Damarah Brown

Great post, Damarah…this article hits close to home because I worked at Complex for 8 months in 2017. I lived in Los Angeles for 6 years. I was the Director of Ad Operations of the LA office and right before I was hired, Verizon came in and bought them for $100 million. Verizon eventually brought in their operations team and laid off the original operations team. At the time it was a shock but looking back at it now, it was a great experience. I actually went to ComplexCon 2017, which was the first one.

When I was working at Complex the most popular live “story” social media was Snapchat, Instagram “stories” was sort of brand new, and I don’t think the stories function was even available on Facebook yet. I absolutely agree with you that Complex did (and does) an excellent job of showcasing the event without revealing too much. There were some companies bold enough to try Instagram stories as a brand new medium, but they would mainly just make a regular post in a product placement type of way. From a live story perspective, Snapchat was it. I remember reviewing media plan packages that had “social amps” or “brand activations” as they called them, that included Complex posting about a experiential experience at ComplexCon on FB or Instagram, and weaving in a product that made sense from a product placement standpoint. But then Complex (as well as regular people attending the conference) would live Snap the experience so even if you weren’t there, people could experience it.

For example, a brand like UberEats would sponsor the “Food Zone” (a play off of friendzone) that would feature a bunch of popular food trucks, but at the same time it would be cool out of the ordinary section that would highlight UberEats in a different way. Back then Snapchat was the only “live” story type social media outlet, Back in 2017, Complex only used Snapchat to compliment the event itself. It’s very interesting that in a matter of 2-3 years the live aspect of stories on IG, FB, and Snapchat has changed the way outsiders get to interact and experience the conference without even being there physically.

https://www.verdict.co.uk/complexcon-tickets-schedule-details/

Really interesting Damarah. What a great way to balance being able to see the clothing IRL and extending the experience beyond fabric on a hanger!

Since you seem to have been a regular shopper, what’s deterring you from being a purely digtial shopper with Zara? These digital elements are likely available in some aspect and you are familiar with the cut/quality of the clothes. What did the in-store experience bring that the digital experience is weaker without it?

Hi Damarah. I was also heartbroken ZARA closed! I enjoyed reading about what ZARA was doing with AR technology to enhance the experience of their shoppers both in the app and within their brick-and-mortar stores. Retailers like Macy’s, Urban Outfitters and Target are using “beacon technology” to do the same.

Beacons are small, battery-operated wireless devices that transit Bluetooth signals to nearby smartphones. This technology can help brands to proactively reach out to customers (who enable their Bluetooth) and are current users of the brand’s mobile app. There are several other benefits to brands including the following:

1) Track customer in-store movements
2) Help customers wayfind the store
3) Highlight promotional items
4) Alert in-store shoppers of discounts

A recent study by Swirl Networks Inc. found that over 70% of shoppers say beacon-triggered content and offers increased their likelihood to make a purchase during a store visit. Additionally, 61% of people said they’d simply visit a store more often if they (the retailer) offered beacon marketing campaigns. Brands will have access to a whole new set of data that provide additional insights into consumer behavior. They could analyze shopping trends based on day of the week and time of day. Also, they could track the usage rates of their mobile apps by users. It would also be critical they tie back who was exposed to the beacon messages and those customers who eventually converted (made a purchase).

I can definitely see a possibility of more and more industries adopting this beacon technology, like sports/concert arenas and theme parks, to drive traffic and conversions to specific vendors. As a consumer, I would definitely be open to receiving these types of notifications if they provided me with a valuable message that appealed to my interests!

Sources:
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/beacon-technology
https://www.shopify.com/retail/the-ultimate-guide-to-using-beacon-technology-for-retail-stores

I love that you did a 5 Whys analysis, including diagrams, on such a personal topic – nicely done! haha

I see that the 5 Whys and Root Cause Analysis have so many similarities that they are nearly synonymous. The process helps you use logic and momentarily rid of emotion. It is a quick and practical tool to use before creating a solution. Creating a solution off of the wrong lead can be catastrophic. You must narrow down the correct problem to have the correct solution. Great post!