BrainTrust Query: Will digitally-based customer assistance help solve store customer service woes?
Plenty of our posts have navel-gazed the ongoing challenges of in-store customer service and how we might resolve them. Exciting new technologies are now appear...
BrainTrust Query: Will New Mobile Phone Technologies Empower ‘Shopper Search’ for Local Retail?
Recently, the New York Times ran a story on the arrival of cell-phone shopping, and profiled some companies tapping into such services. One, NearbyNow, does thi...
BrainTrust Query: Is the power of the Merchant taking a front seat to Marketing?
Last week, DM News reported the surprising development that the interim head of Home Depot Direct, Steve Skinner, will be reporting in to the merchandising divi...
BrainTrust Query: Who and what will it take to capitalize on the capabilities that new in-store media technologies promise?
Digital signage opened the door to the notion of targeting, dayparting and, to a certain degree, measuring the impact of in-store messages. With its flexible ca...
BrainTrust Query: Can other retailers find inspiration in Whole Foods’ new spa concept?
This week, Whole Foods announced that their new store in Dallas will include a spa concept called ReFresh. Designed to be an everyday spa, customers will be abl...
BrainTrust Query: What will the respective roles of marketers, agencies and merchandisers be in the new in-store media movement?
As marketing and agency camps are focused on creating brands and executing them at all touchpoints, it's obvious that they have a role in the "last mile" of the...
BrainTrust Query: Is it possible, and advisable, to establish a set of industry metrics to gauge in-store media effectiveness?
While participating in Ad Week in NYC last week, Laura Davis-Taylor attended the POPAI's At-Retail Media conference. It was clear that most of the constituents ...
BrainTrust Query: Will Wal-Mart’s Appointment of an ‘In-Store Agency of Record’ Spark a New Trend?
Last week, Wal-Mart stores appointed agency Saatchi & Saatchi X agency of record for their shopper, in-store and associate communications. The agency will direc...
BrainTrust Query: Polo’s e-commerce store windows…innovation or a strategic misfire?
The industry is buzzing with the news that a NYC Polo Ralph Lauren store is now featuring "payment at the glass." Shoppers can browse and order merchandise 24/7...
BrainTrust Query: What will TiVo’s new audience ad-skipping research mean to the effort to reach consumers?
Last Wednesday, USA Today broke the story that TiVo is making a move to help Madison Avenue measure the damage of its ad skipping capability. Its new Audience R...
BrainTrust Query: Contextually Relevant Promotions…Do They Produce?
This week, Burger King announced a very creative online promotion with Maxim magazine. Together, they created a microsite featuring video footage of three "home...
BrainTrust Query: Do you believe in company Karma?
Last week, Alloy Media + Marketing released results of their fifth annual College Explorer Study, conducted by Harris Interactive, which unveils that environmen...
BrainTrust Query: How do we make the ‘Store as Media’ opportunity real?
The "Store as Media" concept is rapidly gaining traction. It's tantalizing premise is that every communication opportunity within the store is actually one piec...