Experience Manifesto

Printemps Grand Opening

Imagine a department store that ignites your senses. That's Printemps. Thanks to Sandy Hernandez, I stepped into their opening day magic, dodging a line that snaked down the block.

A Journey of Discovery:

This isn't your average retail space. It's a carefully curated adventure. Every corner, every detail, screams "thoughtful design." The playful layout, the hidden nooks – it's a breath of fresh air.

More Than Just Shopping:

Printemps understands the power of experience. From the rolling champagne cart to the promise of a delicious restaurant, it's a place to linger, to enjoy. And the staff? Individuality meets helpfulness, a rare and delightful combination.

The Death of Dull Retail:

At the same time that Printemps is opening, Macy's Retail Holdings, Inc. just closed the famous #Wanamakers store in Philadelphia. Department stores used to be place of fun and discovery. They were places the community went to learn about the latest in fashion and style from around the world. Lately, they've become, well, boring. They're not places of inspiration, you go there just to buy what you need.

This was a store that inspired. It was fun and playful. And it was beautiful. No doubt that we'll go back again in the future and see if they maintain their high level of design and experience.

Will the Magic Last?

I'm betting it will. Printemps isn't just a store; it's a statement.

RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert

I'm very excited that for the second year, I have received the Top Retail Expert Award for 2025 by RETHINK Retail, a global authority in retail insights. 

With over 1,000 nominations this year, the selection process for 2025 was more competitive than ever, involving RETHINK Retail’s expert team and advisory committees.

Julia Hare, Co-Founder of RETHINK Retail, echoes the enthusiasm: “Every year, we are inspired by the transformative ideas and leadership showcased by these incredible individuals. The 2025 Top Retail Experts embody the innovation and resilience needed to lead retail into its next great era. We are thrilled to celebrate their achievements.”

This prestigious annual recognition, presented in collaboration with Microsoft and Cognizant, celebrates the most innovative and influential leaders in retail today — including academics, analysts, consultants, technologists, specialists, finance experts, real-estate experts, and media specialists. These individuals are driving the evolution of retail through their groundbreaking contributions and thought leadership.

Awardees are featured on RETHINK Retail’s website, listed alphabetically in no particular rank. Continue reading the press release here. 

If you are a retailer, there's a great opportunity to join the Global Retail Leaders (GRL) program at RETHINK Retail. GRL is an invite-only community for senior retail execs that powers your professional growth. They host awesome events at both major retail events around the globe as well as virtual events throughout the year.

 

Reach out to me if you'd like to know more.

The Latest BEL Newsletter

The latest Brand Experience Lab newsletter is out, featuring exciting updates from the Lab and highlights from the global retail landscape.

At the Brand Experience Lab, we are thrilled to introduce Invigo Retail, a cutting-edge suite of hashtag#retailintelligence tools revolutionizing customer engagement. This innovative system provides real-time insights, optimizing operations and elevating customer interactions.

Get an exclusive sneak peek at the new Printemps store in Lower Manhattan and stay informed about the latest at the Amazon Fresh store in Paramus.

Additionally, I am honored to be recognized as a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert and a Retail Technology Innovation Hub Top Retail Tech Influencer!

Stay tuned for more updates and industry insights!

Explore all our latest news here.

Retail Marketing in a High-Tech World

Next week I'll be at the University at Buffalo at their Retail Marketing in a High-Tech World to speak on Importance of Personalization and Experiential Retail. Excited to be joining Erinn Steffen, Donna Genesky and John Hennessy as our moderator during this session. Some of the topics we'll be discussing include:

• What have been the biggest wins we’ve experienced in the areas of personalization or experiential retail?
• How much does experiential retail rely on personalization?
• What’s required to support success of a personalization or experiential retail initiative?
• What are the barriers to enhancing personalization or creating a more experiential retail setting?

If you're in the Buffalo area and involved in retail, make sure to check out the entire program. Dinesh Gauri has put together an excellent program! Hope to see you there.

This day-long conference offers an opportunity to dive deep into market trends, share best practices and explore innovative marketing solutions that are specific to the needs and challenges faced by professionals today in the fast-paced technology-enabled world.

The digital age has changed the way we communicate, as well as the way we shop for products and services. Retailers are increasing technology investments to meet and stay ahead of the evolving customer demands. Technology has become an integral part of doing business, both inside and outside the stores.

You can find additional information at Retail Marketing in a High-Tech World

Socialization of Place

Started looking at things I've been writing over the years and some of the consistent thoughts have been around the socialization of place. Thanks to Covid, I think many people have really started to understand the incredible importance of community in our world and as I've written about here, physical retail has in the past and should continue to play a role in community building.

I think that back in 2005, iTunes became the 7th or 8th largest music store in the United States. Think about that. They have no real estate, at least none dedicated specifically to iTunes, and carry no inventory. They don't have to pay for sales staff or worry about returns. And if you look at the typical Apple store, a great deal of its space is dedicated to social functions, not traditional retail functions. Now, if you're a large record store chain, this has got to be a huge challenge. You've got all of this real estate dedicated primarily of the inventory management of music and yet more and more people are buying their music online. And, of course, today, you're pretty challenged to find any big music stores still in business, although thanks to a resurgence in vinyl, there are still independent music stores to be found.

What's always interesting to me is that people in one industry can look at another industry and say "How can they not see that every thing's changed and they need to change" without looking internally at their own industry. For example, this was something I wrote in 2009:

More mall developers need to look at their business model in addition to the redesign on the physical space. Many work on a rent + a percentage of sales model, but will that still play in a world where people do more window shopping in the mall and more actual buying online? And, as we ask retail clients all the time, what happens to your retail space if you take away inventory management?

As the retail space has become more of a showroom and, thanks to Covid, people don’t mind shopping and having their purchases shipped, then what’s the impact on the real estate itself? We see it becoming a much more vibrant and alive social space. A place for people to gather and share their experiences through the brand, rather than sharing their experiences of the brand. Look at the Apple store. Lots of people talking to one another. The theatre where you can learn together as a community. Even the Genius Bar. It’s much more of a social space.

Do stores really need to exist as they've been for the past 40+ years? If, thanks to the internet and Covid, people are much more comfortable getting their purchases sent to them, rather then getting them right away, do we need that much space dedicated to merchandise? If we can do away with the inventory portion of most retail spaces today, what else would you do with the space? How could you make it a much more social environment, rather than being a retail environment? After all, this is exactly why places like Starbuck's or the Apple stores have boomed -- they created a social space in addition to a retail space.

For example, I don't understand why more retailers are not copying the Apple genius bar concept and not necessarily by having an actual distinct space. Sephora does a good job with their make-up areas, to help people understand what they can do with their looks. I wish grocery stores had one to help me eat better. Stores like REI certainly have a well educated staff throughout the store, but could they do more with trip/camping outfitting if I don't know where to start? I would love to see Home Depot and Lowes have them, but honestly, they would probably be busier than the Apple Genius Bar and I'd probably never be able to get an appointment!

With all of the talk about creating communities, I don't understand why retailers aren't using their physical space as a community-building tool. You already have their audience gathering there, but many times, you just treat your audience like an unwanted guest who's barely tolerated.

Can you afford to have hundreds of thousands (or millions) of square feet of retail space and all of the expenses that go with it, and just have it act like windows for people to do online shopping? And they may not even shop online at your store! Can you continue to support online social media efforts while creating physical spaces that are almost anti-social? Sure, open up your info so that I can get it on my cell phone. But shouldn't you also hire better people and do more to train them? And create better physical spaces?

I think that retailers with physical stores need to spend a little more time looking at what makes place special. Stop trying to compete with the online world by making your places more online-like and start competing by your rules. Use place to your advantage.

Retailers should think of stores as social media spaces. If your store is only a space to buy product then you aren't really offering anything special - you can do that lots of places.

The point is, that as consumers become continue to grow even more sophisticated in their expectations, retailers need to change their approach. I can shop online if all I need is shopping. I go to the store to receive service and I’m expecting more & more. Make my shopping experience my enjoyable. More helpful. More convenient. More of an experience. Give me more value then the other guy and I’ll keep coming back.

Making Physical Retail Relevant

As we become more digital, our physical environments becomes even more important, for both employees and customers.

Given how crowded the retail world is today,and given the number of brands reaching out to consumers, the ability to touch and engage consumers in a place where you control the entire message has incredible value.

Instead of viewing retail presence as a necessary evil, you should be using it to create a better connection with your audience. Retailers need to look for ways to ‘e-tail’ their retail.  There also needs to be a much better connection between the in-store experience and the information that's available online.

The Big Question for You

If you were building retail for the very first time today - you had no legacy physical retail -- how would you design your retail experience?

We know that millennials, GenZ and high-income shoppers — especially keen on experience, differentiation and personalization — still want the sensory experience before making a purchase.

In many cases, stores are becoming more like showrooms that entice customers with one-of-a-kind experiences – rather than being traditional point of purchase spaces. To meet shoppers’ expectations and counter online competition, stores are becoming an alternative to restaurants, coffee shops, and movie theaters.

Brands are starting to launch immersive, technology-enabled flagship stores while displaying minimal inventory, with environments that invite consumers to luxuriate in the engaging, social and interactive experience.

As you look at your retail experiences, are you offering anything of value other than the product? Are you helping the guests in a way that makes them feel confident in purchasing from you? If all you're offering is product, then all you have to compete on is price. People will comparison shop until they find the best price.

Four Key Elements

• Retailers need to tailor the shopping experiences to me and all of my information needs to be available wherever I am.
• You need to better connect the online and in-store shopping experiences.
• You still need to have a compelling story if you want me to pay a premium.
• Physical retail needs to focus on what it can deliver that’s different than online shopping.

What happens when places know you better? What happens when we have intelligent stores? 74% of retail CEO’s are worried about keeping up with the rate of technology changes, and they also worry about how to attract the younger, more digitally savvy consumer.

Today, it’s not simply using one technology that will create these spaces. It’s combining several to create a singular experience. And, it’s understanding how consumers want to have the experience that will drive more adoption of these technologies. Our ability to combine technology, business and experience will be critical in making sure that these experiences drive both business needs and consumer engagement.

This is what we do at the Unified Brand Experience Lab, help brands and retailers answer these questions and build compelling, authentic and relevant experiences for their audiences. Want to know more, reach out to me, Jim Ackerman, or Alexandra Zelcer and come out to Jersey City. Give us a day, we'll help you build your future!

Third Places: Putting People and Experience First

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, our interaction with the physical world has undergone a profound transformation. In the realm of community building, the concept of the "third place" has gained significance. This term refers to social environments distinct from the home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place"). Examples of third places include churches, cafes, clubs, public libraries, bookstores, and parks. Ray Oldenburg, in his influential book "The Great Good Place" (1989), emphasizes the importance of third places for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and fostering a sense of place.

Consider the innovative office spaces created by companies like Google and Facebook, seemingly designed to blend the second and third places. For younger generations, social life often revolves around work environments, blurring the lines between professional and personal spaces.

Reflecting on my own experiences, I recall frequenting a Burger King with my daughter Sydney when she was young. The indoor playground was not just about the physical space but the social aspect, providing Sydney, as an only child, the opportunity to interact with her peers. This Burger King became a "Third Place" for Sydney, highlighting the social significance of spaces beyond home and work.

In the evolving landscape of retail, the value of real estate is being reevaluated. With the rise of online shopping and the comfort people now have with delayed gratification, the traditional emphasis on merchandise space is shifting. The question arises: If we reduce the need for inventory in retail spaces, what alternative purpose can these spaces serve? The potential lies in transforming retail environments into social hubs rather than purely commercial spaces.

As our work structures undergo significant changes, an opportunity emerges to socialize retail spaces. The trend seems to be moving towards creating a more engaging and community-driven experience. Rather than focusing solely on our purposes, we should consider the needs and desires of our guests, as prioritizing their experience encourages their continued engagement.

In this context, incorporating familiar amenities like coffee bars and DJ booths becomes vital. These additions draw from hospitality, personalizing the retail experience and increasing the "dwell time," as noted by Gensler's Kathleen Jordan. The right amenities complement the products being sold, offering a respite that allows consumers to recharge and extend their time within the space.

Furthermore, the universal need for fun becomes apparent. Fun is a powerful tool to foster understanding and peace. Hate struggles to thrive in an atmosphere of fun. To create meaningful experiences, we should focus on bringing people together to share joyous activities. The challenge is to celebrate the joy we create and continue exploring ways to unite people through shared, positive experiences.

Retail can be the new (old) third place. As Ray Oldenberg said, third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place. Today, more than ever perhaps, we need our third places as a society and what better way for retailers to help than to be our gathering places.

Some additional reading:

• Retail as the New (Old) Third Place
• Why Don't More Retailers Have Genius Bars?
• Creating the Right Experience Post Covid19
• How Lloyds Coffee House Became Lloyds of London
• Great, Good Places
• Are You Telling a Great Story

Is the Drive to Efficiency Hurting Starbucks

A few days ago, Starbucks had a pretty big earning miss, prompting lots of discussion about what went wrong and how to fix it. In a recent interview with CBS, CEO Laxman Narasimhan had this to say:

The company's plan to turn things around includes updating its app and mobile payment offerings, speeding up service, and overhauling its menu to lure customers back.

Ex-CEO and founder of Starbucks, Howard Schultz had no issues jumping into the discussion saying in an interview:

“The stores require a maniacal focus on the customer experience, through the eyes of a merchant,” he added. “The answer does not lie in data, but in the stores.”

As Will Roger says in the quote below, it's never a bad idea to reinvigorate you products and offerings. Afterall, you can't just sit there, can you?

But I have a different take on the situation. I think that it's possible some of their fixes will actually hurt them more than they will help them and that as Schultz says, they really need to refocus on their customer experience.

Starbucks was one of the first companies to embrace the idea of the 3rd place, a place where people can gather. It was a place where people who worked from home, pre-Covid of course, could get out of the house, have some good coffee and get some work done. As importantly, they had a place to gather with others and not be so isolated.

Because you could sit the for as long as you wanted, I think that people didn't mind paying as much as they did for coffee. They weren't just buying coffee, they were getting an inexpensive office and meeting space. They were getting an opportunity to socialize or at least people watch. They were getting some time out of their homes. That was a pretty good deal for the price of a coffee, even if you splurged for a fancy cup!

As they added mobile ordering, they created a situation where they were often ignoring the person actually in the store for people who were somewhere else. I remember once waiting for 10 - 15 minutes to have a barista take my order and then waited for it to be made while I could see them making lots of mobile orders, making them the priority.

Now Starbucks is building a lot more of their stores with drive throughs and putting even more emphasis on mobile orders. While I'm sure this will help them drive better efficiency, I'm not sure that it will solve the issues they have. There are plenty of places to grab a quick coffee. There are many small, wonderful coffee houses where you can still sit and relax with your coffee. The advantage Starbucks has is that you can find them everywhere and they had a good and consistent menu. They were comfortable.

Maybe in our stressed, overscheduled world we don't always want or need that much efficiency. Maybe sometimes we need to good comfortable place to go, where we can slow down a little and be around other people. Maybe that's worth paying extra for a cup of coffee!

As always, love your thoughts too! #futureofretail #customerexperience #topretailexpert

Looking for a Speaker?

Gotta be honest, I like how AI updated my bio! And I'm excited to be getting out and speaking more, so if you're looking for someone who can help with any of these topics, Please email me for pricing & availability and you can find additional information about my speaking here.

From Disney Character to VR Pioneer to Emerging Technologist: David Captivates Audiences

David's journey isn't your typical marketing path. He honed his storytelling with his degree in theater and as a performer in the WDW Tencennial Parade, a skill that electrifies his speaking engagements. With over 30 years of experience, he's challenged industry giants like Razorfish, Microsoft, and Pepsi to craft more compelling brand narratives.

Recreating the Retail Experience: David has has spent over two decades immersing himself in the world of retail. By deeply understanding both consumer behaviors and retail trends, he has developed a unique perspective on how these factors shape the future of shopping. As AI and new payment tech continue to revolutionize retail, David's insights are more relevant than ever. He'll equip you with the knowledge to navigate the changing landscape, from understanding how AI will influence consumer discovery to grasping the implications of new payment technologies and the rise of unattended retail. Join David to gain a competitive edge in the evolving retail industry.

VR Visionary: David's vision isn't limited to the stage. Since 1991, he's been a pioneer in VR for marketing, even producing some of the earliest VR promotions ever. His work has earned prestigious awards like a Cannes Lion, and his "AudienceGames" for Volvo was hailed as "one of the best marketing ideas in the world." By putting tens of thousands through VR experiences, he's developed an unmatched understanding of what truly engages audiences.

Bridging the Gap: His experience as Director at both the AT&T AdWorks Lab and the PwC Experience Center allows him to seamlessly blend corporate savvy with theatrical flair. David doesn't just talk about creating experiences, he makes it real, creating unforgettable presentations that empower marketers to leverage technology for authentic brand experiences.

Creating New 3rd Places. David's most recent topic - How do you create better value from your physical experiences in a digital world?As we become more digital, our physical environments becomes even more important, for both employees and customers. Given how crowded the retail world is today,and given the number of brands reaching out to consumers, the ability to touch and engage consumers in a place where you control the entire message has incredible value. He and his daughter Sydney Polinchock have started writing a book together on this topic which should be released in late 2025.

Technology to Create Better Stories

With over 30 years of professional speaking engagements, David has challenged marketers to create better stories and to understand how consumers want to hear and be engaged by those stories. He has given presentations for a wide range of companies, including Razorfish, Microsoft, msnbc.com, MTV Networks, the Newspaper Association of America, Nokia, GSK, Pepsi, Nike and Ogilvy, among many others.David's journey isn't your typical marketing path. He honed his storytelling with his degree in theater and as a performer in the WDW Tencennial Parade, a skill that electrifies his speaking engagements. With over 30 years of experience, he's challenged industry giants like Razorfish, Microsoft, and Pepsi to craft more compelling brand narratives.

A Tale of Two Theaters

We have just returned from a 10 day cruise to Alaska (amazing, BTW) and since it was hot, muggy and rainy this weekend, we went to the movies. Of course, we saw two of the hottest movies right now, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. We did enjoy them both, but it was the experience around watching the movies that I want to write about.

I've written about my love of watching movies in the theater here, but here's the main point:

Seeing a movie in a theater with an audience also creates a group catharsis that almost never happens for me when watching at home. Part of the issue is the many distractions that I have at home that don’t happen in the theater. I’m constantly looking up trivia or checking emails or doing something completely unrelated at home. In the theater, I’m focused on the screen and the story. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been totally engrossed in a movie in the theater and sometimes even questioned how I thought I liked the movie when watching it at home. Or thought a movie was really funny when surrounded by other people laughing and then sat bored while watching it at home.

And more importantly, I said this:

Plus, I can assure you that my wife will never count it as a date night if we watch a movie at home.

We saw Indiana Jones at the local AMC theater in Clifton Commons. This is a very good theater as far as tech goes, with all of the latest in projection and sound technology so watching a movie there is very good. AMC has worked hard to make sure their tech exceeds expectations of todays cinema audience. It's part of their effort to get people to watch movies at a cinema instead of streaming at home.

What they haven't done a great job with is really educating the audience on how to be an audience. First, I get that sometimes people forget to turn their phones off, so they might ring during the movie. I mean, we've all done that. But people are on their phones throughout the movie. Person in front of us looked like they were going to record the entire movie. They had recorded all of the previews already. People text non-stop; people have conversations that don't have anything to do with the movie and generally treat the cinema like it's their living room. It's not the best environment for watching a movie.

In contrast, we saw the new Mission Impossible at The Clairidge in Montclair. Run as a non-profit by the Montclair Film Festival (full disclosure, I do a lot of work with them), it's a very different cinema. For one, the theaters and screens are much smaller. They have been upgrading all of the projectors and sound systems, but I don't think they're as good as what AMC has. But that's only one part of the in-cinema experience.

I don't know how to say it without kinda' sounding jerky, but they obviously have an audience that's better at being an audience. It was certainly an older audience, although honestly I'm not sure it's as simple as that. I think it's more that the folks who support a film festival generally know what's expected of them as an audience. There was one woman who made excited utterances about the movie, but there wasn't the level of talking we experienced the night before. And no one was on their phone during the movie.

I don't think simply making the on-screen experience better will help drive people back into the theaters. And I don't know the answer to making an audience better. I'm not even sure what I mean by that. For our family, the non-stop phone activity and talking completely takes us out of the movie and ruins the entire experience. I'd rather have the screen not as good but a quiet and engaged audience. How can we teach audiences to act in a theater? Should we be doing that? I get many distractions while watching from home, I don't want them in the theater. Am I just simply old? What do you think? LMK in the comments.