Interbrand Design Forum Newsletter: Maximizing Your Rollout Potential

8/8/2019 Interbrand Design Forum Newsletter: Maximizing Your Rollout Potential

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Although recovery from the Great

Recession is uneven, the future certainly

looks brighter. Earlier this year, retailers

began to feel optimistic enough about the

industry outlook to put their expansion

plans back on the table. Despite ups and

downs in consumer spending, there have

been retail gains. The winners are those

companies that have taken the time to

identify with shoppers in order to create

the most relevant plan for the successful

implementation of new ideas.

Obvious winners have been dollar stores,

value stores and quick-serve restaurants

followed by the grocery and convenience

channels. Family Dollar plans to expand

by 300 units and remodel its current

eet. Two retailers looking to triple their

number of locations in the next two years

are Five Guys Famous Burgers & Fries

and Childrens Orchard, an upscale resale

chain. No-nonsense small format grocer,

Fresh & Easy and glamorous Whole Foods

Market recently announced expansion

plans. Chipotle intends to bring a new

Asian restaurant concept to the market.

Banks are among the most active small-

format developers (and thanks to recent

takeovers, redevelopers), with Chase

being one of the most aggressive.

how to nd the sweet spot where they

intersect. Theres no longer a need to

settle for two out of three. The danger,

according to Rethman, is that without

the proper guard rails in place, the set

of unique intangibles associated with a

retailerits brand essenceis no longerin control. Without that control, design

elements that help make the brand matter

to the shopper can be cut from the original

vision, such as lighting schemes and

textures that play on emotions, lifestyle

elements and creative touches that speak

to the ego, architectural icons that make

strong, dierentiated statements.

Theres also a risk that investment could

be uneven, leaving one aspect of the store

brand-right while another is left devoid of

engaging character. This is often the case

in quick-serve restaurants when the drive-

thru takes precedent over the dining area,

left to languish and discourage foot trac.

According to a recent study, design has

risen signicantly in importance among

retailers, and is expected to increase

in importance in the years ahead. The

reason? Shoppers are not just value

driven these days, they are sophisticated

consumers of design and ambiance.

A Retail Publication

Ideations

Issue 5 2010

(continued on back

The spur of lower land values, construction

costs and reduced rents are also driving

development. Thanks to this rare trifecta,

many companies are fast-tracking their

plans, hustling to lock down deals while

the good locations and values last.

Consequently, their rollout and documen-

tation partners need to move quickly.

In a pivotal moment like this, where

retailers have a real opportunity to

generate momentum for their brands, it

tends to be all about speed to market,

says Don Rethman, Senior Vice President,

Architecture, Interbrand Design Forum.

Many of our clients have had to compress

the process and develop aggressive

timelines in order to take advantage of

retail space that has gone dark. However,

when you focus entirely on speed, you can

blow right by subtle but powerful brand

opportunities. The kinds of things that

could have a business impact. And if your

rollout team isnt there to protect you,

you might end up with a compromise that

undermines the brand.

Unlike times past, companies seeking

documentation and rollout services today

can expect speed, quality and cost-

eectiveness from architects who know

Maximizing Your Rollout Potential


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Retail Observations

The word innovation, with all its

connotations of invention and imagin-

ation, naturally makes us think of big,

radical ideas that transform industries,

slay competition or alter human behavior.

In the world of goods and services, it

makes us think of the supercenter format,

the QSR drive-thru, self-checkout, next-

day air delivery, and many online/mobile

shopping innovations. And just as

naturally, in our elds of endeavor, we all

want to leave our mark with a brilliantly

disruptive big idea.

But the truth is that innovation can come

from the smallest piece of insight that

when acted upon delivers a transformative

moment, solving a creative problem that

can be either large or small, scaling from

micro to macro.

That point was brought home to me

recently when our creative team shared

in the award of a design patent with

client Procter & Gamble for a simple yet

ingenious instore display that allows

a Swier product to come out of its

box for full hands-on investigation and

engagement. It gets the shopper closer

to the product, makes it convincing in its

purpose and propels sales in a valuable

fashion. In this case, pinpointing the

moment of pain in the shopper

journey allowed the team to make a

dierencein terms of the bottom line,

a profound dierence.

This isnt our rst design patent, just

the smallest in terms of size. We were

awarded our most radical, game-

changing design patent for our work in

the nancial category, and in the same

vein, helped shift the industry paradigm

in the automobile buying experience. The

shopping experiences in both industries

at the time were considered to be less

than pleasant, at times even cold and

confrontational. In such cases, innovation

of any measure that delights customers

with a warm, human touch brings a

major return to the brand. Its immensely

gratifying to be part of such projects.

Weve also been part of enormous

innovation, with partners that have

succeeded wildly and at least one that

proved mans reach can indeed exceed his

grasp. Before the World Wide Web made

it possible to create a store that carries

everything in the universe virtually, one

retailer tried to do it physically. At the

height of the big box era, we designed

The Incredible Universe, a colossal

home electronics store that did not edit

assortmentit sold literally everything.

Our work addressed all facets of the

experienceidentity development,

operations, communications,

merchandising and customer engagement

It was such a feat of daring that the case

was written up and studied in business

schools. Even though the vision got ahead

of its ability to deliver, the outcome led us

to success. Ten years later, when we were

asked to design an equally daring 16-acre

shopping space in Kansas City called

Nebraska Furniture Mart, the big idea was

a smash and jammed the needle on the

shopper delight meter.

While the big innovation work is

exhilarating, and the small is fascinating,

in my mind theres another category,

that of far-reachingas in around the

world. Our design team also shared in

several patents awarded to Holiday Inn

for the design of its refreshed identity and

hospitality experience. The pylon sign is

a bit of design and manufacturing magic,

with its distinctive glow of warmth that

embodies the history of the brand. Each

of the dierentiated guest touchpoints

represent a transformative moment. To

create them we studied behaviors and

emotions as they drive choice. While each

touchpoint may seem small on its own,

together the impact engages millions of

travelers around the world.

Innovation of any size is only meaningful

when it makes a dierence for the shopper

Thats how we create and evaluate ideas

and thats how we help retailers win in

the marketplace.

Innovation Should be Measuredby Shopper Delight

Bruce Dybva


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Smart Design Makes the SameLook Like More

Recently, Dollar General did a beautiful

thing. It seized the opportunity to not

only transform its brand, but redene its

entire category.

With over 8,000 stores and a truly

impressive growth rate, Dollar General

is the 800-pound gorilla of the dollarchannel. Beyond that, the retailer looked

like just about every other dollar store

in the industry.

So, the people at Dollar General did a brave

thing, something they have never done.

They reached out to an agency. They asked

Interbrand Design Forum to transform

their brand and their store experience to

something uniqueto stand out, look

great, deliver big ROI and be cost eective.

One of the things I believe deeply is that

great design doesnt have to mean big

dollar spend. It doesnt have to be wood

oors, spectacular glass store-fronts, and

celebrity DJ booths. Take Chipotle. Its a

great example of simple colors, messages,

and inexpensive materials composed in

a powerful way to create a memorable

experience authentic to the brand.

Great design is about simplicity, story-

telling and attitude. We assured Dollar

General that with a much needed identity

refresh, new store navigation system,

graphics program, and fresh coat of

paint (what we often call quick wins),

the brand could overcome many of the

barriers common to its category. And thus

introduce itself to a group of customers

newly (and painfully) aware of the need

to make their dollars go farther. We

could help them consider Dollar General

for the rst time.

The rst step was brand strategy and

visual identity. Research revealed clearly

that the brands thrifty shoppers wanted

to see more fresh in the consumables

and less clutter throughout the store.

Working as a team, we helped create a

brand platform to keep the tactical core

brand values while bringing emotionaland even aspirational elements into

the brand space so we could elevate

the shopping experience. Essentially,

Dollar General agreed to move from a

dollar store mentality (a category the

company practically invented and

dened) and reclaim its general-store

roots. We knew we could bring that to

life in a modern, relevant way.

For the new identity, we leveraged

the yellow-and-black core brand equity

to craft a mark both more modern and

friendly, but still familiar. It visually

signals that the brand will help you

stretch your dollar.

With the new identity in place, we

designed a visual system that brings

the strategy to life. The system is about

two things: the customer and the brand.

First, make sure the customer can easily

shop the store. Sounds so simple, doesnt

it? Yet very (very) often, brands create

so much clutter in the store (thinking

that more merchandise equals more

sales) that any navigation aids get lost

or ignored by customers whose energies

are now taken up with nding things.

Certainly, Dollar General had that problem.

So we cleared the store of everything

they had and started fresh. Now bold

category signs lead shoppers through

the store, while end cap and aisle signs

get them right to the products they need.

by Ryan Brazelton

Ryan manages a multi-discipline

design team in its pursuit of

thought-provoking ideas to fuse

with great design. The goal is

to bring a clients brand to life

through an insightful, engaging

customer experience. Ryan

enjoys being surrounded by

people who challenge and inspire

him to be more imaginative

every day. His fascination for

transformer action figures is

exceeded only by his passion for

innovative concepts that connect

emotionally with shoppers. Ryan

is a regular contributor to the

Interbrand Design Forum blog.

Guest Feature

(continued on back)

Ryan BrazeltonSenior Creative Director

Graphic Design

Interbrand Design Forum

Dollar General proves transformation

neednt be costly.


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A Retail Publication by

7575 Paragon Road, Dayton, Ohio 45459

P +1 937 439 4400

F +1 937 439 4340

[email protected]

Bruce Dybvad, CEO

Jill Davis, Editor

Garrett Rice, Design/Production

2010

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As for the added emotional, aspirational

aspect of Dollar General, that arrived

through the brand story. The company

has a rich heritage and many great stories

to tell. It had just never taken credit for

them. For instance, ever notice how

Dollar General has a small parking lot? This

isnt because it cant aord a big one. Itsone of the ways of serving the customer.

Keeping the parking lot small helps save

time, shoppers get in and out quickly.

What a great story! Just tell it! A bold,

simple graphic treatment marries a unique

aspirational image style to create a unique

Dollar General lifestyle and attitude.

Something that had never been present in

the brand or the industry.

The real moment of accomplishment came

when we prototyped the store. Customers

walked in and literally stopped, gasped,smiled and went excitedly to explore the

store. (True story. I was there.) Every

customer said the same things, one of

which was, Oh, this Dollar General has

so much more than mine! Of course, it

doesnt. But now that they can shop it

more easily, understand it and enjoy being

there, they see it, nd it and buy it. Its a

beautiful thing.

Smart Design

When faced with the option of price versus price plus an enhanced physical environment,

they tend to take the complete package. The language of architecture and design, to

paraphrase Dead Poets Society, is meant to woo shoppers.

Our approach is very much in line with the trend towards expressing brand in the store

experience, using those elements and emotional triggers that our brand strategy people

have determined inuence purchase and preference, says Rethman. We also work with

analysts who know where the returns are going to be on your investment, where to bestspend your dollars. So, during the documentation and rollout phase, nobody cuts the

third leg o the stool.

Rethman goes on to explain that a team of architects and engineers integrated with

retail designers is the key to receiving the greatest value for your investment. These three

disciplines working together through each phase of design development oer the ideal,

the key to maximizing your rollout potential. Value engineering is done during the process,

not added at the nish, where it can often end up being applied with all the subtlety of a

chain saw instead of a scalpel.

Design prototypes at their best are exciting, innovative and full of promise, imbued as

they are with shopper insights and creative vision. But any new prototype must be

adapted to a wide variety of real estate. Chase Bank is an example of a client on a rollouttear with a mix of new builds, instore-branches, remodels and rebrands, often in spaces

from 4,000 to 5,000 s.f. Rethman and his team have rolled out almost 180 so far. The

challenge is to adapt the prototype to multiple units with varying footprints in tons of

jurisdictions without losing the elements of the brand that shoppers notice.

In the case of Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts, where business is thriving, the design needs to

work as well in the small 10,000 to 15,000 s.f. format stores as it does in the large 40,000

s.f. stores. It does, claims Rethman. Our team is grounded in brand and therefore armed

with the knowledge of which elements drive shopper choice. That is how you maximize

rollout potential for a client. The selling environment will be equally eective in their 50

upcoming remodels as it will be in their 50 new stores.

Creating news through design, staying relevant through reinvention and expandinginto new markets all contribute to the lifeblood of retail. The courage to try something

new is alive and well in the retail industry as seen in its quest to engage with shoppers

at a higher level. As one retail executive said, it may take a few years for the economy to

return to normal, but customers will continue to expect creativity. The right approach to

documentation and rollout can make the most of the opportunity.

Maximizing Your Rollout Potential

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Interbrand Design Forum Newsletter: Maximizing Your Rollout Potential

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