future of supermarket - Sunka

All Photos from Lovemarks

Source: Lovemarks – the future beyond brands
Written by: Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi

When most people talk about the future of the supermarket, they talk technology. Wireless neon signs, infra-red signals, handheld scanners, smart shopping carts, radio frequency identification.

All fantastic innovations, but they are not the future. One by one they will become tablestakes just as freezers and barcodes and conveyor belts did before them.

The only way to spring the commodity trap is with Mystery, Sensuality, and Intimacy. I have seen this future and it is called La Sala Sunka, an inspired concept springing out of Lleida, near Barcelona in Spain.

The Pujol family’s chain of neighbourhood food stores didn’t panic when the powerful hypermarket formula started to bite. Instead they created Sunka.

The Pujol’s research said “demanding and stressed people” made up 33 percent of consumers, mostly couples with kids who were under pressure at work and at home. Sunka was created for them.

Not a specialty store, but a store focused on special shoppers.

In defiance of all the rules, Sunka’s first spaces don’t sell, but introduce a deceleration zone. To wind back the stress levels, the work of local young artists is hung, framed by haiku and insights.

Then the concierge. Leave your clothes to be cleaned, shoes to be mended, photographs to be developed. There’s a fax, access to the Internet, a photocopier. Solutions for everyday frustrations like home repairs and day care.

Fresh fruit comes first, with wonderful fragrances and colours. Aromatherapy! Then flavour therapy in the prepared meals. Forget the usual convenience meals where it’s the convenience of distributors and retailers that counts and enjoy the next evolutionary step: foot kits.

Think TV dinner and then forget it. Yes, the complete meal is here but it’s not processed beyond recognition. These kits include all the fresh ingredients for a proper meal. Recipe included. And if you want the fish steamed – no problem. Free of charge and done to perfection.

The prices are in line with any other supermarket with the message: forget about price. Our job is to match our competitors. Your job is to enjoy shopping.

And once you’re done, get it delivered. You’ve got until 11PM – this is Spain after all.

creating names that communicate

Photo Credit: Sunnews

Source: 63 “Killer” Marketing Strategies
Written by: Dan S. Kennedy

I believe that the name of a business, product, service or offer should communicate what it is or does. Why make it tough on the customer? I drive past businesses with names that could be restaurants or could be gift stores or could be God-knows-what. How can this possibly help business?

The people at Marriott are generally pretty sharp, but whoever conned them into changing the name of the Big Boy Restaurants to JB’s Restaurants should be shot. All those years and dollars building that name and character identification thrown away in favour of a “nothing name”. This is a big, big mistake. A much better move: “Marriott’s Big Boy Family Restaurants”. Keeps the established ID, adds the quality Marriott name, adds “Family” to imply meals, not just sandwiches.

You’ve got to think very carefully about product, service, offer, publication and business names. They should earn their keep. They should add something to the marketing process, not detract from it.

EverReady is a much better name for a battery than Ray-O-Vac.

Obviously, you can point to exceptions. After all, “McDonalds” could be just about anything, couldn’t it? Yes, but first remember that Ray inherited that name, he didn’t choose it or create it. Second, do you really want to make their kind of investment in creating name recognition?

Principle #8: Choose a name that makes a positive contribution to the marketing process.

March 3, 1989

Even the biggest and the best can be stupid. The Ma Company Department Store chain, having acquired our Arizona Goldwaters stores, has announced it will change the chain’s name from Goldwaters to Robinsons.

Is this smart?

Consider: the Goldwaters chain was created and built in Arizona by the famous Goldwater family, best known nationally for the crusty Senator Barry Goldwater. The name in Arizona is as old as Arizona. Specific to the stores, it is generally regarded as the highest quality or, if you will, elite department store. Millions and millions of dollars of cumulative advertising has built this name. Free publicity occurs every time Barry makes news, which he still does with regularity.

Presumably, the decision to change the name is motivated by a desire to connect with the strong West Coast identity of Robinsons.

Given all that, what would you do?

Well, the one thing I definitely would not do is abandon the Goldwater name.

I might call it: The New Goldwaters’. Or I might call it: Goldwaters & Robinsons. Or: Robinsons & Goldwaters.

Note: Dan Kennedy is internationally recognized as the 'Millionaire Maker,' helping people in just about every category of business turn their ideas into fortunes. Dan's "No B.S." approach is refreshing amidst a world of marketing hype and enriches those who act on his advice.

how great design will make people love your company

Photo Credit: Peter Dazeley

Source: Do you matter? – How great design will make people love your company

Written by: Robert Brunner and Steward Emery

On the second day after Jobs came back to Apple, Tim Bajarin, recognized as a leading analyst and futurist covering the field of personal computers and consumer technology, was invited to meet with him. One of the questions Bajarin asked Jobs was how he planned to get the computer maker back on the road to profitability. To his surprise, one of the foundational solutions offered was “industrial design.”

We think most people are prone to define design, particularly good design, more narrowly than they should. When you see an iconic product, such as iPhone, for instance, that enjoys an initial runaway success, it’s so easy to overlook the big picture of how the product fits into the company’s future – and the future of similar products in general. We want you to consider a far broader view of the significance of design.

Right now, you could design a product that looks like an iPhone, has really nice details and materials, and becomes an object of lust. However, this doesn’t mean that it will ultimately be successful. Unless you have strong idea that pervades the way it looks, the way it operates, what it does, how it’s communicated to people, how it’s branded, and how people identify with the brand, your product is not complete, because these are all things that go into making a great product which becomes a good business.

This approach is product design as a total concept – how the product operates, how it sounds, and how it feels. Included in the design is the experience of how you buy it, the experience of what happens when you actually get possession of it and open up the box, how you start to feel, and what all this communicates to you. And of course, there is the chain of events through which you became aware of the product. This is part of the design too – what all those touch points meant to you.

Taking possession of the product is just the beginning of the next phase of the relationship. What happens if something goes wrong with the product? What happens next? How do you feel about it? All these things need (to) be included in the total design of the customer experience. This notion is something that IDEO (a Palo Alto design firm formed in 1991) has been basing its entire practice on – the idea that design is not just limited to this thing with buttons.

The iPod is an iconic product of our time, a glorious example of design and business success. So close your eyes and imagine you’re holding an iPod. Now take away iTunes, take away the ability to buy the song you like for 99cents without having to pay $15 for a dozen more on a CD you don’t want, lose the ability to create play lists, cut out the packaging, take out the ads, delete the Apple logo, and shutter all the Apple stores. The remaining question is, “Do you still have an iPod?” Yes, the physical product in your hand is exactly the same, but what do you have now? Really, what do you have?

An iPod is not just an object. The object is an icon that is a portal to an experience. Great products are about ideas; they are not just objects.


*You can also visit their website for the book over here

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