The New G Spot

June 3rd 2009 Peter Cross Lecture “The New G Spot”

A fascinating lecture by the business partner of Mary Queen of shops all about the new way of shops and retail and also the new way to create design.
“Innovation through creating value through sharing, giving and collaboration.”

They have an advertising agency that also deals with shop launches
As in the programme Mary has on television on revamping failing businesses.
The three important things to look at are
The EXPERIENCE you provide for consumers.
The SERVICE provided
The SPECIALISM your shop provides.
Creativity improves a brand and during a recession the strong brands get stronger and far from people wanting to cut back they are more likely to dress up or spend on luxuries to cheer themselves up.
There are three lanes of shopping:
The SLOW LANE is considered deliberate and is about the experience and specialist goods with good service.
The MIDDLE lane is about replenishment, topping up of goods.
The FAST lane is impulse buying the want it right now, now products.
Or in other words must haves, need to haves and nice to haves.
As a designer it is a good idea to define oneself by high quality service providers and ask the question is this good for my world and me.
INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH HE SAYS THAT THE WAY TO INNOVATE
Is not by asking the consumer what they want but by following a deep-seated hunch about a brand and its consumers.
GIVING IS THE NEW TAKING.
From greed and gain to generosity and giving.
The new rule of engagement has three core principles
SHARE
GIVE BACK
CO-CREATE AND COLLABORATE.
Being open and honest about where the product was made, materials etc sharing the story of the product.
Advertising is then word of mouth which may well be on a blog, face book etc as well as literally, painting an environmental/ ethical picture as with Starbucks shared planet theme giving people the right to reply and also giving things for free.
Making shops places for selling and dwelling i.e. a place you want to be rather than feeling put off by bad sales people and poor layouts etc. We need to be real and authentic.
As an aside Mary has set up a charity shop for 3 weeks in the new Westfield shopping Centre at Shepherds Bush London for Save the Children with donations from celebrities a must for my visit this weekend!
I like this recession it is cutting out the crap and bringing us back to real values and good life experiences