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04.19.2002

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Get With The Program: The Changing Face Of Retailing

As the retail anthropologist for The Hartman Group, I spend most of my days (and some nights) spreading the gospel of effective retailing in the changing consumer climate. As you might surmise, I sometimes find myself wondering if I sound like a canned public service announcement. That's why it is ever so refreshing to find subtle examples of other people making similar points in the business lexicon. Consider the following real-life adventure:

A few months ago I wandered down to the local market on a Friday night to grab a copy of the Sunday paper. Seattle is one of those odd places where one can purchase the Sunday paper on Friday, a concept Beaver Cleaver and myself have never quite come to grips with.

As I flipped through the pages of the glossy newspaper magazine insert, I was pleased to find that the lead article - all eleven pages - was devoted to one of my favorite topics: Branding. Moreover, while the article did address a few larger questions regarding branding and brand culture, the real focus was an interview and discussion with "the guru of branding," Scott Bedbury. In case you don't know, he's the guy credited with implementing Nike's "Just Do It" campaign. That means he now gets to choose his clients, and he also gets to charge them outrageous fees just for the privilege of talking to him. This is a good thing, especially if you happen to be Scott Bedbury.

As I read through the article - replete with all the usual branding jive-talk: "Develop values," "Be relevant," "Know your customer," etc. - I began to notice a very curious pattern. While Bedbury would always start out by talking up the importance of branding with examples of companies that manufacture and distribute products (Nike, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, etc.), he inevitably turned to examples from the retail arena to detail the actual mechanics of branding in action. In fact, almost half of the article is devoted to a Bedbury-directed tour through a trendy, upscale shopping mall in downtown Seattle. In his words:

The shopping center is a good place to examine brands, which use strategy to sell stuff, vs. retailers, who use shelves to sell stuff.

While progressing through his tour, Bedbury led the reporter through Pottery Barn, Planet Hollywood, The Body Shop and Restoration Hardware, and even spoke repeatedly of Sears and Montgomery Ward as examples of companies that "don't get it." Ironically, most of these companies are strictly retailers and maintain little involvement with the manufacture and distribution of goods or services. What began as a discussion of branding among manufacturers had slipped, ever so slightly, into a discussion of branding and successful retailing. Even though Bedbury may not have even realized it, his message was loud and clear: Branding is as much about successful retailing as it is the stuff itself. In fact, we could even re-phrase the above quote to better illustrate his implicit point:

The shopping center is a good place to examine brands (i.e., best practice retailers), which use (brand) strategy to sell stuff, vs. (traditional) retailers, who use shelves to sell stuff.

Color me impressed.

Stay tuned for "Sometimes an Experience is Just an Experience," next Friday...

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