Buy it or leave it! Try it with pleasure say Reebok,Lee,Shopper Stop,Crosswords

BRANDS LIKE REEBOK, LEE, SHOPPER STOP & CROSSWORDS BOOKSTORE ARE FINDING WAYS TO KEEP CUSTOMER’S BOREDOM AT BAY

TWENTY-four year old Natasha Sehgal wanted to buy a pair of sneakers. Strolling at the nearest mall, she noticed a cluster of identical footwear showrooms, with doormen having the same bored expressions on their faces offering shoes that were difficult to tell apart. With only her brand preference to guide her, she spent the next 15 minutes to make the purchase and return home, bored. Now, the cure for boredom is curiosity. And brands such as Reebok, Lee, Shopper Stop and Crosswords Bookstore are fast realising that to keep shoppers interested in their products, a healthy dose of instore experiential marketing is necessary. Experiential marketing gives customers an opportunity to engage and interact with brands, products, and services in sensory ways that provide the icing on the cake of providing information. Personal experiences help people connect to a brand and make intelligent and informed purchasing decisions. It’s the difference between telling people about features of a product or service and letting them experience the benefits for themselves. Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults explains, “India has been a nation of shopkeepers with 16.9 million shops till now. We are in the first stage of retail evolution. Nowadays, a retail store is not only a point of purchase. It’s become a point of marketing, advertising, promotion and front-end market research. We are going to see a lot more of experiential marketing in the near future.” International footwear giant Reebok for instance, is going out of its way to make shoppers spend more time in its showrooms and to make that time worthwhile for both consumer and marketer. Reebok India using in-store environment as image driver has created a Retail Environment (R) evolution. Reebok organises “Rbk Weekend Slams” in their flagship stores to create a buzz, engage, entice and excite customers. The “Rbk Style Zone” has a fashion stylist to give the shoppers a make over, give styling tips according to the usage, be it for sweating it out in the gym, hanging out with friends or partying in a night club. A fashion photographer is also on standby to capture the magical moment. Even the kids are not ignored. They can have the “I Am What I Am” tattoo done on their arms. If this wasn’t enough, what keeps the whole environment charged up is the DJ spinning the latest hip-hop tracks. Sajid Shamim, marketing head, Reebok India says, “It is indeed experiential marketing that helps buyers make a better purchase decision. Buyers at our stores can also customise their own shoes by choosing each component and we can deliver the product in 21 days. If used properly this form of marketing can do wonders for brand loyalty.” Chakor Jain, Business Head, Lee India couldn’t agree more. “It is indeed a challenge to induce a trial and then create stickiness to the brand. We had been constantly creating opportunities in the stores to drive traffic. Do your own Denim - A promotion where we had young designers sit in Lee exclusive store and help people customise their own denims. Swarovski crystals, Embroidered patches, Paints, and other embellishments were provided for customisation. Get spotted - become a model - Fashion guru Prasad Bidapa, style icon Anushka were in store to spot young talent to step into the world of modelling. The youth was styled by the style gurus in Lee merchandise and were pictured then and there. We had celebrity visits, launch parties at the stores and portfolio shoots.” Aniyan Nair, head, operations and marketing, Crossword Bookstore takes the argument a bit further. “We have to listen to our customers. We have cafes as part of the bookstore, allowing customers to browse through books over coffee. We offer browsing comfort with tables and chairs and sofas, CRM programmes, Recommendations through shelf talkers, ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed or Money Back’ on books, children activities on weekends like painting, story reading, book readings, launches, and discussions every week for customers.” “Exercises like these help tremendously in understanding the customer and gain brand loyalty,” adds Nair. Sheetal Choksi, VP, marketing communications, Shoppers’ Stop understands the need to garner the trust and loyalty of customers. “We have to innovate every time to sustain consumer interest. For instance, for our Parikrama line of ethnic wear we got the artisans from various parts of the country into our store. If customers wanted they could have ordered customised apparel from them directly.” Sensory engagement with customers is the need of the hour for brands. Perhaps then, Natasha Sehgal would not only spend a lot more time in the store, she would also come back for more. And who knows next time with her friends in tow.

Courtesy: EconomicTimes
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