Distracted #12
telling stories, reinterpreting nostalgia, reflecting on place, agitating retail, trees and more trees etc
Hey - now we’re over that hump, a few ideas, gems and notions to distract your mind from its rear-view mirror.
On Telling Stories
Beyond providing some understanding re. wtf happened on Wall Street last week, there’s a lot to learn about how to use new mediums and formats just by watching Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitch.
“I decided to frame it around the concept of a lie…” How the New York Times talks to kids about big issues. Much can be learned from this piece on how we can inform all audiences better.
I’m fascinated with the use of AI to help create content. I’ve been using AI to mimic my dulcet tones for voiceovers (listen to fake-me here) and I just pitched a synth-tech startup to create a fake-avatar-of-me to present at virtual conferences. (oh, the talks I could give….) I guess that’s why the story about a dead-academic teaching a class jumped out at me! Not that I hope to die soon but….
Author Olivia Sudjic makes some useful observations on the transformation of storytelling in the Guardian: “Characters in today’s novels are more likely to surprise us if they don’t use social media.”
A few useful comments in this NPR interview with David Chang on why striving for authenticity stifles creativity.
Looking for some new ways to describe your product, brand, co-worker? The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction provides a pocket universe of made-up SciFi words.
In a parallel universe, as it tries to police offensive language, Facebook struggles with olde-worlde British town and street names.
On the Reinterpretation of Nostalgic Memories to Find New Ideas, etc
A rather brutal Greek winery turned stylish hotel. (Isn’t it a little weird how trendy hospitality photos don’t include guests? )
Somehow I feel that this is connected: a collection of objects including concrete sandals that combine traditional and modern materials to make a statement about the history of northeast Mexico.
Memories of movies and fashion as furniture.
On refreshing an iconic brand based on the Stuttgart Pitch (440 Hz) , first made famous in 1834.
In 1986, Swatch produced a mini range of watches for Keith Haring’s New York Pop Shop. Now they’re back.
Someone followed up with the folks in Lonely Hearts ads found in 1970s and 80s punk zines.
Side Note
I’m going to discuss these with my first (experimental) chat on Clubhouse on Wednesday 11.30am ET. Details here / +Calendar . I’m also thinking of a Whatsapp channel. More on that later.
On Agitating The Notion of Retail
A tour of whacky-art Gentle Monster in NY Soho store was a big hit at our Retail Innovation Week 2019. Folks interested in provocative (and robotic) store experience in the Bay Area should now check out the new Gentle Monster art-retail experience in the Westfield in Santa Clara.
Jaguar rebuilt a limited edition of only 7 retro-era cars… but what’s more interesting is how they still give everyday people the option to configure the C-Types online as if they can really buy it. Super playful interaction and probably amazing data collection of brand loyalists contact info.
7-Eleven and Airbnb to rent out the retailer’s new 7-Eleven Evolution Store in Dallas County, Texas for two separate nights before its official opening.
Love this: travel corps pivoting their rev streams: American Airlines offers wine club subscription program - and here’s India Tag Hotels making money by delivering its hotel-restaurant food to homes.
How the John Lewis department store is pivoting by leaning into appointment retail. Kinda interesting: H&M to develop virtual dressing rooms where your avatar tries on clothes.
Marketplaces is another mega trend in retail. We spent a day discussing the topic at Retail Innovation Week 2021 . This piece looks at how Walmart is trying to muscle into the space. Also if you’re interested in marketplaces, check ‘Worthy’ in the luxury space.
Mene is an interesting rethink for luxury retail too - selling jewelry with price transparency ( $ based on the weight of the gold).
And talking $$$ - Check this: stock trader extends her personal brand with a sell-out fashion line.
On Places We Live
Love this - to make their point about the impact global warming, once frozen Lapland town makes a tongue-in-cheek pitch for 2032 Summer Olympics. Also check the official Salla 2032 website and the Guardian write up.
If you want folks to care about your brand/company/store/street/park there are some nuggets of wisdom to be extracted here: “People take better care of public places when they feel like they have a stake in them”
A look at the work of Wells & Fargo in a time when people didn’t flee cities at times of crisis.
Long Island beach town demands that its empty retail stores display art - an artist organizes an exhibition of art in empty windows in upstate New York.
Architecture is all in a twist: check these new towers in Taipei …. maybe Heatherwick’s Vancouver residences should be called a bottleneck.
House of Hungarian Music in Budapest - super playful (I want to visit) - House of Childhood in France - not playful (I want to send the naughty child there).
My fascination with sheds is over - now it’s remote chalets (or pictures of them without guests) - here in Italy - angled ones in France. Chalets that fold down when you’re not using them. OK, ok, here’s a ‘shed’: Jupe is an off-grid shelter with the light-up frame, wifi, electrical outlets and USB ports powered by solar panels or battery packs.
On Getting Ahead In Circular Economy
Leave no-thing behind: using all the other bits of the animal as bioplastic to package the meaty bits.
The use of mushroom in products and packaging continues to develop - check this grow-it-yourself bike helmet. In this RIW21 video, the lads from Seedlip talk about mushroom packaging for their ecommerce shipments (and much more)
There was an interesting piece in The Engineer on how a real move into circular economy would mean that brands and retailers need to radically change everything about the way they do business. Are you ready? (If sustainability is your thing check Phillip Raub’s video from #RIW21)
This is a great case-study to use to reflect how you engage the people around you to make corporate decisions: How a community led soda company springs frothy.
How We Live
Still stuck at home? Folks are becoming pen-pals, drawing nudes or just learning guitar.
Now we’re all running them hiking trails, we need some proper shoes designed for the job. North Face has a rolling new hike-runner with controversial carbon-fiber plates. Side note: did anyone check their Gucci collab??
On Radicalizing the Customer Experience
Designers explain why they designed a credit card sized phone, Palm, to respond to behavioral changes, tech interfaces (voice) and fight social distraction.
I can’t see Carnival ever doing this but maybe they should: European cruise line wants to reset the onboard experience by including floating Italian-design museums.
Beauty queen Barbara Sturn on how her love to serve clients influences every aspect of CX, from website to retail partner selection.
Maybe a good way to rebrand ‘returnable’ packaging - Ace of Air tells customers that they’re renting it.
How Stitchfix uses algorithms for better CX and “attempt to shift agents’ time to more value-driving activities by (a) removing tasks better handled by machines and (b) surfacing new opportunities for service improvement and relationship building, beyond what clients are contacting us about.” Rabbit hole stuff.
Side Note
PSFK has a new weekly analysis email you should consider subscribing to. The Weekly Debrief includes a copy of our Future of Retail 2021 report, regular webinars. It’s super in-depth.
On Digital Influence
Ignore the clickbaity ‘lessons for parents’ headline… this piece in the NYC helps you understand the (slightly scary) confidence of successful influencers today .
How invested are you in your Football team? They’re all about to sell their own cryptocoins. The tip I have been given is to spot the team that’s going to go up and no one expects it to.
On Launching New Brands - I shared this specific newsletter from digital media mastermind Brian Morrissey to so many people. OK, with 6. But still, great inspiration here.
On Replanting & Rewilding
I talked about Rewilding before and this has been often connected with farming. This piece explores the intersection of rewilding with travel.
Related: Highway agency in England are going to grow grasslands and wild flowers along roads. Or maybe just not deal with them.
In China, ancient feng shui forests could provide a blueprint for sustainable planting - and maybe a plan for these woodland planting robot machines. All these trees might be a good thing: artist Marina Abramovic says we should be complaining about all this pandemic stuff to trees.
Not exactly related but I didn’t know where else to fit in: Garden leaves as embroidered artworks.
Thanks Folks
Thanks. And a reminder - I’m going to try to run a Clubhouse session on Wednesday about all of this - and I’m also toying with the idea of running a Whatsapp group which is mainly me sending out links of Distracted stuff when I come across it. Join if u want to test it out with me. There will be typos and grammatical mistake there too.
Thx,
Piers
Distracted
Founder, PSFK business intelligence, Retail Innovation Week, Wallkit paywall platform. New York / London / etc
Find me: LinkedIn or just piers@fawkes.org