ETD: 915 Everything that changes remains the same; Branding:
Back To Basics; Gap Goes Forth & Towne
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Thu Aug 25 13:14:29 GMT 2005
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0915 August 25, 2005
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Everything that changes remains the same
[3] Branding: Back To Basics
[4] Gap Goes Forth & Towne
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Today's digest centers around a concept that "everything that changes
remains the same." It all comes down to the basics you buy goods, you
sell goods and if what you sell it for is higher than what you paid, you
may make some money. Of course, you need to tell everybody about your
business. However, it is still a concept of people selling people.
Branding is also a very overworked term. Before you can entertain a
branding campaign, you need to get down to basics. What makes you
different from the myriad of competition out there?
Along those lines the Gap Stores (the other GAP ;-)) is starting a new
concept, catering to women over 35. They are opening new large
(8,000-square-foot) stores, which should prove interesting. Let's keep an
eye on this concept.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Everything that changes remains the same
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There is a statement I read once that said "everything that changes remains
the same," which also fascinated me. How can it remain the same if it
changed? We're seeing it now with the Internet.
In January, 1998, when this thing called the Web (or Internet) was coming
into fashion, I was a keynote speaker at the Gift Retail Trade Show at
Dallas World Trade Center (http://gapent.com/media/seminars/dallas.htm). I
told the audience that "Most of us say would say the ability to do business
internationally, and, since our business is local, it may not be of
interest to us. Well, it may come as a surprise to you that 51% of
Americans who use the Internet do so to access local information such as
news, entertainment listings, and local businesses. By the end of 1998,
there will be 48 million people in the US searching on the Internet, and
more than 24 million (18 million in 1997) will be searching for local
merchants only."
What really stood out was one shop owner in the audience who confirmed
local shopping when she told how a shopper came to her store and picked up
specific merchandise and went right to the register. Since the shopper was
new, the shop owner asked where she had heard about the store. "I found
your site on the Internet, saw what you sold, made a list and hear I am."
Then we went into that era of "pure play" retailers, i.e., those who are
online retailers only. Next came the big guys who built their online
presence to enhance their brick & mortar stores.
Now, we seem to be getting back to the basics. In an article in Forbes
Magazine, they tell how the next fierce battlefield for Google, Yahoo! and
Microsoft is local search. About $100 billion is spent per year on local
advertising, with about $15 billion spent on yellow pages advertising. Of
the 4 billion monthly online searches, roughly 1.1 billion involve local
search.
While it may be the next big thing, the problem is that local search is
exceedingly complex. Despite the heavy competition, there are many
innovative companies emerging to take on the challenge.
Which proves the theory that "everything that changes remains the
same." The main use for the Web for most retailers, IMHO, is as a
resource for consumers to find you, learn about your business, then visit
you and purchase. Sure there are many pure play retailers online, and they
are doing quite well. However there is no better way to get known, than to
use the Internet for promoting your business, and drive business to your
front door.
What do you think?
George
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[3] Branding: Back To Basics
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Since I'm on a roll with "everything that changes remains the same," let's
look at branding.
As we reported in issue 907, branding is an overworked word in the business
world today. Many people use branding as a cure for all kinds of problems
in all kinds of businesses. Everywhere you go you hear people talking about
branding, including cute variations like "emotional," "primal," "sensory,"
"musical," "internal," "external," "holistic," "vertical," "abstract,"
"nervous," "invisible" branding. What is it all about?
IMHO, before you can consider branding, you must first develop a unique
"Differentiation Strategy" program which will propel your organization out
of the area we call "the brilliant shade of gray." All organizations are
basically the same. The trick is to develop a strategy that will give the
public the perception that you are different in a way that is meaningful to
them. What makes your organization so different from the myriad of others
out there? Why should I buy from you? And please don't say it's your
people and products - everybody says that.
Once you have developed a differentiation strategy, you then need to craft
the message to conduct branding – to create an image for your organization
that has universal appeal. While you may have been in business for
decades, and you may have a recognized image within your relatively small
circle of consumers and colleagues, the Internet gives you the opportunity
to launch your business into a far broader audience. With that goal in
mind, you should be promoting those aspects of your identity that you want
to come into the minds of your audience whenever your company name is
brought forward.
What do you do to create a differentiation strategy?
George
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[4] Gap Goes Forth & Towne
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Forth & Towne, Gap Inc.'s highly anticipated retail concept, is opening for
business in the New York City suburb of West Nyack at the Palisades Center
mall.
The 8,000-square-foot unit will sell apparel targeted to women 35 and up
who have, USA Today reports, been "turned off by traditional department
stores."
The new store is the first of five planned for opening this year. Four more
are scheduled to open for business in the Chicago area. Gap plans five more
Forth & Towne store openings next year and 20 in 2007.
The new concept will break stores out into distinct areas with specific
groups of the 35+ female demographic targeted in each section.
Department stores' woes are well documented and 35+s are not shopping them
for a variety of reasons. They are not frequenting the malls (which have
lost their perceived convenience), and the dept. stores lack newness and
unique products. Forth & Towne may be better suited for "off the mall,"
quality downtown, village, and lifestyle center locations. It will succeed
or fail based on how well its merchandise connects with target customers
and not on the location of and the number of mirrors in its dressing rooms.
Design features and store experience contribute to and are necessary to
success but only serve to support the presentation of the "right" goods.
Once again, it's about the merchandise!! (Mike Tesler - BrainTrust Panelist)
For this age group, the "traditional department store" is their mother's
store. And just as we men didn't want to drive "our father's Oldsmobile,"
neither do these women want to shop at "their mother's store." So is Forth
and Towne on trend? We think so. Will it save the Gap from the fate of the
Oldsmobile? We'll see. (Ben Ball - BrainTrust Panelist)
Details at...
http://www.retailwire.com/Discussions/Sngl_Discussion.cfm/10868
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