If you have a concept and you have an audience, you have a brand
- Michael Brown, Axel Arigato
At this week’s Underground Session our panel included speakers from Refinery29 and Axel Arigato, who discussed how to navigate the new rules of retail, and how to keep your audience entertained in a world where they’re bombarded by more content than ever before. If you’re looking for a bit of inspiration, here are some of our favourite takeaways from the night.
Staying True To Your Brand
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One of the central themes of the evening was the importance of staying true to your brand as that’s what attracts interest and loyalty within customers:
As soon as you lose the brand identity and the authenticity, the consumer now has such a short attention span and you won’t keep them for long
- Michael Brown, Axel Arigato
Consumers are at the heart of retail, and now they have the power to choose, their loyalty is earned through a sense of shared identity; therefore it is essential that brands remain consistent:
Think about the consumer first, think about what their priorities are. Think about how to speak to them and not what you want them to hear
- Kirsty Hathaway, Refinery29
Keeping Customers Engaged
In order for brands to make a dent, they need to curate a creative experience that leaves customers with not only a product, but a memory:
People are bored from walking into the same retail environments, seeing the same products as you can see everywhere in the market
- Michael Brown, Axel Arigato
Physical spaces allow for brands to have an “in real life moment” (Kirsty, Refinery29). These moments are a time for brands to curate a story within a space will speak to people:
Experimental creativity is important. Immerse your customers in a new feeling or sensation. Make it instagrammable in the sense that they want to be there and share it. Art and creativity are key.
- Kirsty Hathaway, Refinery29
The Future
We asked our speakers to give a quick forecast into the future of retail and how brands should be approaching physical retail:
Humans selling to humans
- Laura Harnett
Stay true to the brand's authenticity. The minute you step away from that, it’s the beginning of the end
- Michael Brown, Axel Arigato
Think about the consumer first, think about what their priorities are. Think about how to speak to them and not what you want them to hear
- Kirsty Hathaway, Refinery29
Shout out to Our Vodka for providing our drinks for the evening and to our amazing goodie bags partners: Livia’s; Loving Earth; Aesthetica; Candy Kittens and HASK.
Thank you to iZettle for partnering with us for our Underground Sessions. iZettle is a one-stop-shop for commerce, offering point-of-sale apps, mobile card readers and financing for businesses of all sizes. It’s super simple to get started – just connect your iZettle Reader to your phone or tablet and start getting paid.
iZettle has a special offer for Appear Here brands, reach out to our Additions team to learn more!
Underground Sessions are going to be a monthly fixture in the Appear Here calendar, so keep your eyes peeled.