Are you Paying ATTENTION ?

Insights Model – James Wilkes © 2012 All rights reserved

This week’s gig This week’s gig saw me using the observation lab survey questions to get out there and check out six

companies with the objective being to capture unique insights and look for hidden opportunities in

each of the businesses surveyed. The project proved to be very interesting, fun and thought

provoking. I’ve broken my summary down into two parts. The BIG insights and the individual store

insights.

I developed the insights model above to try and demonstrate how I see the creative process. It’s like

a construct in my head, or a way of thinking if you prefer. The model continually rotates as you feed

in your observations. It allows me to apply some rigor around what I see.

Ok, so here we go…the BIG insights first.

BIG Insights

The major insight was people don’t recognize the need for insight.

Every business surveyed using the “Observation Lab” questions could very

easily and quite inexpensively make immediate improvements which would

benefit their customers and their bottom line.

People appear to think innovation is only for innovators….whomever they

are? It’s not main stream yet and it should be. Now…there is a hidden

opportunity. Creativity and Innovation appears to be seen as some sort of

black art. It is secretive and mystical and very poorly understood. Hence, it’s

not practiced.

Store Insights

Store 1: Upmarket Clothing Designer specializing in New Zealand Merino Wool

Insights

Not very busy on a weekend, one person browsing.

Large investment in store layout, very expensive fit out.

Two staff looking very bored and trying to pretend to be busy.

The shop has a café which was overflowing – a unique situation across Christchurch as the

recent earthquake created nearly 200 restaurant closures in the city.

There is a real perception and it is well known that the products sold in this store are very

expensive. The empty shop and bored staff are not helping that perception.

Hidden opportunities - the store surveyed has an excellent fit out, a fabulous product but it feels like

the “pizazz” has just gone out of the place. The vibe to buy is just not there. On the day we

conducted the survey the store had two Japanese girls on the floor and whilst lovely their English

was poor and their style was one of professional service rather than friendly engagement. As the

overwhelming majority of the stores customers on this day were white New Zealanders this could be

more balanced. The café being full represented an opportunity as well. Fashion parades at lunch,

special offers for diners, an opportunity to connect people to the brand with celebrity chefs cooking

whilst wearing the shop’s clothing. Perhaps diners and shoppers could be invited to a factory tour to

see the beautiful merino wool being crafted into superb garments. Meet the designer; hear the

inspirational story behind the brand. This could be encompassed in a mini wine tasting on the move,

which would be another opportunity to push the premium and aspirational aspects of the brand.

Taste a different premium wine each week. The whole experience in store could be easily renovated

and that would restore interest and provide opportunities for sales growth. I would also close down

the second’s store which is located directly behind the main store, as it retails products at massively

discounted prices and could very easily disenfranchise a customer who has paid full price in the main

store.

Store 2: Funky Women’s Clothing Retailer selling its own designs under its own brand.

Insights

The brand story has been poorly communicated.

Cheap shop fit out not in sync with the premium prices sought for its garments, a real value

disconnect. It just doesn’t feel right. It makes you wonder what is going on. Can you trust the

brand?

Only one person on the floor on the weekend of the survey. She was highly susceptible to

being overwhelmed by customers. The shop had around six browsers at the time of

observation; however the business plays to the tourist trade so would receive peaks and

troughs in customer flows.

Entrance door was poorly designed and restricted entry and exit from the shop.

The look and feel was a bit amateurish.

Hidden Opportunities – This retailer could gain significant mileage by taking some time and effort to

communicate their story. They could also work with the busy café next door to co-promote the

destination. It is a long way out of town and relies predominantly on the tourist route for its

customers. To that end the signage has to be much bigger and brighter to make sure they catch the

driver’s eye. Macdonald’s has large, prominent signage for a reason.

Shop fit out needs to be improved to match the quality and “funkiness” of the clothing range, which

is excellent. The clothes were hanging off crowded cheap and nasty looking clothes racks. My wife

still loved the clothes. Opportunity to really improve the display, which would drive increased sales.

The retailer needs to be careful not to lose business when it finally arrives due to insufficient staff on

the floor. It’s hard to offer customers a great shopping experience when you’re under pressure. This

was another disconnect and was already shaping up to be a problem during this survey.

This retailer would be well advised to map the customer touch points from end to end and

incorporate some really inexpensive and customers friendly improvements.

Store 3: Café / Store – premium local food on the menu and local food for sale on the

shelves.

Insights

Poor signage and if you didn’t know about the store’s reputation you would be unlikely to

stop.

No story around the products used on the menu. Poorly developed brand.

No information about the local producers. I would have loved to have read about who was

producing what I was eating and I would have loved more information about who was

behind the various local products for sale. There was everything from wine to chutney, pies,

cheese, jams and spreads and many other treats for sale in the store.

The shop floor format restrains browsing as shelves are in close proximity to diners.

Staff were friendly but disconnected and a came across as not interested in what they were

doing and not really interested in the experience you were having either.

Hidden Opportunities – First up, signage. It’s on a main highway and you don’t see the store until

you have gone passed it. Employees need to be trained, connected and passionate about what they

are doing to fully showcase the efforts of the chef and to sell the local produce story. This was a real

disappointment.

A website with the story and links to the producers with an opportunity to buy online would benefit

sales. The layout of the dining area needs to be changed to allow diners space and at the same time

encourage them to browse. This is currently a problem.

Store 4: Premium Art Gallery

Insights

Hugely cool and funky layout. Great art work. Retro Scandinavian furniture and great look

and feel to the gallery. Could have spent hours in there.

Owner and artist was engaging, interesting and quite avant garde in his thinking, which

admittedly matched my own, so perhaps objectivity is less evident here than in the other

surveys.

Nothing was bland so the experience was very real and connected. It didn’t feel staged or

forced as it does in many retail stores, especially the retail chains. The store had heart and

soul.

Hidden Opportunities – The artwork is expensive so finding a new way to encourage people to

invest would pay dividends. I would buy more art if I could understand its potential future value. My

wife and I do buy some pieces just for the piece, but if you were looking to invest thousands you

would want to know you are buying into an artwork that will look great on the wall and grow in

value. That way it could potentially be an alternative to shares, property etc. Buying art could be

seen as helping the artistic community which helps the wider community. It could also provide an

alternative for some of your investment portfolio. Shares can be pretty static and pretty boring.

Perhaps an art investment class with wine and cheese. Great way to spend a mid-week evening.

Art classes could also generate both revenue and art sales.

There are many collection sponsorship angles that could be developed here as well. BMW,

Mercedes, Banks, the horse set, yachting set and professional services firms could all be leveraged to

raise the gallery’s profile and increase sales opportunities.

Store 5: Large Format Retail Store

Insights

Store brimming with cheap Chinese products of low quality.

Stores are clearly well capitalised and very well stocked.

Staff are friendly enough in that big box store format kind of a way. Nothing too freestyle in

how customers are treated. It is common knowledge that employees are paid some of the

lowest wages in the country, so this probably explains the neutral at best engagement.

Stores dominate their surroundings and are well known for dominating their competitors,

which has transformed the shopping experience of an entire country and not in a great way.

Dehumanizing, cold, dispiriting and utterly bland shopping experience.

Hidden opportunities - This company has an incredibly strong market position and whilst the

founder does contribute to helping New Zealand businesses there is a real disconnectedness in

making a fortune from cheap Chinese goods whilst at the same time trying to be being seen to do

the right thing and support New Zealand start-ups. With the market power the company has they

could make a real difference to society and provide leadership in retailing. They could champion fair

trade, sustainability, youth development and wider community development. This could include

working cooperatively with communities instead of using their massive buying power to send long

standing iconic local businesses broke. I appreciate the free market system viewpoint and I can hear

its pundits winding up their counter arguments now…and I don’t care. The hidden opportunity for

companies like this is to make a difference to people’s lives rather than just a profit.

This was by far the most disappointing survey experience. Is the business model successful? Yes, it is.

Do they employ lots of people? Yes they do. Do they add anything to our lives? No, they don’t.

Would I rather have something else? Yes, I would.

Maybe, that is the opportunity. Finding a way to bring the community together. They could provide

leadership in designing and shaping the retail communities of tomorrow.

One where the experience is more human, more connected, more sustainable and one where

“real” value is not driven by the balance sheet, but by the smiles on people’s faces.

Store 6: Auckland Domestic Airport

Insights

Food quality and choice is dismal. Nothing is fresh and prices are off the scale. A complete

rip off. Nowhere to sit and eat my meal after purchase which was very frustrating.

Customer service in nearly all the shops was woeful, disconnected and disinterested. Staff

do not care about customers and look like they would rather be somewhere else.

Little or no break away spaces available to travellers.

Bland, clinical and boring utilitarian feel to the building. Reminded me of a hospital

environment, but without the smell.

Very noisy environment that you cannot escape from, which is tiring.

It is the pin-up hero for poor design, poor service and poor experience.

Hidden Opportunities – are everywhere. Essentially the hidden opportunity here is across the board.

This airport needs to go right back to the drawing board and start over. It should begin by putting

customers at the centre of everything they think about. The airport’s primary aim should be to add

value to travellers, not use their requirement to be at the airport to extort money from them and

make them inhabit an environment that is less fun than a doctor’s waiting room. It is about as far

away from a pleasant customer experience as the earth is from the sun.

Opportunity. Start again. Put people first. Make the experience fun. Hire friendly people in the

shops. Have some great food. Have a library, an art gallery and some stuff that helps travellers

pass the time. Innovation opportunity of a lifetime. Hire some funky architects, some set designers,

some artists and some cool chefs and let them go mad.