is at the heart of youth culture and yet there are those of us who can remember Lynx Java, Africa and Inca! A brand constantly reinventing itself and staying cool to those who matter.

So what would Lynx do if it went on to the high street? It only sells cans of deodorant and a handful of male care products. Not much of a shop. Saying that though, look at what Telekom did with 4010. What The Book Club has established over in shoreditch. Mutli-use spaces that maximise on their prime location and get the most for their buck in terms of rentals vs opening hours.

Ok, a prime location. A mutli-use space. A handful of products. And a brand that throws caution to the wind. Nice.

So, Angels (or current campaign at the time) projected everywhere is a must. Infra-red-activated, they would respond to human interaction just like the Puma in the Puma store in Carnaby Street all those years back. Walk in and they would rush towards you, follow you around and linger hopefully.

A catalogue of the Lynx Stream would be shown across the store communicating more about this exciting new App and how it can cature those epic nights out for all to see..!

24 hours emergency vending in the shop front would of course overcome those embarrassing 'odour-you' moments.

But what of the rest of the space:

Sponsors of the X-Box gaming competitions and based on the fact that 51% of young males are active gamers*, an X-Box experiential zone would work wonders to draw in the crowds.

Looking good is key to the success of any young male so what about the ultimate mens grooming salon. Uber cool settings, Sky sports on huge plasma screens whilst having your hair washed. Super sexy, Lynx angels, Abercrombie and Fitch stylie, cutting your hair whilst being served beer (to over 18's), who wouldn't go there?!

Enter Topman to build upon the brand partnerships by having a weekly trend space showcasing all the styles about to hit the high street. Offering unique discount codes, customers can buy in store ahead of launch through instore iPads and delivered to your house within 24 hours.

Want to know the best gadgets to have in your Dakine? Dixons KnowHow just so happen to have teamed up with Microsoft Surface to create a bar that showcases the actual products with fully interactive social media connectivity to technology leaders and experts on-hand to explain more.

Lynx already go that extra mile to offer customers online help and advice on all things from sex and drugs to careers and lifestyle. Enter the big Brother style Agony Angel. Always on-hand to help give you friendly advice on any topic in a relaxed, confidential environment.

And what of supporting your local community? What about a community activity space where local, upcoming talent can exhibit. Show their talent to the world. Provide a platform for people to grow from.

'But what of the Lynx products' I hear you cry! Well putting them on shelves just wouldn't be right. Lets sell them as you'd buy drinks from a bar - Lynx already sell 'shots' of deoderants so why not? High-gloss, neon illuminated back bar, with everything lined up like exhibits. "Barman, I'll have a 2012, an Excite and a shot of Vault please."

And this is just during the daytime...what about the night?!

Walls would move, partitions would slide, lighting would change, the digital fascia would switch to promote this as the evening destination it has become. A bar. A VIP area. An exclusive gaming zone. With projection architecture morphing around you to create a space appealing to both men and women that becomes the next 'must-go-to' destination.

Now this is just a crazy thought for just one FMCG brand. Just think for a minute what someone like Red Bull might do?! What would Walkers do?

Could these brands be the answer to reinvigorating our high streets?

To the guys over at Lynx, what do you think?


* Fact from Theaveragegamer.com

Red Bull Mini Drome

On 15th January 2011 I checked out the Red Bull Mini Drome event at York Hall in Bethnal Green, East London. This was the world's smallest velodrome ramp and the first event of its kind to be held!

I grew up riding a bmx on wooden skate parks in Derby so it felt cool to be at this vibrant and unique ramp event surrounded by fixed gear riders from across the capital!

Male and female cyclists were invited to test their nerve and compete in day of gnarly high-speed action to be crowned king of the ring! Over 100 competitors applied which was crazy to see! A hip hop DJ provided beats for the night whilst a live MC kept the crowd entertained!

After several hours of pedal power, sore legs and bruised egos the event was won by Mongoose pro Chris Akrigg who set a new world track record over 10 laps, recording a time of 35.473 seconds!

Helmets off to Chris and hopefully this could be the start of many more Mini Drome events held across the UK. Check out the link below for pictures of a great days riding!

http://www.redbull.co.uk/cs/Satellite/en_UK/Gallery/red-bull-mini-drome-in-pictures/Red-Bull-Mini-Drome-comes-to-London--021242948380815?GImageId=1242948365551&imgcount=1#/image-1

Image care of Red Bull.

Top brands - what you said...

Welcome back to one and all! A happy new year to you and may we wish you all the best for 2011.

It seems that the overwhelming response to the last blog has show several clear winners who you all thought were the top brands for 2010. Here is what you all said:

Number 3: Red Bull

The brand that started off as just an energy drink back when Lucozade was sitting comfortably all on its own, has triumphed it the world of extreme, fast, action sports. And 2010 was the cherry on the ever-expanding cake, double champion F1 winners! As Roger Williams from Rail Gourmet put it 'beating the F1 giants at their own game' has been a huge success for the brand and rightfully given them a place in the top 3.

A great example of a brand thinking differently. Want the best selling drink in our market place - lets get involved in all the 'cool' sports and spend our budget there instead of TV ads. And not just get involved but radically change the face of that sport. By sponsoring Travis Rice's new snowboard movie That's it, That's all, they were able to change the way we view the sport forever by shooting in HD for the first time. Now every rider wants a bit of Red Bull and they are everywhere in the world of snowboarding.


Number 2: Waitrose

The supermarket everyone wants to shop at but for most it's simply too expensive and the lack of branded goods makes it inconvenient. But this has been part of the brand make-up for a long time and is part of what makes it different. However, along comes a recession, one of the worst ever. So what do Waitrose do now? People have much less to spend and competition is fierce. Of course their most loyal of customers are still in the stores but the brand needs more customers.

It's a very brave thing to change the DNA of a brand but sometimes it's the right thing to do. In come the independent brands and along comes their very own value range - 'essentials'. In our mind, the right step forward and clearly the right thing for the business. LFL sales are up 5.9% in a time when many others are finding it tough.

As if that wasn't enough, they even created a new format and entered the ring by opening high street stores. Something tells me we'll be seeing more of these in 2011.

A great example of looking ahead and facing the reality of a changing market and doing something about it before it happens. Well deserved second place!



Number 1: Comparethemarket.com

What an advertising campaign. Can you imagine being the board who had to sign off a meerkat copycat site to spearhead the business and take them forward to great and wonderful things?!!! Hats off then to those people who had the belief in VCCP to create such an amazing campaign. As Ian Hetherington from SSP puts it 'The way they have taken something as boring as insurance and made it fun is truly brilliant! Its incredible how many people talk about it in the pub'.

With pop up meerkat doing book signings and topping the Amazon book chart some would say it's 'Simples' others would simply say remarkable.

So congratulations to the meerkats for winning the 2010 Top Brand. But who will shine in 2011? Who will take that next leap of faith the show the world that you can do things differently?

Perhaps your brand...