What makes a store more than a store?  What makes a breakthrough brand experience at retail?

These are questions that companies with brick and mortar assets wrestle with as they continue to lose share to online competitors or to those with mobile capabilities (smart phone-enabled mobile commerce as well as IRL roving mobile units and other non-traditional formats).  I’ve been tackling these questions through the last six months as I’ve audited over a dozen new and interesting retail and restaurant concepts.

I’ve been cataloguing my insights from my audits in a series of Brand Experience Briefs.  As I survey my reports so far, I find that the concepts which create memorable brand experiences in their stores have some things in common.  Here are nine criteria of breakthrough brand experiences:

1. a clear and compelling brand story and/or brand promise that’s brought to life. Stores need to embody the essence of the brand and make their differentiation and value clear and compelling.  The brand history and values are conveyed clearly in the design, signage, and lounge area at Patagonia’s Tin Shed store, while The Habit Burger Grill restaurant fails to express a distinctive brand platform or attributes.

brand mural in Patagonia's Tin Shed store

2. target appropriateness.  We’re all attracted to people who are clear about who they are. We respond naturally to their self-confidence. Brands are no different. Brands with integrity and clarity are attractive because they don’t try to be all things to all people or to be something they’re not.  The 77Kids NYC Style Lab is a great example. Everything about the store is targeted squarely to fun-loving kids.  Subway Café, on the other hand, aspires to offer an upscale coffeehouse ambience but that’s not what its customers want, and it doesn’t execute on the concept very well.

3. brand-right assortment.  Some of the strongest concepts are filled with tens of thousands of SKUs, while others offer very tailored assortments.  There’s no single “right” assortment size or scope – it really depends on the brand strategy.  Central Market aims to be a place for foodies, so it makes sense for the store to feature over 700 types of hand-cut cheeses.  Starbucks’s new concept stores use local wines and beers to convey the personal, intimate attributes that the company desires for its brand.

4. interactivity.  Although emerging technology has enabled websites to become more entertaining and engaging, brick and mortar still has the upper hand on interactivity. And the concepts that breakthrough are those that use interactivity to make the shopping experience unique, exciting, and memorable. The LEGO store stands out with features like its Pick-a-Brick wall for kids to dig their hands into cubby holes filled with LEGOs of all different shapes and colors.  However the Walmart.com store misses important interactive opportunities since many products were not available to try or play with.

Pick-a-Brick wall at the LEGO store

5. overt promotion of product quality.  Retailers should stage experiences and use store signage and displays to promote the quality of their products.  The REI store in SOHO sets the standard for this with its areas that enable customers to try products (like an incline walkway in the hiking boot area); Uniqlo uses eye-catching signage to highlight features of its products; and messages about product freshness are sprinkled throughout the Pie-o-logy location.  Steak n’ Shake Signature could learn from these examples, since they have great burgers and shakes but haven’t figured out how best to merchandise and present them.

6. passionate and well-trained employees. Staff who are disengaged (employees at the Walmart.com store seem more interested in figuring out the products themselves than in interacting with customers) or clueless (an order-taker at Subway Café doesn’t know the menu) detract from the experience and damage any hope of brand integrity.

7. distinctive design and décor.  The most memorable brand experiences use design and décor to create a sense of place.  They take a fresh approach to layout and architecture to create a brand world of sorts, they employ interesting materials for surfaces and fixtures to appeal to all the senses, and they use details and decorations to express the brand personality.  REI integrates the historic features of its unique location (the historic Puck building) with digital signage and other contemporary design elements, while Pie-o-logy created its distinctive environment, including mod furnishings and a wall of fun quotes, from the ground up.

Pie-o-logy's distinctive design and decor

8. attention to detail.  The devil is in the details when it comes to retail brand experiences.  Details like Starbucks’s hand-written welcome message incorporating its wi-fi service communicate volumes – so do the plastic utensils at ihop express and the drab dressing rooms at Uniqlo.  Breakthrough retailers sweat the small stuff.

9. extension beyond the four walls.  Retailers that extend their brand experience outside their store make a bigger impact and create longer-lasting relationships with their customers.  A couple of examples:  REI’s active involvement in its community through service projects provides authenticity and personal engagement; the content in Uniqlo’s magalog connects people to its brand attributes and values.

Uniqlo's matalog

I’d love to hear your feedback.  What other criteria contribute to breakthrough brand experiences?  What new and interesting restaurant and retail concepts should we take a look at?  Comments are open!

Also if you and your team need to re-think your brand experience, sign up for a Brand Experience Day.  We’ll head out into the field to experience concepts like these, and then regroup to identify and apply the new insights to your business.  Learn more.

related posts:

• would you like a coffee with that wi-fi
• 12 truths to guide retailing in 2012
• six best practices in retail

brand as business bit:  I got a response to my last “brand as business brief“, Value and Values, that I just have to share with you.  It’s from Kevin Knight, who along with his wife Heather, run Anjou Bakery, a “a thriving incubator of good taste in food” in Cashmere, WA (about 2 hours East of Seattle.)  Kevin writes:

“I am currently re-reading “Setting the Table” by Danny Meyer and at the end of the introduction he says ‘Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple, and it’s that hard.’  He defines Great Service as delivering on your promise, steps 1 – x, a monologue, what your company sets out to do, etc. Great Hospitality on the other hand is a human dialog that makes people feel good. It’s thoughtful and creative, customized and intelligent.

To achieve all you can be (in life and business) you must be good at both…In our business I try to tell everyone to think of each customer as if they were their grandmother. A bit corny perhaps, but for me that idea sets the stage for a positive interaction.”

It’s because of retailers like Kevin and the hundreds of thousands of others out there who “get it,” that I believe retail is far from dead.  Long live retail!

P.S. (My next “brand as business brief” on brand experiences is coming out next week — don’t miss out — subscribe here.)

(Here’s my newest Brand Experience Brief — insights and analysis from my audits of new and interesting retail or restaurant concepts.)

It’s always interesting to see how product companies create retail experiences for their brands.  That’s why I’m eager to share my download on the LEGO store.  It’s a solid experience for the LEGO brand, but they missed some opportunities to make it even more engaging.  Take a look and let me know if you agree:

other brand experience briefs:

• Pie-o-logy
• uniqlo
• 77kids

brand as business bit:  While perusing the aisles at Target awhile back, I stumbled across these really great packages of healthcare products and fell in love:

I was so pleased to read the story behind such an ingenious brand in Businessweek.   (Be sure to check out the sidebar on the playbook of gimmicks used in most drug commercials – it’s pretty humorous.)

Help Remedies has turned drug marketing on its head:

• The brand voice is clear and friendly, selling “as though it was coming from a friend, not a doctor in a lab coat—or an actor playing one.”
• Their target is “people in their 20s and 30s who are largely ignored by the big brands. That’s why, in addition to pharmacies and grocery stores, Help can be found at high-profile conferences [like TED] and in the minibars of Morgans Hotels.
• They use humor:  “‘If you try to maintain a tone of science and seriousness, it’s really alienating,’ says [co-founder Nathan Frank.] On the back of Help’s nausea medicine, the package jokes about how the pills are flavorless.  There are dozens of mock problems on their website… each of which links to a tongue-in-cheek solution.”

But what most distinguishes Help is that they are in drug category in the first place:  “Everybody in branding starts snack food and beverage businesses,” says [co-founder Richard Fine.] “They chase after these categories where there’s already a lot of brands…there’s 8,000 small beauty brands out there. In pharmaceuticals, you have the big companies, and then you have us.”

Love the zag!

(Here’s the latest Brand Experience Brief — insights and analysis from my audits of a new or interesting retail or restaurant concept.)

Pie-ology, a new pizzeria concept inspired by Chipotle, delivers a remarkable brand experience — check it out:

other brand experience briefs:

• The Habit Burger Grill
• uniqlo
• ihop express

(Check out my latest “brand experience brief” — a report with insights and analysis of new and interesting restaurant and retail concepts.)

Fast fashion retailer Uniqlo is on a roll.  I visited the company’s Herald Square location, one of three stores it has in New York City.  Here’s what I thought of the brand experience there:

more brand experience briefs:

• REI in SOHO
• The Habit Burger Grill
• Patagonia’s Tin Shed

(Here’s the latest in a series of “brand experience briefs” — reports with insights and analysis of new and interesting restaurant and retail concepts.)

The Habit is one of the many “better burger” chains generating a lot of buzz these days. Although its charburgers do taste good, the company needs to work harder to differentiate the brand from all the other options.  Here’s why:

DLYohn Brand Experience Brief: The Habit from Denise Lee Yohn on Vimeo.

more brand experience briefs:

• Steak ‘n Shake Signature
• ihop express
• Subway Cafe

On the eve of a special Apple event, it seems the allure of the Apple brand is as strong as ever.  “We have something you really have to see. And touch,” declares the invitation to the March 7^th media event.  Quite a buzz has been building up!

I don’t know if tomorrow’s announcement will impress or disappoint – nor do I know how long Apple will continue to rock our world.  But I remain fascinated by what I can only describe as the magical appeal of the Apple brand.  To try to understand the magic, I looked for clues in Walter Isaacson’s biography, Steve Jobs, and put together this slide show of what the book teaches about brand-building:

(Welcome to a “brand experience brief” — insights and analysis of new and interesting restaurant and retail concepts.)

REI’s first store in New York City is the quintessential flagship store – it’s big, it’s in a prominent location, and it showcases the brand like no other retail store. Check out my video recap on this extraordinary experience:

other brand experience briefs:

• Steak ‘n Shake Signature
• Patagonia’s Tin Shed
• 77Kids

brand as business bit:  My latest Brand New Perspectives column in QSR Magazine answers a QSR operator’s question about keeping customers coming back.

The piece outlines my thoughts on increasing purchase frequency — an objective of practically every marketer — I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the effectiveness of a heart-felt ‘thank you.’  Said with earnestness, those two words have so much power — they:

• convey emotion — humans are emotional beings
• make a personal connection — what marketer wouldn’t want to do this?
• stand out — because it’s becoming a rare occurrence
• increase profits — read the evidence in this great bit from last fall’s Fast Company
• give me a reason to buy again – nuff said

Here’s an example of a well-executed “thank you” I recently received in an order from the White House/Black Market:

Love it!