Top Brands of 2010

Although 2010 has been a tough economic year, we have seen some great brands doing outstanding things over the past 12 months.But who comes out top for you in 2010?

Supergroup? With its now established high-street-cool brand Superdry, it has gone from strength to strength, seeing 60% increase in sales in their 3rd quarter and stores popping up everywhere!

JD Sports? They saw an amazing 64% increase in profit and continue to expand their empire of sports/fashion brands whilst keeping their boutique brands such as Size uniquely defined from JD Sports in a time where many retailers are co-branding stores to save on rent and operational costs.

Aurora Fashions? They have continued their brave drive in the fashion sector and posted EBITDA up 36% establishing itself as a true player in the fashion market. An amazing result considering its rocky past.

Apple? With its record quarterly results of $20bn in revenue, its no wonder they can open a second London store to become once again the mecca of all things electro-cool.

All of these brands have achieved amazing results and growth over the past 12 months in what has been an extremely tough market. But for me, there is a quiet winner that creeps on to the top podium for top brand 2010.

Nespresso.

Now I'm not a coffee drinker, but wow! In the words of Seth Godin, what a truly remarkable achievement.

Every major city I travel to around the world now seems to have the upper slices of social society quivering at the very mention of the word, Nespresso. The Limited edition blends helped raise sales by more than 20% and UK sales growth are steaming ahead at 35.5%.  And I can see why.

Check list:
1. Celebrity endorsement by one of the coolest men in show biz. Ooooh factor, check!

2. Coffee packaged in metallic capsules merchandised like precious jewels, with something to suit every taste. Mmmm factor, check!

3. Super cool and extensive range of Nespresso machines to choose from. Wow factor, check!

4. Sexy packaging that you just have to have. Addictive, must have, must have factor, check!

5. Stores (or boutiques as they like to call them) that crave your attention and make you want to buy everything. Destination factor, check!

Lets be honest, Nescafe was not a cool brand. Its market place has seen the biggest activity in retail terms in the past 2 decades and is now flooded with orange-mocha-frappacinno brands and is a market that is hard to survive in. Hats off then to Nescafe for fighting back and coming up with something amazing that has captured the imagination of coffee lovers worldwide! 'What else' could you want from a brand?!

Email us and tell us which brand was Top of 2010 for you and we'll put them up in the next blog to see who comes out top!

steve@theyardcreative.com

My placement year at The Yard Creative

My time at the yard the time has come to the end and I have to go back to University and finish my degree, but first I would like to thank The Yard for their time effort and support in starting my career as an interior designer. 

I think the experience I gained this year could not have been replicated in a University setting and will be invaluable to me and my future in the design world. The level of support and guidance by colleagues who have been nothing but inspiring was second to none.

The Yard has given me opportunity to observe the full entirety of the business and work in a strong team of experienced interior and graphic designers. I've learnt so many things that I couldn't have learnt at university, like how to talk to clients, the struggles with deadlines and so much more,  I'm sure there are things I've learnt that I'm not even aware of and probably won't realise until next year.

I thoroughly enjoyed the different projects I got to work on in my time at The Yard, they were all quite different and each of them challenged my skills a in different way but nether-the  less they were all interesting and in the process gave me new skills, skills that I thought I would never be able to achieve.

Desserts Sir?

So this may not be anything new but it certainly is a lost art!

The dessert trolley is reserved for the most exclusive of restaurants and ones that are steeped in tradition and history. Imagine our surprise yesterday when, after enjoying a simple meal at Aubaine and all pretty full up, this arrives instead of a dessert menu.....

Having already decided that it was a big-fat-no to desserts, seeing the real thing was to much to resist. The easiest £15 that the restaurant has ever made......time and time again. It happened over and over again to everyone around us.

It just proves we buy with our eyes and it's a good learning for all retailers and F&B operators!

Now, where's that treadmill?!

Wish you were here

After a short break the blogs are back with something a little different but topical - holidays!

We all love them. Long for them even. But how many of us are really prepared to take the risk on something different when you only get 4 weeks a year?

As we send out this blog to receive 200 auto-out-of-office-replies, we've found what must be the craziest hotels in the world that will certainly challenge the norm!

Fancy a staying in a 2 storey high dog in the middle of idaho? Well now you can by staying at the Dog Bark Park Inn. Think how much the kids would love it!

No, not your thing, well what about the largest treehouse complex in the Amazon Rainforest? The Ariau Amazon Towers Hotel is located 35 miles from Manuas, Brazil at the confluence of the Rio Negro and Ariau Creek. Built entirely at the level of the Rainforest Canopy, Ariau's towers are linked together by 4 miles of sturdy wooden catwalks.

What about something for people with a head for height? The Euromast tower is a feature of the skyline of Rotterdam, and has been a regular tourist attraction since it was built in the 60's - 100m's above the city, it houses 2 luxury suites ready for you to gaze across the architecturally wonderful city of Rotterdam.

And lastly, my particular favourite, ever felt like your holiday doesn't start until you get off that plane?! Well how about turning that on its head and staying in a converted plane with the ultimate in luxury? Once the transport for top bosses of the German Democratic Republic government, this 1960 Ilyushin 18 has been converted to a single luxury suite for 2. 40 metres long equipped with a Jacuzzi, shower, infrared sauna, mini bar, 3 plasma screens, full entertainment suite and more, it truly beats queazy-jet!

So next time you're looking for a memorable holiday that your companions will truly love, check out Unusual hotels of the world.

Send us some pics of the craziest places you've stayed and we'll add it to our Flickr site.

Have fun!

ROI - Return On Innovation

Following a talk attended last night by our creative friends over in sunny SA, here are a few inspirational extracts on the topic:

'Inspiration is the New Investment;  If businesses want to engage the new consumer, they need to reconsider innovation'.

All credits for content go to Rudo Botha and Rexcreative.

'The information revolution has produced a market in which consumers are ten times more informed, a hundred times more exposed and a thousand times more jaded. Never before has competitive edge been so important to the survival of businesses. But the days in which a deodorant brand, for example, could slap a cool new metallic paint and nozzle on their can, call it innovation and market it to death in the hope of gaining a competitive edge, are long gone. Generation Y has seen it all. They’re bored, disinterested and disengaged, which has caused no small amount of panic among those marketers who only know how to reach an audience in the traditional way. After all, how is one to gain a competitive edge if the consumer chooses to ignore you?

The secret lies in the ability to inspire. If brands want to be attractive to the new breed of consumer, they’re going to have to forget all about push marketing and start looking at ways to pique their interest and turn their heads.  Bombarded by marketing that for years has been sadly lacking in essential integrity, most consumers are cynics by the age of 8. They’ve seen, been sold and bought it all. They’re not interested in hearing brands bang on about how cool they think they are. The softer, ‘intangibles’ are what dominate this market and influence their decision to sell. So ask yourself not what the consumer needs, but what he desires. And know at the outset that what he’s waiting for is to be inspired.

It is here that brands are really missing a trick. To inspire, you need to innovate. But what most businesses call innovation is the mere shifting of existing metrics in order to deliver a slightly enhanced version of something that already exists. For years businesses have been geared towards the manufacture of products that they can push onto the market so they naturally look at what they already have and can make, and ask how they can do it better. Invariably they find their answer in technology and so technological advancements become the only exponent of innovation. What these companies forget to ask is the most simple of questions: will the products we are producing meet not the needs, but the desires of the market? And so finally at the end of the long production process, they give a product that nobody desires to a marketing, packaging and branding team and ask them to dress it up in such a way that will make it attractive. But Consumer Y, who’s seen it all before, stifles a yawn and walks off in the opposite direction.

The brands that understand true innovation are the ones that genuinely identify with the new consumer, make a real attempt to understand their desires, and then take as their end goal the delivery of a product that touches, inspires and moves that consumer. This perhaps is the single biggest reason for Google’s meteoric rise to success. They pioneered a way to give the world what it wanted with an open-source philosophy applied to the internet and information.

The lesson? Raw creativity and skilful design application are revolutionising views on innovation across industry sectors. Innovation with an absolute focus on the end consumer has the ability to create a competitive advantage greater than technological advancement alone. For too long, a premium on tangible metrics has meant that the potential of the ‘softer’ more emotional and human instincts have remained grossly underutilised; this needs to change if brands want to touch new consumers. When companies start inventing ways to fundamentally engage the drivers of these ‘softer issues’ in consumers, it will bring about meaningful paradigm shifts in industries that will unlock a value far superior to the metric equations we have been optimising. As the examples illustrated here clearly show, design innovation that appeals to the human instinct can yield rewards not only in terms of revenue but also in terms of brand value.

Unsurprisingly some of the best examples of successful consumer brand engagement use the universally inspirational properties of music, art, design, creativity and science to touch consumers. And instead of just a product, they use these elements to deliver an integrated experience that bundles the full marketing mix to surprise, delight and engage consumers, and in so doing, change their current habits and perceptions. This is the realm of designers and creative thinkers, and it is essential that these right-brain thinkers join their left-brain counterparts in a company’s strategic brand and product innovation discussions much earlier in the process. Design has almost unlimited potential to deliver that longed-for competitive edge to a brand and designers have a great deal to add to the understanding of what will inspire a consumer.

If we’ve learnt nothing else, it’s that inspiration needs to be the starting point. So begin with this end in mind. “If you want me to listen to you, don’t tell me – touch me,” consumer Y challenges. Which means forget about putting your money where your mouth is and start putting your money where their hearts are.'

A big thanks to Mike Lewis and Origin Interactive for sharing this inspiring content with us.

If you liked this topic then you'll love these reads:

Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things by Donald A Norman

The Design of Everyday Things (Paperback) by Donald A Norman

Subject To Change: Creating Great Products & Services for an Uncertain World: Adaptive Path on Design

Trends 2010 - Final part

The final section on the 'Trends for 2010' is an extract from our article in the GDR trend book launched at the beginning of 2010.

Global Design Resources provides the world’s leading consumer facing companies with the thought leadership they need to remain ahead in retail and hospitality. The following highlights the current trend, Convenient Consumption:

Convenient Consumption

In today’s increasingly fast-paced world, time is a precious commodity. As such, the convenience market is one with increasing relevance, as retailers continue to find new ways to catch consumers on the move, offering targeted and time-saving solutions. By understanding the consumer mindset and the growing value placed on ease and speed, intuitive solutions will position forward-thinking retailers ahead of the game.

We will all pay for something that we feel will make our lives easier and more enjoyable. It’s not that we are lazy, but time has almost become a currency in its own right. Selling the consumer’s time back to them is a winning proposition.

However, getting the customer’s attention can be a tough challenge. We move so quickly that just telling people you can save them time may be wasting their time. And today’s savvy
consumers can spot a good offer worth stopping for and know when to keep walking.

The UK convenience market is worth £29.1 billion and is set to increase by 36% over the next five years, according to IGD and William Reed Business Media 2009. In the US, meanwhile, profitability of convenience stores increased by 54% in 2008, reversing a two-year decline, and sales in this sector are expected to grow at around 5% between 2009 and 2013, according to industry research firm RNCOS.

Convenience is all in the eye of the customer. What is convenient for me may not necessarily be convenient for you. However, many retailers and brands have identified opportunities to provide convenience and are getting it right.

Best practice



In Norway, Sunkost has done well in the health foods and health products market, with its bright, clean-looking stores, branding and merchandising. Product information is placed at eye-level and is conveyed through digital signage systems around the store. Staff are well informed and purchases can be made using interactive terminals. The on-site food preparation area draws attention to the freshly made food, while producing enticing smells that attract customers into the store.



In the hospitality and travel sectors, Jumeirah Hotels in the US, the Middle East and the UK recognised that airport security restrictions were creating problems for customers travelling light and in response created the online shop-ahead Pre-Arrival service. This allows customers to request products through the brand’s website from retail outlets within Jumeirah hotels – providing everything from toothpaste, sunscreen and baby wipes to a selection of holiday reading. Items are simply left in the guest’s room and added to the room bill.

The US, of course, has come up with many concepts to make life a little easier. Text ordering is becoming commonplace, so your food or coffee from Papa John’s, Subway and Starbucks can be ready when you pass, or on your doorstop when you get home. This involves setting up an online account and specifying favourite meals, which are each allocated a number. They can be ordered easily, by sending the meal number to the brand’s dedicated SMS number as a text message.

Understanding consumer mindset
Many factors can help to create a successful convenience offer, but one of the most important is customer knowledge. What are the customer’s day-to-day habits? What are their needs? Where do they go? Why do they travel? Why are they near the store? Knowing the answers to questions like these will help identify areas of opportunity and ensure the retailer’s offer is positioned correctly in the marketplace.

When it comes to shopping behaviour, what customers say they do and what they actually do are sometimes two very different things, which is why ethnographic studies of customers can be so valuable.

Getting it right
Key performance indicators and sales statistics, which are often left in the boardroom, should be shown and explained to the designer. Product categories should be defined in such a way as to maximise efficiency and sales. The key categories we use are:

Hero category
– this is generally the core category and what the customer knows the store for.
Key categories
– usually two or three that contribute a significant amount of total sales.
Growth category
– a breakthrough category, or one that is perhaps under-performing in its current location.
Transient category
– ones the customer has to walk through, which provide good opportunities for improvement.
Nodes of interest
– areas of the store that will divert customers from their usual course and draw them into unexplored areas.

Good planning is key to getting customers in and making their convenience shopping as easy as possible. The retailer has only a second to grab the attention of a passer-by, so as well as using the shopfront to maximum effect, it is important to clearly communicate the name of the business and what it is selling. Communications should be angled towards the direction of approach or upwards, since Western consumers tend to walk around looking 30° down from their eye level and getting them to look up is a huge challenge.

Winning solutions
Technology allows us to maximise our time and be far more efficient – from iPhone Apps and text ordering to paying by fingerprint or swipe card. But technology will only work if it is integrated rather than an add-on. The iPhone has proved that if you remove the conventional method of use and make technology more intuitive, people will willingly interact with it. Touch-sensitive shopfronts now allow customers to browse product information, download mobile phone content and make purchases without entering the store.

Giving customers something for free – either via a points-collecting card or directly – helps to build loyalty. Free wi-fi is always a winner, as are charging points for mobile phones and laptops. Free taste testers are another possibility – or content that can be downloaded to mobile phones.


To get a free download, read the full article and to see examples of how these combination's have proven successful, click here.

We hope you have enjoyed reading these trends for 2010 and are hopefully putting some of them in to action.

Keep a look out for our future blogs that focus on new concepts from around the world, thoughts and talking points within the design industry.

Many thanks
Steve

Trends 2010 - Part 4

Following on from our article with Design Week, here is the fourth part of the upcoming trends for 2010.

Permission marketing
It's Saturday morning and your store is empty. Whilst staring out of the window watching potential customers wander by, you wonder why they aren't in your store. If only you could get them in through the door, they'd realise what they were missing. But how?

The futurist film makers would have us believe that whilst walking through a shopping mall of the future, cameras will recognise who we are and then interactive video screens will talk to us directly about stuff that interests us. Thus making us enter their store.



This is essentially permission marketing (PM). Theorised by the marketing guru Seth Godin, permission marketing is the ability to send your customers personal messages because they have given you their consent to do so. It has been widely used by online marketers but not so much in the real world.

In today's world, cameras may not be able to recognise our eyes just yet (thankfully) but there are other forms of PM. The simplest form would be through use of mobile phones. 85% of adults in the UK carry a mobile phone and it has become one of the closest technologies in our day-to-day lives.

If you can get your customers permission and their mobile number, then you can send them a text message that contains a driver to encourage them to visit your store. This could be a discount code, the launch of new products or a celebrity signing. It could be anything that would interest that person.



With the recent launch of The Voucher Cloud app, there is clearly a demand for this type of decision-driver information. The Voucher Cloud allows customers to search their surroundings through a GPS phone for any restaurants that are offering discounts off food and drinks. Just show the restaurant the screen and you'll get your discount.

This GPS ability would allow retailers to go one step closer to the Minority Report with 'live permission marketing'. Through active IT systems you would know if a registered customers was about to walk past your store and it would send them a personalised message. For example "hello Steve, we see you're about to pass our Oxford Street store. Pop in and we'll give you 10% off any purchase".

This type of marketing is to be treated with respect thoguh. It is a privilege to have such one-to-one access to your customers and it must be used effectively. If you start to annoy customers with the technology then you'll lose them forever.

However, get it right and your store may never be empty again!