I moderated a panel Tuesday night at Parsons The New School for Design on the topic of “Courting the Consumer.” Our all-star panel came from Gilt Groupe, Coach, Lululemon and the Parsons faculty to discuss how retailers are creating a lasting impression in the minds of consumers, in stores and online.
We will be posting a video of the panel on wgsn.com, but in the meantime, here are some highlights:
David Carroll, Assistant Professor of Media Design at the School of Art, Media & Technology at Parsons The New School for Design:
“Through mobile applications and software, elite trend spotters are going to emerge who will contribute trends in real time to a hyper connected network. I could envision brands paying them for that role, or rewarding a class system of trend originators and followers enabled through software.
"I also think RFID is going to become very important in the North American market in the next two years. There are rumors that certain devices are going to be equipped with them.”
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Founder and Chief Merchandising Officer of Gilt Groupe:
“We’re getting better at building algorithms to track customer behavior. Hopefully in the future we’ll be able to offer up to each of you [web pages] that are completely based on where you’ve spent time looking on our site or what you have been purchasing. That’s something that we’re really investing in.”
Deanne Schweitzer, Head of Global Strategy, Lululemon Athletica:
“We opened what we call the Lululemon Lab in Vancouver. Our logo was a big part of brand identity, so signage outside the Lululemon Lab doesn’t say Lululemon, it just has the logo and then says ‘Lab.’
"The concept is a retail store and almost a mini factory in the same space, with 27 different sewing machines and at least 10 sewers working at one time. Right beside it we’ve got typically 3 designers working on the floor and then a couple of educators [salespeople]. You get to buy really unique, one-off pieces from Lululemon. The space has an energy you can’t imagine.”
Raina Penchansky, VP of Global Communications, Coach:
“Logo might not be as important now domestically, but in China and Japan people are still very much about the logo…
"Everything shifts every 10 years, so I think it’s very natural for us to come away from the logo a little bit now. And there’s a younger generation that really want their own identity and they’re representing their own style. We want to create something that works with their own style and doesn’t make them feel labeled.”
