RetailArt

Greatest promo ever !

2009-12-15T21:53:00.000+01:00

Incredible promotion from the Clayton homes company, a promo you can't refuse ! Just for buying a single home, you get a can of pork and beans from Van Camp's. Yeah a 60cts value !! Hurry up, offer valid only thru end of 2009. The ad can be seen on the Columbia Herald site :

It would have been much more interesting to say that buying a 80 000$ can of beans you get a free home !

2009-12-10T21:21:00.000+01:00

Interesting note on Divine Caroline site about Portion size, then and now. It reminds us that in the 1970's, about 47% of Americans were overweight when its 66% now (in comparison, 15% of French are considered obese).

See also the website of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute with the slideshows presenting how did the portions have evolved through the years. For example, the pepperoni pizza on the left was the usual size served 20 years ago : 500 calories. On the right side a common portion : 850 calories !! The difference (350 calories would be burnt within 1 hour of golf playing, walking and carrying the clubs)...

Good appetite...

In Memoriam to dear friend Hernan Diaz

2009-12-05T22:08:00.000+01:00

Hernan Diaz was a living memory of Colombia. He just left us this week and I had the chance to meet him and we quickly became friends. A great eye that recorded one of the best pictures of his country, a very warm personality that had kept his child soul. Hernan really reinvented the city of Cartagena through his elegant and emotional pictures.

Awful Library Books site

2009-11-30T22:11:00.009+01:00

Mary and Holly, two public librarians created this funny website Awful Library Books. They publish examples of completely outdated books that remembers us how fast does time has changed. Some titles are pretty difficult to imagine these days... !

Here is a (very) personal selection for your delight !

Paris Photo 2009

2009-11-25T21:46:00.005+01:00

Paris Photo is getting each year better and better. Lot of people to admire the selection from worldwide galleries. Here's a sample of the 2009 edition. See you next year !

British Food Standards Agency campaign

2009-11-20T21:44:00.000+01:00

The Food Standards Agency from UK has recently launched an ad campaign with funny anthropomorphic food characters talk between the healthy and unhealthy. These funny videos are part of the Eat well, be well program, that helps people to balance the diet and promote healthy food programs.

Interesting in the FSA website, the calorie calculator : calculate how much calories you'll burn depending on your activity (ironing, dusting, cleaning windows,...) !

Philippe Cognée at Daniel Templon

2009-11-15T20:31:00.005+01:00

Philippe Cognée presented yesterday at the Flammarion bookstore in Beaubourg his first monography. You can have an overlook of P Cognée work at the gallery Daniel Templon till December 31th 2009. The artist is fascinated by the most banal places like the places of transit. He also realized a serie called "Supermarkets" from which the photos are a sample.

Severe Vodka Warehouse crash video

2009-11-10T22:04:00.004+01:00

A russian fork lift driver suddenly lost control of his engine and crashed the whole warehouse. The merchandise is said to be... vodka !

A loss of 150 000 USD has been reported and happy ending, the driver got only minor injuries at his leg. The security camera got all...

Tom Fishburn cartoons

2009-11-05T22:50:00.003+01:00

Tom Fishburne is a greaaaat cartoonist that publish on his own blog his ideas about business through cartoons. Mainly about retail, brand management and marketing, his cartoons are not only funny but also very meaningful about new trends and retail strategy. He began drawing cartoons on the back of his Harvard Business School cases. Some may be as valuable as the cases as Fishburne as a sharp and clever view on marketing stuff.

See especially his video : Everything I needed to know about innovation, I learned by drawing cartoons :

Everything I needed to know about innovation, I learned by drawing cartoons from Tom Fishburne on Vimeo.

Barcode Art

2009-10-30T21:33:00.001+01:00

The barcode, created in 1948 by Bernard Silver has dramatically changed the way retailers do business, allowing them to increase the number of products sold and managing the inventories. The barcode is part of our modern life in which any product is identified by a scanner.

Here are a sample of interesting use of the famous barcode, mainly found in Oddee.

A Zebra Barcode photo by Tim Flach

D-Barcode is a Japanese Design Agency that creates specific barcodes (that works !) for retail products. A great packaging idea and as their slogans says "Big ideas are small"

A CD holder designed by Marián Laššák

Barcode Street Art in Northampton

Barcode Building Vitruvius & Sons Architectural Studios in St Petersburg

A visit to Patrick Roger Chocolate Factory !

2009-10-25T22:08:00.013+01:00

We were very lucky last week end to get an invitation for a private visit to Patrick Roger Chocolate Factory. Patrick Roger is a total artist and probably creates amongst the best chocolate on earth (IMHO). I strongly recommend his Venezuela 75%, Ghana 75% or Indonesia 68% cocoa butter.

From his last creation : the Berlin wall in chocolate :

Insane wiches blog

2009-10-20T22:15:00.003+02:00

Adrian Fiorino is the founder of the funny blog Insanewiches where you can see the most creatives sandwiches ever realized. As he wrote, " I started Insanewiches so that other foodies would have a place to waste time, especially during stressful days (...) This site is a great time-waster for fed up foodies who need a little fun injected into their routine."

So relax and admire :

Rube Goldberg Machines

2009-10-15T23:10:00.000+02:00

Rube Goldberg machines are always fascinating. Here's one I really liked made with ketchup portions...

RAD : the top of kitsch

2009-10-10T22:52:00.004+02:00

RADMAN selfportrait

RADMAN is a greeaaaaat blogger from the Lifelounge magazine. He daily publishes out of the world pics . Very stylish, best of the kitsch and always funny. Visit his site and beware, some pics are impressive of bad taste !

Guitar Hero Trader Joe's and other displays

2009-10-05T22:23:00.002+02:00

Trader Joe's has developed very attractive display on its stores. Here's some samples taken in New York, NY and Phoenix, AZ

The ready to eat section in Phoenix

The sampling products section in Phoenix

Yuken Teruya art

2009-09-30T21:49:00.001+02:00

Yuken Teruya is a japanese artist who uses everyday objects (Mc Donald's bags, cardboard toilet paper rolls, pizza boxes...), recycling them with a nice sense of meticulosity. Nothing is added, just transformed to drastically change their meanings. The results is very poetic.

As Teruya writes :

"Pizza Boxes, a McDonald's bag, Flags, Desserts and Toilet Paper rolls... when these items become artworks, they also easily become political, maybe because they are taken from daily life. But if you find unexpected shapes and colors from the toilet rolls, they become something else. (...) I feel that my work shouldn't only have the function of conveying the artist's message. My works have a right to simply be beautiful or offer any kind of attraction."

"You can get ANYTHING at Trader Joe's" slogan made reality !

2009-09-25T22:32:00.016+02:00

Entrance of Phoenix Trader Joe's

Where they met...

While shopping at the Phoenix, AZ Trader Joe's (4821N 20th street) this summer, I've found this (great !) customer letter from Ms Gail Petersen to Mr. Winans, "Store Captain" exhibited just close from the cashier. Worth reading ...

"Dear Mr. Winans,

On October 14, 2007 I was shopping at the Town & Country Trader Joe's - a beautiful Sunday afternoon. That shopping trip changed my life forever. I met the man I will be marrying, on October 18 this year (2008), that Sunday at your store. Our eyes caught one another a couple of times and we spoke briefly in the checkout line (the one under the Palm tree) - further conversation in the parking lot led to an exchange of business cards and the rest is history.

This is a second marriage for both of us - we will have a family with four grown children (two girls and two boys). As we have gotten to know one another we realized that we have lived or worked just a couple of miles apart over the last 13 years, know more than a few people in common and have sisters that live just five miles apart in Los Angeles. Alan is a fourth generation Arizonan and I have lived in Phoenix since 1960 - but what it took was a simple trip to our favourite grocery store to bring us together and we would like to thank you.

We shop at Trader Joe's every week and always go to the checkout line under the palm tree. We share our story with the checker and anyone else who is willing to listen. We will be buying the flowers for the bouquets for the wedding at your store and plan to stop by between the wedding at the church and our reception to take a photo under the Trader Joe's palm tree that brought us together 12 months ago.

I am a professor at Arizona State University's College of Nursing & Health Care Innovation and Alan Hock, my fiancé, is a defense attorney in private practice and pro tem judge. We have shared our story with many of our colleagues and friends - and now all of our 'over fifty ' single friends shop at Trader Joe's with the hopes that our joke, "You can get ANYTHING at Trader Joe's" will also become their romantic reality.

Our thanks to all of you who make Trader Joe's such a wonderfully unique shopping experience !"

Gail Petersen

A dream of happy customer letter !

Sam Walton's quotations

2009-09-20T22:47:00.001+02:00

about why he established WalMart in Bentonville, Arkansas :

"It was good for me because I wanted to get closer to good quail hunting, and with Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri all coming together right there it gave me access to four quail seasons in four states."

"We were forced to be ahead of our time in distribution and communication because our stores were sitting out there in tiny little towns and we had to stay in touch and keep them supplied"

" In retail, you are either operations driven - where your main thrust is toward reducing expenses and improving efficiency - or you are merchandise driven. The ones that are truly merchandise driven can always work on improving operations. But the ones that operations driven tend to level off and begin to deteriorate"

"From the very beginning, we never believed in spending much money on advertising, and saturation helped us to save a fortune in that department"

"The way management treats the associates is exactly how the associates will then treat the customers."

"The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want"

"There's not an individual in these whole United States who has been in more retail stores than Sam Walton"

Bud Walton (Sam's brother)

"I was impressed with the giant Carrefour stores in Brazil, which got me started on a campaign to bring home a concept called Hypermart - giant stores with groceries and general merchandise under one roof."

Ready to sell seen by Jasper Morrison

2009-09-15T22:31:00.000+02:00

The ready to sell concept was invented and implemented by the Hard Discounters chains such as DIA, Aldi or Lidl. The idea is simple : the box which contains the products act as display. For the retailer, its an important source of gaining productivity, it also helps to maintain the products implantations as defined by plannograms and also is reducing the waste of rug boxes.

Jasper Morrison, the British designer on his website comments his Photo of the month. He gives us interesting thoughts about the ready to sell concept from a non retailer perspective.

"Why go to the expense of buying an expensive shop display system when you can make one yourself? And in this case you don’t have to stack the products on the shelf or even remove them from their boxes. I suppose a certain skill is required to avoid slicing through the merchandise while cutting the window in the cardboard box, but with practice and the help of gravity it would get easier. The question is, is the shop keeper lazy, or tricky, or is he both? Has he calculated that this device will help people to imagine he’s cheaper than anyone else, or is he so bored by the tiny profit each sale brings that he’s decided to visualise his frustration? Or is it his way of personalising what might otherwise be a rather ordinary local shop? Has he discovered that a help-yourself system like this one actually improves sales? Maybe the framing around each box of products does make them seem more special than the ones on the shelves below. Does it help us to know that the shop is in Barcelona, in a not so rich part of town?"

Thank's Alexis for the tip.

Futura vs. Verdana : The IKEA dilemma

2009-09-10T12:33:00.003+02:00

IKEA released recently his new 2010 catalog. It's usually a no (big) news event even though it happens to be the 3rd biggest publication in the world, just after the Bible and Harry Potter.

But this year comes with a small change from the previous version : the type font has changed from the traditional Futura to Verdana. Did it increased sales ? To early to draw conclusions but the fact that it was a shock for the brand lovers who began to protest in forums and even launched a petition (5500 signatures up to date) on the web asking IKEA to get back with the Futura font.

As Edward Rothstein writes in the NYT, "they should have first taken everything out of the carton and made sure nothing was missing and that they weren’t mixing up" ! The reasons of the change said an IKEA spokesperson is the ability to use the font in all countries (including Asian ones) but also to be consistent and use the same in the print and the web.

Futura font was created by Paul renner in 1924, inspired by the Bauhaus movement, using basic geometric proportions and getting rid of any serifs or add ons, reflecting simplicity and effectiveness. It's also the first font to be present in the moon with this commemorative plaque

Verdana is a Microsoft font designed in 1996 especially to fit with websites.

We all remember the trauma Coca Cola provoked when they intended to change the Classic Coke formula or the protests after a packaging re-looking from Tropicana (a Pepsico brand). What's the problem with Verdana ? These reactions shows that the font is truly part of the brand appeal and covers insights and history for the customer. It created a lot of buzz on twitter.

Conclusions:

- Mc Luhan was right : the medium is the message

- The print in spite of 50 years of tradition from IKEA, has to adapt to the web and not the contrary

- Design matters

PS: this blog is written on the Georgia font and I promise won't change...:-)

Cola testing in Las Vegas

2009-09-05T12:10:00.002+02:00

The Coca Cola Store located in the Strip, Las Vegas, offers one of the most weird experience of Vegas ! Yes, for 7 USD you get a tray with 16 samples of Colas from all over the world. From the best sweet flavor of the Japanese Vegitabeta to the nasty Chinese Watermelon Cola...

The list included the following beverages :

1) Inka Cola / Peru

2) Sunfill Mint / India

3) Stoney Ginger Beer / "South America"

4) Aquarius Citrus / Taiwan

5) Red Flash / USA

6) Vegitabeta / Japan

7) Smart Watermelon / China

8) Kinley Lemon / England

9) Lift Apple / Mexico

10) Fanta Kolita / Costa Rica

11) Nestea Raspberry / Spain

12) Bibo Kiwi Mango / South Africa

13) Bibo Pine Nut / South Africa

14) Smart Apple / China

15) Beverly / Italy

16) Mezzo Mix / Germany

Who knows how many calories you get after having tasted all that sticky liquids...

Amazing pictures at People of Walmart

2009-08-31T23:42:00.000+02:00

Marge Simpson style haircut

"Looks like pants prices have risen much too high, putting decency to a new low"

A simple goat shopping at Walmart, in Page AZ

"Like a bad Western movie but worse"

People of Walmart is a must see site. The site was recently created by 3 roommates "after an inspirational viste to Walmart stores. Simple idea : everyone's is encouraged to submit pics of "outrageously ugly (in style)/ creepy / crazy customers". Everybody is encouraged to submit his own pics...

2009-08-26T22:06:00.001+02:00

This is made of...
that !

Junk Food is back ! Here's a new website, Fancy fastfood where you can learn how to transform your classical and boring junk food into hype recipes. The challenge is simple : without adding any ingredient, you have to transform your fast food menu into "culinary masterpieces".

As they write, "it's still bad for you but see how good it can look" !

Post #101 - Closed for summer holidays

2009-08-04T22:32:00.000+02:00

It's time to recharge the battery !

RetailArt will be back end of August.

Thank's for visiting and posting.

Customer info in Mexican Supermarket

2009-07-31T23:20:00.000+02:00

It's common in Mexico to find at the entrance of the Supermarkets a price comparison between two shopping carts with a sample of products, showing of course, that the store is much cheaper than the competitor. It's also not so obvious to add, like a legal mention "No incluye el carrito" aka "Cart not included".

"Dear clients, you may find the Juices where was the beers and Waters where was the wines"

As Tesco says it : Every little helps...

New eco friendly fashion : recycle your own Pet's fur

2009-07-26T22:16:00.001+02:00

Erwan Fichou is a (very) talentuous photographer who made a serie called "Dogwool", portraits of dog owner who knit and wear sweaters and vests made from their own pet fur. That's the absolute (IMHO...) "save the planet" action, the ultimate sustainable growth policy. Shouldn't pet owner obliged to wear these warm sweats ?

For those interested in this new fashion, just read the book by Anne Montgomery and Kendal Crolius, Knitting with dog hair. As they write :

"Better a sweater from a dog you know and love than from a sheep you'll never meet".

As Baudelaire wrote "Ce qu'il y a d'enivrant dans le mauvais goût, c'est le plaisir aristocratique de déplaire" / " What is exhilarating in bad taste is the aristocratic pleasure of giving offense".

Post dedicated to Annick and her 'Tasmanian' bag ;-)

You are what you eat, a fridge insider

2009-07-21T23:13:00.000+02:00

3 person household / Journalist / designer / Austin Tx

1 person household / bar tender (goes to sleep at 8 am) / San Antonio Tx

3 person household (including dog) / Teachers eating locally grown vegetables

1 person household / Street Adviser (430 USD fixed monthly income)

Looking inside women bags is a bad habit but may tell you a lot about her personality. Wouldn't be the same with fridge insiders ? Here are some presented in the you are what you eat project from Mark Menjivar. As he writes, "refrigerators are like windows into our souls".

The complete report may be found in the Good Magazine, a "collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward"...

Anti theft Lunch Bags

2009-07-16T22:47:00.011+02:00

The Anti Theft Lunch Bag is a brillant and funny idea for those who don't have complete confidence in their neighbourhood, coworkers or roommates. Simple but effective, the bag is printed with strange green spots. The bags are sold here at the. a marketplace managed by Mihoko Ouchi and Sherwood Forlee made of strange and nicely designed wares, 10USD for 25 reusable bags !

2009-07-11T19:03:00.013+02:00

Chicken: low art, high calorie is a book by the graphic designer Siaron Hughes, recommended in the New York Times book review. You'll find a great collection of retail signs, ads and eye catching menu photos all around Chicken.

As the project background says : 'Chicken: Low Art, High Calorie' celebrates the varied and visual qualities of fast food signage, and the people involved. On the surface it may all look the same, but the differences reflect a ubiquitous, and humorous vernacular design. It will make you laugh, ponder and hungry for chicken!

Most expensive liquid on earth

2009-07-06T23:16:00.010+02:00

Any idea of which is the most expensive liquid sold in supermarket ?

A 100 ml bottle of perfume, let's say Chanel n°5 (for the eau de parfum, not the least expensive indeed !) is currently sold 90€, for a 900 € per liter.

One bottle of Romanée Conti 2003 is sold about 2000 € see here, that makes about 2600€ per liter.

No, these fluids are quite cheap if you compare them with ... ink print ! Have a look at your standard ink cartridge and look at the volume : you get around 3000€ per liter !

Of course, the price is not justified by the rarity of the ink but by the smart business model in which the hardware is sponsored by the consumible. That's also why a cup of coffee costs you at home 0,05cts, a Nespresso 0,3 cts, 2€ in a restaurant and 4€ at Starbucks...

Smart pricing : fix the price for the value you offer taking account the willingness to pay of your customers and not for the cost you deliver...

Yummy, the Junk food magazine

2009-07-01T22:22:00.007+02:00

Yummy is an interesting magazine dedicated 100% to junk food made by talentuous designers. Not diet oriented but mainly about the pop culture and graphic icons represented by the Junk food in our modern society.

Yummy costs 30€ and can be found in Paris at the Palais de Tokyo, La Hune or Colette.

Two artistic versions of Great Little red riding hood

2009-06-26T22:09:00.007+02:00

Little red riding is a classic fairy tale, rewritten from the oral tradition by Charles Perrault (French version) and the Grimm brothers (German version). B Bettelheim, author of the "Psychanalyse des contes de fées" gave an interpretation of the fairy tale related to sexuality, anthropophagie, or rebirth. Here are two versions of Little red riding hood, one from Tomas Nilson and one from the Mondongo artists Group.

I'm fond of infographics, the art of making simple to understand stuff and facts. Here's a special version of the tale by Tomas Nilson. A must see !

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

The photos are taken from the red series from Mondongo, a collective of 3 promising artists from Argentina. They are using materials such as food (cookies, ham, cheese,..) or plasticine (it's the case in the above picture) for their work. see here or here

Calories per dollar

2009-06-21T22:50:00.004+02:00

Interesting thought in The Big Money, the Slate section on economics. Last year, New York city adopted a law that gives restaurants an obligation to publish the calories amount on each meal served. Such initiative is suposed to discourage people to choose non-wealthy meals. In fact, it seems that it gets adverse results as seen on this billboard. With such indicator, fast food lovers gets incentive to choose the best calories per dollar ratio !

Times have changed

2009-06-16T22:57:00.008+02:00

Who said that advertisement reflects the mentality of its time ? Looking at these (not so) old ads, we just get an idea of the evolution in minds about the role of the women in society. Macho man is really dead !

Pictures found at Oddee

Uniqlo concept stores and Bratop concept

2009-06-11T22:41:00.019+02:00

Uniqlo is a fantastic apparel retail company, owned by the Fast Retailing Group. It's one of the top apparel company in the world with 800 stores and a total turnover close to 3 billion euros (also owner of Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princess Tam Tam, famous brands in France).

After having shot the photo (look at the right !) at the flagship store in Soho, New York, I bought one of my favourite blpull over.

Uniqlo is a very innovative company, they have launched a new T-shirt concept store in Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan.

Uniqlo has also recently launched the Bratop (have a look at the website, very nicely done), a Top with an integrated bra. A simple top that maintain the bust.

Original, you need to wear it from the bottom up. If any of you have ever tried, commentary welcomed ! Available in 9 styles and 16 colors from 15,5$.

How much sugar in your food ?

2009-06-06T22:37:00.002+02:00

Interesting and very pedagogic web site, Sugarstacks shows you how many cube of sugar will you eat with a single portion of classic food. They calculated it as 4 calories per gram of sugar and taking as a basis cube of 4g of sugar (the standard in the US, when the french standard is 5g per cube).

http://www.sugarstacks.com/

Food is becoming a sin

Swine flu pics

2009-06-01T23:02:00.001+02:00

The Boston Globe is presenting a selection of pictures around the H1N1 Influenza and its impact on everyday life. Here's a short selection :

Asia is the kingdom of commerce ! As soon as the news spread (as quick as the flu), Supermarkets in China have developed an anti-flu section in their lay out. Here's an example in Taipei, Taiwan. Photo copyright Reuters Pichi Chuang.

Tamiflu stock in the UK (unknown location...). Photo copyright Katie Collins, Reuters

Pricing puzzle : some explanation about Why movies are priced all the same ?

2009-05-27T22:51:00.000+02:00

As we've previously seen, it's not sure that economic rules have an explanation of the unique pricing for all movies. The prediction of the future success seems to be nearly impossible to get in advance. Studies made by Arthur de Vany, professor of economics, University of California, show that close to 78 % of the released movies are losing money (but the 22% are very profitable !). Such prediction could help in defining a tailor made pricing for each movie.

In the mid XXth century, movies were classified A, B or C depending on the (expected) quality which favoured a different pricing for each class of movie. That classification has gone...

One of the possible answer to that puzzle may be found in the fact that movies have a very short time of life expectancy : 25% of chance to last 7 or more weeks and only 15% chance to last more than 10 weeks. This rule apply whatever the kind of movie and, more important, whatever the budget spend. Implementing a differentiated pricing would give insights to customers about the expected life length and would therefore put in risk the public's judgement...

That's the best explanation I could find about this pricing puzzle !

Any other idea ?

Here are some examples of similar pricing between movies:

Play Food

2009-05-22T20:23:00.001+02:00

Vanessa Dualib is a young artist from Sao Paulo who uses food to create strange characters with poetry. Her work can be bought here. She's also a good photograph which work is available in Flickr here.

For other post about Play Food (Saxton Freymann) see here.

Andy Warhol quotes

2009-05-17T22:09:00.003+02:00

I shot Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup cans in the MOMA, NYC

32 canvases ordered like groceries in a store, from Tomato to Turkey Vegetable in the same order as Campbell launched the products.

As Warhol wrote : " I used to drink it. I used to have the same lunch everyday, for twenty years, I guess, the same thing over and over again".

"The most beautiful thing in Tokyo is McDonald's

The most beautiful thing in Stockholm is McDonald's

The most beautiful thing in Florence is McDonald's

Peking and Moscow don't have anything beautiful yet."

wrote in 1975

" There are three things that always look very beautiful to me : my same good pair of shoes that don't hurt, my own bedroom, and U.S. Customs on the way back home."

"When Picasso died, I read in a magazine that he had made four thousand masterpieces in his lifetime and I thought, "Gee, I could do that in a day." So I started. And then I found out, "Gee it takes more than a day to do four thousand pictures".

extract from The philosophy of Andy Warhol (from A to B and Back Again)

chicken pics in retail

2009-05-12T22:06:00.000+02:00

Here are some pics of chicken shot all over the world.

Chicken feet, sold in Carrefour Mexico. Very common there and used in soups.

Chicken promotion in Wal-Mart

Chicken promotion in, Shanghai Carrefour China
Chicken promotion in Ushuaia, Argentina in a La Anonima store. There, chicken is mainly sold frozen...

Pricing puzzle : Why movies are priced all the same ?

2009-05-07T22:17:00.013+02:00

Young Indiana Jones fan puzzled by the pricing of the movie

As everybody knows, prices are, basically, the result of the law of offer and demand. But it's not always the case, as we've previously commented in the ice cream category (here) where all flavors are sold the same price whatever the cost of the raw material.

What I always found strange is that Movie theaters charge different prices depending on clients ages and time of the day or days in the week (morning and mondays are sometimes cheaper). Restaurants do the same with happy hours promotion. But when restaurants charge you different prices depending on the meal you order, Movies theater charge you the same price whatever the movie you choose to see.

That seems to be a universal rule (anyone do have a counter example ?). Same price, whatever the movie is an absolute blockbuster with millions of revenues or a total failure ; if designed for the whole family or more focused on special kind of public ; whatever the production cost they're all priced the same !

What's strange is that this do not apply to concerts or theater where, depending of the band / play differences may be huge between prices tickets. That rule also do not apply with DVDs where you also find price differences between movies (new release vs. classical of all time).

In a future post we'll try to find some explanation...

amazing Zappos live animation

2009-05-02T22:05:00.001+02:00

The famous shoe Web retailer Zappos is well-known for his outstanding customer policy (his 1# core value is "delivering WOW through service"), combining free shipping and free return policy. Free return is used as a marketing tool essential to the comercial model. More than 25% of the models ordered are returned ! Costly but essential to consolidate confidence to your shoe customers.

Zappos has also developed a fascinating application on his website, similar from the Wal Mart one that can be found here. You can watch live the orders made in the US, appearing the photo of the product and the city where it will be shipped !

have a look :

http://www.zappos.com/map/#

Yipao contest in Colombia

2009-04-27T22:33:00.000+02:00

These impressive load of Jeep parade are a real tradition in Colombia, especially in the Coffe area (Eje Cafetero), department of Quindio. After ww2, the americans sold massively the Willy Jeep to latinan countries. These jeeps fit well for the difficult landscape of Colombia.

Local farmers used to say "bring me back a Jeep of bananas"... From Jeep to Yip then Yipao and the tradition keeps intact to see these full loads in the chaotic roads of Colombia. It's now totally part of the coffee culture.

Gracias Ceci por el valioso aporte !

Law of complexity with Cadbury

2009-04-22T22:26:00.001+02:00

In our complex world, it's useful (and trendy) to go back to simplicity. Fashion, design or trends tend to favour simple and pure systems that are easy to understand and replicate for everybody.

In a total opposite way, I have always been amazed by Rube Goldberg machines. Rube Goldberg (1883- 1970) was a great cartoonist and inventor, creator of complex mechanism designed to complete a very simple task. Just before Eastern, Cadbury launched a contest to promote one of its bestseller, the Creme Egg. Customers and fans addict are asked to deploy the strangest, weirdest and creative way to break the Egg. One of the best home made video is this :

a must see !

This is the official ad from Cadbury (not as cool as the former one, IMHO...)

Wal Mart growth animation

2009-04-17T23:00:00.000+02:00

Fascinating animation about the development of Wal-Mart in the US from 1965 (first store in Bentonville to the 3176th in 2007).

Click HERE to see the animation

It spreads like wildfire especially from the 1980's years. What's interesting is that you can see that Wal-Mart has developed his stores through logistics.

First build a warehouse then stores around to maximize transportation and supply chain costs.

Second golden rule, absolute priority to rural places before entering downtown (the legend says that it comes from Sam Walton spouse strongly attached to her rural roots).

5 rules for retailing in recession (HBR)

2009-04-12T22:25:00.000+02:00

In the last issue of the Harvard Business Review, you can find an interesting article about the "Five rules for Retailing in a recession" by Ken Favaro, Tim Romberger and David Meer (all working in Consulting Company).

What's new with the big crisis for retailers ?

The authors are determining 5 key rules of conduct in order to strengthen retailer's position in a downturn market:

1) Go where the headroom is

Headroom is defined by the market share you don't have minus the market share you won't get. In short : avoid to multiply the initiatives but rather focus on protecting your most loyal customers as #1 priority.

2) Close the Needs-Offer Gap

This approach favours to expand the average basket spending rather than convincing new customers to come in. Usually you analyse what you sell but seldom have a loser investigation on what you could sell.

3) Go after bad costs

Key point is to establish a link between retailer's costs and each aspect of the offer. Drop dead the classical ABC costing for a customer-benefit costing.

4) Cluster Store

A recession inevitably will lead you to differentiate your stores. Tailoring your offer and concept will help you to stick with your local customer base. Take care of no adding too much complexity in the process that could withdraw the benefits of the clusterisation.

5) Retool Core Process

To be consistent and gain efficiency it's important to change some key process : customer research, merchandise planning, performance management and strategic planning. When a retailer is usually asking for : who is our customer ? should switch to the "why are customers shopping our stores" and "what do they buy from other retailers" questions.

Thank's Chris for the tip !

this is why you're fat dilemma

2009-04-07T22:38:00.003+02:00

thisiswhyyourefat is one of these strange and funny web site where anyone can participate and post the most calorific meal one can encounter. In case of diet, a daily visit is highly recommended just to keep away the apetite.

In the same time, Wired magazine got the idea to calculate the Body Mass Index (BMI) -you can calculate yours here- of the Playboy Playmate through the years. They also made a comparison with the evolution of the BMI of the average American women...

The problem ? While Playmates have evolved from 19,4 to 18,2 in forty years, the average American woman from 20 to 29 years old has gone from 22,2 to 26,8 !

The gap between the "ideal" woman (as defined by Playboy magazine) and the reality of the average American women seems to be each time larger and larger !

Behind the new Pepsi logo

2009-04-02T22:54:00.002+02:00

Pepsico just released a new logo for his famous soft drink.

Lawrence Yang is a young industrial designer living in San Francisco who has a very personal interpretation of the logo, with a belly button in the middle of the white surface for a stunning result : obese man...

You can buy the tee shirt with the logo parody here.

More interesting is the Design Brief from the Design Agency Arnell Group that can be found here. It's a must read !! You'll see in this "Breathtaking" presentation (that's the title) that the new Pepsi logo is inspired by the golden ratio, the Parthenon, Mona Lisa, the magnetic fields of the earth, etc.

A monument ...

A selection from Art Paris

2009-03-28T22:31:00.001+01:00

Aleix Plademunt, from the series "nada" - Olivier Waltman Gallery

Ulrich Lamsfuss, Stockfood 224560 - Daniel Templon Gallery

David Reimondo - Monde
Jurgen Nefzger - Nocturnes

Art Paris is a contemporary art fair where more than 100 galleries present their current artists to the parisian public under the dome of the Grand Palais. Here's a selection of pieces that got my attention, still with a "retail" point of view....

99 ct pricing

2009-03-23T21:53:00.000+01:00

Tim Arango wrote an interesting article in the New York Times about .99 price ending. He records the history of .99 prices which seems to have been first published in 1860 by Rowland Macy (1822 - 1877), founder of Macy's Department Store. The success of this promo encouraged retailers to multiply this kind of pricing. Other explanation can be found in the odd fact that prices ending in .99 was a way to fight internal robbery: employees were forced to give change to customers (at least 1ct) and therefore oblige salesmen to register the purchases...

The psychological factor is often used to explain success stories like iTunes or the One Dollar Store chains. Many economists made studies trying to measure the effect of such prices. But the truth obliges to say that the positive effect of .99 prices is still to be demonstrated !

Photo : Denkschema in Flickr

Retail recession in photos in Slate

2009-03-18T22:54:00.001+01:00

Slate web-magazine asked his readers to post on Flickr photos illustrating the recession - Great shots of tough times. From the Wall street crisis to the closing of stores such as Circuit City or Linens'n Things, here is my selection from the +170 pics posted up to date.

Play Food

2009-03-13T23:03:00.000+01:00

Saxton Freyman is an author and artist, author of several illustrated books made of carved fruits and vegetables. He has a real talent to give human figure and lively expresion to a simple fruit.

Carl Willat realized a commercial for Safeway.com using it's character. Click here to watch it (it's the smiling orange), so cute !

Other retailer to use his talent, the new urban concept from Carrefour : Carrefour City. Located in Paris, the store shows illustration by Saxton Freymann in the fresh products area. Good job Anna !

Excellent ! Home made Trader Joe's Comercial

2009-03-08T22:28:00.001+01:00

Trader Joe's is a superb retail concept developed by the Aldi group. Amazing to see how the German Hard Discount chain succeeded in reinventing a concept specifically for US customers (a total "retailtainment" experience) with the basics of the hard discount concept (private label, edlp, strong logistics,...).

Trader Joe's success is also due to the special relationship he builds with his customers. Great example with this video made by Carls Fine Films (CFF), a film company specialized in computer generated and animation movies. CFF is located in San Francisco, close to a Trader Joe's shop. The owner, Carl Willat, were told by a Shop Manager that shooting photos is prohibited. So he decided to make a (not so) short comercial about Trader Joe's with his Treo phone. Result is great ! Trader Joe's should use it for his own comercials !!

PS: You surely recognized the song adapted from Antonio Carlos Jobim Águas de março.

PSS: Want more about Trader Joe's ?

See a previous post here.

Optimizing the number of coins

2009-03-04T22:06:00.016+01:00

Cash management is a real pain for retailers. It costs a lot to count and transfer coins and notes to Banks. It also hides cost with the time lost at the cashier when customers need to look for the tiny coins in the wallet trying to get the exact change. Most of the times, it ends by giving slightly more so that the cashier need to look for the small (but heavy in the pockets) coins. All this is time consuming and decreases productivity (a vital criteria for retailers profitability).

How could we improve this process ?

Jeffrey Shallit a professor in Waterloo, University of Canada is a specialist of "combinatorics on words, algorithmic number theory, etc...". He wrote a very interesting note about how to optimize the change of coins or in other words, what is the most efficient combination of coins to minimize the handling.

In the US monetary system you may find just 4 kind of coins : 1 (penny), 5 (nickel), 10 (dime) and 25 (quarter). The average number of coins necessary to make change on 1 USD is 4,7 per transaction (assuming that every amount of change is evenly distributed between 0 and 99). You can maximize this result with a 4 coins combination: 1, 5, 18, 25 to get an average of 3,89. Obama's change for improving efficiency would be to switch the Dime to a 18¢ coin. This proposal would also have the advantage of favourizing mental calculus in the population...

PS: In Euro countries, we have 6 available coins (1ct, 2ct, 5ct, 10ct, 20ct, 50ct, 1€, 2€). This set, for a 5€ change, gets a poor average of 4,6.

Let's switch our coins for a more efficient combination to reduce costs and waiting lines !

why does the OTHER queue always move faster ?

2009-02-28T23:09:00.000+01:00

100 essential things you didn't know you didn't know is a clever book by John Barrow.

The title immediately caught my attention of course : things I did not know I did not know ? The author is teaching in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in the Cambridge University. He has a real talent to describe the world and life as it is through math principles. How does maths can help us understand daily stuff like : how Rugby can help us understand the Theory of Relativity, the 6 degrees of separation between you and anybody else on earth or why does the other queue is always moving faster.

Everybody has experienced that. After having scrutinized all queues in the supermarket, it appears that you've chosen the slowest one, once more !

Why ?

Simple : just because the slowest lines are the one that have more people in them. In average, just the fact of choosing a line will increase the fact that you have more chances to be in the most crowded line, the slowest one.

Other point to be considered by Barrow, the fact that even though people are amazed by coincidences, there exist far more non-coincidences that nobody looks at...

Jack Kerouac on Robert Frank photos

2009-02-24T22:37:00.000+01:00

"Anybody doesn't like these pitchers dont like potry, see ?

Anybody dont like potry go home see Television shots of big hatted cowboys being tolerated by kind horses."

Jack Kerouac, foreword of The Americans, photobook by Robert Frank

Lost in translation in Chinese retailing

2009-02-20T22:44:00.000+01:00

Retailers in China need to develop a translation of local billboards to be understood from foreigners. Well, english is sometimes translated by non english speaker and it may lead to curious interpretation. I especially liked the "Translate server error".

Also, in Chinese, a same word may be used for several signification. It seams also that the same word is used to mean "dry", "to do" or "fuck" depending how it is pronounced. This word is symbolised with this simplified character: 干 . The general use of automatic machine translation created these funny mistakes.

photo credit : James Fallow and Language Log

the Kola Champagne legend

2009-02-16T22:27:00.000+01:00

Obviously, it's not Champagne but Ambassador is a real double fake ! A fake Champagne (well, the bottle helps...) and a fake Kola Champagne.

Looks like a funny fake mix between two famous drinks, but you're wrong ! Kola Champagne was created by a famous (in Puerto Rico, at least !) Angel Rivero Mendez in the 1920's. Rivero Mendez, founder of the North Pole soft drink company is also well known for having shot the first against the US in the Spanish - American war in Puerto rico in 1898. That war concluded in the control of Cuba, The Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico to the US...

For those who dare to try, it's highly recommended for Glucose addict...

Photo shot in Publix, Miami

The real Toy story

2009-02-12T23:09:00.003+01:00

Did you know that Santa Claus lives in Guangdong, China ?

In fact, 75% of the world's toys are produced in Guangdong, a province of South east China.

Liberty's department store in London (Great Marlborough st.) in the China Design Now exhibition proposed last spring an installation by Michael Wolf : The real Toy Story.

M. Wolf covered entire walls with more than 20 000 plastic toys. Some amazing photos of the workers in the factories were also embedded in the installation, adding a strange human presence.

All the toys had a face and you could see the sharp contrast between the huge amount of plastic toys and the photos of the workers.

Hema's great web animation

2009-02-08T22:46:00.002+01:00

Hema is a Dutch Department Store with a large and nice private label assortment. Acronym of "Hollandse Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam" to be translated as "Unique prices Company Amsterdam" ... It belongs to the cultural patrimony of The Netherlands (isn't it Chris ?), Hema is established since 1926 and got fame for his pastries and (used to be) fixed prices.

When you look for Hema on Google, the first entry is this fake (?) and funny website :

http://producten.hema.nl/

Just login and wait !

Was it developed by the company or just a buzz ?

You may go here to buy online (delivery only in the Netherlands)

Photo credit : rheauchyr

The role of human behaviour on web design

2009-02-04T22:48:00.002+01:00

John Maeda has theorized the Laws of Simplicity in an eponymous book, a must read. His 10th law is describing the concept of Simplicity as "subtracting the obvious, adding the meaningful".

An interesting application of the Law may be found in the Fast Company magazine recommended by my friend Chris. This interesting article by Cliff Kuang about the importance of taking account human behaviour in the design of commercial web sites. He relates how a major e-commerce company made minor change to his website that drove to major impact (in fact, $300 M rise in turnover).

What was wrong with the site ?

Nothing apparently but, after having made your purchases you were asked validate by a click on the checkout button then to login or register. What did the customers say ? We're not here to enter a relationship and later receive tons of newsletter but just buy some stuff. Many customers could not remember their password from previous registrations (how many password do you need to survive in the web 2.0 ?). Interesting facts : 45% of users had multiple registrations !

So what was done ?

Just change the Checkout button by a Continue one. Adding the message "You don't need to create an account to purchase products. Simply click on Continue to proceed to checkout. To make your future purchases even faster you can create an account during checkout".

Make it simple.

Don't bother your clients.

It works.

Amazing Church signs contest

2009-01-31T23:02:00.000+01:00

NYC, Central Park West

Church sign in the US is something that always amazed me. These outdoor billboards look like fast food restaurants displaying recipe of the day...

Anyway, you will have fun with this site here where you can generate your own Church sign (multiple choice of church display including Church of Scientology or Baptist Church).

Let's have a contest and I'll publish the best "customized" Church signs ...!

The meat culture in Meatpaper

2009-01-27T23:16:00.000+01:00

Sasha Wizansky, a graphic designer and Amy Standen, a reporter, are the talentuous creator of Meatpaper a print magazine about meat. Well, not the typical magazine about recipe or restaurants reviews but a review focused on ideas and art around the meat culture. As they write, they like metaphors more than marinating tips... It speaks about the symbolism, the rituals and what the meat says and delivers about our culture through its representation.

Among the great creativity of the magazine you may find an Ode to Boudin a poem by Kevin Young or the impact of globalization on poultry industry by Malia Wollan . Other topic of interest, why do men eat beef or lamb testicles in order to enhance their "sexual power" meanwhile we've never seen anyone eating udder's cow in order to inflate breasts...

Meatpaper is also interesting in the way it illustrates the topics with creative designer like Robert Bolesta who created this fantastic font called "value pack" made of fresh meat. For sure it would be a hit on any supermarket shelf !

How fresh is your fish... all over the world !

2009-01-23T22:18:00.000+01:00

Since Brillat-Savarin (1755 - 1826) and his famous "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are" we know that food is intimately related to each culture. As an illustration of this precept, let see how does fish is considered in different countries and especially how do people judge it's freshness :

In France, a fresh fish is judged on his eyes, crystal clear, shining and lively. That's the criteria (most) french consumer use to select their fish at the market.

In Turkey, the gills need to be showed with strong red color to clients in the street markets as a proof of freshness.

In Japan, it's important for the customer to be sure that no one ever touched the fish with its hands, so you can have a look inside the laboratories to check that.

In China, fresh means live. That's why you may choose and catch yourself your fish which will be prepared in front of yourself. (Video taken in A Carrefour Hypermarket in Beijing)

In Colombia, before the arrival of Carrefour (1998), it was difficult to find fresh fish in the supermarkets. You barely could only buy frozen fish. I remembered have seen entire family coming at the inaugural of Carrefour in Girardot to see for the first time fresh fish.

In Spain, Fish is the key factor for consumers to judge the quality of the store, in the same way as French give importance of bread quality or Argentinian to meat.

Disney key points to master the lines

2009-01-19T22:15:00.000+01:00

Shopping in a total experience, from the entrance to the exit of the store. Disney since the early years understood this basic law and in his resort parks is extremely attached to details (retail is detail, no ?). Walt Disney was a fabulous utopian and he defined his resort as a small "perfect" society. With around 40 attractions and so many visitors, lines are compulsory. The magic of Disney is to have implemented a smart management of the lines to avoid most of the drawbacks and keep intact the fabulous souvenir for the customer.

Lines management in Disney include the following principles :

- Keep moving : the lines are always dynamic, you don't wait staying on the same spot but it's a continuous walk. No time to despair, just get the impression that it's useful, a perfect illusion of progress !

- The basic principle of first come, first served is strictly observed. The "fastrack" option allows you to cut some queues but always in a democratic way. Nobody can "keep you the place" which has disastrous consequences for the others (have you ever noticed the impact on others of someone with more than 10 products in the fast check out at the supermarket ?).

- You never see the final destination from the beginning. Usually, you don't see the people waiting at the entrance. The real queue begins after having walked some meters... unless it's the end of the day where Disney cast member let see the people wait at the entrance to discourage others to get here.

- There's always something to look at. The mazes are constructed like a snake in a sense that you regularly get contact with the same people. Visitors become part of the attraction. Also, some visual distraction are disseminated with great sense of details. You get some (very) short views about the coming attraction that makes the suspense growing !

- At the entrance of the attraction, you get information about the average waiting time. Have you ever noticed that this information is a bit overestimated ? Other way to give a good impression (a bargain time !).

More interested in the anthropology of Disney Resort Parks ? Have a look at Vinyl leaves - Walt Disney World and America by Stephen M. Fjellman

Photo credit express monorail, clydeorama and danregal all on Flickr

Keynes and the problem of queue in Supermarkets

2009-01-14T20:21:00.021+01:00

photo credit - steve crane on Flickr

That's a universal problem for every customer : after having spend much time (too much time) in the store, looking for all the needed (and unneeded) products, it's now time to pay.

And the question is : which check out will be the fastest ?

Economists have tried to analyze the situation with the Random Walk theory, a mathematical formalisation of random elements. Complicated studies for a simple result : there is no answer !

Why ?

Well, if people had a way to find the fastest line, most of the customers would join it and it would not be the fastest line any longer... This is the same principle John Maynard Keynes refered to when he described how does the stock market works in his General Theory of Employment, interest and money . Keynes compared the stock market to a beauty contest where people were invited to choose the nicest girl (that kind of contest were very popular at that time). The winner is the one who choses the girl closest to the general opinion.

As Keynes writes : "it is not a case of choosing those which, to the best of one's judgement, are really the prettiest, nor even those which average opinion genuinely thinks the prettiest. We have reached the 3rd degree where we devote ou intelligences to anticipating what average opinion expects the average opinion to be. And there are some, I believe, who practice the 4th, 5th and higher degrees."

That's why when you've chosen the "seems to be" fastest line, it becomes to slow down...

From my own experience, when all lines are very busy, you may find a better way at the extremities, especially the closest line from the entrance, as people tend to finish their shopping circuit at the other side of the store. But that's a very empiric method.

Other tip from personal experience: pretty cashier girl usually get more cash at the end of the day (attracting more men clients ?). So choose the not so attractive ones for a fast check out !(Sorry, no photos for that point...).

Next post : how does Disney manage extremely well the queue problem...

Example of Beauty Contest for 1953 (Keynes wrote his theory in 1936)

so much wasted food !

2009-01-10T22:03:00.000+01:00

Who never heard his or her grand mother telling him to finish his/her plate and eat the damaged fruits ? Well, it seems that habits of this kind have disappeared whereas food prices are rising fast. An interesting article found in The New York Times explains that aprox. 1/4 of the total food in the US is wasted (27% of all edible food). That represents 0,5 kg per day per US citizen and it happens in supermarkets, restaurants, personal kitchen,...

Recovering just 5% of this amount could feed 4 million people everyday calculated the Department of Agriculture. Will the rising prices of food will be a sufficient incentive to care more ?

Interested in the topic of wasted food ? Have a look at the blog wastedfood.com by Jonathan Bloom.

Football land art in Carrefour Argentina

2009-01-06T22:24:00.000+01:00

During 2002 Football World Cup, I was in charge of Carrefour store (called Norte at that time) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As everybody knows, Football in Argentina is a second religion. If (only) less than 2% of the population is playing football, 9 over 10 people is supporting a local team. That's even one of the first question you're supposed to answer when a baby is born : which team will he (or she !) be supporter...

In 2002, just after the peso crisis, we had to give back confidence to customers and employees. I got this idea to organize a contest between stores to emulate them : your store as the best supporter of the National Team. Results were impressive where all employees came with the "albiceste" shirt (official shirt) and decorating the supermarkets as land art performance. Here are some pictures of the stores located through the Santa Fe avenue (Vidt, Palermo, Berruti).

A morning in Rungis

2009-01-02T11:21:00.001+01:00

Rungis, south of Paris, is probably one of the biggest fresh market in the world. From 3 am, everyday, more than 1200 wholesalers (more than 12 000 people) propose their products to all professionals of the Paris area. It represents a total turnover of 7,6 MM€. I was part of the 6,6 millons of annual visitors and shot some pictures from the fruit and vegetable market and flower market.

Making love in Supermarkets

2008-12-29T20:54:00.000+01:00

I was pretty sure to get your attention with such a post title directly inspired by the book of Daniel Miller, A Theory of Shopping. Daniel Miller is an anthropologist specialised in material culture and consumption.

How shoppers develop and imagine social relationships of love and care through the act of selecting goods is one of his thesis. He observed shoppers in the North London and discovered that shoppers do not buy what the others members of the family asked for but rather try to influence relatives habits, buying healthier food, better clothes (supposed to be) than they would expect.

Housewives (80% of households food buyers are women) see her role as selecting goods which are intended to be educative or judged as morally superior (bio, better taste, ...). As Miller writes, "shopping is primarily an act of love that in its daily conscientiousness becomes one of the primary means by which relationships of love and care are constituted by practice".

Shopping do not reflect love says Miller but is a form in which love is manifested and reproduced. Miller asses that each shopper is looking for thrift (value, sales, promotion, good deal, ...) and treat (extra product as a reward for the time and effort spend).

Well, that said, what are the implications for the retailer ?

Give value to the housewife shopper buying your product. She cares so you need to give her reassurance with product information,... explaining the benefits of your product. Never forget that each customer is looking for a personal treat, a direct reward to the shopper for carrying out the act of shopping. Is your assortment considering thrift and treat ?

This book is a recommendation from Luc Wise of V agency

Perception vs. reality

2008-12-26T22:44:00.000+01:00

Ads are made to sell, ok we all agree on that. But where are the limits in doing so ? A representation too far from reality would not have the risk to disappoint the client and break the dream patiently constructed ?

Ads vs. reality website compares burgers ads vs. real product shot just after having bought the "meal".

Like the traditional ads "before" and "after" for plastic surgery, Pundo 3000 is a very funny and recommended site which purpose is to show the ad, the pack then the real product "ready to eat". They also have published a book of the project that can be found here.

On top a nice example of perception vs. reality with the icon of Fast food : the Big Mac.

super size me !

2008-12-22T23:59:00.002+01:00

I shot this photo in a mall in Las Vegas last year. Just impressed by the parachute size !

The effect of obesity is impressive in the US and Central America. In the 60's, the average man weighed 75 kg and the woman 63 kg. Women have actually reached 74 kg and men are now 87 kg in average. In textile, most of the Caribbean and South American countries retailer supply their need in mega warehouses located in Colon a duty free city lost in the middle of nowhere. I met last year in Colon, Panama a textile supplier who told me that he recently had to triple the size of his showroom dedicated in XXL sizes due to the raising need.

On the other way, you may find in Colombia the best sellers strings locally called "hilo dental" (aka "dental floss") vs. "mata passion" (or passion killer) represented with the bigger sizes.

PS : the other photo was shot in Medellin at a Carrefour fashion show in Colombiamoda.

Beer temple

2008-12-19T23:13:00.001+01:00

Amazing photos sent by Jean-Claude (alias Dadi), of a Gothic Beer cathedral.

Anyone knows where and who shot this ?

Great coincidence ... explained by probability !

2008-12-15T18:56:00.020+01:00

Fifty People, One Question: New York from Crush & Lovely on Vimeo.

This morning, like every morning I dig into the dozens of newsletter received every day. I click on some hyperlinks just to get a short idea of what's going on. Intrigued by the site 50 people 1 question I was watching the video (relaxed by the great music of Louis Armstrong) when I nearly fall down from my chair. Just one hour ago I was thinking, I should send a mail to Janet Borden. I met Janet just some weeks ago during the Paris Photo fair and we had great conversation.

Just there, on this video interviewing 50 anonymous people in the streets of NYC, I could watch Janet from Janet Borden Gallery.

I love these coincidences, these striking events where randomness brings spice to life. Question is how possible it is ? Is it really luck, hazard ? How rare are these kind of events ?

Part of the answers of these questions may be found in the book of Amir D. Aczel, Chance, a guide to Gambling, Love, the Stock Market & just about everything else (what a great title, no ?). When you don't expect any kind of coincidence (I did not expect to see Janet), the aggregation of causes happens in so many possible ways that a coincidence becomes unavoidable. Aczel calculated the probability to have something in common with the stranger sitting next to you on an airplane is 1,5% (a coincidence is defined as two strangers knowing one person in common).

I'm flying tomorrow to Madrid and will surely test the probability !

Microtrends that reshapes the world

2008-12-13T22:24:00.000+01:00

Microtrends by Mark Penn and Kinney Zalesne is a must read for all of us interested in how the world is changing, counterintuitive facts and consumer behavior. Penn and Zalesne have detected 75 "microtrends" through statistics analysis. A Microtrend is defined as "an identity group, that is growing, which has needs and wants unmet by the current companies, marketers, policymakers".

These trends underline the fact that individuality is becoming the frame and model of how we're shaping our lives. As they write, we're moving from a Ford model (standard for everybody) to a Starbucks model where anyone can chose from an infinite combination of choices.

With 1% of the US population, a group can be named as a trend. What's interesting is the fast growth of these radical change in the society. We still have to determine the famous Tipping point as noted by Malcolm Gladwell when an idea, trend or social behavior gets a point of non return and spread of like wildfire.

Some of the relevant trends described in the book are (figures are to be considered for the US):

- Sex ratio singles or for the first time there are more single women than ever who do not look for marriage : 50 million when in the same time the Cougars (women dating younger men) are rising : 3 million couples where man is 6 years younger

- Commuter couples : 3,5 million couples living apart for reasons other than separation meanwhile you have the Extreme commuters who are traveling at least 90 minutes each way to go to work (3,4M). In the same time you find 4,2M of people working at home !

- Interesting also the rise of Do It Yourself Doctor, people who research, diagnose and (try to) cure themselves with the use of internet. Perhaps the effect of the huge number of persons killed by Hospital errors (between 44 000 and 98 000 estimated it's more than car accidents or breasts cancer !) see Institute of Medecine. Alarming the fact that 30M of Americans are suffering from hearing loss (too much Ipod ?)

- Pets parents are 63% of US citizens, much more than children parents !

- Over 7 M of people (1 on 31 adults) in in prison, jailed or under criminal court jurisdiction. It's 650 000 people released from jail every year (and 2/3 will be arrested again and half will be back in jail...). It makes 2M of children with a parent in prison.

- Anyone could have guessed that 1 adult on 4 have a tatoo (30M) and 1 over 3 aged 25-29 ?

- Most popular leisure in the US ?

Basketball ? Football ? Golf ?

Nope, just Internet pornography, watched by 40M people, more than 10 times the people watching baseball on TV.

Much more than stats, the authors are analysing the trends and the consequences on daily life. Written in a lively style, the book is much recommended to better understand what's going on !

Que se passe t il sur le pouvoir d'achat ?

2008-12-10T06:43:00.000+01:00

La Cité du commerce et de la Consommation a tenu ses débats la semaine dernière dans les locaux de l'ESCP EAP sur le theme Pouvoir d'achat et démocratie. Existe t il des risques liés à la sur-inflation ? Comment évolue la consommation dans un contexte de crise de pouvoir d'achat ?

Voilà quelques questions auxquelles nous avons tenté de répondre lors d'un débat qui réunissait Jérôme Bédier (FCD), Jean-Paul Betbeze (Crédit Agricole), Olivier Desforges et votre serviteur. La video vient du blog d'Henri Kaufman qui n'a pas manqué une miette des débats (voir sur son blog les interventions de Pascal Bruckner ou encore celle du psychanalyste Serge Tisseron qui analysent dans leur domaine ce que consommer veut dire : consommer c'est exister ?).

Vacuum cleaners in Arts

2008-12-06T22:43:00.008+01:00

Since Jeff Koons and his Hoover Vacuum cleaners series (which can be seen at the Tate Modern in London or at the Whitney Museum in NYC), vacuum cleaners may have an artistic role. With the use of daily objects, Koons is questioning the aesthetic of mass consumption and the power of consumer industries. The most banal object is presented in his vitrine like a jewel case.

Koons is obsessed with perfection and the vacuum are presented brand new, immaculate under neon lights like a star or holy relics. Isolated from the dirty world they are totally losing their first and main function.

Visiting Venice last year, I was attracted by this strange shop, presenting old fashion vacuum cleaners also like pieces of art on their pedestals. Strange and unreal atmosphere.

Quote of the day from Joseph Heller

2008-12-03T23:10:00.000+01:00

"he was a self-made man who owed his lack of success to nobody"

Joseph Heller

DMC shots

2008-11-30T19:47:00.001+01:00

DMC, world leader of embroidery is a 262 years old company (yes, founded in 1746 !). The company is facing big challenges these days with the withdrawal of its main shareholder, GPG fund. DMC is well known for it's fascinating broad range of colours and the quality of his thread. Everyday, it sells 1 million threads in more than 40 000 points of sale.

Photos shot in Lyon last spring. I was appealed by the accumulation of products, like a photo of Chris Jordan ...?

Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (Modern) variations

2008-11-27T20:05:00.001+01:00

Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (1863) by E. Manet is one of the most fascinating work of modern painting. It was a real shock (at that time...) to see the nude women casually having picnic with the two dandies.

As Picasso said about : "When I see Le déjeuner sur l'herbe, I'm saying to myself pain for the future". The realism of the subject is striking. For the first time in history, you can't find any justification for the nude, any pretext from mythology. The men are simply ignoring the woman, engaged in their conversation. The light of the paint is like a photographic light in studio, you do not see any shadow and the atmosphere is unnatural. Strange also are the dress of the men, with indoor looks, rather than dressed for a summer lunch.

I shot these 2 versions in Paris Photo in 2007 and 2008.

Fake Carrefour (2) : Carnefour !

2008-11-24T00:22:00.003+01:00

"Que diferencia", or what a difference says ironically the billboard in front of this typical butcher's shop in the Suba area of Bogota, Colombia !

For the anecdote, I shot this picture just days before the opening of the Carrefour store, close from it.

Who copies who ?

Fake Carrefour (1): Carreful Alimentos

2008-11-20T22:20:00.000+01:00

This is a first serie of "fake supermarkets" chain. In Latin America where trademarks are not as respected as in Europe, it's not uncommon to find some free interpretation of famous name. If you have some, I'm of course very interested in !

Hyper series by D. Darzacq

2008-11-17T21:01:00.001+01:00

Denis Darzacq is a young french photograph presented by the VU gallery in the Paris Photo fair. Previous work from Darzacq has been exposed in the Rencontres d'Arles in 2005 where I remembered his nudes walking through dead cities...

These shots are impacting. The contrast between the universe of the mass market of the supermarket, the huge amount of food, down to earth and the floating corpses - levitating ? - of the young people. Well organised products vs. strange ballet. Processed food vs. living human. Materialism of the shelfs vs. surrealism of the flying bodies...

A comparison between being and having ?

PS: these shots are "real" and are not product of any Photoshop aid !

When more is more: beer shelf in Whole Foods

2008-11-13T22:44:00.007+01:00

Whole Foods Market Beer Category Manager has not read The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. Choice Overload may trouble the customer, setting up unrealistic expectations. Its supposed to bring stress and discourage the clients...

Well, sometimes it's simply also helps to sell more ! In front of this fantastic display who's not strongly encouraged of buying a pack of beer with such assortment ?

Photo shot in Whole Foods Market, August 11th 2008

Art & Money

2008-11-09T22:23:00.005+01:00

Photo shot this summer at the FRAC who organized an interesting exhibition about the relationship between Art and Money, challenging the social role of Money. Artists like Wim Delvoye, (his web site is a must seen..) Dana Wise or Sophie Calle amongst many were presented.

Unfortunately, I can't remember the artist name of the 2 credit cards (made of pasta).

back in times

2008-11-06T22:14:00.001+01:00

As Nassim Nicholas Taleb demonstrates brilliantly in his bestseller book The Black Swan, it's a total illusion to predict future from the past, as we most of the time tend to refer. Just to illustrate this, I've found these nice photos from nuxx that illustrates the point.

Impossible from this shot to even guess where does come this incredible mixture:

Before a complete mix, it looked like that (just a detail that may help you guess : it's made of something every (decent) person is supposed to consume daily...

series taken from nuxx, 23 tubes and a bowl...

Cité du Commerce guest speaker

2008-11-04T23:05:00.003+01:00

I will be guest speaker at the Cité du Commerce et de la Consommation, saturday 29th at 14h30 in ESCP-EAP Business school Campus. The topic will be Increases in prices and purchasing power : which danger for democracy.

Others speakers will be

Michel Barnier, French Minister of Agriculture,

Jerome Bedier, President of the Federation des entreprises du commerce et de la distribution

Jean-Paul Betbeze, chief economist

Olivier Desforges, President of ILEC (Institut de liaisons et d'etudes des Industries de Consommation

To get entrances check here

See you there !

Quote of the day from Nassim Nicholas Taleb

2008-11-02T22:30:00.004+01:00

"Have you ever wondered why so many of these straight-A students end up going nowhere in life while someone who lagged behind is now getting the shekels, buying the diamonds, and getting his phone calls returned ?"

to know more about that idea and the controversy of Dr John vs. Fat Tony, READ The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

brie de meaux ?

2008-10-26T21:41:00.002+01:00

Have you said Brie de Maux or Brie de Meaux ?

"Maux" my be translated in French by "troubles" which is not quite the kind of thing you expect from a cheese. The Brie de Meaux, is said to be the king of all cheeses since 1815 (unlike being the best ...;) during the Vienna Congress directed by Talleyrand. Anecdote, the cheese nominated King of all Cheeses during the Congress where coming from the farm of Mr. Courtier, mayor of Villeroy at that time ...

Photo shot in a Carrefour hypermarkets in Medellin, Colombia. That's an explanation for the price of 30500 Colombian pesos per kilo (10,4 euros / kilo).

Store names & Kaufman's store pics

2008-10-21T22:15:00.001+02:00

I've always been amazed by the lack of imagination of (most) retailers when choosing a name for their stores (at least in France). Basically, we may find 2 sources of inspiration : location of the first store and founder's name. For example, Carrefour is the name of the building where was installed the first supermarket in Annecy. Auchan is also coming from the name of the place where was located the first store (lieux dit les Hauts Champs).

As for founder's name some example from the most famous are Leclerc, Darty, Aldi or Wal-Mart.

Here's a strange collection of Kaufman's [kawf-muhn] store pictures. A bit of a pleonasm when you know that Kaufmann means, in German, merchandiser...

Trader Joe's clients

2008-10-15T20:29:00.000+02:00

I visited this summer Trader Joe's for the first time. It's really a unique concept, with special mention to the in-store communication and private label range development.

Belonging to Aldi Group, the company shares the parent company the cult of secret. To know more about Trader Joe's, I suggest the book by Len Lewis, The Trader Joe's Adventure (a book recommended by Jean-Pierre). I particularly liked the description of the target client made of aphorisms :

Out-of-work PhD's
College professors who drive old Volvos
Overeducated and underpaid
People with champagne tastes and beer incomes
Yuppie epicures in search of Tasmanian feta cheese

Here's a video shot a sunday afternoon. A lot of clients !!