Almost everywhere you turn these days you read of doom and gloom in the retail sector. It is hard to provide any sympathy to businesses that have failed to understand that the world has changed. Especially large retailers who have either had their head in the sand or have been too arogant to think that the way they have been selling to customers are not so smart. I don't believe retail is dead, not by a long way and there are a number of great examples in this months edition of Monocle magazine where retailers and food outlets have had great success in recreating the customer experience.

This article on 7 Steps For Creating Disruptive New Retail Experiences posted on Fast Company Design gives some good ideas on how to get you started.

Happy shopping!

Hot off the press today is the news that Nielsen has released their newly approved multi-screen metric enabling them apply TV-style measurement to online advertising. While digital champions may not necessarily agree that TV metrics are relevant to online, those working with traditional marketers will understand the importance of talking a language familiar to them. If online advertising can be measured in a way that is comparable those mediums that have been in existance for 50 years, we are then in a position to demonstrate the value of digital and what it can add to the channel mix. It appears this methodology may focus TELL communications (TV, banner ads & online videos) and potentially doesn't cover the spectrum of digital (social, e-commerce, search) but is another step in bridging the knowleget gap & understanding of the benefit of online media. Exciting times!

Burberry is the second of the major luxury brands to announce a social sampling campaign this year offering samples of their new body frangrance (set to launch in September) exclusively to their 7.6 million Facebook fans. Burberry took the unusual step of having their Chief Creative Officer announce the sampling campaign via a youtube video shared on their Facebook page. Similarly, earlier in the year Oscar de la Renta launched its first scent in 10 years exclusively via Facebook - exhausting 25,000 samples and growing their fan base by 40% in just 3 days.

Perfume companies and luxury brands alike have long known that sampling to consumers on what is such a highly involved purchase is vital for sales. Evolving this concept by bringing the sample to fans rather than forcing fans to come to them is a clever way to generate earned media through genuinely engaged customers.

But can the same precept apply to mass beauty brands - particularly those that are a less involved purchase such as a body moisturiser bought in a grocery store? Initial results for recent sampling campaign we did for Aveeno bode well with many recipients returning to the Facebook page to thank the brand for the product, share their love for it and confirm they have already or intend to purchase both the body moisturiser but also other Aveeno products on their next grocery trip. In doing so they have generated countless earned media impacts into the newsfeeds of themselves and their social circle.

This was shared with we FARMers courtesy of Chrispy - a disposable 'green' USB stick in cardboard form.

With much excitement (and a few sighs of relief) we launched our first iPhone App today.

Go Somewhere Special was created for Moccona, to bring the romance of their beautiful television commercial Candles into peoples’ real lives.

The app allows you to set a romantic journey for your date, and then send them an invitation to follow it to a secret destination. They then follow the augmented reality line of candles, meeting you at your rendezvous point.

It’s really cool!

We originally conceived the idea when pitching for the Moccona business last year, thinking it would be awesome to push the campaign further than the usual online channels, and out into the real world. With a lot of hard work from all the farmers, and support and confidence from our client, it’s been great to see the idea go through concepting, design, research and development, and finally build.

It’s available now on the Moccona Romantics facebook page, and in the app store, and it’s free so you really don’t have any excuse not to give it a go. We’re predicting it will be a really great last minute romantic gesture for those who forget about next Monday (that’s Valentine’s btw).

Here’s the TVC that started it all:

Go Somewhere Special now, and let us know what you think!