Even though grocery stores remained open during lockdown, many people chose to do their grocery shopping online to avoid exposure to COVID. In fact, in SLD’s recent study on e-commerce for CPG brands, 69 percent of respondents said they shopped more online for groceries during the pandemic. For CPG brands, this news is not generally received with enthusiasm. The online shopping experience is extremely different from a shop in the store and options, such as saving your previous purchase list for reorder can make it harder for brands to be noticed. Some CPG brands are wading into the waters of direct-to-consumer platforms but with mixed success.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Think Retail

The Future of E-Commerce for CPG Brands

The financial services industry has largely begun to undertake the work of transforming their customer experience model from physical branches to their digital experience, to at least some degree. However, to get the most out of these intensive projects, transforming the people who work in banks and how they work is just as critical as your app, your branch design, and marketing campaigns. When people are included in transformation, not only do financial brands get a better end result when it comes to the customer experience, but they’re better poised to fend off incoming disruptors. Today, we’re speaking to EJ Kritz, the EVP of Training & Customer Experience at ath Power Consulting about why financial brands need to take as much care with transforming their people practices as they do with every other part of their business. EJ, thank you for being with me today. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How to Empower Employees and Create a Culture of Change

Over the past few years, brands have more often ventured into the realm of social justice and politics, whether it’s Starbucks giving their entire retail network a day off to learn about racial equity, Dick’s Sporting Goods taking automatic guns and ammunition off their shelves, or beauty brands making a pledge to stop Photoshopping models, every day there’s another story about a company taking some sort of stand. Why is this happening, and does it build or harm brand equity? Today I’m chatting with Digital Marketing and Communication Strategist, Sebastian Maynard, about some of the biggest issues driving consumer preference. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Social Justice and Brand Building

In North America, demographic changes are creating a more diverse customer base. This means that brand strategy and marketing needs to become more inclusive quickly. But some marketers are nervous about making mistakes trying to speak to audiences with different experiences. Today, my guest is Puja Prakash – a graduate student at OCAD, completing her master's in Strategic Foresight. We’re going to talk about why this is so important to take on, and how to put yourself in the best possible position to be authentic and inclusive.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Why Authenticity and Inclusivity Must Go Hand-in-Hand

The future is unfolding in real-time, all the time. But most retail brands are in a state of constant catch-up – just being at par before another innovation appears. This is partly the result of fast-moving times, but it’s also the result of an industry that has been somewhat lackadaisical about innovation.To really become a brand of the future, today’s guest sees audacious leadership as essential. Nancy Giordano is a strategic futurist, speaker, consultant, and author of Leadering, a book aimed at challenging leaders to be bolder in shaping the future – not only of their companies but of the world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Business Leaders, Bold Thinkers, and the Brand of the Future

Innovation and design thinking are new hot topics in board rooms these days, but anyone who has tried to make a company more innovative through strategic design knows that it’s really challenging. Newer companies that are starting off with innovation as a foundational principle have a big advantage over older organizations with legacy systems, ingrained cultural dynamics, and leadership who might understand the benefit but not really know where to begin.Today’s guest, Avi Raj, is a design strategist who understands how to connect the dots between design thinking, business, and digital experience.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Importance of Innovation and Design Thinking for Brands

Virtual and augmented reality are two of the most exciting technological developments of the last 20 years. Already widely used as a training tool in the military, healthcare, professional sports, VR has many potential uses in a consumer-facing industry such as retail. Augmented reality is already sprouting up with fun extras like augmented packaging and practical uses such as wayfinding through a store or checking to see how an item of furniture might look in your living room. As exciting as these technologies are, a lot of us don’t really have a great understanding of the full implications. Today, our guest is Brian Banton, a designer whose work in virtual and augmented reality has been put to good use at Facebook is going to talk us through what’s actually possible and how to plan to get there.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Exploring the Possibilities of Augmented and Virtual Reality

The rising concern about misinformation and fake news is a top concern of people around the world, whether we’re talking about Russian interference with foreign elections or an organic seal on a carton of milk. Skepticism is high and consumers expect it to become even harder to figure out what’s true in the future.Today, we’re talking to SLD’s president Jean-Pierre Lacroix about a recent study we conducted on the subject of why brands should be thinking about this and how they can become ambassadors of DeepReal in a DeepFake world. JP, welcome back. It’s always nice to have you. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Discussing SLD's DeepReal Study With Jean-Pierre Lacroix

In a world where distribution channels are becoming more and more tailored to specific locations, consumers and products, technology is enabling innovation that would have been impossible only a few years ago. Today we’re speaking to Corey Yantha, CEO of Dispension Inc. about a very unique way to sell a specific kind of product and the potential application to a wide range of scenarios. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Future of Distributing Regulated Products is Already Here

Here is a little trivia for you: what is the oldest and longest-surviving company in North America? Think the fur trade, striped, colourful blankets, and a coat of arms that features one fox, two elk and four beavers. Give up? It’s Hudson’s Bay, of course!Founded in 1670 with their first department store opening in 1881, The Bay now operates close to 100 locations across Canada along with a huge online store that ships across the country. From fashion apparel to home goods, whatever you want – The Bay probably has. But how can such an iconic brand stay relevant as local shops and direct to consumer brands eat away at market share?In this episode of Think Retail, we speak with Ryan Booth, Director of Design at Hudson’s Bay about the very exciting (and daunting) challenge he has taken on. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lessons in How to Modernize Your Legacy Brand

At SLD, part of what we do is trends analysis. And since clients are always asking for our perspective on various emerging innovations and ideas, we thought we would make this part of what we share with you on the podcast. Today I’m joined by podcast producer and Digital Marketing Strategist, Sebastian Maynard - you may recognize his voice. And we’re focusing today on emerging trends in the realm of social engagement online.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Trends in Online Social Engagement

People are what make your company culture. Who are your people? This is the question I’m exploring today with retail HR specialist, Suzanne Sears. From emerging job descriptions and COVID shortages, to service excellence at the frontlines, in this episode we talk about how retail brands can become more future-focused by finding the right people for the right position. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How to Make Retail Jobs Fun Again

It has been quite telling over the years working with retail brands, whenever you bring up the subject of employee engagement, it’s usually not a top priority. Everybody is so focused on e-commerce and social media that employees are often treated as an afterthought. And while digital is, of course, critical for any brand in bricks and mortar retail, people are the power behind real success. So why aren’t retail leaders more focused on leadership? April Sabral has had a long career in retail leadership with companies such as Banana Republic, Starbucks, and Apple. She’s the brains behind retailu, an online learning platform designed especially for retail leaders. In this episode, we talk about retail leadership and her new book, The Positive Effect.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Training Your Staff To Become Better Leaders

A big buzzword for 2021 is optimism. Politicians, marketers, and even celebrities are cheering the world on as vaccination efforts roll out. And while the end of the pandemic may still be further away than we’d like, at least an end is in view. How does this relate to the retail experience? As we all know, shopping hasn’t exactly been a fun experience lately. It’s felt more like a military operation at times. That being said, wherever brands can bring a little bit of joy into their messaging and store experience, it will be most welcome.  In this episode, we speak to Paul Goldsmith, who has years of experience managing retail brands, not just in Canada, but internationally. Most recently, he was leading design services for Walmart Canada, and that encompassed a broad portfolio, from private label, to in-store, to next-generation store design. In Canada, he also worked for Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws in product and marketing leadership roles. He describes himself as an optimistic person. And today we’re going to discuss why the world needs a good dose of happy thoughts, now more than ever.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Bringing Optimism to Your Marketing and Communications

How to get more people into your store is a question that retailers both big and small have been asking since the dawn of e-commerce. Add Amazon, a pandemic, direct to consumer online brands and a smartphone in the hand of nearly every consumer in North America, and the answer seems less clear still.Mark Kinsley and Mark Quinn (also known as Dos Marcos) are both veterans in the retail industry and have written a book on this very subject. Come Back to Bed is a joint effort, bringing their expertise and experience in the mattress industry together to discuss core principles that can apply to any retail category. Today, we’re going to talk about these core principles as well as strategic tactics brands can implement. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How to Get Customers to Fall in Love With Your Store

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