Retail

Product as Display

Posted at March 22, 2011 // Promotion, Retail

Sometimes, the best display vehicle is simply your own products displayed dramatically. It doesn’t take special shippers. It doesn’t take special packs. It doesn’t take anything more than creativity.

This impressive display took up a large footprint within the store, and this display took full advantage of that little madness called March Madness, with which my town is completely infected . The front and the back of the display contain shoppable stacks of products. With the size, this display was able to feature a variety of Coke brands in a variety of sizes.

How this awesome display came to be? I can’t speak to the secret meetings that happened behind closed doors at Coke or Kroger (just kidding). I do know that Coke’s direct ship system played an important part in making this happen. A team of Coke delivery representatives descended at the store one morning. A few hours later, the display was built. It took no manpower from the store, which no doubt helped persuaded Kroger into taking this display design.

(I thought this display looks very impressive from every angle, so I thought I’d share.)

Let me know what you think about this display. Also, what other creative examples of in-store displays have you seen around town?

Check out my original post on CPGBranding.com

22 Examples of Supermarket Themed Display (thevisualmerchandisingblog.wordpress.com)

Nameless logo going to India!

Posted at January 14, 2011 // Retail, Strategy / Tactics

In previous post, I had argued that removing the name “Starbucks Coffee” was a necessary move for Starbucks for continuous expansion. The nameless logo offers flexibility to expand beyond the category. It offers flexibility to expand beyond English speaking countries.

We already know that Starbucks is expanding into different categories. It has introduced a wide portfolio of merchandise into the stores. Today, we got another confirmation that Starbucks is planning to further expand aboard. Check out New York Times article titled A Starbucks Venture in Tea-Drinking India.

The tea-drinking part caught my interests particularly. As Walmart, McDonald, and any number of the other multinational retail operations will show, localization is the key to success in any global expansion plan. So, in a country where many still prefers tea, tea no doubt will be part of the product offering. In fact, tea is on the menu even here in the US. Globally, packaged tea is available for at-home use. Tea will just likely play a more important role in a tea-drinking country, such as India. With that in mind, would you go into that country with a logo touting, yelling, and screaming coffee?

Photo credit: Image available on Starbucks.com.au

Nameless logos (curiousmarketeer.com)
Nameless logo – Smart move for the future? (curiousmarketeer.com)
India: Here comes Starbucks (marketwatch.com)
Starbucks logo: Sayonara coffee, hello Asia (holykaw.alltop.com)

Tags : Logo, Starbucks

Nameless Logos – Stupid or Necessary?

Posted at January 8, 2011 // Advertising, Promotion, Retail, Strategy / Tactics

As I follow the Starbucks logo conversation, one particular change had evoked quite a reaction: The removal of the words “Starbucks Coffee” from the logo.

This move invited many reactions from various marketers, branding experts, and strategists. Some questioned the wisdom of removing the name from the logo and its effect on branding. Others considered the flexibility offered by the removal of the category. Some asserted that it was a bold move to remove both name and category at the same time.

Sources say that the words won’t disappear entirely. While these words will no longer be part of the logo, they will be printed on the Starbucks cups. This should help alleviate some of the branding concerns. However, Starbucks had long been more than just coffee. While it’s true that Starbucks gave birth to the premium coffee industry, Starbucks is not just a product but a brand.

Premium coffee was not just about the bean that was used. After all, before Starbucks, there were already a cottage industry of premium coffee brewing in the city of Seattle. Starbucks was successful because it had a vision how to deliver of that premium coffee to the masses. That was the “Third Place” principal: Starbucks offered you an option outside of your home and your office. Some used this “third place” to relax, other used it for work. Starbucks offered not just a drink, but a culture. Over the year, Starbucks had expanded into food, merchandises, and most notably music. Now, the trick is not to deviate too far away from it’s heart and soul – coffee.

There was another recent logo update that removed the category: MTV. MTV chose to remove the words “Music Television” from the logo a while back. In addition, it offered the real estate on the logos to feature the latest reality stars. There were quite a bit of backlash that the network had walked away from its core and moved to the latest fad.

Starbucks in Beijing

The lesson for Starbucks is to move with caution, lest risk alienating your core.

There is another theory that the removal of the words. On one hand, a wordless logo offers flexibility on categories. On the other hand, a wordless logo also offers flexibility on countries. As this photo illustrates, aboard, the Starbucks logo is overshadowed by the name itself (which are the characters. The characters read Starbucks Coffee). In order to build a successful brand, one must have full control of the branding and the communication hierarchy. Removing the English name from the logo allows the company better control on how to incorporate the name into its branding in different countries. A smart move for a company with global ambitions

So perhaps Starbucks has no intention of walking away from its core, after all.

Photo credit: Logos via Adage.com. ®/™ Trademarks owned by Starbucks Corporation and MTV Networks respectively. Beijing picture by Achim Hepp.