Consumer Insights > Business

Implications - Up-leveling traditional retail signs and displays, tech-infused signage allows a more intimate, personalized and custom consumer experiences. From illuminated retail signs with app-connectivity to in-store to product recommending beauty displays, consumers are always able to get a more personalized experience without human interaction. This new use for smart technology can help various markets from retail to advertising and beyond build more intimate and meaningful consumer connections.

Homework Question - What is one way you can use smart technology to increase your consumers' experience? [More]

Implications - With job recruitment in North America being a relatively arduous process for both the employer and potential candidates, some companies are enhancing the process by creating or taking advantage of unlikely, creative platforms. With processes that flip the interview format to make it more comfortable for candidates, to campaigns with "talking cars" that interview candidates, these new methods have the benefit of revamping the recruitment process, while also increasing the pool of qualified candidates that apply.

Homework Question - Conceptualize a creative element that your brand could insert into its hiring processes. [More]

Implications - The process of finding a mentor no longer involves as much networking as it did in years past, as brands are now offering consumers platforms through which they can develop relationships with professionals in the industries they're interested in. The acceleration of the mentorship process touches on the consumer interest in expanding personal and professional circles.

Homework Question - Conceptualize what a mentorship program your brand could facilitate, either for its customers or its employees. [More]

Implications - Those in the food, beverage and CPG space are creating their own, branded platforms for delivery that are more accessible for the average consumer. Creating on-demand product options and robotic delivery mechanisms, these brands are not simply allowing more convenient methods of consumption, rather, they're taking it into their own hands by creating their own expanded platforms to reach their consumers. These examples speak to the fact that brands are more willing to adapt when it comes to connecting with their consumers in more convenient ways, even if it means dabbling in new business models and formats.

Homework Question - What other business models or extensions could you potentially integrate to better align with this growing desire for convenience? [More]

Implications - Brands are taking the one-stop-shop format to the next level by offering consumes an easier ways to plan, access and complete all their necessary shopping needs in one go. Tapping in-store offerings as well as online apps, brands are realizing the importance of convenience when it comes to consumer experiences, and with that, are combining often different experiences to become one unique activity. From retail destinations that give you all your wedding necessities to branded apps that combine online loyalty programs with in-store functionalities, these examples not only offer convenience, but speaks to the growing desire for customized experiences among consumers.

Homework Question - In what ways could your brand customize your product or service experience to be more convenient and aligned to their needs and rituals? [More]

Implications - Moving further away from traditional brick-and-mortar experiences, brands are focusing more and more on virtual online experiences to give consumers a more multi-sensory and convenient way to engage with products. More than just an in-store aid, VR technology is moving front and center into many retail experiences to not only offer elements of multimedia, but allow consumers to engage in on-site retail experiences from the comfort of their own homes or while on-the-go.

Homework Question - Think about the ways you currently utilize technology in your product or retail experiences. How could you elevate that to be more all-encompassing for the consumer? [More]

Implications - With cooking competitions on TV being immensely popular, food brands are taking note by curating their own in-person experiences that are based in competitive cooking or baking. These experiences play on the popularity of food-related entertainment, while combining that with the interactive purchase experiences that consumers value, and that have been shown to enhance or establish customer loyalty.

Homework Question - Conceptualize a competitive consumer experience that your brand could curate. [More]

Implications - Incubators offer a structure for corporations to foster the growth of small businesses while using them as a source for new developments for their own portfolio. Such innovation hubs offer businesses the opportunity to expand outside their traditional categories and build the influence of their own brand, while simultaneously giving startups access to the expertise and resources of a larger, established company.

Homework Question - Conceptualize what an innovation incubator would look like within your company. [More]

Implications - Offering more than just off-the-shelf goods and pre-packaged items, kiosks and vending machines are diving into fresh food territory to add healthy options to the mix. From stations that offer consumers the chance to re-fill their milk bottles to those where you can purchase fresh salads and vegetables , these examples not only speak to the growth of convenience culture, but also the desire to maintain a sense of health and wellness along the way.

Homework Question - How can your brand balance the desire for convenience and healthy living? What elements of your products or services would you adapt? [More]

Implications - Large brands are increasingly highlighting the trials, triumphs and activism of transgender communities in their products, services and campaigns. Where once trans people were largely included in the mainstream under umbrella campaigns related to the LGBT+ community as a whole, brands are now realizing the importance of singling out the unique experiences of the individuals they are trying to cater to.

Homework Question - How could your brand take a more nuanced approach to inclusion both internally and in the demographics it is trying to reach? [More]