Bit of advertising around Dundee

Yesterday I was walking near the Overgate when walking towards me was someone dressed up as some sort of winter jester, he was accompanied by a lady dressed up looking kind of like a white corpse bride. The two were head to toe in costume, and it wasn’t just your average fairy outfit, they looked the part.
Then I realised they were handing our pamphlets and after receiving one, discovered they were in fact advertising a costume store in the next street.

Paco Underhill said that the best way to sell a product is allow customers to try it. However in this account, its the seeing that customers need to do, to sell costumes people need to see them in action, see what can be achieved or created. I thought this was fantastic and honestly I couldn’t think of a better way for them to get their name out there.

(Sadly I didn’t get any photos of it, but trust me it looked awesome – I thought it was some sort of circus or carnival thing going on)

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Another lot of fantastic advertising I’ve seen are the Guinness Christmas ads. I’ve tried to get an image of them online but without success. Basically though, the ads are black and white and feature an object that you’d normally get your dad for christmas (they’ve included a scarf, razor, cologne). However the trick is that from far away each of these items look like a pint of Guinness.

You’ll be walking towards the sign thinking oh yes, Guinness, thats the picture, then you get closer and ‘oh wait! its a scarf?!’ Then you read the small strap line (which can only be seen from up close) “what he really wants for Christmas” (or something along those lines). And if you were to follow someones train or thought they’re thinking, ‘oh, hang on, I was going to get my dad a scarf for christmas…’
smart.smart.smart.

The other thing I love about these adverts is that a pint of Guinness is such a symbolic image that they don’t need to add a giant title or their name to the ad. They’ve added it for when your up close and it no longer looks like Guinness, but from far away you can tell what it is just from a glance. Now thats a pretty good symbol to have if you ask me.

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A lot of this ties into my Block 2 research regarding human brains reactions to signs and symbols – as provoked by Paco Underhill. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to do anything more for my block 2 research, but I feel like “Why We Buy” has informed me throughout the entire Peacocks Brief. Without meaning to I was using it as a guide for certain things, using it to justify choices. It has surprisingly impacted me quite a lot and changed my thought process when it comes to shopping mixed with advertising.

Here is a link to all the posts related to Block Two

 

– Y

Peacocks Brief – Presentation Slides

Last post I gave you the notes from our presentation on Thursday, this will link you to all the slides that went a long with the presentation. One visual is constantly repeated, the floor plan, this was so I could continue to walk everyone through our store and also show them where in the grand scheme of things each section is.

Click the link bellow to see the whole PDF:

Group 2_Peacocks_Presentaion

 

Everyone in our group made an excellent contribution to our final piece, each of the visuals, plans & moodboards were created by each person and combined together. I think we did a lot of work and created an effective plan that would benefit the Peacocks stores. Although we didn’t create a full campaign, I think we did somethnig more important, and that is re create the Peacocks experience. Without that experience and organisation a visual campaign would be for nothing.

Here are links to all the posts made by myself & my group members towards the brief:

Yasmin

Andy Leitch 

Claire Paul

Lynsey Barr

Jordan Linton

 

Peacocks Brief 09 – Final Presentation

On Thursday it was presentation day for our group briefs. It was really interesting to see what everyone had produced and it was funny how differently each ‘Peacocks’ group thought. I did our presentation, and sadly I wasn’t happy with how it went, I started to get nervous, forget what I was saying and repeat myself a fair bit. Though my group said they were happy with how it went so I’m glad they feel I did an okay job.
One way our presentation differed from others was that I didn’t really talk about our research. When Jonathan told me to avoid seeming like a student with a mind map and make it like a pitch I thought about what I would say to a company if I was trying to sell my ideas. Therefore I also tried to make our presentation positive and point out what can improve instead of focus on the things wrong. I think if you get into a room with the owner of a store then proceed to tell them how crap their stores are, your never going to get their support.

Bellow is a copy of our final presentation notes, I had skip some parts of it due to time constraints, but here is everything I meant to say 🙂

What we found wrong?

From first observation of the Peacocks store & website, it was clear that almost every area of their brand and identity was confused, inconsistent or cluttered. The targeted age groups were opposing between the website and the stores, stores themselves were jumbled and in disarray, the brand and its sub brands were confusing and inconsistent.

What approach we took?

The arrangement of clothes and the storage racks in stores, made stock appear cheap and of bad quality. Our decision was that what the stores needed an uplift and more structure. Therefore we’ve put all our work into improving the stores to attract the appropriate age demographic.

 What changes have we made?

Before we began our store plans, we refocused a few key areas. Our first approach was to choose one simple colour scheme. We simply took these colours from within the store, the peacocks’ blue found in the logo, a charcoal and gold found on the ‘Peacocks by Design’ tags and a simple grey to add contrast.

The second change we made was to narrow and define the target age group. We’ve decided to aim at you but more sophisticated, fashionable ladies, aged 25 to 40. We chose this age bracket because from our observations most women shopping there already fit into this demographic. Secondly, we wanted to keep Peacocks young but not create another ‘teenage’ environment.

Next we addressed the Pearl Lowe range. We decided to keep the sub-brand available online and instead suggest a smaller smart casual line designed or ‘chosen’ by Pearl Lowe that is accessible within all stores. We believe that it can only benefit their reputation to increase their celebrity endorsement.

Here (directing at screen) we have an over view of our store. We decided that what the store needed most was definitive sections and to create an experience for the customer. (Indicating at coloured sections) We have created a Pearl Lowe section, an every day & office wear section, shoes & accessories, lingerie, and men and children towards the front.

Going through ‘inside’ views

When looking into the store from the outside we have created simple window displays that show off the latest pieces but maintain simplicity & allow the buyer to see into the store. When first walking into the store, the customer sees a platform with mannequins in the middle, and on the furthest wall – a large wall piece. This wall piece is placed so to lure customers towards the end of the store, walking through the different sections to reach it.

Paco Underhill states in his book “Why we Buy” that customers always tend to walk into stores on the side they drive on. Therefore first on the left hand side we have place our ‘Peacocks By Design’ section, which includes the ‘smart casual’ Peacocks line along the back wall. This section stands out from the others, showing that it is the ‘designer pieces’ area.

Separate from the Peacock’s by design section but still next to it, is the ‘smart wear’ section. This is comprised of office and work-wear, and opposite this is the every day section.

If you walk through these two sections you reach the shoes and accessories, we’ve grouped these two together because women often buy matching pieces. The seating area around here also makes it a more relaxed area of the store where women can comfortably sit down, try shoes on and pick out matching pieces.

Beside this is a small lingerie section. Pieces will be kept on shoulder height displays to maintain a privacy when browsing (so you can’t see them from the front of the store) and also so they don’t cover up the wall piece at the back.

We’ve got the dressing rooms up the back so females don’t have to walk around with under garments and the men’s section is to the far right. We’ve kept the mens over here so they aren’t close to the lingerie, and intimidating women. Also they are close to the register, so when women go to purchase something for themselves they will grab something for the husband as well.

The register area is uncluttered and behind the registers is a large mirror that contains the website in the corner. Another thing I read by Paco Underhill was that customers are drawn to mirrors and it gives them something to look at while waiting in line. Therefore while looking at the mirror, they also see the website, which creates more awareness about the site and may encourage more to visit it.

Why it will work?

The reason our changes will benefit Peacocks is that it will redefine the ‘Peacocks experience’. Not only will it be more organised and therefore less stressful for the customer but our use of colour schemes, materials and layout will give the customer an enjoyable time shopping because of the atmosphere. It will also aid the Peacocks reputation because clothes will be ordered and have an air of sophistication, which will increase sales.

Focusing on the one age demographic allows the stock in stores to be better suited to that audience (no need to aim at young teenagers). The colour scheme will reinforce the Peacocks identity and in turn will make it stronger.

Connecting the store and the online store will create more consistency and attract the same sought of customer. Although stores won’t sell the exclusive range, they can point customers in the right direction or suggest something from the Peacocks by Design range, or the Pearl Lowe & Peacocks range.

 

When I finished the presentation we were asked a few questions which I’ll explain a little here:

One person asked our how we’d keep Peacock’s current shoppers – family shoppers. My answer for this is that we are still maintaining the male & children departments, however from our research its was actually females aged 30-40 and most of them were after womenswear, so although the other group’s (where the question came from) research demonstrated something different, ours showed that the current shoppers are actually mid-aged women, not particularly mid-aged mothers. We decided to focus on the group of women that our research demonstrated was the main customer and once they were drawn in more they would also be able to purchase for their husbands & children. The window displays out the front would contain a mens display, and the men & children’s departments are places near the register so women can pick something up for their husband when she had chosen for herself.

We were asked if we had any advertising for our store or if the store itself would be the advertising. To this I understand that it seems like we haven’t actually created any advertising, however our group had to take the initiative to decide if Peacocks needed more advertising or a complete face-lift. Unfortunately we couldn’t do both, so we started from the ground up. If we had longer or another group linked with ours, the next step after this would be to develop an advertising campaign.

We were also asked if our plan was trying to bridge the gap between the website & the store. Unfortunately we didn’t touch on this topic much, however it was thought about a lot when we were bringing together our ideas. We used current images from the site to create themes and tones to each department, we intend on using photography from the website in our store & we have placed the websites URL on the mirror behind the register area to grab customers attention and let them know that Peacocks is online.

 

Peacocks Brief 08

As the date for presentation draws closer, our team is pulling together all our visuals, and it appears we now have almost everything organised. I’ve been elected / asked if I want to present, and I accepted the task. So now I’m just putting all our visuals into a lovely pdf to go with what I’ve prepared to say.
Expect a few references to Paco Underhill and his lovely work “Why We Buy” (my block 2 text choice) which has influenced my a lot more than I realised it would.

Here is a quick sneak peak of what we’ll be presenting & talking about:

Colour Palette:

Store Layout:

Inside Store Perspective:

Window Displays:

Mood boards:

Now you’ll have to wait & see the rest on Thursday 🙂

– Y

Logorama

Came across this video today, it tells a story of a car chase and an Earthquake within a world made up of thousands of logos, company mascots etc. Its interesting watching it and seeing how familiar a lot of the characters are. To me it demonstrates the magnitude of exposure we have to advertising & branding and how well these brands stick and come to represent something they might not otherwise be associated with.

 

– Y

Peacocks Brief 07

Our group met with JB yesterday (1st December – pinch and a punch)

We went in with a list of points to discuss:

> Changing our age demographic (25 to 40)
> Go over room layout
> Each talk about the visuals we did (what we did, where it fits in the store)
> Pitch “Redefining the store by simplifying it by keeping it consistent and according to a theme”
> Ask where to go from here

Few extra notes:

>“Theme” changes each month according to each month – window displays, wallpapers, images
> Tighter unit (getting rid of sub brands/combining sub brands), simplifying the interior, organizing products into obvious sections

Although we didn’t end up needing this list so much, once started we had plenty to talk about.

One thing I realised while talking about the store layout, visuals, themes and decors, is that the magazine diea I was talking about seemed to be a separate project. We were all discussing areas of the layout and style then when bringing up the magazine it drew the focus away from our store, which was more important. JB also noted this and we agreed that it would be better to scrap the magazine and focus on one part.

Here are the other notes I took during the talk:

Points discussed:

> Remember the 80:20 rule > don’t chase the younger group and neglect the main buyers > therefore keeping our target market 25 – 40 is a good change
> Rationalize decisions you’ve made instead of pointing what’s where (i.e. men’s area away from lingerie) Don’t make women walk through menswear
> Windows view directly into store – nice models showing off the product without blocking the store interior.
> Problems with those two brands (peacocks & pearl Lowe) – they are asking for posters etc but they need to start out the store & what products are stocked
> Pearl Lowe (exclusive) is a department in itself
> Push the theatre experience it’s a show, clear windows – you see everything, there isn’t a secret or a mystery, show off the display
> It’s about quick & quality visualization

Indicate materials
> Wood floor – caramel or chocolate
> Path that leads you around – department stores areas

Need to do:

> Better (tidier) floor plan
> Sketch up of what’s inside (i.e. people shopping, stock tills etc)
> Go away in pairs & show sketch of what shoe / change room area will look like
> Mood board type approach
> Create slide slow in a ‘walk through’ style
> Start blocking in display areas – where racks & mannequins will be you can see the journey
> Pearl Lowe section area has its own mood board (with materials / colours)

Presentation: start of staying problems: jumbled up etc, then state fixes
> Present a proper floor plan – to scale
> Trying to convince client you’ve understood the brief, you’ve found the problems, and this is why your ideas will work, (that’s why organizing the store will help attract in that customer etc….)
> Slides that show where customers move
> Main layout > each section etc cut in a quick visual of what the customer is seeing (quick sketch up) sketch that up & colour coordinate sections according

We came out of the meeting with a much better idea of where we were going and what to do next. Afterwards we sat down and separated what we needed to do amongst us. However we are all contributing to each area, if one of us has extra time or finds something useful.

Tasks:
Yasmin – presentation work & colour swatches
Andy – view from front of shop & till / men’s
Claire – Pearl Lowe & Pd area & mock up Debenhams concession (small area)
Jordan – mood boards  & one sketch of shoes
Lynsey – floor plan with floor sections

Meeting again Tuesday 6^th :
– Put together slideshow
– Combine all visuals

 

– Y

Peacocks Brief 06

After creating one visual store layout each of us went away to work on one other visual. I was chosen to visualise the customer magazine, create a colour palette and redesign clothing tags to create a more unified brand.

The colour palate I made is based on elements already present in the Peacocks store. I collected the blue from the Peacocks logo, charcoal & gold are from the current Peacocks by Design tag and the light grey adds some contrast. Its quite simple, but if used correctly they can create an interesting and consistent theme. After all – this is what Peacocks needs.

We decided to suggest that Pearl Lowe create a small range of tops or something that can be accessible within each store. We also chose to combine this small line in with the already available ‘Peacocks by Design’ line. Therefore when creating tags I create four designs;

> The Peacocks normal Line (every day wear & business wear)

> The Peacocks by Design Line (I used the design I had already seen in store)

> The Peacocks by Design with Pearl Lowe Line (using the same tag, but adding Lowe’s name to it)

> The exclusive Pearl Lowe Line (I made these to be consistent however they won’t be available in store, only on line)

 

I didn’t design for the male or children range because our target demographic for this project is females and I wanted to maintain that focus.

For the customer magazine I researched what other stores were including in their magazines and comprised a list of relevant sections. These included:

> Celebrity section (i.e. Pearl Lowe choosing a few ‘suggested’ pieces from the current range)
> Different ways to wear (having one piece worn in different ways – to show versatility & ways to style clothes)
> Online store page (connecting the online store and the physical store for customers – showing them whats avaliable)
> Colour & styles of the season (Suggested colours & textures)
> Fundraising page (Manager of the Dundee store made a point of talking about fundraisers)

I decided that we should use the colour palette for the tags & store within the magazine as well and that each issue should have one other colour (perhaps a colour of the season) that is throughout. Therefore each magazine will be consistent but also have the one colour to separate one issue from the next.

We decided that the magazine should be a seasonal piece, to give it time to take off, but eventually it could become a monthly piece.

I began to create layouts for a few pages, but am yet to add anything.

Peacocks Brief 05

After yesterday’s meeting with Jonathan our group came together today to start getting some solid ideas down and visualising them. Here are some quick dot pointed notes I took throughout the day:

Research / observations
– Peacocks Trend brochure / look book
‘TREND’ > outlines fashions over 6 months (but there are four season not 2)
New Floor plans ALL THE TIME (every 2-4 weeks) but only ONE plan to suit ALL stores. Area manager then comes in and rearranges smaller stores
– Current peacocks looks like its about to close down > so much focus on sale posters
– People don’t expect it to be fashionable > they should increase their change of seasonal styles
– New Look has a better ‘customer experience’ but not because of staff, mainly because of their store layout and grouped clothes section (i.e shoes, evening wear, winter wear)

 Ideas for change
– Extend Pearl Lowe brand > smart casual wear (collaborate Peacocks by design & Pearl Lowe) Creating a more accessible range that can be in all stores.
– Wood barriers or something to separate sections
– Different shades of tiles to create walk ways between sections
– Mirrors on walls behind clothes
– Seats in the changing rooms
– Seats in shoe section (with low mirrors)

Put Pearl Lowe everyday stuff in Debenhams
Girls on the website should be wearing the clothes

Extending the Pearl Lowe range…

As an idea we decided that we should suggest Pearl Lowe extending her range to everyday/ smart casual wear which would be more accessible to each store. In order to do this we are considering adding her extended range in with the already-in-stores-boutiqe ‘Peacocks by Design’ so the tags with read Pd (which is the ‘Peacocks by design’ label) and just adding Pearl Low’s name to the end. In doing this we avoid creating yet another sub brand, we still show off that is was designed by her, and we can include in with the Pd items without having to try and get stores to stock the ‘too-exclusive-for-Scottish-stores’ official Peal Lowe range.
Sorry if this makes no sense, its hard to explain, however I will extend on this soon, as I am currently mocking up some possible swing tags…

Brainstorming – Personas

We did some persona’s on those who currently shop at Peacocks, based on our questionnaire results.

>> Margaret
30-40’s, busy mum, busy lifestyle, buys for the whole family

>> Jim
Single male, 30’s, not so fashion conscious, wants shopping to be quick & easy

>> Kelly
13-17, has pocket money / weekend job, budget shopping

>> Mary
60’s, bargain hunter, dated sense, simply styled

>> Sandra
50, wants a store where she can buy nice plus size clothes

>> Beth
20’s, single mum, not much disposable income – buys for herself & child

– Perception map

Here is a quick perception map that marked where different people placed Peacocks, Primark, New Look and Topshop. Although Peacocks and New Look are supposed to be the main competitors, Peacocks are clearly perceived as a lesser brand.

– S.W.O.T Analysis

Our group started out with a quick brainstorm looking at interior strengths & weaknesses and exterior opportunities & threats. Using this we can promote certain strengths, create something of the opportunities and focus on addressing weaknesses.

– Store Layouts

One of the major issues that continues to arise is the messy, unorganised and inconsistent interior of the store. To begin addressing this each one of us took a few minutes to  sketch up a store layout that clearly marked each different section. We are aiming to use a ‘department store’ sort of layout that has obvious pathways and organised areas.

Here are each person’s sketch

Once this was finished we looked at the best parts of each person’s designs and created one unified store layout example. Having this rough layout drawn up now helps us focus on window displays, wall pieces and other visuals.

Woman’s takes up 50% as they make up the majority of the target market

Now we can see what we need to design we have created a list of what needs to be designed/ sketched up and each of us is focusing on a different area over the weekend.

What we need to create

Window displays – posters & window models (Jordan)
In store displays – posters for each section
Customer magazine – suggesting what’s in season / pieces to put together (Yasmin)
Debenhams mockup (with Pd Pearl Lowe) – to do later
Visual from the front of the store (Claire)
Visual of mannequins (Claire)
Visual of Wall piece (Andy)
Visual of check out & Mirror display (Andy)
Visual of Peacocks by design Pearl Lowe section (Lysney)
Visual of tags (Yasmin)

Aim is to target a younger audience, however keep the older market. (i.e. don’t make another ‘teenager’ store, keep it sensible & fashionable)

Thats it for today.

– Y

Peacocks Brief 04 – Meeting with JB

What I documented during our meeting with Jonathan today 🙂

Issues Identified
– Inconsistent throughout store
– Website inconsistent to stores
– Same quality as New Look but appears worse
– Stores aren’t selling their better range (i.e. Pearl Lowe)
– Mixed messages, mixed audiences
– Disorganised & Cluttered
– Various different sub-brands

Window display
– Crowded > curtain poster backdrop, lights hanging down, jumpers hanging from string, clothes on blocks on ground, Christmas decorations… THEN all covered over by sale posters
– Just Dundee store like this or across all Peacock outlets?

Uniform
– No uniform > just black clothing worn by female
– Male not in uniform
– Uniform creates consistency or can show off clothes stocked in the store
– Staff in general should reflect the demographic your aiming the store at

Tactical Approach
-Tactical advantage that they are the same quality as new look but people will pay more for new look > what sort of customer experience has New Look got?
– People go to a place for the experience
– Strategic answer rather than viral campaign

Changing rooms?
– Friends having to wait for you? Or can they enter & help

Possible Solutions
– Featured more in magazines
– Shopper magazine with suggestions on clothes
– Must fulfill the promise > fashion show displaying wrong clothing defeats purpose
– Pearl Lowe designing other clothes (nice tops or something) that can be sold in stores.
– Putting Pearl Lowe into Debenhams
– It has to keep fulfilling the promise > customer experience has to be maintained
– Have a whole store re-vamp and reflect it in the campaign (window displays, interior walk through, promotional pieces, customer magazine)
– Don’t bug customers with too much help
– Ensure there are enough mirrors…

To do now…
– Check out their Merchandising manual (if they have one)
– Department store layout
– Go back to New Look and compare experience to that of Peacock > how customers are treated & feel > creative solutions (how things should be displayed)
– Take images of stores & convert into line drawings

 Extras to check out
– Pilot chain stores > Secret Shopper (Check out BOB)
– Online, Microsoft tried to copy apple but everyone was just there for the free tickets
– Arcadia – top shop, top man, BHS etc (trade as a group) retail groups separate

Presentation

Don’t need to say what we did, just say this is the brand, this is what it stands for, these are the issues we’ve identified, show images compare to competitors, this is our ideas this is why it will work, market visuals, one person presentation, 15 minutes long, presentation style is not marked, how to demonstrate that you understand the strategic style of advertising and branding, how we’ll solve it > creative solution

Marked by how you understand the strategic tools

“Peacocks is like Primark but worse” (Quote from Lynsey, said by her mother)

Although our group has done a lot of research we now need to work on the visuals & idea generation.

– Y

Non-smoking cigarettes

Over the past weekend I travelled with some friends to Canary Islands to soak up some sunshine for a little uni / cold weather break. Yes it sounds crazy, but it was now or never..
Anyway, on the plane home the air hostess was announcing all the different products available to buy when she started talking about non-smoke cigarettes. I’m sure most people have heard of them, its an electronic cigarette that gives the user Nicotine without the smoke/tar.

The airline was being smart, on a long flight there are bound to be people itching for a fag, and they offer the beautiful solution of a cigarette that can be smoked in doors. Until now I have only seen these e-cigarettes used as a ‘giving up’ method, but I think someone in head office had their head screwed on when they suggested aiming it at the chain smoker thats stuck in a confined space for 5 hours.
However the only issue is, they talked about these cigarettes and started selling them right after take-off. I think it would be much, much more effective if they were brought out mid-flight when people are starting to feel the stress. At the beginning everyone thinks they can last it out, and as a result I don’t think they sold a lot of them.

I found an old article in the Dailymail from 2007 (Here) which talked about the first released e-cigarette, sadly I don’t think they’ve taken off too well, especially since smoking if often a social thing and taking a ‘fag break’ is a good way to get some ‘fresh air’. Furthermore, in the article, one bar manager pointed out something I had thought about as well – if a customer is smoking an e-cigarette inside it might confuse other customers as being an invitation to light up real cigarettes.