Glamorous holiday at Guess

The retail holiday season is almost in full swing and the new Guess location on 5th Ave is ahead of the curve!

Their windows were so brand right with mirrored Christmas trees, geometric risers with light bulbs and quilted ottomans. The black and white old movie star quality adds some glamour and helps the merchandise pop with it's accent of pink.

Festive and flirty - looks like a good Christmas for Guess.

ID'ing Our Curves at Levi's

Tape measure curtains are hanging in Levi's fall windows to promote the brand's Curve ID category. Ladies of all shapes and sizes can be measured and fitted to the right jean. We love the idea and love their windows just as much!

Pictured here are some compelling day and night photos of these effective windows - another great backdrop idea!

We're ready to go get our Curves IDed! How about you?

Ecomm gift card boxes, baubles and tissue

Gift cards are continuing to grow as a way to give a gift will allowing the recipient a little freedom to choose. But brands are finding they need a way to give the gift card while tying it back to the brand and giving a better presentation.

Viola the gift card box! This gives the card a safe and secure presentation that can be hot stamped with the brand logo and allows room for tissue or embellishments if desired.

Here we see a branded, interleaf tissue, a custom bauble tie on and a token gift. We gave these out at a trade show but would be happy to

help you custom create your own.

give us a call!

Total Brand Messaging @ BirchBox

We are huge fans of Birchbox. For those that don't know, this is a monthly subscription service that sends beauty samples to it's members for them to test.

Aside from the smart idea of allowing people to test new products, that they may later buy, the branding and marketing of this company makes it really fun.

Beginning with the monthly pink box that arrives at your door - the packaging is well chosen and changes often depending on their partnerships or special promotions. Attention is paid in the all details; from the box, to the tissue & ribbon and even the marketing inserts describing the enclosed products and samples.

Each month it's fun to wait and see what surprises await! Now that's good branding.

CDW Merchants newest fan!

We love our customers and their babies - so we made up some onsies to celebrate. One of our customer's sent us a photo of his latest creation wearing one. If you have a new addition - be sure to let us know and send us a photo. We're trying to build the fan base!

Seductive seduction at Guess

Guess recently launched a new fragrance Seductive and to support its introduction they added props to their marketing message, which we think makes a much stronger statement!

With the addition of dramatic sheers, wooden screens, trunk boxes and a rug, they have made the window demand attention that it might not have had they used only the marketing image.

3D is almost always better than 2D (in our humble opinion)..and in this case, certainly more Seductive.

L'Occitane reinforces the secrets of summer with props

More marketing enhancement ideas, this time from L'Occitane en Provence, the natural skincare and beauty brand from France.

the use of flowers, tree stumps and rocks artful arranged on a green liner, helps impart the message of natural ingredients and highlight the origins of their products.

Wishful thinking?

or signs of things to come? This window caught my eye and made me think of the saying "if you build it, they will come". Perhaps it's true and symbols of money will bring customers crawling! Let's hope so.

Stay tuned for Holiday windows - being put up all over and in many cases already complete!

Marketing with a message

Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong foundation that helps unite people to fight cancer has teamed up with Nike who is a sponsor of the Livestrong Challenge, which is a series of fundraising events. They have taken to the streets to encourage people to speak out about cancer by chalking their words on the sidewalks and roads.

Here sitting on a pile of chalk boxes is a mannequin wearing a Livestrong shirt. The bold yellow grabs your attention and helps get the message out - caution cancer - we're fighting back!

For more info on Livestrong or to find out about a Livestrong Challenge coming to a city near you, go to http://tinyurl.com/lxyym8

What does your SALE sign say about your brand?

Obviously we pay a lot more attention to store design than the average person, but I am sure you have noticed it too. It seems that every other store has a window dominated by a large sale sign and frankly, I am tired of it!
In today's economy, and consumers with less disposable income, brands need to stand out as having something special to offer their customers. Rather than just non-stop sales, why not offer value or service, or something unique?
What lies behind all these indistinguishable Sale signs and what would make someone need to venture in if they know the store next store is also on Sale?

So please, bring back the window display, bring on the creativity and dazzle the consumer at the street level. Give the pedestrian a reason to walk inside and become a customer OTHER than just because it's on SALE.

The branding on the wall....

Seen around town ....artistic wall collages meant to express something about the brand's personality.

Old ads and a collection of photos at Levi's show the brand's roots. Art and representations of culture are meant to speak to the "real J. Crew man". And a cleaver mixed wood sculpture is the backdrop for Stella McCartney at Barney's.

Where else have you spotted these feature walls? and what DO they say about the brand?

Rocking chair shopping!

Growing up in a small city where people walked, I became enamored of store windows from an early age. First I saw them as pedestrian entertainment -something to enchant and amuse you on your walk. Later I realized it was more like advertising or a visual extension of the store -much the way a diorama enacts a piece of history, a store window can tell a story about a brand that a sales person can't (unless they stand outside the store screaming from the sidewalk)

But, Wednesday, I was in the Philadelphia airport and spotted these rocking chairs along the 'Philadelphia Marketplace' which is a corridor of airport shops. The reference was of an outdoor pedestrian mall (but clearly we were indoors). And it made me think - do rocking chairs make people want to shop? Was this "country porch" environment meant to encourage shopping or sitting? As much as store windows are a way to entice customers into your stores, what does the outside environment say about your store and do you think this one is successful?

Where have YOU seen some in-effective OR effective shopping environments?

Window as Billboard

Here is an innovative attempt by Clorax brand to reach it's core customers - using Macy's store windows to promote it's brand's products. And here's how important store windows are....Macy's does not carry Clorax! But the partnership is sure to benefit both companies as we all know consumers take note and store windows get noticed.
For more information on the story - see


http://tinyurl.com/dm4akl

Where have you seen other good marketing partnerships?

Frame it!

More and more specialty retailers are using frames in their windows to display marketing images to help convey the 'lifestyle' behind their brand. We think this is a great way to tell a story to potential customers as it says more about the clothes than just a mannequin. The selection of the frames themselves says a lot about the brand too and we think these are two great examples for urban consumers. How do you want to frame your message?