Much to my dismay, I discovered last night that my hotel room overlooks the volcano show at the Mirage Hotel. Every evening on the hour, my windows shake from the roar of the flames and spouting water. Which caused me to wonder: is “mirage” the name of the hotel or an explanation of everything Vegas? Perhaps the latter. That Italian marble? Fake. Those stone columns? Actually fiberglass. One thing you need to know about Las Vegas is that what you see is not necessarily what you get.

Inside the Sands Convention Center, GlobalShop is no exception. Across the myriad of vendor displays and supplier… read more.

Retail has traditionally focused on driving shopper transaction through pricing, promotion, shelf placement and a number of other tried and true conventions. However, there is a growing movement in retail that the in-store experience should be about more than increasing transactional speed. Some retailers are showing how higher-order benefits and cultural themes can be used to deepen shoppers’ relationships with the in-store experience while driving sales.

Day One at IRDC turned this retail convention on its head by making arguments for experiences versus shelves. Keynote speaker Chip… read more.

For a conference called Global Shop, it was refreshing to learn about a brand whose focus is on local marketing and local experiences.

Gabrielle Rosi, Senior Design Coordinator of Whole Foods Market, utilizes three seemingly simple yet hard to pull-off values to design the Whole Foods Market stores to create shopper experiences unique to each location.

• The community is our friend
• Little is the new big
• Values are to be seen in action

According… read more.

Both Guy Kawasaki and Kevin Kelly are known for their illuminating and provocative visions of technology, commerce and communication. So, last week, The Brand Show meant to sit down with them during the National Retail Federation’s Innovate conference in San Francisco. Problem is, we didn’t. In lieu of our failure to land the interview, we faked it. After all, we had some important questions to ask. What follows is a transcript of an interview that never was.

The Brand Show:
Good evening gentlemen. Let’s talk about social media. What do you think a guy like Dale Carnegie would think of marketing through a social… read more.

Recently, Guy Kawasaki gave the closing keynote address at the National Retail Federation’s Innovate 2011 conference in San Francisco. The conference was designed to showcase the ideas that are transforming the retail industry, so it was only fitting that Kawasaki was given the final word. Kawasaki took the opportunity to delve into the philosophy behind his latest book, “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions.” 

In our data-driven, attentively deficient culture, Kawasaki has mastered the art of the elegant one-liner that made… read more.

On the road again with The Brand Show! Over the next three days The Brand Show will hit highlights, trends and insights straight from keynotes and premier brand attendees of The National Retail Federation’s Innovate 2011 conference in San Francisco.

Day One:
Kickin’ off Innovate 2011: Kevin Kelly, a true visionary of contemporary culture.

The most compelling piece of Kelly’s talk was on the role of data in our lives and business…and the opportunity for both shoppers and retailers to harness the power… read more.

As retailers you know digital media can reduce overhead and spur shopper intrigue through new experiences…but, wouldn’t it be nice to know your digital media strategy is reaching the right shoppers, at the right time, creating greater shopper engagement? Cue-in digital “place-based” media.

The concept of digital place-based media was a major point of discussion at the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas this year. Taking into consideration context and environment, digital place-based media allows for interaction between the shopper, their smartphone, the digital display, customer support,… read more.

Want some good stuff? Stephen Randall, CEO of LocaModa dished up a nice platter of good stuff for anyone who works in the digital signage/mobile business, especially those in the marketing and branding realm.

Essentially, the point of Randall’s presentation was to help all of us think about better and smarter ways to connect with consumers, be they in shopper mode or basic "people" mode. And fortunately, he summarized his ideas in a tidy top ten list of conventional, but often ignored, wisdom.

1. Connected audiences (demand connected media).
   … read more.