VMSD - March/April 2020 - 15

B R IAN D Y C HE S, LOS ANGE LE S
M IC H EL LE M . CO LL IN S, N E W YO R K

me clues about space planning, environmental graphics and visual
merchandising strategies to tell the brand story the way in which the
innovation engineers intended. Take Asics' smart shoe with sensors
that monitor movement. This single feature can yield countless ideas
about how to bring in-store technology and the brand narrative to life,
showing the client you really do understand it's about helping to sell
more than it is about experience only. Experience without a sale is,
well, not going to keep you in business.
B8ta showed a shoppable trailer to remind brands that getting
your new products in front of the customer sometimes requires a
tech-rich environment. Getting product in consumers' hands to
sample the user experience is paramount to a new product going
viral. And, this model includes observable sensors and data capture
points that deliver a custom analysis of consumer activity and related
sales conversations. Not thinking about this in your creative brief is a
major mistake these days.
SMART CITIES/TRANSPORT: Driverless cars and delivery
models are changing fast. The way the customer gets to our stores or
has their purchased items delivered will become an extension of the
brand. With multi-family structures under way in most medium to
large cities, there's a need to develop new ways to deliver merchandise
to mailboxes and lobbies. Working with quick-serve restaurants? I
predict a big impact coming there as well.
DESIGN: From packaging to exhibit design to branded graphics,
CES brings about a lot of "A-game" work worth seeing first hand. One
example was Fremont, Calif.-based flexible tech innovator Royole's
bendable screen tree - the perfect anchor piece for a store environment. Within a year, I believe we'll see bendable screens incorporated
into show windows.
Samsung Neon's "digital avatars" were mind blowing and indistinguishable from real human actors. I predict that retailers will embrace
the use of these digital assistants in fitting rooms and other serviceable zones where having full-time staff doesn't make economic sense.

LG and Samsung showed rollable screens that discretely retract
into their cabinets offering yet another clue as to the digital backdrops we'll have to work with soon. Their form factors also align with
home décor rather than the big, black screen we've all lived with for
some time.
BRAND EXPERIENCE: In a hotly competitive market like mattresses, Sleep Number continues to take customer interactivity to
the next level. Debuting the 360 Smart Bed at the show both ties
the brand to innovative technology while tackling an imperative
human issue - sleep. The booth's design was fun, full of energy and
used projection mapping in a way I hope to see utilized more as a
means to bring about branded interactive graphics to new dimensions to engage with the customer. Using an Apple-like product story
and launch, the retailer moves the consumer's mind away from the
thought that "it's just a mattress" to the brand as a solution to help
you sleep better and thrive. Brands must stay present and in touch,
and I think Sleep Number's effort beautifully demonstrates an existing
retailer keeping its brand fresh and in command of its narrative in a
market with tremendous online competition.
As the first major U.S. airline to exhibit at CES, Delta garnered a
lot of talk at the show. After all, what's an airline doing in the midst of
LG, Sony and Samsung? I had the chance to meet up with N.Y.-based
designer, Michelle Collins, Founder and President of M/C Studio NYC,
whose firm designed the Delta experience at CES this year. Collins
comes from the world of technology mixed with fashion and culture,
and she served as executive creative director and producer of the
Delta booth and keynote.
What struck me immediately, especially as a frequent Delta customer, was the ability to see the brand in a new light. Suddenly it felt
more like a merchant than a tightly crammed fuselage company. The
star of the exhibit, Fly Delta, is its new customer experience featuring "parallel reality," which enables Delta to show tailored content
to different customers using the same screen. This could be a major
advance for content management on multiple screens and is a brand
extension that will take us way beyond the lease line and into a new
inter-connected realm.
This year's CES show took me more than three days to navigate,
and despite the crowds, it's a must to attend at least every two or three
years. CES is an excellent way to capture consumer trends that will
drive your team discussions and inform your ability to bring the very
best "next store" to life. 

Brian is a partner at the digital agency REX (Beverly Hills,
Calif.) and CorbisGlobal (Manhattan Beach, Calif.). Follow
him on Twitter @briandyches.

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