Critical thinking doesn’t start and stop with the project brief. We are forever evaluating the world around us and thinking about the future of your industry. So when the time comes to take your brand to the next level, we’ll be ready.
PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE
April 22, 2021
For decades, telecommunications providers have enabled us to connect remotely with one another. Now, with society’s increasing awareness of mental health, and the role communication plays in maintaining it, we’re proposing a concept that would see telcos support their existing digital connection points with new physical ones—live, permanent activations encouraging people to interact with one another in more meaningful ways, while driving new opportunities for brand engagement.
Our point of view on current industry challenges, emerging trends, and shifting need states that we think deserve better solutions and more strategic thinking.
Since 1965, when the first Gold’s Gym opened in Venice, CA, the fitness business model has offered consumers a somewhat limited big-box experience that, in five decades, has remained much the same. With COVID-19 now disrupting that model, and changing the way consumers pursue fitness, it’s time for the grocery sector to shake up the routine.
More people are owning pets, and more owners are treating them like members of the family. This growing trend is an ideal opportunity for grocery retailers to cater to an expanding consumer segment that would welcome the one-stop convenience of covering off all their pet supplies—with some added perks—in the same place they buy their groceries.
While digital has proven a communication lifesaver in recent months for brands and consumers alike, its overuse has been shown to erode customer trust, as Canada’s financial institutions are finding out. Now is the time for them to fill this void and bridge the divide that is leaving some customers feeling disconnected.
Winter is here—and with it comes the need for distancing and isolation as COVID-19 continues to wear on. But with a little imagination and innovation, brands can create engaging, socially distanced events that bring consumers together safely while generating revenue.
In Perennial | DCM’s 2021 Brand Outlook video, Chief Brand Officer Kevin Lund shares our take on the important shift brands must make to succeed in the coming year, and offers three filters for evaluating success.
Today the healthcare experience takes place across a variety of touchpoints, with the patient bearing the responsibility of connecting the dots. The opportunity to unify that experience, under a single brand, exists in the grocery channel. The retailer that delivers on this will achieve a new level of customer intimacy and loyalty, maximizing wallet-share potential.
Direct-to-consumer models have been an industry game-changer for CPG players, unlocking highly coveted access to individual, consumer-level data. But the model also brings with it the risk of mediocrity: simply creating an online catalogue of an in-store offering is not enough. Here’s how we believe CPG companies can use the model to achieve maximum value.
If retailers are eliminating physical flyers, they are going to need to tighten the often adversarial relationship between their merchandising and operations teams.
Covid-weary consumers are facing a holiday season of continued distancing and digital—and they’re craving a more connected experience. Any brand that ignores that and approaches the holidays the same as years past will not be successful.
The anchor is a relic of a retail past that is now overshadowed by e-commerce and digitally native brands. Could we revive anchor stores in a new way—one that revitalizes both the store and mall and grows alongside a changing market?
When the retail industry was virtually knocked off its feet (aka: disrupted) by the advent of e-commerce a dozen or so years ago, brands had two options: Adapt to this brave new online world, or be left behind by it.
From initial annual sales forecasts of $5B to current projections of less than half that, the high hopes for legalized cannabis in Canada have not materialized. The answer lies in the convenience channel.
Mall operators across North America have been rolling out drive-in movie experiences in their parking lots to generate traffic and reconnect with consumers. Could shopping centres be missing out on the even bigger opportunity presented by the drive-in?
News that matters from the ever-changing world of brands. Click below for our quick, insightful summary of each article.
The pandemic has opened consumers’ eyes to, and furthermore placed an emphasis on, things that were not previously top of mind. Amongst the largest of consumer mindset shifts has been a concern for the environment. Consumers are now, more than ever, conscious of the environmental impact their lives have. What once was appreciated as a pillar of CSR is now considered a prerequisite. We see a necessity for brands to incorporate sustainability into their practices with more public visibility, or risk losing market share.
A recent report from BCG has noted that as many as 70% of respondents say they are more aware of the direct impact humans have on the earth than ever before. In a movement for more ‘green’ behaviour, 87% say they believe that companies should be doing more to help protect the environment. As consumers begin to look to brands to lead the charge, brands must begin to think about how they can evolve their business model to embed immediate and long-term positive change relative to their carbon footprint, as well as their customers’.
At the beginning of the year, we labeled 2021 as the year in which brands would lead the charge in the shift away from the culture of fear – meaning that brands that use adversity as a catalyst for positive change will remain most relevant in consumers’ lives. We see an opportunity for brands to gain increased trust with consumers by taking a more empathetic approach with their employees.
We saw this with Empire’s announcement in April that it will be bringing back hero pay for employees, and Loblaw is another great example. In response to the government’s recent ruling against paid sick days, it has launched a ‘paid protection program’ for both full- and part-time employees. The program is designed to allow for paid sick days regardless of your employment status, in an effort to take pressure off of employees in the middle of a pandemic. In launching this program, Loblaw demonstrates how brands can take matters into their own hands; improving not only the lives of their employees, but their relationship with the company as well.
With ongoing lockdowns keeping people out of shopping malls, consumer traffic continues to shift towards ecommerce. With this digital growth, retailers are becoming more invested in the logistical operations and cost efficiency of their online sales, focusing less on their physical environments. We see a need for property developers to reconsider their relationships, evolving from landlord to partner, while developing solutions that will benefit the collective.
Oxford Properties is a good example of this, having recently announced a new same-day delivery program. The service, ShipNow, will offer retailers fulfillment of in-store, online, and phone orders from the store to the local trade area — providing retailers with fulfillment strategies to transact online sales as well as allowing them to place local inventory into the e-commerce space to get orders delivered to shoppers with same-day delivery. As property managers re-evaluate their revenue models and focus on added services, this could be a new age of landlord-tenant collaboration rather than combative relationships.
While the pandemic’s altering of work routines was supposed to be temporary, sending millions of people from their daily office space to work from home, employees’ expectations of what their workday looks like have changed for good. As vaccinations rise and things begin to return to normal, we see a necessity for employers to engage their employees in the conversation, and incorporate flexibility into their offer to ensure retention.
In a survey of over 2,000 employed adults, more than a quarter said they’re planning to leave their job after the pandemic. Workers who want to quit overwhelmingly say they’re looking for more flexibility in a new job. Even among those who aren’t considering changing jobs, 50% of those who are currently working remotely say that if their current company doesn’t continue to offer remote-work options long-term, they’ll look for a job at a company that does. For employers, evolving workplace flexibility to accommodate this concern will be critical to employee retention in the post-pandemic world.
When the pandemic struck and in-store capacities took a hit, retailers were forced to introduce alternative fulfillment methods to satisfy consumer demand. Some of these new practices have proved to be quite beneficial and so may have more longevity than initially anticipated. We see a need for retailers to invest in the curbside pick-up and BOPIS experiences, as these shopping fulfillment methods will remain popular in the future – long after stores reopen for regular shopping.
Some retailers have already begun to invest in a more permanent curbside pick-up process. Lowe’s, for example, is launching new automated smart lockers, which incorporate Bluetooth compatibility and touchscreen technology to allow customers to pick up online orders with nothing more than a quick barcode scan. With retail restrictions constantly changing, and consumers continuously looking for safer purchase methods, it is critical for retailers to optimize the curbside pick-up experience and evolve the current offer, as this fulfillment method will surely remain popular post-pandemic.
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