> THE FACT

> THE ANALYSIS
After exhibiting works of art in its shops, then having created a gallery on the top floor of its flagship store on avenue Georges V, Vuitton is confirming, with the creation of a cinema in its Roman shop, the place of art and culture within its retail space. Although luxury brands have always sold an element of the immaterial (elegance, refinement, dreams etc.), this now takes on a new, more cultural and artistic dimension, which allows them to satisfy the new requirements of consumers who are becoming more and more sensitive to the unexpected, to the discovery of new aesthetics and to the acquisition of new knowledge. Could brands (luxury ones, but not exclusively) become customers’ guiding light towards culture?
+ cartonmagazine.com

> THE FACT

> THE ANALYSIS
A strictly functional object developed as a “weapon” by Paris City Hall in its anti-car crusade, the pavement bollard has increasingly become a creative support for artistic or practical purposes. In this case, it does not involve spraying graffiti or redecorating street furniture to contest it, but changing its purpose to make use of it.  A development which provides a good illustration of how towns and cities are now transforming themselves: not so much through major spectacular architectural projects but, through spontaneous and individual mini-initiatives.  Converted into supports to which ashtrays, bins, planters, or even signposts, tables or seats can be attached, tomorrow’s bollards will find their place in the urban landscape and will help to promote the city’s creativity. Shouldn’t a town that wants to appear creative start by listening to its inhabitants’ views on creativity?

> THE FACT

> THE ANALYSIS
Now initiated by a slightly “picky” Parisian shop, the idea of having customers give a little of their time and creativity by asking them to perform in exchange for a reward could be a lead to follow in terms of the retailing of tomorrow. Here, the commercial relationship therefore doubles as a fun and creative relationship which can only reinforce the feeling of closeness to a brand. The shop becomes, for its customers, a place for participating and experimenting and the purchase becomes a source of memories that will certainly be shared… Two promises all the more strategic as e-commerce cannot keep them?

> THE FACT

> THE ANALYSIS
By opening its “insurance café”, State Farm is expressing its desire to refresh the way in which it goes to meet its customers. Understand: away from commercial agencies and with no goal to “sell” them products. It has also illustrated a new perspective on the notion of proximity, which is (too?) often used in the world of banking and insurance. Here, it is becoming synonymous with conviviality and education because Next Door is both a place for local people to meet, and provides information for those asking themselves about managing their own finances. A way for the brand to convey the idea that its products go right to the heart of everyday life, as well as to show itself responsive to the expectations of its customers in order to innovate better?

  > THE FACT

> THE ANALYSIS
An original proposition, Be NOW has just perfectly illustrated the manner in which traditional shops are reinventing themselves. Although hairdressers have always denied time and have based their development on the loyalty of their customers, Be NOW is built on throughput and managing time. By proposing services associated with well-being, it is distancing hairdressing for purely aesthetic reasons and repositioning it in a broader psychological context.  By combining attractive prices and a quality environment, it is opening a new segment, the low-cost premium one, in which it is the sole player. Lastly, by promoting new technologies, it is displaying a type of modernity that is still unusual in its sector. Isn’t reinventing oneself about questioning, one by one, all the conventions in ones market that appeared to be immutable?

  > THE FACT

> THE ANALYSIS
Following technologies designed to improve everyone’s performance or knowledge, here is one that is aimed at making your life more comfortable, as the appearance on the market of intelligent bracelets demonstrates.  A new era in the relationship between man and machine is beginning here, with technological objects that are constantly connected to the body and to its movements, capable of making everyone aware of their behaviour and their effects. “Worn” technologies are thus taking over from mobile technologies, announcing a new form of “techno-dependency”, which has been renamed “coaching” in order to avoid scaring off future wearers… The emergence of a new generation of promises: promises for well-being “2.0”?
+ clubic.com

According to an American survey

In his book Accélération (published by La découverte); the philosopher Hartmut Rosa explains why modern man is always increasingly pressed for time.
Never in history has man had so much time-saving technology at hand. And he’s never had as much free time. So why is there this widespread feeling of stress and constant urgency? Because the number of actions per unit of time has not stopped growing since the start of the industrial era. It involves a never-ending series of impulsions causing us to lose time by having to make choices and coordinate our various activities. Above all, they have become compulsory because of increased competition in society. Technological acceleration does not necessarily lead to social acceleration, but we are seeing them become joined together in our society. Technologies allow us to act and travel ever more quickly and, at the same time, social changes in our lives are accelerating. From where we get the feeling that we’re constantly on a slippery slope…

For each purchase of a product concerned by the “Test Me” offer in the Thebeautyst.com online cosmetics shop, customers can receive a miniature test measure to try before they open the full-sized product. If they are disappointed, they only need to send the product back in order to receive a refund.

In The Paradies Shops, a chain of shops present in most American airports, any books purchased can be refunded at half of their cost price in the six months following the purchase, regardless of the sales outlet.

In New York, PureLoyalty is a company that is parking lorries outside schools to look after mobile phones and other iPods that are forbidden in class in certain public schools.

City Maps is an interactive cartography application in which a town’s shops act as referencepoints. + soparticular.com

In Canada, Fleurette is offering taxis reserved for children to let them attend their various after-school activities without having to call on their parents.

To mark Women’s Day, the Cora hypermarket in Rennes came up with the idea of a wine fair featuring only wine made by female growers. Around sixty of them, the “Miss Millésimes”, were therefore chosen.

On March 10, the Rosny 2 shopping centre organised a “Fashion Flash”: 100 shop windows simultaneously organised by 200 participants recruited on Facebook.

According to a survey by Ifop/Generix (carried out online with 1,004 people over the age of 18), 91% of people questioned had made at least one online non-food purchase in the last twelve months. And half of them said they had experienced at least one problem…

LaSer UK won the award for its “Flybe double points*” marketing campaign, after competing against American Express, Barclaycard, Santander, the Co-Operative Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The “Flybe Double Points” campaign was developed by LaSer UK for Flybe, the low cost airline, as part of its “Rewards4All” loyalty programme. This campaign proposed an offer restricted to all of the company’s members: win two flights instead of one, each time more than £250 is spent using the Flybe card. Through a strong strategy from Flybe, this campaign allowed it to reinforce customer loyalty and boost their interest.
  LaSer UK was also nominated as a finalist in the “Best bank card marketing campaign” category for its “Early Bird” campaign for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
 
* “Avec Flybe, your points count double”

> THE FACT 

> THE ANALYSIS
Amongst all the Smartphone apps, often anecdotal, which are available on the market, OMWAT deserves attention. On the one hand, because, far from being a gadget, it offers a new relationship with GPS devices with which we are familiar. Here, it is intuition more than attention which dominates, because you no longer need to have your eyes locked on the GPS to move around. On the other hand, because it has been conceived based on the lifestyle of young people for whom it is intended and, more particularly, on their means of travel. How can you have your eyes locked on a GPS screen when you’re skateboarding, rollerblading, cycling or jogging? Lastly, because by giving its users the opportunity to use their favourite music to find their way, AMWAT draws the GPS into their world and not vice-versa. An illustration of the way in which young people take on new technologies by reinventing the relationship they have with them based on their lifestyles?

> THE FACT 

> THE ANALYSIS
More than just a fad from across the pond, the appearance of a food truck like Le Camion qui fume in the streets ofParisis, above all, an indication of the expectations of today’s consumers. An expectation for offers that are simple, high-quality, generous and “incarnate” (as much in the quantity as in an emblematic person), in contrast to the experimental and conceptual cuisine which has been prevalent in restaurants over the last few years.  It is also symptomatic of a desire to take part in a new food experience like, here, being able to follow the truck’s movements on the Internet or via social networks to find it and therefore to have the feeling of sharing in a special moment with a few initiates: social food as a possible scenario for the future of eating out?

 >

> THE ANALYSIS
At a time when prêt-à-porter brands are continuing to identically multiply their sales outlets, Acné’s initiative surprises by taking a counter-stance to this reproductive way of thinking.  Here, the retail concept developed by the brand is unlike that of any of its other stores. Better still, the main area is not devoted to sales. It has not been designed to confirm the presence of the brand or to conquer new customers, but to talk to its fans and to show them that it has not given in to the demands of mass retailing. Half art gallery through the presence of artworks and half clandestine boutique through its discretion, the latest Acné shop has, thus, everything to become a future place of cult pilgrimage for the brand’s followers… A way of underlining the new requirement for brands to develop experimental sales outlets, mixing underground and arty cultures, to seduce an entire generation that no longer wants to satisfy itself with offers designed for the masses?

> THE FACT

> THE ANALYSIS
Given the success that some of their exhibitions have enjoyed, museums are multiplying their initiatives to satisfy everyone’s appetite for culture. Time-based ticket reservations, late openings, or even all night long, use of new technologies …are so many ways in which museums can modernise their image and maintain a buzz around their exhibitions.  The National Gallery’s initiative is a step in this direction. By producing a film about one of its major exhibitions, it has offered additional knowledge to the experience of the individual visit and by choosing to show it on just one night at the cinema, it has strengthened the feeling of exclusivity attached to the exhibition, and therefore the privilege for those who have been able to visit it. An original and virtuous philosophy based on “event-making” enabling cinema to be associated with new cultural practices and reach new audiences. After broadcasts of football matches or opera (cf. l’Oeil no.176), commentary-based exhibition visits as possible programming for cinemas?

THE FACT

> THE ANALYSIS
Faced with the massive choice offered (enforced?) by e-commerce sites, toppppp.com has provided an original response which is as simple as it is effective. Here, it is not promotions or Amazon’s best-selling products that are highlighted, but those with the best scores from their purchasers. A way for the site to underline that they are not just “simple” consumers; instead that they form a community in which everyone’s opinion acts as a guide.  By choosing to present only the hundred products with the best ratings, toppppp.com also appears as a decision-making tool, or even a “stimulator of desire” for non-essentials in this time of budgetary caution. Recommendations from some working for the desire of others?

  >

> THE ANALYSIS
An indicator of the manner in which food and beverage businesses are changing, the appearance of premises devoted to coffee (after those for wine, olive oil and tea) also reveals the current desires of consumers. If consumers are now showing themselves to be increasingly curious about the origin of the products they purchase, they also want to see new actions, new rites or even a new vocabulary enabling them to confirm their expertise and to access new practices. With the appearance of “caféologie” (coffeeology), a new way of thinking is emerging and which is capable of seducing a new generation of consumers (who have known nothing but pods and capsules…) where consumption is mutating into culture and the “amateur” is giving way to the “enthusiast”. A bit as if today’s consumers were waiting for products that were part of their everyday lives to have an “augmented reality”?

 The My Robot Nation site is the first to offer a 3D creation service for the general public. It lets you create your own robot and to have it printed out in colour and in 3D. 

Launched by the daily newspaper, 20minutes, quileveut.fr is a free site for individuals to give things away to others. A way of doing someone a favour, of consuming cleverly whilst giving a new lease of life to objects that you don’t need any more.  

Inspired by a British example, Photomaton now lets you purchase an umbrella (foldable, made inAsia, but not disposable) for four euros from its famous booths. These booths are located in the rainiest towns and cities inFrance…

 The Belgian author François Schuiten has created the first comic strip using augmented reality with his book called “La Douce” (Casterman). You only have to open the book’s endpaper and put it in front of your computer’s webcam to bring it to life.

Since the start of February, Monoprix has been providing its customers with a “pedestrian” drive-thru that lets them come on foot and collect the order they have placed on the company’s website. Currently, there are 14 outlets offering this service inParis.

In the latest Converse store to open inNew Yorkin theSohodistrict, customers can choose prior to visiting the store the music they want to listen to when they get there.

Identity cards, administrative documents, photos of loved ones… the homeless now have a place to store these papers thanks to a first safe provided for them by the Abbé Pierre Foundation in Marseille. Thanks to a personal code, they can look at them from anywhere with an Internet connection by visiting the www.base-fap.com website.

 At the last New York Fashion Week, videos with QR Codes were fitted by L’Oréal (for its Lancôme and Yves Saint Laurent brands) into fifty or so cabs, allowing passengers to buy articles during their journeys…

Too much chat

Bore-out, this strange counterpoint to burn-out.
In contrast to burn-out, due to an excessive pace of life or pressure that has become too much, bore-out is the idea that you can fall ill due to boredom at work. We also talk of under utilisation of skills. Peter Werder, the Swiss communication expert, explains in his book that there is no point hiring people who are over-qualified for a position that is beneath them or which has insufficient workload which could be done in less time. And he pleads for a business culture based on dialogue and trust rather than on performance alone. The phenomenon could affect 10% of the world’s employees. At the front of the queue: the extremely fickle Generation Y, which is both keen on challenges but also likely to become bored very quickly. (Diagnose Boreout by Peter Werder & Philippe Rothlin, only available in German)

Until February 14, the Novotel de Vaugirard Montparnasse hotel is offering a temporary bedroom conceived in partnership with Microsoft. Called Room 3120, it is the first to offer a tablet PC, Windows mobile and an Xbox console with Kinect, allowing the gamer to view films with VOD. A foldaway bed frees up space and a glass “capsule” placed on the windowsill allows the Xbox gamer playing inside it to have the sensation of piloting a spacecraft with a view over all ofParis. A second area, designed for children, offers tatamis and low easy chairs around another Xbox 360 console with Kinect and an interactive and tactile table. The two areas, elegantly designed, are linked by a tactile mirror integrating music radios and information flows.   All nights are already fully booked…

> THE ANALYSIS

Directly inspired by the experience provided by the Palais in Tokyo at the end of 2007, consisting of having a “bedroom capsule” fitted on its roof (cf. Oeil no. 146), the experience that the Novotel Vaugirard is now offering confirms that artistic expressions can constitute sources of innovative offerings for brands. The success that Novotel’s temporary bedroom has encountered also demonstrates the present desire of consumers for anything that can help them escape the daily routine of their lives and allow them to experience something truly unique, alone or, even better, with their family. Lastly, through its partnership with Microsoft, Novotel is manifestly displaying new technologies which allow all of its customers to measure the effects of them on their habits and on their manner of sharing space.  Somewhere: between an artistic installation and a technology demonstration, is this the future of widely available leisure?

Opened last month in the Shoreditch area of London, Boxpark is the first temporary shopping centre built from shipping containers. Designed to last five years, it provides young designers and emerging brands with configured retail space in 30m² containers at rates that are half those usually demanded in the area. Sixty containers have therefore been made available. Brands that are too mainstream are not welcome and there are independent food operators.

> THE ANALYSIS

Original, simple, cheap, multi-purpose and non-intrusive on the environment, the containers effectively incarnate what those who are charge of reinventing the city call “intelligent solutions”. After having been used to accommodate students inLondon,AmsterdamorLe Havre(cf. L’Oeil no. 174) as well as to house certain temporary shops, they have now renewed the image of shopping centres to turn them into places of inspiration and attempt, therefore, to attract new customers. Here, in this area known for being the trendiest one in London, are Boxpark’s containers putting themselves at the service of a promise of a unique shopping experience: finding brands “unlike any other” in a location “unlike any other”?

On the top floor of its Champs-Élysées showroom (the “C42″), Citroën has created an area called the “Citroën Social Club”, which gives visitors the chance to see, in real time and in twenty-eight different languages, everything that is being said about the brand on social networks: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Dailymotion, Foursquare, Vimeo, FlickR… Visitors can share, via a Facebook app, their impressions and their opinions with the entire community, by using the iPads that have been provided.

> THE ANALYSIS

At a time when the French are showing themselves to be more and more curious about the digital world, brands are all asking themselves how they can gain from this change to generate new contacts with their customers. By exposing its reputation to the public in real time (the curious, enthusiasts or loyal customers) Citroën is, above all, making a break with everyday initiatives used by brands that have a Facebook page, consisting of claiming as many fans as possible. It is also demonstrating that it is possible to make use of social networks in sales outlets so that they can be seen as a meeting place for the opinions of Internet users and those of visitors. A way of recognising that the viewpoint of communities is as important as the brand’s agenda? Better still: that it is an integral part of its communication.

Conceived by a brand new organisation, the Mediation Association for Optimal Use of the Night (AMUON), based on trials conducted in BarcelonaandValencia, ‘Les Pierrots de la nuit’ are a troupe of around fifteen actors who have the job of preventing noise disturbances around festive areas. At around 7 or 8 pm, they start their preventative role by putting up small posters in night clubs and bars in order to encourage customers to respect their neighbours. Then, from 11 pm onwards, they put on small plays to make people smile and encourage the noisiest ones to tone it down.  The trial is running until the Spring.

> THE ANALYSIS

As original as it is unexpected, the initiative that the AMUON has developed reveals how communication campaigns aimed at changing individuals’ behaviours are now envisaged. They no longer involve forbidding or telling off, instead they make everyone think about their behaviour in a light-hearted and fun way. By intervening in festive places, ‘Les Pierrots de la nuit’ surprise, shock and disturb, but are not rejected because they too belong to the festive world that itself is criticised for being noisy. With their small plays, they get messages across in an unconventional way. So now, there are no longer those who “reproach” on one side and those who “do harm” on the other: the virtues of festive control in a festive rather than a repressive way? 

The Brands on Air site offers Internet users the opportunity to buy products that have been placed in films, TV series, programmes and clips. From the wedding dress worn by the heroine of Twilight, the Brooks Brothers tie worn by Georges Clooney in The Ides of March and the furniture seen in the programme D&CO…everything seen in the media can now be purchased.

> THE ANALYSIS

Innovative and original, the offer of the Brands on Air website has, firstly, illustrated the manner in which the media now influences consumption: less by the pressure that they exert than by the imagination that they help to spread. Actors and celebrities from all genres occupying the media space, how can they be surprised that they have become consumer models? Through offering Internet users the chance to purchase the brands that they carry, the Brands on Air site has found a new way of stimulating purchase desire. They have also taken advantage of the idea (fantasy?) which is now widespread with consumers that their purchases can help them construct their identity and can even let them gain access to another persona. After consumption in the service of personal expression, consumption in the service of self-transformation?

After the Make-up Bar trial in Carrefour Planet stores which allowed people to virtually apply their make-up after having taken their photo, L’Oréal-Paris is now offering an iPad app which lets you test an exclusive selection of the brand’s products directly on your digital face, such as: foundation, eye-shadow, lipstick etc. The app also provides access to coaching videos from professional make-up artists and to educational software designed to teach best practice. Lastly, it has created a user community, the “VIP Club”, where consumers can share ideas and benefit from advice and offers.

> THE ANALYSIS

Following on from sites, blogs and other Facebook pages, now it is apps that are providing brands with new opportunities to get their message across, enabling them, at the same time, to break out of the strict confines of their product sector and to offer their customers new experiences. Here, product awareness is working to spread new knowledge and the sharing of comments via social networks that are being stimulated by the brands personalising offers. By becoming teachers and “activators” of exchanges on social networks, are brands not thereby also helping to transform each of their customers into media?

In early 2012, Nestlé will be showing, on the website of the Maison Cailler chocolate brand, which it owns, live videos streamed from its chocolate laboratory, as well from Swiss pastures where its dairy cows graze and a cocoa plantation inEcuador.

The Citura network inReims (Véolia Transdev) is currently trialling a bus that runs on ethanol produced by spirit made from used champagne grapes, thus reducing CO2 emissions by 70%.

 The www.yourfonts.com website allows everyone to create their own font. You only need to fill in the sheet provided with characters drawn from your own inspiration and then scan them. Yourfonts then lets you download them.

Total has just created an in-store television channel offering news fromFrance24, travel advice, the weather from MétéoFrance and cultural information from AlloCiné. This channel aims to add value to consumers’ free time.

In the latest Apple Store inNew Yorklocated at Grand Central Station, Apple has provided an express counter which allows fast pick-up of products purchased beforehand on the Internet. Customers can also purchase products there by using their iPhones to scan in their barcodes.

Société Générale has just launched an educational financial website especially for children. It has games, videos, a dictionary and a “Mini-account” area allowing them to better understand money (www.abcbanque.fr).

Designed by Quark, and produced by 3.14 Innovations, ON/OFF is a sensitive paint technology that allows every wall to be turned into a giant light switch. You only have to touch the wall to turn on or turn off…a bit like the screen of a tablet…

www.restolib.fr offers cookery lessons open to all in restaurant kitchens. The chance to come and discover behind-the-scenes at its partner restaurants during their closing day, and to cook with professional equipment on your own, with friends or with colleagues.

Registration on www.echangeur.fr

> THE FACT

Rachel Khoo, an English cook who recently moved to Paris, is the author of several culinary bestsellers. She came up with the idea of running a mini restaurant in her home to allow her to share her new creations for the cookbook that had been ordered by her publisher. So it was that her kitchen, which she transformed into a temporary table d’hôte, welcomed two guests for lunch twice a week (on market days) over a period of seven months. Her guests paid 20 euros, and reserved by email, as the address was only revealed a few days in advance of the lunch. The ‘restaurant’ closed at the end of December.

> THE ANALYSIS

By allowing people to taste the recipes for her next book ahead of the general public, Rachel Khoo has been inventive by blurring the boundaries between personal passion and professional activity, restaurant and home, customers and friends. Her kitchen has thus become a place of participatory tasting, where guests can discover her creations, comment on them and even modify them. Intimate, as it only has two covers, unquestionably inventive and original because of the reputation and the diverse origins of its creator, and a bit mysterious due the invitation method, Rachel Khoo’s kitchen captivates the interest of foodies as much as that of those who love to discover underground restaurants. Can savouring a “culinary experience” be considered as a new kind of urban elitism?

In its new area situated on the ground floor of Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, the cosmetics brand Clinique provides customers with a selection of wrist bands bearing messages to express how they feel about being approached by the brand’s consultants: “I have time, please assist me”, “I want to browse in peace” or “Time is of the essence”. This is an example of the new shopping concept developed by the brand in theUnited States: “Service as you like”.

> THE ANALYSIS

Clinique’s initiative at Galeries Lafayette appears trivial, but it is highly innovative and represents an original way in which to transform conventional customer-brand relations.  Whilst all other brands are training their staff to meet their customers’ expectations as efficiently as possible without appearing pushy, Clinique has turned this logic on its head. With these message wrist bands, it is the customers who communicate how they want to be treated, in a manner which is simple and requires very little effort on their part. A new aspect of consumer power is taking shape here. Having segmented their offer by product category, then by destination, in the future, perhaps brands could distinguish it through the service expected by their customers?

Following the official installation of 200m² of lawn along the ring road in 2008, the “Périféérique” association is currently negotiating support from Greater Paris for a project which would, once a year, keep the ring road free from any traffic.  This project has already received support from many elected officials in Paris, in the region and even from the Ministry of Sport.  The engineering group Ginger, for its part, with the support of Vinci and the architect Claude Bucher, is planning to cover the Eiffel Tower with 600,000 plants for a period of four years, symbolising the “tallest tree in the world”.  This project should come to fruition in June 2012.

> THE ANALYSIS

These projects (adding a touch of magic to the ring road and planting up the Eiffel Tower) have been created with the same ethos as the Great Picnic in 2000 and Paris Plage (Paris Beach), responding to Parisians’ current demands to make their environment more enchanting and public areas more imaginative and socially aware.  Traditionally the role of architects, changing the face of cities today lies as much in constructing unique buildings as in creating individual initiatives to change the way we live together or, as in this example, to surprise and to encourage people to take part in a joint, short-lived experience. Could changing the way we perceive urban spaces  encourage citizens and the authorities to be more interested in them?

> THE ANALYSIS
Quality not quantity seems to be the current guiding principle used by brands eager to break through by responding to ever more creative and connected consumers’ expectations of recognition and personalisation.  Nestlé’s and Spartoo’s personalised products and their recent collaborative creations demonstrate their new, innovative approach to marketing, combining pedagogy and empathy.  Personality questionnaires, tips from bloggers and “personal profiles” are indeed used just as much to build up a better understanding of customers (opportunity to test new products, etc.) as to help these customers define their tastes and preferences.  Is this enough to develop customer loyalty and to drive preference for a particular brand?  

Following their success in Seattle, New York and Montreal, “urban chickens”, which can be raised on terraces or in gardens, have now reached France.  While the French Poultry Federation has registered a record number of information requests from individuals wanting to produce their own eggs, Animalis, the pet shop chain, announced sales of more than 6,000 chickens in 2011 compared to roughly 2,000 in 2010. It is also offering a mini coop kit including straw and grain for about €200.

> THE ANALYSIS

The economic crisis, the movement away from junk food, a desire to be informed about the origins of the food we eat and to source locally, and even to some extent animal rights, are all factors influencing the current boom in urban chickens.  Just like urban beehives (some of which can even be found on the roof of the Paris Opera House) this confirms the emergence of a new vision, no longer opposing town and country, in which each individual strives to contribute towards their own agricultural production.  A city life which doesn’t exclude the pleasures of country living, such could be the current expectations of a part of the urban population, who love to buy plants and flowers, who subscribe to an AMAP* system and who have a hen house…  Could this be the sign of a desire to reconnect with the earth in response to a world perceived as troubled by the excess influence of financial institutions?
* Association for community-supported agriculture

Launched about a year ago in the heart of London, the People’s Supermarket  is a community supermarket managed and owned by its members (in exchange for an annual contribution of £25), who in turn decide on the products to be offered for sale, the suppliers, the opening times as well as the strategic focus.   What makes it truly original is the possibility for members to benefit from a further 10% off in exchange for working as a volunteer in the shop for four hours per month.

> THE ANALYSIS

By adding the principles of a cooperative operation to the traditional role of shops, the People’s Supermarket has invented a new business model where the customers have control over the choice of suppliers and prices, because they are “members” of the shop.  They can choose what best suits the expectations and needs of local residents according to their shared values (ethics, organic production, locavorism, etc.) They can also take part in the running of the shop and therefore benefit from even lower prices, having contributed to reducing the operating costs.  Could this new retailing model, combining solidarity and a local presence, inspire a new “understanding” between shops and consumers?

Anonymous, a name which intrigues, disturbs and fascinates.  The powerful, the authorities, the Mafia, major corporations, institutions and even governments all shudder at its name.   Rooted deep in the Internet culture, this cyber culture which has fed hackers and developed its own digital humanistic values, is a new form of activism which could redefine the social struggle.  Frédéric Bardeau has written a well-documented book about them:    http://bit.ly/sGGoXY

In New York, the Starbucks in Time Square allows its customers to see the entire history of the district, via a timeline with touch-screen screen monitors representing its buildings and the way in which they have evolved through time.

Le Petit Ballon is a site which allows you to receive two bottles of wine a month in exchange for a subscription of twenty euros per month. Each bottle is recommended by an oenologist, a former sommelier from the Ritz, and a tasting kit is provided with every delivery.

eBay set up a pop-up shop in London, from 1 to 5 December, not far from Oxford Street, which did not offer any products for sale, but a selection of articles to be discovered and ordered via tablets put at shoppers’ disposal.

In December, the RATP tested a project called “Tramfert” on the T3 tram line, which consisted in adding two trains during off-peak periods, specifically for transporting goods, which are a major source of nuisance in the town.

Aushopping is a virtual shopping centre created by Auchun, at the beginning of November as a Beta website, which will soon be available.   Internet users will be able to go on the website once they have created an avatar. The website will feature a price comparison tool and a social network dedicated to shopping.

The Valentino Museum is an online real time 3D museum which presents 300 dresses designed by the couturier Valentino. Its inauguration took place live on YouTube on 5 December.

Shopmium is a free application which allows users to benefit from discounts or refunds in shops. Once users have downloaded the application and have registered, they will receive offers on their smartphone and can geolocate the supermarkets which offer them.

Paypal, eBay’s online payment service, now has an application in the United States, called Send Money, which allows users to send money to friends on Facebook.

The “Change accelerators” blog developed by BMW with Wired, offers the public the opportunity to exchange views about energy, mobility and design with “change accelerator” opinion leaders.
http://www.wired.com/cs/promo/blogs/changeaccelerators/

At the same time, between January 14 and 18, Laser will be offering its partners a guided tour to let them discover the latest New York brand innovations. This trip has been organised for the first time in cooperation with l’Echangeur by LaSer, which will be providing its expertise in analysing the new causes for stock-shortage and the deployment of new forms of innovation. To do this, it will run workshops to analyse each day’s events.

In some of its restaurants, Aéroport de Paris lets you charge up your mobile phone by simply placing it on the table, thanks to the induction principle.

The Economist newspaper recently noted that Ikea’s famous Billy unit was in the process of being re-designed. It will be deeper, with the possibility of having more unusual formats and especially, more and more of them will have glazed doors…so that you can store other things than just books…

Yellow Pages have launched a new free service from their website which allows businesses to promote their eco-labels and green commitments.

In the Gare de l’Est, Fnac will soon be testing a collection service for purchases made from its site.

In Germany, the Frinxx website will let you buy someone a drink even though they’re hundreds of kilometres away. All you have to do is go onto the company’s website, choose the value of the drink that you want to buy them and pay for it online. The recipient then receives a code via SMS, which they must give in at a partner bar, along with a personalised message.

On Facebook, with the “Short journeys with friends” app being offered by Voyages-Sncf.com, you can, in just a few clicks on the social network, organise a trip with a few of your friends.

Customers in a dozen or so Super U shops can now try out electric cars free of charge. The aim for the supermarket chain is to gauge the public’s reaction to an electric vehicle rental offering.

In 2013 Apple will, in accordance with the desire of its founder, offer a voice-activated television that will work in a similar way to the company’s current Iphone 4S.

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With a longstanding association with flea markets or charities, vintage furniture and clothes are now sold as part of traditional commercial offers to such an extent that they are becoming a genuine market segment. This development is due to several reasons: firstly, because objects from another era satisfy today’s desire to be different (a desire that has been created through the standardisation of offers). Secondly, because vintage represents a new, more responsible and less frenetic way of consuming, as it is based on the transfer of products and not on the never-ending quest for novelty. Lastly, because today’s consumers are showing themselves to be sensitive to products loaded with history and personal experience. Would this success reveal both a new way of consuming and the desire for a new relationship with consumption?

Currently on trial in Belleville, La Tournée is the name of a new “from my shop to my home” delivery service created by the “association for sustainable urban logistics” based on an example seen in Bombay. Twice a day, La Tournée’s delivery staff come to collect purchases made in person or by phone from the association’s member shops in the area, and deliver them to their customers for the modest sum of €2.40 per package.

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An indicator of the desire of independent shopkeepers to offer new services to their customers, the principle of La Tournée also represents their desire to appear as participants in their local area. Of course, taking part in La Tournée is also an opportunity for them to encourage their customers’ loyalty by satisfying the needs of those who do not have the time to do their shopping or have difficulty in getting around. It also lets them offer a delivery service that is comparable to that of small and medium-sized local shops developed by major retailers. Lastly, it has provided a reminder that, by their presence in an area, shopkeepers do not just contribute to its vitality, but also contribute to the creation of jobs. A way of underlining that commerce has always worked for social cohesion?

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By combining a monthly subscription and the principle of top brand discovery boxes, JolieBox represents a consumer model that is as attractive as it is financially interesting. For consumers, it is the opportunity to experience, every month, a moment of pleasure and of discovering all the emotions that are associated with the ritual of presents. For JolieBox, it is the guarantee of cash flow and a steady throughput of customers with qualified profiles, as well as the assurance of benefiting from potential awareness on blogs and social networks so that its offer is perceived as a “good idea” that you share with your friends. This is why it is important that customers are not disappointed by low-end products or by insufficient quantities of samples. The credibility of a blogger and the comments of web users as the guarantors of the selectivity of the offer and the expected surprise effect? 

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A choice of conviction rather than a financial decision from those who are behind it, the claim of Made in France is, nonetheless, a genuine sales argument and communication tool for the general public. A necessity of the financial crisis, for some, the act of consumption now concerns being a citizen or even militant. “I buy French to protect jobs in my country” has become a new creed. It is also a way of promoting and encouraging recognition of the regional expertise which is associated with it and, therefore, of asserting the identity of one’s offer in the face of globalisation. A new way of thinking associated with consumption, proof that, now, manufacturing conditions can become at least as important as what a product is?

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Anecdotal in appearance, these “lorgnettes” conceived by See’Up are a very good example of all the qualities expected from any innovation. Appearing, first of all, as a simple and obvious response to a gap or to a difficulty encountered in everyday life. This shows the importance of observing lifestyles to clearly identify the needs of all. Presenting oneself, then, in an original form to attract attention, certainly, but in an immediately understandable way to avoid being rejected.  Here, See’Up’s innovation renews the link with the gesture and imagination of the traditional “lorgnette”.  Being associated, lastly, with an ethical dimension to give those purchasing it the feeling of having made a purchase filled with meaning and solidarity. Useful, driven by imagination and responsible: the three essential virtues of any innovation?

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Micromania recently launched a brand new offer called “Gamers club” which allows its members, in exchange for a monthly subscription, to have their first console game bought back at is original price so that they can discover other ones. All exchanged games are new. A basic package allows two games a month to be tried out, with a premium package offering unrestricted try outs. Contract periods are for four or twelve months.

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After Club at Cost (cf. L’Oeil no.168), Micromania’s initiative has confirmed the current desire of brands to invent new relationship models with their customers. Here, it is not their loyalty which is rewarded, but their commitment, because some of them are prepared to pay a fixed sum in advance in order to receive benefits. By taking back used games from its member customers, Micromania has created and manages a second-hand market that will allow it to reach new customers. The company has also avoided having obsolete games being given to friends…who would be so many lost potential customers. Lastly, it encourages a sense of discovery amongst its customers by letting them regularly access new games. If loyal customers are those who purchase regularly, aren’t subscribed customers therefore those who are the most passionate?

As of recently, vente-privee.com, the leading site for private online sales, has been proposing a new concept, under the banner “One Day”. The unique feature here is that items only remain on sale for a single day with no advance announcement by e-mail to site members, as would typically be the case. Members can still glean a few clues by visiting Facebook, Twitter and the site forum the day before the sale. These promotions, which apply to showcase products in all categories covered by the site, at discounts of between 50% and 70% are accessible as of 7 am, with very quick delivery times.

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Ephemeral and slightly mysterious, the “One Day” sales (an electronic re-adaptation of the flash sales sponsored by department stores) remind us that retail goes hand in hand with the creation of fleeting events capable of arousing the consumer, conveying a sense of urgency and convincing participants of the exceptional nature of the promotion, all in the aim of transforming every visitor into a buyer… When vente.privee.com also takes the step of not divulging any clues regarding these sales outside of its Facebook page, forum or via Twitter, it is embarking on a new relational strategy with customers: it is not necessarily reaching out to them according to the typical model, but instead asking them to come seek information for themselves. The best way to generate retail buzz and preserve product attractiveness?

Extended through May 21^st, 2012, the Studio-Theatre at Paris’ Comédie Française, located beneath the Louvre Pyramid, is proposing a series of “sensorial reading” sessions in the form of meetings between an author or actor and, depending on the event, a chef, sommelier or perfumer. The stage is set for these artists to gain exposure to famous texts offering a sensorial description of their craft. On December 5^th, the actor Laurent Stocker and sommelier Philippe Faure-Brac will get the chance to ponder which wine Molière’s Bourgeois Gentilhomme (“Would-Be Gentleman”) would choose to drink.

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The inclusion in the Comédie Française schedule of shows mixing authors’ texts and demonstrations by chefs, sommeliers or perfumers provides a perfect illustration of the current desire felt by cultural institutions to reinvent themselves by reinvigorating their approach. As with the initiative sponsored by the Mobile Pompidou Centre (a selection of works presented under a big top tent travelling through France), the objective here is to dazzle, surprise, stir the curiosity and motivate spectators to overcome whatever apprehensions they might have over reading the classics. Following a suitable matching of dishes and wines, the focus turns to matching wines with famous theatre personalities, in confirming the role played today by sensorial approaches to accessing and describing reality: adding a sensation to the verb structure may wind up leading to a new theatre “experience

Paris’ first Accorderie service recently opened in the 19^th district, spearheaded by the Macif Foundation. A barter system originally started in Quebec. Accorderie offers participants the chance to take advantage of services in exchange for services provided. A local resident spending an hour accompanying an elderly person is given the possibility, for example, to benefit from an equivalent time credit for handyman jobs, computer training or language classes. Collective exchanges will also be initiated within this framework for the purchase of organic products at lower prices. Three other district locations are expected to host an Accorderie centre in 2012.

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An original system built around mutual aid lying between pure bartering and a social solidarity network, Accorderie, currently in its test phase, is as focused on stimulating exchanges between district residents as it is on proving that local communities have the power to invent alternative systems to pure mercantilism. This system bases exchanges on time spent and services provided according to skills input and not money, as a means of ensuring greater inclusiveness (with participants called “accordeurs“). Intended to stimulate contact among neighbours and strengthen social bonds across groups, Accorderie might also be sparking the imaginations of its barterers, shaping relations through frequentation and solidarity rather than accumulation and individualism?

Ocado, an online British retailer, recently tested at a London shopping centre a “shopping wall” concept close to the one proposed by Tesco a short while ago in the South Korean metro system. The principle here is to virtually recreate shelves full of products in public places thanks to signs featuring product photos, alongside a set of flash codes. An order can be placed immediately by simply holding the Smartphone, equipped with the proper application, in front of the desired product.

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An opportunity to create a physical presence while consolidating business generated from mobile channels as part of total sales, this system invented by the Ocado cyber-market also serves as a precursor of how retail will be presented in the future. A means of distribution where the boundary between real and virtual will become blurred and where each consumer will be able to determine the appropriate amount of time to devote to shopping, depending on one’s mood and type of shopping trip. When performed through a screen interface, those time-consuming and repetitive purchases, which have now become routine, can be accelerated to free up time for more pleasurable shopping experiences or strolling. Putting technological innovation to use in reorganising day-to-day life?

On October 14^th and 15^th, the BHV department store held a clearance called “Le Vide Dressing du Bazar“, offering the opportunity for all fashion aficionados to sell the outfits and accessories they’re no longer wearing and, in exchange, walk away with new items. Sellers have the option of submitting a sheet entitled “My story” recounting an anecdote relative to the garment for sale and then receiving coupons for a value equivalent to the sale price. Buyers benefit from fashion advice offered thanks to a partnership entered into for the occasion with the magazine BIBA.

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Perfectly attuned to the times, this BHV initiative effectively illustrates what is bound to be a new ambition pursued by department stores, namely becoming places of exchange, buoyant and attractive marketplaces as much as they are retail outlets. By offering the public access to a portion of its floor area to display clothing and accessories for sale, the BHV is momentarily relinquishing its purpose to transition into a sales platform and meeting venue… like an e-commerce site. In this way, it is also transforming the role of its customers, who are no longer simply fashion spectators but now actors. BHV shows here that by amazing customers through offering them new possibilities of expression, the store’s identity might actually become strengthened?

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Cadbury will soon be marketing a chocolate-flavoured bar whose packaging will allow consumers to participate in a 30-second video game sequence. After downloading an application (free of charge), Smartphone owners will simply have to place their device near the packaging of the chocolate bar to start the game. Last year, the ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s developed an application that displayed enhanced-reality images on customers’ mobile device screens.

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By associating games with food consumption in an innovative way, Cadbury is not only creating the event, the company is also seeking to win over the generation of young consumers. This consumer segment, raised in the culture of video gaming (making them an audience very familiar with snack items), is characterised by consumers who are critical and sceptical, even indifferent, to the typical sales lines offered by food brands when promoting their products. For this campaign, no time is spent introducing the history of the brand or its nutritional virtues. Only the promise of playing, steering the consumer to a new relationship with the brand. After the “I consume, therefore I am” maxim, the new angle may be “I consume, therefore I play”?