Enough is enough. Brands and companies cannot be served what they’re used to anymore if they want to survive. They’re going to have to start hearing out experts who they may not agree with and that their marketing teams despise.
Why are so many brands getting creamed?
1. Because of their inability to fail fast and start wining against the existential threat of technology.
2. Internal departments are too siloed and ridden with warring factions dominating a poor flow of output.
Attack of the Smart Phone Zombies (Smombies) – The Smombie Apocalypse
What connection do your audiences have with High St brands when their World has shrunk to the size of a phone screen?
All people see now is algorithmic Hyper-Polarised content for semi-morons (marketing speak: Personalisation) on their phones. You don’t need to spend £20,000 on research to tell you that over 2/3 of people out and about have their phones sellotaped to their faces. These people, Smombies or ‘cyborgs’ as Elon Musk calls them, already have uploaded their entire personal lives and Limbic Systems to their own Google AI, Siri AI, Facebook/Instagram AI, Alexa AI and Twitter AI accounts – Yes, digital slaves for Smombies. When the Neuralink is released, it will be a no-brainer (excuse the pun) for these Smombies to have one of these installed into their brains so they can upload or download information directly from networks. Remember The Matrix, ‘I know Kung Fu’, it’s not far off – Seriously, I’m not shitting you.
Town planners are installing new pedestrian safety features due to Smombies walking into moving cars – If they aren’t noticing cars, they’re certainly not going to notice any shopfronts. We’re not witnessing a consumer revolution, we’re in the midst of the Dawn of the Dumb.
A byte of dumb reality
Why would any ‘modern’ girl go all the way into town to buy a black dress, mess with smelly transport or expensive car parks, when they can click on one from PrettyLittleThing for £9.99 that some Celeb put up on their Insta(gram of toss) and have it in time for tomorrow’s date?
A Middle Age practice that’s brought vibrance to communities for centuries almost goes down the toilet in under 5 years flat by the Smart Phone
High Street and retail brands are starting to feel like they’re from a bygone era. Boarded up shops affecting customers perception. High rates, high rents, dead-from-the-neck-up councils. Ineffective and out of touch POS. Display stock that’s out of stock. Badly trained Staff chatting away, rushing around avoiding customer contact, folding clothes piles that people have turned into localised jumble sales. Miserable customer service personnel that carry on chatting when they’re serving you. I’m beginning to think that what we’re seeing is a calculated demolition of the High Street because it’s just not economical for shareholders to invest in a place they think will become extinct in 10 years time. Why’s this up to them? Why would (Organic) Humans not want to visit brilliant artisan shops selling all the items we require for our lifestyle? The ones who believe in this must begin the fight now.
I’m not trying to sell you a rebrand
The Burberry and John Lewis rebrand will do nothing for their bottom line. The major Burberry shareholder recently pulled out – Nuff said. And John Lewis have just launched a rebrand adding ‘Partners’ and celebrating all employees are part of the brand. The reality is that they’re laying off 1000s of people, nobody has had any dividends for over two years, the result being Waitrose shop floors have turned into crap customer experiences. How much time did their agency spend with their company? They could turn John Lewis/Waitrose around with some sad middle class faces, #MeToo power women, disabled and immigrant worker imagery.
I cannot help but speculate the brass is being coerced by people and agents with differing motivations. Giant rip off agencies don’t help matters either. I’ve seen these scenarios play out when I was younger, but I wasn’t heard because of a toxic pecking order. Bright sparks who could change things now won’t get a chance until they have stopped having good ideas.
Brands connected to culture and technology are cleaning up
Nobody in retail wants to die trying something new. Instead they’re seemingly happy to just die. If you are one of the one’s who doesn’t want to die, then, think how you can FAIL FASTER. Only an MD or CEO can turn things around. The noose is tightening everyday. There is no time to lose.
But remember, I do not know the answer for your brand’s success. And it’s likely you don’t know all the answers too.
Hand on heart…
The only thing I can offer you with integrity is to help you fail to success.
Do something different.
