 | |  | | “Once Upon A Time…” Storytelling in Stores |
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Everyone loves a good story. “Once upon a time…” and we are immediately captivated. In today’s ever more sophisticated marketplace, retailers and brands are using storytelling in new ways and in place of more traditional forms of communication.
Creating a story that will resonate with shoppers is no simple feat. First, finding the underlying story and creating a brand, a character, an emotion or a lifestyle is pivotal for success. Fleshing out that story then becomes the backdrop in the store. If the retail designers and merchandise buyers understand the story thoroughly, it’s going to come through to the customer, as every detail of the store reinforces the story, and subsequently connects with customers.
Brian Shafley, Chute Gerdeman Retail President and Creative Director, says, “I’d like to think we use storytelling as a design tool, a device, if you will, to create a memorable experience for the customer. The storefront is like a book cover and the interior is the narrative. Characters can be specific, like in a theme store, or the store staff. Inside, we create a series of high points and low points all building to a crescendo in a store experience. In the end, hopefully the customer walks away from that experience satisfied and wanting to tell somebody about it.”
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Theme stores offer the most dramatic story telling opportunities found in retail, often working with already-established brands recognized by a large audience. The M&M’S World® New York store brings the popular M&M’S® Brand Spokescandies Red, Blue, Yellow and Green to life as they make their way through the store. For example, Green playfully portrays the Statue of Liberty, beckoning shoppers to ride up the escalator and visit the second floor. Like the bright and colorful candy, the 25,000-square-foot store is also a bold expression of color. A two-story-high wall of chocolate made of 72 candy-filled tubes highlights the many available colors of M&M’S® candies, more colors than one would have imagined, while an interactive video screen and display scans shoppers to determine their “color mood” to help them choose from the plethora of color choices before them. |
“This feature has become very popular in the store; people line up to have their color mood scanned,” says Senior Brand Communications Designer Steve Boreman. “The attraction is ultimately making them more aware of the offerings in the store, it just happens to be done with fun sounds and light effects that guests love to interact with.”
Boreman, who is also the creator of a syndicated comic strip, takes pride in developing the overt storytelling strategies found in retail. In one such case, he brought the feeling of the Baja Peninsula to a chain of restaurants called Rubio’s Grill. With hand-painted signage and wall murals, patrons can feel the love for the area that touched upon founder Ralph Rubio, inspiring him to create a restaurant filled with dishes from the beaches of Mexico.
For retailers without the decades-old brand recognition of M&M’S®, Chute Gerdeman’s holistic approach to design includes brand invention and development through its Brand Communications team, which designs for many different aspects of communication, such as logos, graphics, storylines and scripts, and interactive kiosks. Designers literally become storytellers, setting pen to paper to create a story that connects a person to the brand, digging deeply into a fictional shopper’s brain to determine why the brand will be so important to the consumer. For successful tween chain Club Libby Lu, Chute Gerdeman’s designers were approached with just a brand name, in this case the founder’s name for her imaginary childhood friend—Libby Lu—and the concept of creating a club for VIPs – Very Important Princesses.
“We sat down with our client and asked her to tell us about Libby Lu. As she was telling the story, we realized the store should be the story of Libby Lu and the store became the club where she would have her friends come over and they would do these crazy, fun things. From there the concept took off because it was very cohesive. Every product was private label and branded Club Libby Lu. It felt like a club with membership cards and other ways to make it feel you belonged,” says Shafley, adding, “We ran with that story idea and it’s worked for them. They have 80 stores now and Saks Fifth Avenue bought the concept in 2003 and is continuing to develop it. It may not have happened if we hadn’t utilized the story of ‘Libby Lu’ in the space.”
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But storytelling goes beyond a green M&M® dressed as the Statue of Liberty; storytelling provides an emotional connection to a store that stars the customer as the protagonist. For fashion retailers, where product and stories have a short shelf life and must constantly evolve, mannequins become storytellers.
Click here to download the full version of Chute Gerdeman Retail’s new report on Storytelling in Stores. (PDF format, 268kb)
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| In Other News… |
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“Don’t Forget Your Boots” |
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Lehigh Outfitters came to Chute Gerdeman Retail with a sizeable “to do” list: Do promote Lehigh Outfitters as the home of well-regarded, licensed, footwear and apparel brands; Do make ours a store people will want to shop; and Do increase our customer base to include more women. [More] |
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Chute Gerdeman to Design New Hamleys Prototype |
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Chute Gerdeman Retail has been retained by Hamleys, the iconic British toy retailer, to design a new prototype store concept. The 30,000-35,000-sq. ft. prototype store, which is expected to open in 2008, will be located in Dubai. [More] |
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Chute Gerdeman to Lead NASFM Rebranding Effort |
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Chute Gerdeman Retail has been retained by the National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers (NASFM) to lead a rebranding effort for the association to reflect its long-term strategic direction. [More] |
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Look for Us at the In-Store Marketing Expo |
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George Nauman, Chute Gerdeman Retail Principal and CMO, will be a featured conference speaker at the 2007 In-Store Marketing Expo to be held September 26 and 27 in Chicago. [] |
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Attendees Learn How Color Animates M&M’S World® |
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Attendees at DDI magazine’s Color & Materials Conference West on May 31 heard Elle Chute describe how the team at Chute Gerdeman Retail used a color strategy at M&M’S World® to support the client message that “Chocolate is Better in Color.” [More] |
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CG’s Thought Leaders |
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Since Chute Gerdeman Retail’s beginning in 1989, its members have played active roles in industry organizations such as the Institute of Store Planners (ISP) and the National Association for Store Fixture Manufacturers (NASFM). [More] | | | |
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New Chuties |
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Chute Gerdeman Retail welcomes four new members to its team: Faith Bartrug, Virginia Kistler, Gretchen Ardizzone, and Janna Lansing. [More] | | | |
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