What’s In This Issue?
How British Grocery Chains Deliver Retail With Empathy
British supermarkets are quickly becoming the unexpected pioneers in adding more empathy into retail. In January, Tesco introduced a "slow checkout line" for customers who have dementia or otherwise need more time to check out. This week, Morrisons, another British supermarket chain, announced it would have "quiet hours" to help autistic shoppers to have a more noise-free shopping trip. Both are beautiful non-obvious examples of how a small change can create a retail experience more welcoming to an audience accustomed to being ignored. Not to mention creating plenty of admiration from the rest of us for choosing to be so empathetic in the first place.
What The Forbes Controversy Really Teaches Us
Earlier this week a contributor to Forbes named Panos Mourdoukoutas wrote an opinion piece suggesting that local taxpayers would be better off if libraries were replaced with Amazon. The article created an instant controversy and media reporting of the outrage led Forbes to quickly take it down. For years the expansion of contributors to the Forbes network has led to plenty of so-called experts with questionable credentials writing self promotional articles. Earlier this year, there was a long post about journalistic integrity, plans to hire more journalists and how those contributors would be rewarded. The intent to hire more journalists is a noble one, but this problem of stories published on the site with little editorial oversight seems likely to continue unless Forbes gets serious about reevaluating the criteria for contributors, and providing more traditional journalism training.
Victorinox Creates Powerfully Ordinary Brand Videos
One piece of advice I am fond of sharing from the stage is about the importance of showing your work - something we are told to do in school but often forget. This resurfaced brand video from Victorinox is a twelve minute journey behind the scenes into how their iconic Swiss Army Knives are made. The video, now a few years old, is boring, matter of fact and is too long ... but it is also a great reminder that sometimes just showing what you do behind the scenes is interesting enough to be a way to engage your customers.
