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A case for simplicity in retail

May 22, 2013 by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Nothing seems simple anymore. It's amazing how complex our lives have become with the technology that was supposed to simplify our lives! As I was trying to confirm flights for my departure for China, I was talking on Skype, another person was texting me, my cell phone and land line were both ringing off the hook (yes I'm that old that I still have a land line). It made me wonder if brands and retailers understand what life is like for consumers in this connected world where everyone is shouting. Maybe less can truly be more. And, maybe it's time to simplify … both in business and life.

The world is certainly a noisier place than ever before. While people have tuned out some traditional media like radio and TV, there are a host of new channels competing for our time. I don't know about you, but I can't begin to keep up with the flood of email, texts, and messages coming in from LinkedIn. While I'm quite sure that Twitter can be a valuable media, I'm not sure how you keep up with all the tweets, followers … and then, tweet back to those re-tweeting and favoring your tweets.

Everyone is talking at once. And, the worst part is that you have a smartphone, they expect you to be listening. Watch what happens when an airplane touches down. The smartphones come out and the "robots" immediately start sorting through the piles of the "incoming." What's even worse, if you are on IM or Skype, "they" know you are online and they are waiting to pounce when you come up "active." The technology that was supposed to set us free seems to be enslaving us.

Retailers and brands need to understand the value of simplicity

The new rage in marketing is reaching consumers via mobility and social media. But, there is so much flying around on Facebook, Tweets, Google+ and texts that it is hard to know what matters any more. The increase in media and choice has led to decrease in focus. All the brands and retailers are literally "talking at once." And, the paradox is that businesses become paranoid about connecting with time starved consumers, they are now pumping out even more ads, more promotions, with more ways to connect. As consumers, the noise is so deafening we can't begin to answer the most basic question:

WII-FM … What's In It For Me?

How do you break through the clutter? Focus on simplicity. One of the most valuable skills in the world is to distill everything down in to something simple and memorable. Writing lots of slogans and messages is easier than getting it down to a single line, or better yet, a few words. With social media, far too many companies seem inclined to pump out more as if the quantity will make up for the lack of simple quality. Retailers and brands seem inclined to fill up websites and electronic marketing with more facts, more specs, more content.

Simplicity test: Can the consumer repeat your core message/value?

Simplicity does NOT mean taking features out of a product or reducing levels of service. The goal is to capture the unique value for the consumer in a clear, straightforward manner. It needs to be jargon free … in consumer speak. There is elegance in simple simplicity. The acid test of what work with consumers is three fold:

• Does it communicate personal value … something they need/want?
• Can the consumer remember it and repeat it back pretty accurately?
• Will they be experience it in a way that they repeat it to family, friends and neighbors?

Which retailers are succeeding in simplifying and connecting?

Today, more than any time in history retailers and brands need to focus on their differentiator(s) and communicate their essence as simply as possible. Slogans or taglines are the distillation of a retailer's brand or value proposition. Let's just examine a few big retail brands and their slogans.

Target – Expect More, Pay Less
Walmart – Save Money. Live Better.
Tesco – Every little helps.

Ok. I'm not a copy writer. I'm sure that agencies were paid millions to come up with those slogans communicating price value. Memorable maybe. Exciting no. The retailer slogan that actually caught my eye was Best Buy's new one. They've had a lot of brand messages about "happier," family, fun and entertainment. Those past slogans were really about the types of products sold. Best Buy's new slogan seems to have simple elegance in capturing what they do for you and me as consumers trying to handle all of this tech complexity:

Best Buy – Making technology work for you.

You know what? Best Buy might just be coming back! This is not about products they sell; this is where they make money! More importantly, their simple message is a critical need for most of us mortals. We value service, and we can remember the slogan. The key, of course, is that Best Buy has to now deliver on what is now their brand promise! And if they do, we will tell others to go there because they can make the complex simple and work for you.

Major FAIL: Footnote on simplifying life

For weeks I've been talking to my granddaughters about the wild geese nesting by my pond and how the babies would hatch in the spring. As I rushed around responding to all of my complexity of emails, Skype, IM and texts, I became enslaved in technology. I simply "did not have time" to show them the new baby geese had hatched right before I left for China.

If you can't make the time to show your children and grandchildren simple miracles of life, then your life is truly too complex and it is time to simplify.

You will not be hearing from me for a couple of days after I return from my business trip … I have an appointment with 6 geese, 3 granddaughters, and a fishing pole by a pond.

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