2014-03 Hearts Wallets by BrandLoyalty

Hearts & Wallets is a magazine of BrandLoyalty - Edition 3, October 2014

Barcelona A melting pot of retail formulas and food experience, and the location for the RLC 2015

Making Sainsbury’s great again Justin King recalls ten years of positive change

Climbing up Maslow’s Pyramid Bryan Pearson describes how Maslow’s insights can be applied to everyday grocery shopping

Three of a kind BrandLoyalty, Icemobile and Precima: working in unison to achieve more

WHICH WHICHFORCE FORCEDEFINES DEFINESYOU? YOU?

JOIN JOIN THE STAR THE STAR WARSWARS EXPERIENCE EXPERIENCE AT THE ATRETAIL THE RETAIL LOYALTY LOYALTY CONGRESS CONGRESS 2015 2015

The more we give, the more we get As you know, there’s never a dull moment in food retail. With the fast pace of mobile and social media developments, we see shoppers’ behaviour changing almost from day to day. And as we all know, today’s consumer is more demanding than ever. This is partly due to the recession – which continues to have an effect on shopping budgets – but also because consumers want to feel recognised and addressed in a relevant way. The more personally this is done, the better they feel about it. The era of just firing off generic messages is now behind us, and anyone who doesn’t ‘go with the flow’ is about to miss the boat. Customer data is the key to treating each person as an individual, but to get it you need to give the customer something in return. That’s why we’re going to talk more about the ‘Give to Get’ principle at the Retail Loyalty Congress 2015. We’ve decided to hold the event in Barcelona this time as the city has so much to offer: it´s an unique location full of character and history, with an amazing, enthusiastic atmosphere and a very advantageous feature: Barcelona is a melting pot of retail formulas and food experience in the greatest possible sense. I very much look forward to welcoming you to Barcelona – and in the meantime, would like to offer you this magazine as a taster of everything you can expect there.

WE TAKE CASUAL SHOPPERS AND TRANSFORM THEM INTO LOYAL CUSTOMERS

www.brandloyalty-int.com

BrandLoyalty is part of LoyaltyOne, an ADS company. The main LoyaltyOne banners are AIR MILES, BrandLoyalty, Precima, ICEMOBILE and Colloquy. Together, we are the global leader in data-driven loyalty solutions.

Enjoy the read! Robert van der Wallen CEO BrandLoyalty

Content

content

INTERVIEWS 12 Three of a kind: BrandLoyalty, Precima & IceMobile Robert van der Wallen, BrandLoyalty 22 Personal relationships in the mobile era Jeroen Pietryga, IceMobile

34 Customer analytics: the facts Brian Ross, Precima 72 Enjoying the era of the new thrift Philip Spanton, BrandLoyalty

Barcelona special

loyalty INSIGHTS

26 Barcelona: Catalonian capital and Mediterranean magnet 30 Unique food retail concepts

42 Neighbourhoods in Barcelona

40 Who knows what loyalty means?

94 Restaurants to remember

86 Stikeez: Opening the discounters’ doors 98 7 definitive loyalty trends

RETAIL LOYALTY CONGRESS 2015 54 Making Sainsbury’s great again Guest Speaker Justin King, ex-CEO of Sainsbury’s

59 Meet our host Alex Thomson, Moderator of the RLC 2015 76 The Spanish food retail landscape 81 Inspiring retail tours 101 Loyalty beyond reason Guest speaker Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi

Climbing up Maslow’s pyramid Bryan Pearson, LoyaltyOne

NEWS IN THE MARKET 18 Retail all over the world

lifestyle

70 Catalonia’s finest

GADGETS 82 Smart, functional, or both?

COLUMN

DIGITAL LOYALTY PROGRAMMES

93 ‘Lifestyle’ meets ‘blurring’ Art Frikus, Shopper Marketing expert

62 Bright Stamps: King of stamps

Loyalty Insights

Climbing up Maslow’s pyramid How moving shoppers up the hierarchy of needs is a win-win strategy

Bryan Pearson, President and CEO of LoyaltyOne, describes how Maslow’s insights can be applied to everyday grocery shopping. Aiming for the top

For example, at the most basic level (which in Maslow’s terms

At the World of Business Ideas Innovation Forum in New York

is ‘Survival’), employees want to have a job and get paid. At the

recently, I had what I would call a “lightbulb moment” when I

next level (‘Succeed’), social factors and self-esteem become more

heard Chip Conley speak. Founder of the Joie de Vivre hotel chain,

important, being expressed in job status, promotions and career

Chip talked about how he had transformed his business by focusing

tracks. Employees progressing to the top level (‘Transform’) are

on core motivation theory, and specifically the work of psychologist

highly motivated to express the values of the organisation, and

Abraham Maslow. In brief, Chip had simplified Maslow’s hierarchy

empowered to realise them. For customers and shareholders,

of needs (often graphically expressed as the ‘Maslow triangle’) from

the basic value exchange also progresses through a social and/

5 to 3 levels, and had worked out what each level meant to 3 core

or commercial recognition’ stage before reaching the top of

groups of people: employees, customers and shareholders. Then he

the triangle: the level at which they feel that the aims of the

concentrated on steering each group upwards towards the top level.

organisation align with their own.

Loyalty Insights

Putting Maslow to work in the supermarket

Improving the food experience

Chip’s talk inspired me to see if Maslow’s insights into human

If you think of the emotional connection between the triangle

psychology could also be applied to food retailing. In fact there are

and the consumer, you can say that the bottom level is about

many direct parallels, particularly if you look at our own business

meeting the consumer’s existing expectations in order to create

model – which also happens to be in the form of a triangle. We aim

basic satisfaction. At the next level – ‘Recognition’ – you're

to take customers from the most basic level (‘Reward’) to the next level (‘Recognition’) and then to the highest level (‘Relevance’) which is the most profitable level for the retailer.

reward

beginning to address the consumer’s desires: such as to feel more special and successful. If you can do this, you create a level of commitment that takes you towards the top ‘Relevance’ level. Here, you can go further by identifying and meeting

The three ‘R’s

a consumer’s unrecognised needs in the way they shop or

At the most basic level, customers are rewarded very simply:

the way they tackle the food experience. If you can do this,

the value exchange is a financial one. Goods are selected, and

you can awaken real passion in the consumer, for instance by

money is handed over. Rewards from loyalty programmes make

empowering them to create the kind of meal they thought

this exchange more attractive and move the customer up a

they could only get in an expensive restaurant. Retailers can

level to ‘Recognition’, whereby a good customer is individually

definitely move the consumer up the triangle, tapping into

acknowledged for their spend level and frequency. Airlines do

the desire to constantly improve the experience around food,

this with frequent flyer programmes and lounge access; food

which is such a central part of everyone’s lifestyle. That’s why

retailers can do it with loyalty programmes or other special value

a lot of the programmes that BrandLoyalty operates, with top-

offerings that highlight the customer’s status. Both these levels offer

quality cookware, Zwilling knives and so on, are designed to

retailers the opportunity to learn more about individual customers

enhance that experience over time.

through intelligent use of data, enabling the relationship to reach the top level: ‘Relevance’. Here, the customer offer is much more

Building on the basics

personalised, making the customer feel more committed and

Of course, you need a foundation of data in order to get to the top

connected to the brand. This is a great level to reach, because this

level where you’re really relevant to your customers. This requires

sort of customer is now very loyal to your store, spends more of

customer information, connected to some meaningful form of

their food budget there, and often communicates positively about

segmentation and analysis. BrandLoyalty gains this information

it on social media. To use Maslow’s language, this is the level of

through its loyalty programmes, and IceMobile’s Bright Stamps

self-actualisation and transformation: the customer has moved from

app provides a communication and connection platform to send

passive acceptance to active engagement.

individual messages. Precima leverages the customer information through the unique technological capabilities we have today,

Survivors have aspirations too

encouraging customers to constantly move upwards.

Too many retailers like to stay at the bottom level – maybe because they’re just more familiar with the territory. But even

I think the magic happens when you leverage that information

if they’re comfortable there, their customers aren’t. Even very

to create alignment with the issues or opportunities that exist

price-conscious consumers aspire to live at a higher level, and feel

within your customer base. It means you can connect your

emotionally more involved with a retailer who more closely meets

communications, your value offer and even your reward

their needs and aspirations. Consciously or subconsciously, when

programme to things that are most important to individuals. You

someone’s being recognised or given reaffirmation statements, they

can inspire people, make yourself meaningful to them, and keep

feel better about the shopping they’re doing or the efforts they’re

them emotionally and transactionally close to you. The top of

making to stick with that one retailer over time.

Maslow’s triangle is a great place to do business. ■

recognition

relevance

INTERVIEW

of a

BrandLoyalty, IceMobile and Precima: working in unison to achieve more for our clients

The collaboration between BrandLoyalty, IceMobile and LoyaltyOne’s subsidiary Precima is already bearing fruit, as Robert van der Wallen explains.

See it for yourself

Unmissable opportunities

Geographically of course, with LoyaltyOne being mainly active in

One of the most exciting initiatives we’ve started is in the field of personalised promotions

When I’m asked what it’s like to be working with LoyaltyOne,

North America, and BrandLoyalty in Europe and Asia, our joint

– using a mobile app – whereby we make use of our three companies’ complementary

I can honestly say that this first year has more than justified our

global footprint has greatly enlarged our commercial sales reach.

strengths. To reduce the risk to retailers, part of our fee may depend on actual redemptions

decision to get together in the first place. Of course we knew there

As part of ADS, we can offer even greater financial stability than

rather than just clicks. Retailers may also use this app to cross-sell or up-sell, by making

would be tremendous opportunities, both for our clients and for

before. We’ve also increased our capabilities and knowledge due

customers relevant offers based on their current data or purchasing pattern. We’re looking to

ourselves, but the scale of these opportunities is becoming even

to the fact that our companies offer complementary best-in-class

share this at the RLC 2015, and I can’t wait to explore the opportunities it will open up.

more breathtaking with each day.

solutions. LoyaltyOne’s experience with long-term coalition loyalty

INTERVIEW

programmes such as AIR MILES is underpinned by Precima’s

choices, greater transparency and speed of information, and a

extensive data analytics capabilities, while BrandLoyalty’s

bewildering number of interconnections – just look at what’s

proven expertise in short-term loyalty programmes is

happening on social media. But despite all these distractions, food

reinforced by IceMobile’s unique digital solutions.

continues to consume a large part of most people’s family budget and a large part of their time (in shopping, preparing, and using

We are already using each other’s expertise to continually improve

food-related products). We see that everything that's been digitised

our own products and services. During this year alone, 50 cases

and brought to the consumer in an easy, transparent way gives them

of the nearly 3,000 loyalty programmes that BrandLoyalty has

more power to decide how they shop. That’s why it’s so important

run in the past will be reanalysed by Precima so that we can

to engage with consumers on this level.

prove the results much more robustly. Meanwhile, IceMobile is helping Precima enhance the user experience of its tools for

What we believe

category managers, and adding an extra digital dimension to

With the power balance shifting to the consumer, we as a

BrandLoyalty’s loyalty programmes via Bright Stamps. What’s

group of companies believe we need to know the consumer

more, our new working relationship has revealed immense

inside and out. Whatever we design, from a mobile app to a

synergies in what we see, what we believe and what we offer.

loyalty programme with pots and pans, we need to thoroughly understand the decision-making process, including the triggers,

What we see

at every stage. We believe that customer intimacy is crucial

Firstly – and very importantly – our three companies share

for retail growth, and we believe in creating a combination of

the same view of the challenges in food retail. Jeroen Pietryga

emotional and transactional loyalty to achieve this. And of course,

(CEO of IceMobile) and I have both been retailers – as have

we believe that data mastery is the key to success.

many of our colleagues at Precima – and we know how tough it

“Today’s customercentric dynamic is fast shifting to a customersteered dynamic. That’s why we need to be ahead of the game.”

is to succeed. It's only natural with the financial pressure of this

Good relationships depend on respect

modern age that retailers are focusing on scale and efficiency,

There’s more to data mastery though than simply having the ability

and it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that it's good old-fashioned

to crunch the figures. It’s also a matter of using the data intelligently

customer intimacy that brings you growth in the first place.

and upholding the ‘Give to Get’ principle in a way that consumers accept. The way we do that is by telling people upfront why we

From ‘either...or’ to ‘both...and’

need certain information and what they get in return. We use our

Retailers see efficiency and customer intimacy as contradictory

emotional intelligence and thorough understanding of retail to

propositions. They fully acknowledge how important it is to build a

gain insights from the data and to act on it in a way that benefits

relationship with customers – for example by putting extra staff on

everyone involved.

the shop floor to help people – but hesitate because it costs money. Our viewpoint is that efficiency and customer intimacy aren’t

What we offer

mutually exclusive, but that you can leverage the first to achieve the

BrandLoyalty, IceMobile and Precima can provide solutions

second. This seems like a paradox, but in fact it’s an everyday reality

separately or in combination, but our great strength is that we offer

for our clients.

an integrated approach to three core aspects: data insights, personal experience, and content (or motivators). As a group, we offer

Power to the consumer

actionable insights on individual or mass customer behaviour.

Another perspective that BrandLoyalty, IceMobile and Precima share is on how the retail landscape is evolving. Daily life is

Practical solutions

becoming ever more complex, with an increasing number of

Let’s say that a retailer wants to increase the spend of certain

INTERVIEW

customers who've been walking away en masse to a discounter.

feel engaged when they see their balance, they don't forget

BrandLoyalty may come up with a short-term programme like

to collect, and they feel even more rewarded when they get a

collecting for 5-star Zwilling knives, which is a great motivator – it

congratulatory message.

enables people to get high value with a huge discount. Then to create the right mechanism (how many stamps participants get for

Skin in the game

what amount of spend, how long they should collect, which type

There's one element to all this that makes us different, and

and number of knives to use, and so on), we use the insights from

that's that we actually put our own skins in the game. We

our research data. BrandLoyalty has run nearly 3,000 programmes

believe so much in the power of the consumer and the power

worldwide, so we’ve already got a broad base to work from, but

of our own data mastery that we are prepared to put our money

by using Precima’s additional data analytics capabilities, we can

where our mouth is. We willingly share the risks, along with

do a much better, more accurate proposal, with more effective

our clients. For example, BrandLoyalty will take away the risk

projection, resulting in better value for the retailer and the

of leftover stock in a loyalty programme by taking back unsold

consumer. Retailers who share their own data with us will get an

or unredeemed items. Risk-sharing has already been in our

even better programme with better results.

culture for a long time, but the same goes for Precima, which offers revenue-sharing or Pay for Performance for some data

Personal relevance

solutions. It proves how serious we are about what we offer,

Again, it’s a case of starting with the consumer, analysing the

and our willingness to offer innovative payment structures

decision-making process and using the data to come to a

creates a win-win situation for everyone.

And make a donation to support our primary school in Gulu, Uganda

better proposition. We design our products in a personal way, based on the needs and wishes of their users. For example,

All for one, and one for all

BrandLoyalty does concept testing, such as letting children

We see ourselves as 3 standalone companies that by sharing

play with Instant Loyalty Promotions while their parents

capabilities and expertise can make a better solo offering, or a better

watch from behind a glass mirror, while IceMobile invites

combined offer if our clients so wish. We´ve gone a long way in

consumers to its headquarters every week to test each new

the short period of time that we´ve been working together, and it

element of its retail apps. Our aim is to enhance the personal

actually feels very natural for us to collaborate on making the best

experience and relevance of everything we offer. And we see

use of our separate expertise. Whether driven by internal ideas or

through this that customer intimacy actually leads to a higher

external challenges, I do think that the opportunities to leverage

transactional loyalty. With Bright Stamps, for instance, people

each other´s capabilities will only increase. ■ For the past few years, BrandLoyalty has been working together with SOS Children’s Villages to support the newly opened primary school in Gulu, Uganda. Uganda is slowly recovering from a civil war and is relatively stable, so this is the perfect time for us to invest in Uganda’s children and help them take their future into their own hands. BrandLoyalty’s own charity organisation

Experience our approach to loyalty

(the Brand Charity Foundation) has taken up the challenge to help the school and hopefully

We collaborate from our home bases in Toronto, Amsterdam

create a bright future for Gulu’s schoolchildren. So follow your heart and support BrandCharity!

and Den Bosch, where Precima’s European office is located. At our Loyalty Experience Centre in BrandLoyalty’s Den Bosch headquarters, we invite visitors to experience what we have to offer in a more tangible way. Here you can see our data insight tools, personal experience enhancers and sales motivators in action.

Caring for children’s welfare worldwide

Deutsche Bank Nederland, Stichting Brand Charity Bestuur Plus Rekening, Account: 0575437979, IBAN: NL20 DEUT 0575 4379 79, BIC: DEUR NL2N

news in the market

What’s happening to retail all over the world? Source: Planet Retail

Brazil: CARREFOUR bets on Brazilian convenience...again

Australia: Woolworths (AUS) opens first dark store

Rumours have circulated for months

The facility, in the Sydney suburb of

that Carrefour has been planning to

Mascot, is a test project that may lead

introduce a new format in Brazil, and

to the possible opening of several more

now those plans have materialised. The

similar outlets in other key markets to

retailer has introduced its international

lift efficiency amid an online push.

USA: NORDSTROM launches charitable private label In a first for the business, US department store and apparel retailer Nordstrom is developing a private label brand that will give 5% of revenue to non-profit organisations dedicated to empowering women and young girls.

Woolworths has opened a new store devoted entirely to its online business.

US: McDonald's hits supermarket shelves

convenience store banner Carrefour

UK: ALDI joins ‘healthy tills’ movement Discount store operator Aldi is to launch ‘healthy tills’ at all of its stores across the UK as of January 2015. This means

Express into São Paulo, the country’s largest metropolis.

Indonesia: Hypermart revamp for Matahari PP

McDonald's is to enter an already

that confectionery and chocolate will

crowded retail coffee market. The

be removed from the checkouts and

hamburger giant plans to market a

replaced with healthier options like

variety of coffee products under its

dried fruit, nuts, juices and water.

McCafé brand.

Indonesia grocer Matahari Putra Prima (MPP) will transform its Hypermart bigbox chain through a series of refurbishments in its latest bid to capture growing Indonesian consumer demand, the Jakarta Globe reports.

USA: WALMART ends Scan & Go scheme Walmart is to end Scan & Go selfscanning using shoppers’ smartphones.

US: Whole Foods Market integrates Apple Pay

UK: Morrisons opens first travel location store Morrisons has opened its first travel location store: at a Nottingham railway station.

Whole Foods Market is among the pioneering wave of US retailers to offer the new

Retail Week reports that the

Apple Pay mobile payment method that uses the iPhone to make purchases. With the

M Local convenience store

launch of the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch devices, the organic grocer is keen to be the

offers a Fresh to Go section

first on the block to offer the new technology. Whole Foods is looking to include Apple

tailored to commuters’

Pay across the board for all in-store purchases at coffee bars, tap rooms and juice bars.

tastes, with coffee, bacon sandwiches and pastries.

According to the Associated Press, the majority of customers could not understand how the Scan & Go app worked during tests in 200 stores.

The personal shopping assistant that

Bright Shopper is a digital eco-system that changes the way customers shop. It helps create a smart shopping list from products, promotions

over hearts and wallets

or ingredients from the recipes you offer. Bright Shopper will be an indispensable part of the customers daily shopping routine and therefore increase customer loyalty and drive more sales.

INTERVIEW

Why personal relationships are even more valuable in the

Mobile era The ability to create 1-to-1 relationships on a mass scale is already in your hands.

It’s not just business; it’s personal.

on presents to colleagues or friends. The bigger the emotional

Do personal relationships still matter in this day and age? You bet

connection, the greater the transactional value. The same is

they do. They’re like magnets that invisibly attract consumers to one

true with a commercial exchange: there’s always an emotional

store rather than another. Yet in the modern-day drive for scale and

and a transactional value. People will spend more if they feel

efficiency, decision-makers based far away in Head Office have lost

they have a good relationship with your store. That’s why it’s

IceMobile’s new CEO Jeroen Pietryga studied applied physics at the Delft University of

the ability to cultivate personal relationships. They’re just not close

so important to create a feeling of loyalty. Grow that emotional

Technology before going into marketing. After several years at P&G in Rotterdam, Brussels

enough to each store’s customers to know how to keep them loyal.

connection and you’ll grow the value of each transaction.

and Geneva, he came back to the Netherlands to work for food retail market leader Albert Heijn. His engineering training and marketing experience provide him with an unusually wide

Why’s emotional value important?

Get the right tools

perspective on the opportunities for customer engagement via retail apps, which have an

The emotional part of a relationship is a great driver for spend.

Many big food retail chains that have successfully focused on

unprecedented power to gain and retain customers, as he outlines here.

Let’s face it: you spend more money on gifts to your family than

efficiency are now struggling to grow their sales. They need

INTERVIEW

to use their size to invest in tool sets that help them to build a

now to focus on the 1-to-1 relationship they have with their best

one-to-one relationship with every customer. So they’ve adopted

customers. They need to commit now to driving top-line growth by

retail apps on a massive scale, although lots of these apps aren’t

offering the mobile solutions of the future. The natural tendency of

well designed and therefore aren’t well used. A good retail app

retail is to wait and just copy the competition, but retailers who do

should enable retailers to offer a better service to their primary

that will fall behind. They can’t hope to catch up with companies

customers. And we know from experience how these loyal

that are already building that personal relationship today.

shoppers are prepared to spend more after their app transforms an ordinary, anonymous supermarket into their own personal store.

Customers are ready. Are you? It’s amazing how quickly consumers will take to an app if

Personal shopping. Personal promotions.

you make it easy and satisfying to use. Older shoppers are no

At IceMobile, we believe that apps should make life easy. They

exception – in fact, we have seen many examples where they

should inspire you, help you shop and make you feel rewarded.

accept and adopt the right service first. Retailers need to be

Take our Bright Shopper app: it’s like having your own personal

prepared to invest in quality and work with partners who have

shopping assistant. It reminds you what to buy, suggests tasty

the proof, ability and experience to understand shopping trends

menus and remembers your preferences. Bright Stamps - our

and the fundamental needs that customers have.

promotional app - is easy and highly individualised too. Instead of collecting paper stamps, you just swipe your smartphone on

Value comes from a worthwhile exchange

the reader at the checkout and you’re done. Your stamps have

The 1-to-1 relationship is the most precious asset of your

been automatically uploaded, you can see immediately how many

company, so treat it properly. One design principle we use in

you’ve got and how many you still need to collect, and you even

developing our apps is ‘Give to Get’, and we communicate this

get an alert to remind you to collect the extra stamps you need

clearly. If we ask a customer for information, we make sure we

before the promotion ends. That’s real, personal service, especially

explain why we need it and what they get in return. For instance,

when you combine it with nice touches like a welcome message

we ask them to register so that we can inform them of the

for joining the promotion, or a congratulations push-message

number of stamps they’re entitled to, and we ask for permission

when you reach a certain number of points.

to use their data so that we can give them tailor-made offers and information. Now that BrandLoyalty, Precima and IceMobile

“Consumers are ready. Are you?”

Did you see it coming?

are part of the same company, we are working together to

Bill Gates says that with new technology, we consistently

analyse the data and deliver even better, completely personalised

overestimate what will happen in the next 2 years, but we always

offers and services. These then automatically drive brand

underestimate what will happen in the next 10 years. Smartphones

preference both in the short and the long term.

and tablets have become so much part of our everyday experience that it’s hard to think of life without them. But think back just 5

Creative, technical, or both?

years, and you realise that the shopping landscape looked very

There are many companies and agencies that can deliver an

different. 10 years ago, apps weren’t even around – there was no

app, but few that are able to operate on the intersection of

broadband internet, no colour screen, no Big Data and no cloud.

technology and creativity, which is what IceMobile does. We have

So it took vision for companies to develop mobile solutions, and

the creativity and futuristic vision to dream up something that

courage from retailers to invest in them.

shoppers will love, together with the technological skills to be able to make it work. This unique combination, with a focus on food

The future starts now.

retail, delivers personal relationships that will continue to grow in

That’s why it’s important for retailers to make the strategic choice

emotional and transactional value over the years to come. ■

barcelona special

barcelona CATALONIAN CAPITAL AND MEDITERRANEAN MAGNET

barcelona special

Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is one of the most dynamic, culturally vibrant, interesting and inviting cities in the world today. Pierre Chabot, who lives and works in Spain as BrandLoyaltyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Area Sales Director, takes us on a whirlwind tour.

Catalonia, Catalunya, Catalonha, Cataluña…

Why visit?

La Boqueria

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, a region in the north-west

Barcelona combines everything that is most charming about

No visit to Barcelona is complete without a visit to the Mercat de Sant Josep de la

Seasons in Barcelona

of Spain with a long and colourful history. Bordered by France

Mediterranean cities – a relaxed pace, months of endless sunshine,

Boqueria, often simply referred to as La Boqueria. This large public market in the

Winter can present you with azure

and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean to the east, and the

unbeatable food – with a cultural and visual wealth that rival those

Ciutat Vella district is one of the city's foremost tourist landmarks, and with good

skies and improbably warm days,

Spanish regions of Aragon and Valencia to the west and south,

of any city in northern Europe. Its patchwork of architectural styles

reason. Bursting with everything from freshly caught fish to exotic spices and bright

while summer – though humid – is not

Catalonia has always played a strategically valuable role. It was

sets dark, Gothic façades next to the harlequin buildings of the

displays of fruit, and vibrant with the cries of the stallholders, La Boqueria is a feast

as blisteringly hot as in other Spanish

colonised by the Romans, and was an important maritime power

Modernistas and the skyline-piercing constructions of modernists

for the eyes, ears and nose. People eat, shop and gossip together, treating the market

cities. However, lots of locals desert

in medieval times. The region has three official languages: Spanish,

such as Jean Nouvel, Herzog & de Meuron. Sightseeing highlights

as the centre of the community in fine Spanish style.

the town in August, leaving the city

Catalan and the Occitan dialect of Aranese.

include the spectacular Gaudi church La Sagrada Famiglia, the

The market is the best showcase of fresh ingredients in the city, with just-netted

traffic-free but also empty of culture

Plaça Reial square, the Palau de la Música Catalana (Palace of

fish arriving at 7pm every evening. Poultry, legumes and cereals, offal, olives and

and eating opportunities, as many

Fruits of the vine

Catalan Music) and the eye-catching structures in Park Güell.

preserves, game, eggs, charcuterie, seafood, salted fish...you can buy food here that

restaurants are shut. Autumn attracts

Catalonia is blessed with diverse and fertile soils, plus a warm,

A day spent admiring these can be topped off with a sundowner

you can’t find anywhere else. Restauranteurs and private individuals rub shoulders as

late sun-seekers, although October

temperate climate. Together, these have proved perfect conditions

on one of the city’s seven beaches before dinner at any number of

they decide which of the best cuts of meat to take away with them.

and November tend to see sudden

for wine-making, with over 70,000 hectares devoted to wineries and

Michelin-starred gastronomic temples or humble, family-run tapas

Although the market itself dates from medieval times, it only gained a proper home

bursts of showers. Spring is pleasantly

vineyards today. The Catalonian area of Penedès is the birthplace

bars. Spectacular views over Barcelona can be gained from the

when construction of the original building was finished in 1853. A new fish market

warm and bright, while the busiest

of the sparkling Cava wine. The region’s white grapes include

Collserola mountain range behind the city. This is also a city with a

opened in 1911, and the metal roof that still exists today was constructed in 1914.

period is Easter, when prices of flights

Macabeo, Parellada and Zarello, and it also produces red wines

proud sense of identity, where local culture and traditional festivals

from Garnacha, Monastrell and Tempranillo vines.

are both celebrated and fiercely guarded.

and hotels are correspondingly high.

To discover more about La Boqueria, visit www.boqueria.info

barcelona special

A WHOLE VARIETY Of unique food retail concepts

Temptation nº4 Papa Bubble: the magic of authentic confectionery

Temptation nº2 Casa Gispert: top-quality coffee, nuts and southern fruits

Papa Bubble - Carrer Ample 28 Neighbourhood: El Born Metro: L3 (Drassanes)/ L4 (Jaume I)

Papa Bubble has given old-fashioned sweets a new lease of life. And how! Since this small sweetshop in Barcelona opened its doors in 2004, its sweets have become all the rage – and the infectiously popular Papa Bubble magic

Are you’re running out of time to taste all the delicious local

has spread all over the world. Authentic confectionery in bright colours

specialities? Would you like to take some of them home with you for

Casa Gispert - Sombrerers 23 - Neighbourhood: El Born - Metro: L4 (Jaume I)

your family and friends to enjoy? Perhaps you just deserve another

Take note if you love coffee, mixed nuts, southern fruits, honey, jam and teas: there’s

of Papa Bubble. These cheerful sweets

definitely one delicatessen in Barcelona that you shouldn’t just walk past! Casa

are made in the traditional manner in the

Gispert is a household name in Barcelona. That’s understandable, because it’s one of

shop itself, while you watch. Open the

the 10 best traditional food speciality shops in Europe. This delightful delicatessen

door and take a peek at how a mound

first opened its doors in 1851, and hasn’t looked back since.

of sugar, water and fruit essence is

Coffee beans and nuts are still roasted in the traditional manner in the original

transformed into original confectionery.

roasting oven from all those years ago. What’s more, the original store interior from

Whether you’re looking for tasty lollies or

the beginning of the 19th century is still intact. Take some freshly-roasted coffee or

individual fruit-based sweets, you’re sure

nuts with you for your loved ones back home. They’re sure to be grateful!

to find them at Papa Bubble.

treat? Whatever your excuse happens to be, it’s good enough to get you a knowing smile from the staff at the establishments below. Pop in to get a taste of Spain to take home...or to savour on the way back.

Temptation nº1 Bubó: the very best patisserie in all of Spain Bubó - Caputxes 10 - Neighbourhood: El Born - Metro: L4 (Jaume I) Bubó Bar - Caputxes 6 - Neighbourhood: El Born - Metro: L4 (Jaume I)

Just imagine being served by the best pastry chef in Spain. Step forward, Carles Mampel from patisserie Bubó in Barcelona. It’s a great honour, but he’s certainly

Temptation nº3 Vila Viniteca: wine-tasting in the heart of Barcelona Vila Viniteca - Carrer Agullers 7 - Neighbourhood: El Born - Metro: L4 (Jaume I)

earned it. He’s in charge of all Bubó desserts, and his creations are simply heavenly. The unusual sweet and savoury delicacies that emerge from his modern kitchen are

Villa Viniteca is a true jewel in the centre of

of excellent quality and and extremely tasty .

Barcelona. Here you can find the most extensive collection of the very best regional wines for an

Even if you don’t like desserts, it’s still worth paying a visit to this store just to admire

affordable price. In this specialist wine shop and

the wonderful 18th century building where the delicatessen is located.

delicatessen, founded by the Vila family in 1932, you’ll also get lots of excellent advice about

But if you are a true fan of patisserie, take the time to discover the Bubó bar just two

wines. The most delicious jamón iberico and

doors down, in front of the main entrance of the Iglesia de Santa Maria del Mar. Take

quesos from Spain are also on sale here. Why

a seat, and enjoy the noble art of the patissier at your leisure.

not take some home with you?

and the original shapes : that’s the secret

barcelona special

Temptation nº5 Demasié, Barcelona’s brown gold Demasié Princesa - Princesa 28 - Neighbourhood: El Born - Metro: L4 (Jaume I) Demasié Café - Roger de Lluría 8 - Neighbourhood: El Born- La Ribera Metro: L1 (Urquinaona)

The chocolate biscuits made by the Xocoa brothers Guillem and Marc Escursell are unbelievably delicious. Whether you prefer sweet or savoury biscuits, the talented siblings know how to tickle your tastebuds. All the possible colours, shapes and tastes that chocolate can offer are to be found here. This delicatessen is devoted to chocolate in the broadest sense of the word! If you are looking for a tasty present for your loved ones, this is certainly the place to be. And if you can’t resist chocolate yourself, there’s a simple solution, because Demasié also runs a café

Temptation nº6

in the centre of town. Highly recommended!

Jamón Experience nº6 JamÓn Experience Rambla de les Flors 88-94, Baques St. corner (in front of La Boqueria) Neighbourhood: Rambla - Metro: L3 Liceu, L1-L3 Placa Catalunya, L3 Drassanes

Keep learning. Keep developing. Keep growing. Mariël de Jongh, People Development Manager BrandLoyalty

Baluard - Carrer del Baluard 38 Neighbourhood: Barceloneta Metro: L4 (Barceloneta)

the texture, taste, colour and shape

Anyone who says that bread in

no two loaves are the same. Artificial

of the bread, while also ensuring that

Barcelona is tasteless hasn’t yet

colourings, aromas and flavourings

Everything you want to know about

discovered the Baluard bakery! Here,

form no part of the recipes. And the

jamón iberico is here under one roof!

they put a lot of love into every loaf

bakers really take the time to perfect

The Jamón Experience is a unique

– and you can taste it in every bite.

each and every handmade loaf.

space in the heart of Barcelona

In contrast to the many identical

Everything you buy here has been made

dedicated to this unique Spanish

factory-made loaves that pass over the

earlier in the day, in a natural process.

dry-cured ham. Here you can learn

counter every day in Spain, bread made

So if you’re looking for delicious, 100%

everything about jamón and enjoy

by Baluard is unique. The traditional

natural, high-quality bread with aroma,

tasting different varieties of this

manner in which the loaves in this

taste and long-lasting goodness, you

exquisite delicacy. Enjoy an engaging

pastry shop are prepared improves

know where to come!

interactive experience in a 2,000m2 state-of-the-art space that culminates with a tasting of six different kinds of jamones hand-cut by a master slicer and paired with a glass of cava, wine or beer. A unique experience you’ll treasure forever.

www.brandloyalty-int.com

Temptation nº7 Baluard: where each loaf of bread is unique

INTERVIEW

What

will tell you that traditional research won’t For insights that you can act on, you need facts, not just opinions. Brian Ross explains how actionable data is the key to retail success.

Understanding customers is a science whose time has come

longer have to be based on market surveys and the unreliable

When I finished my business degree in 1996, most companies

judgement, you could gain a robust understanding of what

either didn't have customer data, or didn’t know how to use it.

customers actually do, how they shop at your store, and what

Born and educated in Toronto, Brian Ross joined LoyaltyOne in 1996 and spent several years

The reason I joined the pioneers at LoyaltyOne was that we

really matters to them. Most of all, I was excited about this

working with AIR MILES, the largest coalition loyalty programme in Canada. He founded

all saw the potential of loyalty programmes to identify what

breakthrough capability to have strategy actually tied to

Precima – the customer analytics division of LoyaltyOne – in 2008, and as President is

were previously anonymous transactions. I knew this would

measurable results. And that’s exactly what today’s technology

responsible for its overall strategic and operational management.

revolutionise retailing, because strategic choices would no

allows us to offer.

insights they produced. Instead of depending on a consultant’s

interview

"Consumers are demanding greater relevance from every touchpoint."

Bridging the ‘Say / Do’ gap

…We have the key

If you go into survey of consumers and ask if they're healthy

At Precima, our starting point is to go and unlock the value of that

or health-conscious, 8 or 9 out of 10 people say yes. For some,

data. Somewhere inside it lies the answer to important questions

it could be true, but for others it’s just wishful thinking – or the

such as “Who are my most important customers?”, “What matters

result of peer pressure within the research group. What you need

to them?”, “What do they buy?” and “How can we better serve

to know is how they really shop and to what extent this desire for

their needs?” Our ability to interrogate the data is built on more

a healthy lifestyle actually influences their purchasing decisions. If

than 20 years of customer analytics and insights from working

shoppers are consistently buying products that are organic, or light,

with over 70 companies worldwide. We’ve developed extremely

or healthy, we know they're health-conscious. By analysing their

sophisticated methods of extracting and linking information to

customer data, you get a true understanding of the proportion of

discover what retailers need to know.

people for whom it's a very significant decision driver, compared to those with a more average consumption pattern - and what's more,

Measurable results

you know exactly which items they buy and how they shop. This

We know that retailers who understand their customers better

helps you make the correct decisions when stocking your store.

through data, and who can then use the results to improve their decisions, have a significant competitive advantage. Customer-

Improving on traditional methods

centricity can in fact deliver a sustainable 3% to 5% incremental

Another advantage of customer analytics is that they help you

increase in sales and profits. Of course, a lot of companies will

avoid making expensive mistakes. For example, the standard way

promise numbers like this, but if you build analytics into your

of rationalising your product range has always been to rank the

approach, you can set a target based on actual data rather than a

items top to bottom by sales or profit, and then delist the bottom

'best guess' scenario. And you can track it exactly. It’s an excellent

performers. Walmart has a published case study in which it delisted

way to mitigate risk, because you’re using very solid information.

these items using the traditional method but found that sales were

Let’s face it, nobody in retail today has a tolerance for spending

going down. Using extensive analytics, it researched the reasons

money without demonstrating measurable return.

and found that some of the items delisted had very high loyalty or were unique to certain very high-spending customers. And if you

From insight to action

start delisting items that customers care about, you can lose a visit

You can have the greatest insights in the world, but if you can't

or a series of visits. By analysing data from their loyalty programme,

translate them into a very specific decision or tactic, you get no

retailers can make much more accurate, fact-based decisions on

value from them. A lot of companies can create customer insights,

what to delist and what to keep.

and others have built specific tools around aspects like price optimisation, assortment or promotional effectiveness, but the

Retailers have the treasure chest…

connection between these different areas is often lacking. This

Every retailer has some kind of data, whether it’s transactional

essential, actionable connection is a unique feature of what we

data, customer data or the rich mixture of data you get from a

offer. Crucially, we also think like retailers – which isn’t surprising,

well-used loyalty programme. Some of it has been around for

considering many people on our team have spent years in retail. We

a very long time, yet it’s often barely used. If you consider that

design solutions for the realities of retail. We’re practitioners, not

a typical supermarket may carry 25,000 to 100,000 items, with

consultants or analysts. There’s simply no sense in causing analysis-

people shopping there 2 to 4 times a week, it obviously generates

paralysis or information overload.

a lot of information. But in most companies, the data is either not accessible, it's very disparate, or it's very complicated for the retailer

A guided approach

to look through all the data and actually find insights.

The average retailer within trading or merchandising is making

INTERVIEw

“Customer-centricity can deliver a 3% to 5% incremental increase in sales and profits. Sustainably.” million-dollar decisions every day, so we don’t just throw them a

ideal opportunity to offer this, but it’s vital to make yours stand out.

bunch of data and walk away. Instead, if someone’s looking to make

Consumers are bombarded with choice when it comes to loyalty

a pricing decision, we say “Here’s the data, here’s what it means,

cards, so they will only use yours if it offers compelling, truly

here's a recommended price and here's what the impact is going

differentiated value to them as an individual. And you can only do

to be.” It’s a practical, data-driven approach to an existing process.

that if you have that specific knowledge.

It's helping retailers do what they do already a bit better, a bit more easily, with the right tools. We also empower retailers by delivering

To win in the long run, become a leader now

insights into desktop tools that merchants can use themselves.

The ability to truly understand your best customers and to adapt

By enabling them to integrate such insights into their teams and

your value proposition to their needs can make a significant

processes, their own capabilities are often totally transformed.

difference to your bottom line, but it doesn’t happen overnight – you need to work at it. Also, it’s a daunting task to try to make sense

Your own private competitive advantage

of all the data yourself. But it’s an unavoidable fact that customer

Customer analytics isn’t a replacement for traditional methods like

analytics is becoming a core part of competing. Think about

market research, but it does complement them in an extraordinarily

Moore's Law, in which the productivity of technology doubles

effective way. You still need to understand market trends, market

every 12-18 months. This is a race, and it's incredibly important to

share, demographics and so on, but remember: each of your

get into it soon. So it’s crucial to pick an analytics partner flexible

competitors can get access to the exact same information. However,

enough to adjust their model to your business and to evolve with

if you can connect your own individual data set to other sources

you over time.

of knowledge, and use the information effectively, that gives you a unique advantage.

Join the quantum shift I believe that the way in which retailing is organised in the

Relevance is king

future will shift from being very product-centric to very

Consumers have less and less time – or money – to waste on

customer-centric. Instead of “Pile it high and watch it fly”, the

stores that don’t meet their needs closely enough. To retain

accepted wisdom will become “We have customers; let's find

and grow your appeal to higher-value customers in your area,

products”. And to take this further, the next logical step will be

relevance is the name of the game. If you've got a store with lots

to say “Let’s deliver the right product for the right customer at

of young families, carrying an assortment with healthy weekday

the right price in the right channel”.

meals for young children is very important, whereas for a store

The age of the consumer is already upon us. Consumers have

highly concentrated in the urban market, it's much more about

more power and choice than ever, and they are demanding

convenience for professionals on the go. But you need to go further

greater relevance from every brand touchpoint. The better we

than this segmented approach, and move towards much more

understand them, the better we can cater to their needs, in a

individualised relevance. A good loyalty programme gives you an

virtuous circle that benefits all of us. ■

Loyalty Insights

Surprisingly few companies know what loyalty actually means to their business How can you measure what you can’t define?

99% of marketing managers agree that loyalty is a strategic priority 1

CEOs see customer loyalty as a more significant challenge to focus on than profit growth 2

Top 10 challenges faced by CEOs 1. Excellence in execution 2. Consistent strategic execution by top management 3. Sustained and steady top-line growth

4. Customer loyalty

only 25% of marketing

definitions:

managers confirmed they have a formal definition of loyalty Less than Less than

30% 50% measure both emotional & transactional loyalty

5. Speed, flexibility, adaptability to change

measure how customer loyalty affects performance outcomes

loyalty? One of the most widely accepted formal definitions is as follows: “A deeply held commitment to rebuy or re-patronise a preferred product/service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behaviour.”

emotional A perceived unique relationship which results in customers feeling affection for and a bond with a brand Net Promoter Score (NPS)

6. Corporate reputation for quality products/services

The overwhelming majority of firms view customer loyalty as a top

7. Stimulating innovation/creativity/enabling

strategic priority, yet only one in four has a formal definition of customer

transactional

loyalty. ‘Customer satisfaction’ and ‘Likelihood to recommend’ are the two

Actions taken by customers which defend

entrepreneurship 8. Profit growth

most tracked measures. Surprisingly, only a few firms have sophisticated

9. Improving productivity

analytical capabilities and only half examine how loyalty influences

10. Government regulation

financial business outcomes.

These insights are mainly based on data gathered through in-depth interviews with 92 senior-level marketing managers across a variety of industries, principally in the United States. Marketing managers were chosen in preference to top executives as they manage the customer experience within most organisations. However, the perspective of top CEOs is also included, as this has been captured in other studies mentioned within the wide-ranging research report quoted here.

and reinforce the relationship toward a brand, e.g. repeat purchase behaviour Purchase frequency, Share of wallet

1: Source: Akzoy L, Journal of Service Management Vol.24, No.4, 2013 2: Source: 2010 CEO Challenge Study, Adams, 2010. NB: Challenges in bold have moved up in the rankings since this report was first published 3: Source: Akzoy L, Journal of Service Management Vol.24, No.4, 2013 4: Source: Oliver, 1999

barcelona special

l'Eixample p38 Gràcia p33

el born p33

el raval p34

el gothic p33 poblenou p38

barceloneta p37 La Sagrada Família

arts hotel

Sarrià-Sant Gervasi

les corts

Montjuïc

Sants-Montjuïc

olympic city

airport

la rambla

Neighbourhoods in Barcelona

Barcelona is a city of many faces. Walk back into history when you enter the Gothic neighbourhood, eat tapas in the fishing neighbourhood of Barceloneta, enjoy the creativity of the young artists in Gracià or discover the mecca of the gay scene in Eixample. Like to get acquainted with citizens of the world in the immigrant neighbourhood of Ravel? Prefer to rub shoulders with the rich & famous in Sarrià? Why not do both? Join us on a trip through the different characterful neighbourhoods of this unique seaport.

barcelona special

El Gòtic: the vibrant heart of the city

acquainted with Barcelona’s artistic circle, this is the place to be.

Barri Gòtic, the Gothic neighbourhood, is the historical centre of

The residents’ limitless creativity and the local community spirit

Barcelona and is sometimes called “the Barcelona of days gone

combine to spark wonderful summer neighbourhood parties.

by”. In actual fact, the city of Barcelona as we know it today is a patchwork of joined-together villages. Barcelona itself originally

The village of Gràcia

extended no further than the Ciutat Vella (Old Town) district

After the Eixample neighbourhood had been assimilated into the

based around the Gothic neighbourhood. Everything else was

expanding city, it was the turn of the surrounding villages. Gràcia

either built or joined on later. That’s why El Gòtic has long been

was the first village to be added to Barcelona as the city continued

regarded as the heart of the city.

to grow. The street Passeig de Gràcia, which previously linked the village of Gràcia to the city of Barcelona, still bears witness to its

How Barcelona developed

past function, and the village feeling in this authentic old work-

In the Middle Ages, the ancient seaport was extended by building

ing-class area has never entirely disappeared.

upon sites of Roman remains. The Old Town and the Gothic neighbourhood at its core came into being, along with the El

Artistic talent

Raval, El Born and La Barceloneta neighbourhoods. The oldest

This hip part of town has always attracted artistic young people.

part of Barcelona’s port also dates from this era, together with

It’s a lively area of the city where new ideas are born all around

the areas running from La Rambla to Via Laietana and from the

you. You can see that from all the art galleries, novel boutiques,

port to the Ronda de Sant Pere.

arty clothing design stores, alternative shops, theatres and – of course – the alternative cinema Verdi Park, where you can enjoy

Tourist centre

the rare privilege of viewing films in the original version. This is

You can come across centuries-old alleys and buildings while

also a popular neighbourhood for expats and other foreigners,

wandering around the small, narrow streets of the Gothic

although you tend to find high-flyers and high-earners mainly in

neighbourhood. Walking through this district is literally like

the Vía Augusta on the other side of the neighbourhood..

taking a step back into history. Unsurprisingly, Barri Gòtic is packed with monuments and places of interest, making it and its adjoining neighbourhoods in the Ciutat Vella the tourist

Highlights: Cinemapark Verdí - Parc Guëll - Plaza del Sol - Plaza del Diamanto Neighbourhood: Gràcia Metro: L3 Fontana

centre of Barcelona. The whole district offers an extensive selection of shops, restaurants and nightlife, ranging from fun cafés to chic nightclubs.

El Born: trendy parties in the Old Town Fashionistas, hip young people and lovers of Catalan cuisine,

Highlights: Barcelona Cathedral - Catalan parliament and town hall at Plaza Sant Jaume I - Plaça Reial - Temple d´August - La Rambla - Els Quatre Gats Neighbourhood: El Gòtic Metro: L3 (Drassanes) or L4 (Jaume I)

Gràcia: a village atmosphere and full of arty types

don’t go to Barcelona without visiting El Born! Whether you’re after an exclusive item of clothing from an up-to-the-minute designer, want to sample the trendy nightlife in atmospheric cafés and luxurious cocktail bars, or simply want to taste the very best that Catalan gastronomy has to offer, you can find it

Once a village, always a village! Nowhere else in Barcelona is

all in El Born nowadays. But it wasn’t always so in this medieval

there such a lively village feeling as in the Gràcia neighbourhood,

neighbourhood.

where people exchange friendly greetings and the latest gossip on the streets. Carefree children still play together on the many

Medieval streets

squares just as they did in years gone by. If you want to get

El Born came into being in the 14th century, when it was

barcelona special

mainly a neighbourhood of sailors, merchants and crafts-

Catalan gastronomy

men. The area is part of Ciutat Vella, the oldest city district of

Food lovers will be delighted by the delicious culinary

Barcelona, and the names of its streets recall the trades that

delights served here. El Born is packed with contemporary

were practised locally: silversmiths, milliners and perfumers

restaurants, tapas bars, vegetarian restaurants and other

were numerous. Richer townsfolk lived in luxurious homes in

eateries serving everything from tasty dishes of the day to

Carrer de Montcada, just a short walk from the city guilds.

culinary masterpieces from the region. Sit back and allow yourself to be surprised by the choice, the creativity and

An unsavoury area

the love with which food in the Old Town is prepared. And if

Nowadays, El Born is the place to come for the latest fashion,

you’re already feeling full after a delicious meal, just stretch

cultural or culinary trends. You wouldn’t suspect that until the

out on the grass in the Parc de la Ciutadella.

end of the 1980s, it was a rough area of town that you would do better to avoid. Its decline had begun a century earlier, when Barcelona’s expansion resulted in the creation of the new neighbourhood l´Eixample. The richer townspeople deserted El Born to live in l´Eixample, while their less fortunate neigh-

Highlights: Santa Maria del Mar, the ‘Cathedral of the Sea’ - Picasso Museum Parc de la Ciutadella - Café el Convent Neighbourhood: El Born Metro: L4 (Jaume)

bours remained behind. Over the years, the neighbourhood

El Raval: multicultural from top to toe

slowly turned into a slum district of dark, neglected medieval

If you want to get to know people and cultures from all over the

alleys that had lost most of their original charm.

world, just come to El Raval. It’s home to people from dozens of different nationalities, who have each enriched it with their own

A hip neighbourhood

unique traditions, cultures and culinary specialities.

Things only changed when Barcelona started getting ready to host the 1992 Olympic Games. The entire neighbourhood

A neighbourhood of newcomers

was thoroughly renovated in order to rid it of its decadent

Pakistanis, Chinese, Hindoestanis, South Americans and

appearance. For instance, a trendy new market – el Mercat de

Moroccans are just a few of the townspeople you will find here.

Santa Caterina – was opened in the adjacent area of La Rib-

El Raval has a thoroughly foreign character, which it didn’t

era (which has now been amalgamated with El Born). The im-

just acquire over the last few years. When the medieval city of

provements were quickly spotted both by the locals and by a

Barcelona started its expansion in the 14th century, El Raval

fresh stream of tourists, thereby encouraging entrepreneurs

(‘the outskirts’) was the first district to be built after El Gòtic. The

to start their business here. Pretty fast, the slum district was

neighbourhood is located between the Ramblas and Parallel.

transformed into the hippest neighbourhood in Barcelona! Catalan farmers & Spanish migrants Exclusive designer boutiques

Around the time of the industrial revolution and of the

Take yourself for a fabulous stroll along the Paseo del Borne,

urbanisation accompanying it, large numbers of Catalan

past the Cathedral of the Sea. Or treat yourself to some window

farmers left the countryside and came to Barcelona in search

shopping in one of the exclusive designer boutiques situated in

of factory work. Lots of them set up home in the new neigh-

the small street that winds around the Picasso Museum. They’re

bourhood of El Raval. Centuries later, in the 1960s and 1970s,

simply packed with young fashion designers. Ask them to

when the Catalan economy had become the engine keeping

design a must-have leather bag or a pair of shoes as individual

the Spanish economy running, impoverished Spaniards from

as you are. Or select an original item of clothing from one of the

other parts of the country followed their example. The first

boutiques that’s caught your eye.

stream of immigrants was therefore mainly a national

barcelona special

Stretching over nearly 5km of sandy coastline, Barcelona's beaches attract sun-seekers from March to November.

phenomenon, and it’s still the case today that many people

in 1719, to make room for this construction project, a number

from other parts of Spain live in Barcelona.

of homes in La Ribera had to come down. Lots of residents suddenly found themselves on the street. Known as ´sin

Art & designer hotels

techos´(homeless), they were not offered any replacement

When the Museum of Modern Art (MACBA) was opened in

dwellings, but were left to their fate. This situation only slowly

1995, this marked a revival in the neighbourhood’s fortunes.

started to change in 1753, when construction actually began.

El Raval’s own Rambla was created, and the Catalan and Spanish townsfolk gradually returned to the area. Today, El

Former island

Raval contains an agreeable mixture of immigrants, locals

The fishing village of Barceloneta belongs to the old part of

and tourists. During the day, it’s delightful to sit on one of

Barcelona (Ciutat Vella) and owes the ground it stands on to

the benches in the Rambla del Raval and watch the world go

the reclamation of Maians Island, which used to lie just off

by. One of the top tourist attractions is El Gato (the cat), the

the coast of the old town. When John II, the King of Aragon,

bronze sculpture created by the artist Botello that tourists

wanted to connect the Roman harbour to the town in 1477,

can’t resist photographing. A visit to the MACBA shouldn’t

the basis of the fishing village was laid, although the island

be missed, before stretching out at one of the many café

itself remained until 1640.

terraces that El Raval offers. The luxurious designer hotel is a great place to stay while you explore the various artistic

What is now La Rambla used to be the wide river Besós, which

centres located in former monasteries or allow yourself to be

ran beween the sea, the old town and the island. In order to

tempted by a worldwide choice of cuisines.

expand the port area and protect it from fierce waves, the island was joined to the town at the point where the Estación

Highlights: Rambla del Raval - El Gato - MACBA Neighbourhood: El Raval Metro: L3 (Drassanes)

de Francía railway station now stands. Being right next to the port, this new part of town was an ideal place for sailors and port workers to live. And that was how the original fishing

Barceloneta: from fishing district to tourists’ beach paradise

district of Barceloneta came into being. Beach paradise for tourists

Fish and beach. Those were the characteristics of the former

Today, most of the fishermen have made way for hordes

island that was transformed into the fishing neighbourhood

of tourists who enjoy spending all day strolling down the

of Barceloneta in the 18th century. Nowadays, you can go

boulevard and La Rambla, sunning themselves on the beach

there to enjoy the sunshine, some delicious tapas, or an

or lounging around at leisure in one of the many chirinquitos

unselfconscious stroll over the long boulevard. The local

(beach restaurants). And yet not much has changed in essence:

fishermen have been replaced by tourists from every corner

sun, sea, beach, the salty sea air and the delicious fish dishes

of the earth, and yet Barceloneta still mainly revolves around

are still what Barceloneta is all about.

the sun, the sea, the beach and the fabulous fresh fish. Get to know it yourself by walking to the end of La Rambla, where Homeless

the statue of Columbus stands. It’s from this Catalan harbour that

The origins of the neighbourhood are less pleasant. At the start

he left to discover America. Then move on to visit the Maritime

of the 18th century, the residents of the former neighbourhood

Museum, where you can learn about Barcelona’s naval strength

La Ribera (now part of El Born) were turned out of their homes

in the past, the present, and the future. The extensive seafaring

when king Philip V decided to build the Ciutadella fortress. So

collection is located in Reial Drassanes, the former shipbuilding

barcelona special

yard for the royal fleet. If you’re curious about Catalan harbour

areas would do the social and physical health of the residents

architecture at the end of the 19th century, the fascinating

no good. He also envisioned a city neighbourhood in which

historical museum of Catalonia (Museu d'Història de Catalunya)

both the elite and the factory workers would feel at home.

is very much worth a visit The German artist Rebecca Horn gifted her sculpture Homenatge a la Barceloneta (Ode to Barceloneta)

Modernist open-air museum

to the City of Barcelona on the occasion of the 1992 Olympic

After Cerdá’s death in 1876, a variety of architects eagerly

Games. Consisting of a stack of rusty cubes, it has become a

got to work on the prestigious construction project. The rich

favourite place to meet.

decoration with round shapes, elegant façades and lavish floral patterns are characteristic of the Catalan modernism that developed at the end of the 19th century as a variant of

Highlights: Hommage a Barceloneta - Estación de Francía Museu d'Història de Catalunya - Colon monument - Museu Maritím Neighbourhood: Barceloneta Metro: L4 Barceloneta

the French art nouveau and German Jugendstil movements of the time. Even today, L´eixample is the place to enjoy Catalan modernism.

L´Eixample: the first extension of Barcelona The l´Eixample neighbourhood is sometimes jokingly called

L´Eixample is split into two residential areas, Eixample Esquerra

the New York of southern Europe because, just like the Big

(to the left) and Eixample Dreta (to the right), separated by

Apple, it is constructed from manzanas. These octagonal

Passeig de Gràcia, the most expensive shopping street in all of

residential blocks lend this spacious neighbourhood the

Spain. This fashionable shopping promenade with its modern-

characteristic appearance of a large metropolis. L´Eixample

ist street lamps is in itself a wonderful sight to behold. In the

(the extension) is indeed the most densely populated

middle of the neighbourhood you find the Sagrada Família, the

neighbourhood in Barcelona – and even in the whole of Spain.

masterpiece of the best-known modernist architect, Antoní Gaudí. Here you can also find other well-known modernist

Plan Cerdá

houses such as Casa Battló en Casa Milà. In fact, l’Eixample is

The central part of the town, with a surface area of 7.46 km , was 2

one huge modernist open-air museum.

designed by the Catalan architect and town planning specialist Ildefonso Cerdá. At the beginning of the 19th century, way ahead of his time, he came up with the idea of the neighbourhood of the future: a startlingly skilful way to expand Barcelona. Cerdá developed a concept involving conveniently arranged, broad, straight streets with octagonal residential blocks. It would be able to cope with future traffic loads, offer a healthy residential

Highlights: Passeig de Gràcia - Eixample Esquerra - La Ronda de Sant Antoní La Plaza Gaudi Eixample Dreta: La Sagrada Familia - La Casa Milà - La Casa Batllò - La Rambla de Cataluña - La Plaza de Cataluña - El Teatro Nacional de Cataluña - El Auditorio de Barcelona - La Casa de les Punxes - La Plaza de las Glorias Catalanas - La Plaza de Francesc Macià Passeig de Gracià: Metro: L1/L3 Passeig de Gracià

5 facts about the Sagrada Familia • Work on the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia (the Church of the Holy Family) commenced in 1884 and continues to this day

built within the residential areas, have enough space for local

Poblenou: from industrial site to high-tech innovation hotspot

covered markets, provide an even distribution of services for the

Where textile factories used to fill the air with smoke now

• There will eventually be eighteen towers. Eight have been constructed so far.

residents, and have a separate industrial area.

stand high-tech buildings full of staff developing, testing and

They represent Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the 4 evangelists and the 12 apostles

implementing advanced information and communication

• Gaudi spent 40 years working on the Sagrada Familia. He died 3 days after a

and living environment, enable green gardens and parks to be

This was the concept of how the new Barcelona should look,

systems. The Catalan textile industry – which was formally

according to Cerdá. He was convinced that cities should

a booming business – seems to have passed its crown to the

primarily be built around the needs of their residents, and that

up-and-coming internet industry. The Poblenou neighbour-

building uninhabitable homes and large factories in residential

hood is at the heart of innovation in Barcelona!

• The Sagrada Familia is expected to be completed on the 10th of June, 2026, in honour of the 100-year anniversary of Gaudi’s death

tram accident, and is buried within the Basilica’s Crypt • Visited by 3 million people a year, it is Barcelona’s most popular tourist attraction

barcelona special

Industry. That’s what the Poblenou neighbourhood, in the

cal but abandoned factory buildings have also been renovated

north-west of the city, has always revolved around. The main

to create contemporary lofts, multimedia educational centres

industrial area is located in the city district of Sant Martí, the

and art workshops. Just take a peek into the luxury shopping

original name of the neighbourhood, and originated when a

centre of Diagonal, or into the modern, sustainably architectonic

large part of the existing industry, residents and agrarian com-

Cibernarium building where internet technology is taught, to

merce moved there from San Adrian de Besòs.

view the transformation. Pay a visit to Barcelona Activa, where new companies are created while you watch, or to the HUB, the

High-tech ´22@´

knowledge centre for design, where the textile museum and the

For many years, the previous industrial area lay deserted and

modern museum of decorative art are housed, for an impression

discarded, until Sant Martí was completely refurbished in 2006

of what this futuristic neighbourhood has to offer. ■

due to the innovative ‘project 22@’. In consultation with the local residents, the name Poblenou was chosen. Within the past few years, lots of new, high-tech companies have grown up along the Avinguda Diagonal boulevard. Classi-

getting around Metro Barcelona’s metro is fast, easy and straightforward and covers most of the city. Maps are available from tourist offices or any metro station. Buses The main hub for buses, and particularly night buses, is Plaça Catalunya. Pick up a bus map at the subterranean tourist office there. Trams Though expansion is planned, for now the trams are of limited use to visitors, apart from the line that runs from the Parc de Ciutadella to Diagonal-Mar via the Plaça de les Glòries.

Highlights: Disseny Hub (HUB) - Torre Agbar - Gloriès - Barcelona Activa Museu Can Framis- Cementeri de l’Est - Forum Neighbourhood: Poblenou Metro: L1 Gloriès of Llacuna

RETAIL LOYALTY CONGRESS 2015

In 2004, Justin King was appointed CEO of the UK grocer Sainsbury’s, which was at the time described as “in danger of becoming a car crash of a business”. By the time he left 10 years later, he had increased shopper numbers from 14m to 24m and achieved ten years of consistent profits growth. How did he do it? We interviewed him to find out.

RETAIL LOYALTY CONGRESS 2015

Making Sainsbury’s Great Again Justin King, who stepped down as CEO of Sainsbury’s in the summer, recalls ten years of positive change.

justin, why do you think Sainsbury’s chose you as CEO in 2004?

generally, the execution of change is the big challenge.

Sainsbury’s had been in long-term decline: it had been a family-

than 10 years by the time I arrived, so the problems were

run business till the mid-1990s and then it had had a succession

long-standing and deep-rooted. Sainsbury’s had tried to invest

of internal chief executives. Every company eventually reaches

its way through these challenges, but the problem with that

the point where they think that outside blood is what they really

kind of approach in the retail business is that if you for even

need, and Sainsbury’s was looking for someone with retail and

a minute put customers to one side, which heavy investment

manufacturing experience who would understand the quality side of

programmes of that nature tend to do, people will choose to

the business as well as how to compete on price. I seemed to fit the

shop elsewhere. So my job was firstly to make things clearly

description.

better for customers, and then to invite them back. We called

Sainsbury’s had actually been losing market share for more

the turnaround plan “Making Sainsbury's Great Again” because

Your predecessor, Sir Peter Davis, invested £3b in infrastructure – was that wise?

customers and colleagues all said the same thing: this was a

Particularly in retail businesses, but also in businesses

and they wanted it to be that way again.

once-great business that they loved working and shopping in,

RETAIL LOYALTY CONGRESS 2015

Which key issues did you tackle?

they wanted to be able to do that again. I'm a great believer

Without availability, price and quality, you don't have a retail

that great communication follows great execution: you can't

business. If it's not on the shelf, you can't sell it. Sainsbury’s

run an advert saying you're better if you're not. So the key to

didn't have the right range or competitive pricing. Our

our success was that we'd covered the bases. We knew that by

strategy was to fix the basics, create universal appeal, and create

the time we started presenting ourselves to customers this way,

a customer-focused culture. Availability and quality were part-

we'd already materially changed for the better. We were pretty

and-parcel of fixing the basics: making sure the supply chain

confident that we could get them back in, and it worked.

worked, that the shops were well-stocked, that we had enough a lot to do with pricing: it was about enabling customers to do

How did you motivate your staff during this period?

all their shopping with us.

I'm a great believer in bonuses, and the bonus scheme we

people on the till at all times, and so on. Universal appeal had

introduced was universal: everyone in the company was in it,

How did you tell the public about the changes?

and the targets were the same for me as for everyone else. When

Actually, the whole turnaround started with asking a million

a full-time employee was around £300: 3 times more than the

customers what they thought we should do to make it a better

static £100 one-off payment at Christmas that the bonus scheme

business. We wrote to them, and amazingly, 250,000 of them wrote

replaced. Over my 10 years of tenure, the scheme paid out about

back. It's still, we believe, the greatest response that any company –

£700m. It was a highly successful way of aligning the interests of

certainly in the UK – has ever received to a customer mailing. They

our colleagues with those of the company. Of course, when you

told us what we needed to do, plus of course we'd involved them in

take away something that's certain with something that's attached

the turnaround of their store.

to performance, some people don't like it. But I think it’s fair, and it

That's why the first marketing campaign we did – which was

worked very well for Sainsbury's.

"I don't care what the numbers say: what do I tell the customer?"

we achieved the targets in that first year, the average payout to

actually 18 months into the turnaround – was entitled “Try cheek. That “something new” could be the item we featured,

How did you compete with the rise of Tesco and Asda? That's where universal appeal came in. We needed to sharpen

What influence have loyalty cards such as Nectar had at Sainsbury's?

The secret of Nectar's success has been the combination of loyalty

but it could equally be Sainsbury’s itself. It recalled the fact that Sainsbury's had become famous for offering interesting ingredients

our prices, and we did so by reducing them quite significantly

They've become more important. Nectar had been launched

about 5 years ago. It's very visible, very tangible, and it reflects their

and new experiences, and people also remembered the “Sainsbury’s:

in several tranches over 2004/5/6. We also needed to improve

shortly before I arrived and actually, it had had a very negative

shopping. So if they've just bought five different pieces of cheese,

everyone's favourite ingredient” advertising of the 1980s. And what

the quality of our in-store environment, so we started a huge

effect on the business at the time, because it replaced a previous

you can give the customer a voucher off a bottle of red wine,

we were effectively saying to customers who weren’t shopping with

programme to refurbish and extend the stores: Sainsbury's today

loyalty programme that was very popular back in the 1990s.

because the chances are that they're going to have a cheese board

us was “Give us another go”.

has the most modern, best-invested store network of any of the

But the deal with customers is very straightforward: they get

and invite some people round.

major supermarkets in the UK. We also reignited our product

something extra – loyalty points – which they value hugely and

What effect did the recovery programme have on your staff?

development function and started innovating in own label, with a

often save up to do their Christmas shopping with. They also

fantastic spokesman – Jamie Oliver – to sell that story.

understand you've acquired their data, their information. And

Why did you decide to go into convenience stores rather than hypermarkets?

I have an inability to use the 's' word; they're colleagues. The

The point about retail that you should always remember is

what customers tell you is that they don't mind you having their

When I was at Asda back in the 1990s, I brought the Walmart

main reason the slogan worked for colleagues and customers

that on the whole, all the money you need to drive your sales is

data if you do something useful with it for them. If you're just

Supercentre to the UK, so I knew the hypermarket format well

is that it described something they believed in. Colleagues

already in your shops. The problem is, it walks back out. The

going to sell that data to someone else who's going to market

and didn't think it was right for Sainsbury's, whose core business

believed that if we made Sainsbury’s great again, customers

main thing was that we needed to get people who were coming

things to them that they don't want, they get very upset about

is selling fresh food. We decided early on that we wouldn't open

would come back and shop, and customers said they'd love to

to us a lot to complete their shopping with us, and those who

that. But if you use that data to give them vouchers and extra

a shop where non-food takes up more space than food. We took

come back because they used to enjoy shopping with us and

were coming to us infrequently to come to us more often.

value on things that they do want, they love it.

the view that customers doing their weekly grocery shop wanted

something new today,” and it was quite deliberately tongue-in-

points with instant coupons at the till – which Sainsbury's launched

RETAIL LOYALTY CONGRESS 2015

to be able to see their food, and not be forced to walk through the

All the growth in the next 5 or 6 years will be in discounters, online

non-food if they didn't want to buy it. I remember in my early

or convenience stores. That sounds dramatic, but it still means that

days, when I worked at Mars, I was responsible for Co-ops, and

by 2020, the market will be around £200b, and £140b of it will still

shoppers used to hate that forced flow. And it was clear to us that

be in supermarkets, just as it is today. On the one hand, you could

our customers wanted to shop for fresh food more frequently – by

say it's going to flatline, but it still means that supermarkets will

definition – so convenience stores were a logical response to that.

retain the substantial part – say 65% to 70% – of all the shopping we do for groceries. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of the

What’s your view of online shopping?

supermarket has been greatly exaggerated.

When I arrived, the online business had already started and it was only been as the technology has developed that it's become a better

Any advice for CEOs and budding CEOs, retail ones in particular?

experience for customers, with improved availability and more

My constant drumbeat at Sainsbury's was always the same, which

reliable and accurate deliveries, but online tends to get slightly

was that you need to put the customer and the colleague at the

overstated. Even today, when I ask people what proportion of food

centre of everything you do. Everyone you ask will say “I already

is sold online, lots of people think it's 20-30% of the market, but

do that”, but I'm always surprised that quite often you confront

it's actually under 5%. And very few people only shop online.

people about small things in the business, and you ask "Where's the

clear that it was already important to some customers. But really it's

customer in this?" and they look at you quite critically as if you'd

Why is Sainsbury’s starting a joint venture in the UK with Netto?

asked a trick question. To give you an example, quite often if we'd

Just as with online shopping, we decided to make a discount format

write to me and ask me why. And I'd say the same thing to the

available for a very simple reason: our customers wanted it. Netto

buyer every time: "Tell me what I should tell the customer." In the

brings in the expertise of running a discount format, which it

early days, the buyers would look at me oddly and would just say

does successfully in many countries, and Sainsbury’s knows and

"The numbers say we should be delisting it". And I'd say, "I don't

understands the UK consumer.

care what the numbers say – what do I tell the customer?" And if

delisted a product, customers who were loyal to that product would

you can write back to the customer and say "We have delisted that

Did you make any mistakes along the way?

product because it didn't sell very well, but we think this product

The culture we developed at Sainsbury's was of taking sensible risks

is much better and here's a voucher for it, we hope you'll try it and

when customers and colleagues told us it was the right thing to do;

we think you'll find it's better than the one you used to buy", that's

a risk worth taking. The challenge when you get something wrong

putting the customer at the heart of every decision you make. And if

is not whether you've made a mistake, but whether you're prepared

you do that, you won't go wrong. ■

Award-winning journalist and congress host Alex Thomson, who will be moderating the RLC 2015 in Barcelona, speaks his mind.

to admit to it, address it, put things right and not make the same

Alex Thomson has been the moderator of the Consumer Goods Forum since 2005. He is a

mistake twice. We encouraged our people to think that way and

familiar figure in British TV news, both as an award-winning correspondent and anchor on

as a consequence, I think the business moved faster. Big ideas like moving to 100% Fair Trade bananas, or deciding to sponsor the Paralympics, came out of that culture of people being prepared to take risks. There were plenty of mistakes along the way, but I think it's pointless to start talking about individual ones.

Justin King Justin was named Most Admired Business Leader by Management Today as well as Britain’s Most Impressive Businessman in the IPSOS-MORI Captains of Industry Report.

ITN's Channel 4 News. He combines reporting on major national and international stories, and war coverage, with his role in the TV studio as the presenter of in-depth news stories. Alex is a regular contributor to national newspapers and magazines, writing articles on media issues as well as news items arising out of his international roving reporter's brief. He also regularly fronts full-length current affairs documentaries for Channel 4's Dispatches strand. Outside ITN, Alex is in demand both as a speaker and facilitator for national and international business and

Where do you see most of the growth in food retail coming from?

Justin King will be speaking at the Retail Loyalty Congress 2015

policy conferences. His inquisitive mind and journalistic training encourage him to pose the questions that would otherwise remain unasked.

RETAIL LOYALTY CONGRESS 2015

"I'm constantly struck by the sheer difficulty for retailers in expanding into some other markets"

diabetes, so I think that whole issue is absolutely fascinating, as is

food which, if you eat a lot of it, will do you harm. But it's very,

the seemingly humble issue of food waste. We're wasting beyond

very easy to go over the level of what is frankly good or safe for

a third of the food on the plate, and almost a half in terms of the

you. It's a huge thing, and it's not going to go away.

production and supply line – it's absolutely catastrophic.

Alex, how did you get involved with the food retail industry?

They´re thinking the unthinkable, which you can do when you're

I'm also constantly struck by the sheer difficulty for retailers in

a family concern and a global leader in your market and you have

expanding into some other markets. Just look at Tesco´s move into

So in the future, do you think certain foods will be sold like cigarette packets?

Completely by accident! About 9 years ago, I got a call from

no shareholders. Of course the counter-argument to that is: yes

the States with Fresh & Easy. The American market is very difficult,

It's possible! They could be behind the grille. And retailers do

my agent, who said `We've got a problem: the moderator we´ve

you can, but you don't have to. And they actually have.

and the German market's virtually impossible. It´s a mystery to

themselves know very well what to do and not to do. It's less of a

booked for CIES (the old name for the Consumer Goods

me. When you see a monolith, a global player like Tesco, which

problem now, but when they blatantly exploited pester power by

frankly fell flat on its face, it kind of makes you think "If they can't

putting all the sweets near the checkout, so that any child would

days' notice, I had to go to Paris and chair it for 3 days. So I

What triggers do you use to get the room going?

do it, then who can?" I wonder if it was a cultural issue – what did

say "Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!", I really don't think that was

said yes and next thing I know, I'm sitting on stage with 1,000

It all depends on the situation. If you're coming on with someone

they misread? As for Terry Leahy, the great man of Tesco, is history

acting in the customer's interest. And I think we could all grow up a

delegates, next to the bosses of Coca-Cola, Carrefour and

who happens to be my next-door-neighbour in my village – Jamie

actually rewriting that now? Was what he handed over to Phil

little bit about that sort of thing.

Proctor & Gamble. And they've asked me back ever since.

Oliver – and it's immediately after the coffee break, as happened

Clarke in fact a poisoned chalice? The comings-and-goings at CEO

I knew nothing at all about food retail then and have been getting

at the CGF in Paris, you know you're going to have a full room

level are quite instructive.

deeper into it ever since, into the whole soap opera. I quickly

and it's going to be buzzing and all over the place and somewhat

discovered that manufacturers, suppliers and retailers aren't

chaotic, because that's Jamie. Knowing who you're dealing with and

Is the food industry too inwardly focused?

necessarily the best of friends. Of course, I come to it as a complete

what's coming up injects a certain energy into the room.

Yes, and extraordinarily so. There's no bigger business than food:

Is there a big divide between certain consumer movements – such as for promoting a healthier lifestyle – and what the food industry is pushing for?

outsider – I'm basically a war correspondent – so I'm beholden to

Mark Price, for instance, at Waitrose, is someone I've worked with

big food is bigger than big oil. Now, big oil can actually get away

Well I hope so, because if not, you've got a real problem. The

no one, and one of the reasons I'm there is that I can ask questions

down the years, and he's always very good value in what he's got

with being quite insular, because oil comes out at remote places,

food industry – and I include ‘from farm to fork’ here – wants

of a CEO on stage that nobody in the audience could do, because

to say. Obviously, he's got a particular standpoint, but it's always

you don't really see it, and the only real problem they have in terms

at the end of the day to turn a decent profit, and it's got a legal

it would be considered beneath you if you're a rival, and if you're

going to be an interesting and energising kind of presentation from

of customer interfaces is when fluctuations in oil prices never seem

obligation to keep its shareholders happy. The consumer industry

inside the company, it would be a seriously bad career move. So I

someone like that. And quite often, these conferences seem to be

to get passed on to the benefit of the customer at the pumps. But

has an obligation to get food both as cheaply as possible and at

operate as an outsider within an insider space.

happening during a major football tournament – in Paris we were

look at the interface between food and the public: it's huge! The

the highest quality possible. So whatever the industry says, if it's

in the middle of the World Cup. If you're in Paris and France has

whole issues of food safety, packaging, own brands versus market

working right, those goals should not be in concert with each other,

just won a football match the previous night, you'd be an idiot to

brands...it affects everyone. Then there’s the whole way in which

and something's gone a bit wrong if they are. And there's no point

get up on stage and not say anything about football.

areas of food inevitably seem to be going towards the realms of

in trying to wrap that up and pretending the food industry has got

cigarette manufacture, in terms of the battle ground for things like

the same aims as consumers – of course it doesn´t! But out of that friction should come change and energy. ■

Forum) can´t make it – could you go instead?´ With only 2

Has moderating the CGF led to any intriguing discoveries? Certainly – one of the most interesting things has been working

Has anything you´ve found out about the food retail business been an eye-opener?

traffic lighting. And there’s a huge inbuilt conservatism in the food

Centre for Food & Nutrition. They're doing lots of work at the moment on issues like sustainability, obesity, food miles,

I was surprised at the degree to which sustainability is talked

bent over backwards to make life as complicated as possible for the

food safety and nutrition. In fact, I'm chairing their upcoming

about, and the quite central place that it occupies in retailers'

poor old consumer, deliberately so.

conference at the Bocconi University of Milan in December,

thinking. I'm very interested in the moment in this growing

Let’s face it: they fought tooth and nail against a simple traffic

where they're making this big push to get the Milan Protocol

friction between regulation on 'bad food' and whether the

light system – I suspect they hate that because it's something

accepted by world leaders at Expo 2015 in Milan.

market can look after itself; whether the industry can be its own

the consumer actually understands. What they want to do

It's really interesting stuff. Barilla – the biggest pasta

watchdog. How long do we go on saying "Food which is high in

is put tiny information in very, very small lettering that

manufacturers in the world – have basically decided that they

sugar or fat content should be eaten in moderation", when that

basically most people can't physically read, and than make it

need to sell less pasta, that making money is not the only game

food is too cheap? What approach should we take? In Scandinavia

as incomprehensible as possible, and then hide it round the

in town, and that you can perhaps measure your success as

they've been dabbling in taxing fat or sugar, and the issue certainly

back of the packet anyway, and that is their way of dealing – or

a company in other ways, that you need to redefine growth.

isn't going away. We have a huge problem with obesity and

rather of not dealing – with the issue of really, really cheap

with Guido Barilla for the past 2 or 3 years on the Barilla

industry: as I see it as a consumer, the food industry seems to have

Alex Thomson His journalism has won several BAFTA and EMMY awards; two New York Film and TV Awards and in 2011/12 he was named TV Journalist of the Year by the Royal Television Society.

Alex Thomson will be moderating the Retail Loyalty Congress 2015

DIGITAL LOYALTY PROGRAMMES

KING OF STAMPS Ever thought it might be handy if customers could collect stamps digitally? It’s already

The concept of collecting stamps that can be exchanged for

counted. In fact, during the promotion, retailers can even use Bright

happening, thanks to Bright Stamps. Developed by IceMobile, this digital stamps

desirable products or discounts isn’t new – shoppers have been

Stamps to communicate 1-to-1 with each customer, for example

doing it for years. But retailers now have the chance to offer a smart

encouraging them to get the maximum number of points required.

app is proving to be one of the most innovative and effective tools that retailers can

new alternative to the traditional paper-based collection method.

use nowadays. It’s increasing turnover, providing additional insights into individual

With Bright Stamps, customers don’t have to worry about losing

Bright Stamps makes the entire process easier and more personal.

their paper stamps or being a bit too late to exchange their fully

Connected to the customer’s loyalty card, the app enables the user

purchasing patterns, and even enabling retailers to communicate with their customers

stamped card for the sparkling new pan they wanted. It also means

to instantly see how many stamps he or she has collected. It sends

that retailers don’t have to worry about not knowing precisely how

the customer notifications after each purchase and stimulates

on a 1-to-1 basis.

many customers are participating until all the full cards have been

them to reach the reward offered before the end of the promotion.

DIGITAL LOYALTY PROGRAMMES

26%

DIGITAL LOYALTY PROGRAMMES

extra turnover thanks to Bright Stamps

This 1-to-1 engagement ensures that people who collect Bright

number of stamps they have gained after making their first

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS

to optimise the use of the data collected. With BrandLoyalty,

Stamps are more engaged with the promotion – leading them to

purchase, and is congratulated on collecting their reward after

1) The customer has the retailer’s loyalty card

IceMobile and Precima working closely as one company, all three

spend more without even realising. The mobile experience thereby

successfully completing the programme. Also, participants

2) He or she downloads the Bright Stamps app and registers for the

aspects can be integrated seamlessly.

becomes an extension of the physical shopping experience: they

who do register but haven’t yet started collecting can be sent

reinforce one another.

a reminder about the rewards awaiting them. In other words,

3) The cashier passes the loyalty card through the checkout system

supermarket chains such as Azbuka Vkusa in Russia, Coop in

each message is connected to the participant’s individual,

4) Because the card is linked to the Bright Stamps app, stamps are

Denmark and RT Mart in Taiwan. In most cases, Bright Stamps led

promotion using their loyalty card

Bright Stamps has already been successfully implemented by

DIGITAL COLLECTORS SPEND UP TO A QUARTER MORE THAN PAPER COLLECTORS

current status.

Bright Stamps works by making collectors more aware of their

Bright Stamps also offers retailers opportunities to gain an

progress within the loyalty programme and by motivating them

insight into participants’ individual shopping behaviour on a

to get more involved. It heightens the perception of how many

daily basis. For example, business intelligence can reveal how

SMOOTH IMPLEMENTATION

use Bright Stamps. This exclusive retailer, with more than

stamps they still need to reach their goal – which is why they

many people are collecting, what they are buying and which

Let’s look at the logistics. Firstly, for digital stamps to be successful,

50 stores in large Russian cities, offered its customers the

rewards are popular. There’s also the possibility for retailers

it’s essential to ensure a great on-screen user experience so that

opportunity to take part in a loyalty programme by collecting

to offer certain products for extra stamps each week, and to

users feel it’s fun and easy to take part in the programme. Secondly,

digital rather than paper stamps. Over an 18-week period,

The app is a handy, versatile tool that stimulates collection via

immediately analyse the success. Data can therefore be used

the app needs to be perfectly integrated into the checkout system.

customers received one stamp for every 250 rubles they spent.

personal notifications. For instance, each person who registers

not just to personalise the Bright Stamps app, but also to

And thirdly, it’s of extra value to the retailer if the CRM and

They could use these to get discounts of up to 93% on high-

is welcomed into the programme, is sent a reminder of the

directly raise the retailer’s turnover.

other back-office systems can be connected to the app, in order

quality pans. Natalya Chubarova, head of the retailer’s loyalty

started collecting in the first place.

automatically added to the shopper’s account

to an extra 25% increase in turnover compared with paper stamps.

5) The customer can immediately view how many stamps they have by checking Bright Stamps

BUSINESS CASE: AZBUKA VKUSA In 2013, Russia’s largest food retailer became the first to

DIGITAL LOYALTY PROGRAMMES

BRIGHT STAMPS HAS WON 2 GLOBAL AWARDS: The Mobile Innovation Award Best use of Mobile for Customer Loyalty

programmes and CRM analytics, commented, “This loyalty

retailer’s own house style. Furthermore, the retailer may adjust it

over. For instance, retailers could launch a recipe module or a particular promotion

STARBUCKS: STRIKING GOLD WITH

programme offered a new approach to the way we interact

to fit in with their own needs by adding existing or new options, or

that is then halted when the next loyalty programme starts. These modules are also

MOBILE SOLUTIONS

with our customers. It allowed them to choose to collect

even in their own existing app. And besides this, Bright Stamps is

specially fitted to each retailer.

Starbucks is a true pioneer in the field of

stamps digitally, and it proved very popular. Customers came

continually undergoing further development in line with feedback

to the store more often and spent more money.” In fact, even

from retailers and users. This not only makes the retailer’s life

FUTURE-PROOF

QR and SMS campaigns, the Square

customers who didn’t normally take part in Azbuka Vkusa’s

easier, but also the user’s life too. After a technical assessment in

Bright Stamps is being constantly enhanced to keep it at the cutting edge of social

Wallet mobile payment app and its own

promotions decided to join in when offered Bright Stamps.

which the retailer’s existing systems and the current status of these

and technological developments. One of the possibilities being trialled is beacon

Starbucks app. It also has its own loyalty

What’s more, the digital collectors spent 25% more than the

are examined, it takes around two to three months for Bright

technology, which enables devices to communicate with one another. This could

programme: My Starbucks Rewards, which

other collectors. Thanks to these results and other factors,

Stamps to be customised, fully integrated and rolled out in-store.

be extremely interesting: it could enable retailers to become even more relevant

gives customers points if they pay with a

and to communicate more personally with each customer, thereby also enabling

Starbucks card, via the Starbucks mobile

customers to benefit from a better service.

app or with star codes. Rewards include

Bright Stamps won 2 Global Awards: The Mobile Innovation Award and Best use of Mobile for Customer Loyalty.

RELEVANT ALL YEAR ROUND

mobile marketing, using methods including

Loyalty programmes do of course have a beginning and an

complimentary refills, free snacks, birthday

TAILORED SOLUTIONS

end: promotions stop a few weeks or months after they start.

Bright Stamps is likely to always exist alongside paper stamps as an attractive alternative

discounts, personalised offers and more.

Bright Stamps is a white-label product. It comprises a number of

However, many retailers find it important to remain relevant

collecting method. It gives retailers the chance to increase their turnover, to gain more

After launching this programme, Starbucks’

standard features and a set of requirements for retailers and their

to their customers even when there’s no promotion running.

insights into individual purchasing and shopping behaviour, and to communicate on a

profits rose by 26% in the second quarter

technical partner(s) to enable it to be integrated successfully. It

That’s why Bright Stamps has been developed with various

1-to-1 basis (on a mass scale) with their customers. It’s a digital innovation whose time

of 2013 and its total turnover increased by

goes without saying that Bright Stamps may be adapted to each

functionalities that can be put into place once a promotion is

has come. Why not add it to your own loyalty shopping basket? ■

11% to $3.6 billion.

Increase your customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 1

1 1

Bright Stamps is an innovative digital solution that makes it possible to collect stamps digitally. With Bright Stamps you can communicate 1 to 1 1

1 1

with your customers and gain real time customer insights. Moreover this

new way of engaging increases spend and customer loyalty.

1 1

Lifestyle

Catalonia’s Finest!

The Barcelona Chair The Barcelona Chair was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the 1929 World Fair in Barcelona. It’s partly thanks

A Great Food Water

to this iconic piece of furniture that Van der Rohe, who was born in Aachen in 1886, became recognised as one of the

Highly effervescent, Vichy Catalàn has a remarkable mineral content of

most pioneering designers of his time.

bicarbonates, sodium, chlorine, potassium, fluoride, calcium, magnesium and lithium, giving it a very distinctive flavour. And like the finest of

Van der Rohe’s design was inspired by the

champagnes, it offers all of this taste in an extremely elegant bubble. The

characteristics of a folding chair, as can be

king of sparkling, high-mineral-content waters, Vichy Catalàn provides the perfect accompaniment to fine dining – especially as its high bicarbonate level aids digestion.

seen from the crossed chrome legs. After the World Fair ended, the chair quickly found

Celler de can Roca

its way into other buildings, especially banks and luxury offices, where it may

(Gerona, about 100km from Barcelona)

often be admired. Labelled as futuristic and trailblazing at its launch in 1929, the

Awarded as best restaurant in the world in 2013, and ranked #2 in 2014. Traditional

Barcelona Chair has lost none of its power

cuisine with a modern twist, without being

80 years on, and the design of this timeless piece still makes it a must-have object.

as futuristic as El Bulli was.

Take a look at their inspirational website: www.cellercanroca.com

INEDIT Damm

Oto Cycles

Inedit was created in 2008 by Ferran Adrià and his team of sommeliers from elBulli who believed in the need for a beer to accompany and complement

Intended for day-to-day use, Oto Cycles add a

the varied flavours found in modern gastronomy. The result was Inedit: a truly

touch of exclusivity and fun to travelling on two

unique beer made with barley malt, wheat, hops, coriander, liquorice and

wheels. These unique electric bicycles are all

orange peel. It is best served in a white wine glass (no more than half full) to

born – in Barcelona – from a passion for classic

fully appreciate its intensity and aromatic complexity.

and retro design. Just one of the charms of their handmade beauty is that you will never find two

This delicious new drink pairs perfectly with a variety of culinary creations,

identical models. Extensive customisation options

including even the most complicated ones based on citrus fruits and bitter

are available in terms of of colours, tyres, saddles,

elements. Splendid when served with starters, salads and fatty fish, its versatility

motors, batteries and other components, ensuring

also allows it to accompany bittersweet flavours and spicy sensations.

the exclusivity of each Oto Cycle.

INTERVIEW

In the ‘era of the new thrift’,

shopping should be enjoyable, not just cheap Although searching for discounts has become a way of life, shoppers also expect something extra from their retail interaction. BrandLoyalty’s MD Philip Spanton explains why.

Shopping for discounts has become a way of life

Consumers pay less but want more

Since the economic crisis struck, we’ve seen that the discounters

a lower-quality experience. Quite the opposite: consumers are

have taken a large slice of traditional supermarkets' business. That’s

demanding even better value than before, in all sorts of ways. They

understandable, because lots of people’s monthly grocery budget is

want to make the most of their leisure time, so food retailers are

only exceeded by their mortgage or rent payment; it's a significant

responding by offering delivery services and pick-up points. That’s

part of their family's household expenditure. But that’s led to a

a good idea, but consumers also want more for less: they can sit on

permanent cultural change too, because it’s become a regular

the couch with the TV on, flicking through and comparing prices

habit for consumers from all socioeconomic groups to shop at

at the click of a switch, or use price-comparison apps before buying.

discounters too. Thrift has become the new norm: even though the

The internet is having an impact not just by taking away sales, but

Philip Spanton began his career working for Wallace International in London, before

economy is improving, people have concerns for the longer term

also by educating the consumer on where the best value is. And

transferring to Australia where he spent the next 10 years, during the course of which he

and they don't want to spend money unnecessarily. In the UK,

sometimes this means it can be cheaper to feed the family at Pizza

helped set up TCC. He met BrandLoyalty’s CEO Robert van der Wallen whilst working in Hong

discounters have gained an extra 2% market share over the past 2

Hut or McDonald's than at home, it involves no preparation or

Kong and, after a short period spent in Japan, decided to join forces with him in 2001. Philip

years, while the big 4 supermarkets have lost about 2.5%, and we're

clearing up, and it's also a treat. So your traditional grocery store or

currently oversees sales and marketing for BrandLoyalty worldwide.

seeing a similar effect in other parts of Europe.

supermarket needs to work out how to compete.

Yet the desire for lower prices isn’t matched by an acceptance of

INTERVIEW

Turning food shopping into an everyday pleasure

we need to give them value for money in the broadest sense. This

have a significant and lasting impact on consumers’ habits. The

includes soft factors such as location, lighting, parking, service

research we’re doing now shows customers not spending 5%

I think the answer is to feed the need for emotional satisfaction.

and in-store cleanliness, as well as a good product range. But

more, but 30% to 40% more as a result. We will present the

On the one hand, people are watching the pennies, but on the

it also involves creating an emotional connection with a store,

latest results at the RLC in February to share our insights with

other hand they want the extras, the treats, the feeling of pleasure

based on a pleasurable, meaningful and personal interaction. And

the retail industry.

that traditionally they would have had to pay extra for. That’s why

that’s where BrandLoyalty comes in.

Adding excitement with an ILP

you see more mainstream retailers offering things like free cups of coffee in-store, or delicious freshly-prepared meals that shoppers

Touch and feel your reward

The ILPs that we run complement these programmes

can just take away and pop into the oven. But the discounters are

Our programmes aim to restore that sense of engagement

perfectly. They create immediate interest and excitement,

trying to take the middle ground as well – for example by selling

by enabling the retailer to offer the consumer real value that

while also allowing retailers to capitalise on external events

lobster and other upmarket foods, and upgrading their services.

can significantly alter behaviour. We do this in two ways: with

such as the World Cup or a Disney movie. ILPs based on a

traditional product-based programmes, and through instant

back-to-school theme or the run-up to Christmas naturally

Loyalty deserves a bigger reward

loyalty promotions (ILPs). With the first kind, most of what we

focus on higher-spending target groups such as households

This means that mainstream food retailers are having to try even

do revolves around the world of food: it relates to the preparation,

with children. The supermarket becomes the centre of the

harder to achieve customer loyalty, yet in the constant consumer

cooking, serving, storing, eating and drinking of items that

community, engaging consumers while lifting traffic and sales.

search for extra value, loyalty cards have lost a lot of their power.

you buy in the supermarket. Interestingly, these are items

Most grocery cards only offer about 1% of your spend as a rebate,

that consumers don't normally spend money on, but they do

Building loyalty, one step at a time

so that's not going to lock you in when someone's offering better

understand their value. And we're able to structure programmes

Through the combination of these two types of loyalty

value online or down the road. This is again bad news for retailers,

in a way that enables us to offer up to ten times the value of what

programme, we can add value in the short to medium term,

who thereby lose the opportunity to make use of customer data

most loyalty cards will give back. Most retailers with a loyalty

in a stepped-up process. We create one step after another by

to track consumers and make more targeted offers. These days,

card tend to offer 0.5% to 1% back to the consumer. Spend €500

running sequences of programmes with retailers on a regular

people prefer to give wallet space to cards – such as AIR MILES

and you get a €2.50 or €5 voucher. But with the product-based

basis, bringing something new, unique, exciting and of real

– that offer substantial, tangible value in the form of an airline

programmes that we offer, the same spend allows consumers to

value to keep consumers coming back.

seat or some other desirable item. Another way to ensure a loyalty

get a free item – like a piece of cookware – that has a perceived

I believe that with all the challenges out there, this ‘building

card is used regularly is to link it to other types of promotional

value of upwards of €50. We can do this because we're not

block’ approach is the way forward. Each piece of added

programmes.

offering the reward to all consumers. With us, you need to hit

value that we offer serves to strengthen the retailer-consumer

certain expenditure thresholds. So we focus all the investment at

relationship. Loyalty cards will continue to play an important

Creating value for money

very specific target groups, depending on what a particular retailer

role in providing valuable customer data, but retailers need to

That’s why I feel that the way forward is not about discounting

is aiming to do. Shoppers can actually touch and feel the value

work on many other factors too.

any more – it's about creating better overall value for money. And

for money immediately because everything’s displayed in-store,

value for money isn't just about price; there are very few people

encouraging purchase in a very tangible way.

Emotions that never change Nowadays, the economy is changing too quickly and

who will shop just on price alone. Most people split their spend, going to discounters to buy certain goods and then returning to

Significant results

consumers are too fickle for any of us to rely on previous

mainstream to buy other items. To tempt them back more often,

Because these programmes tend to run for about 6 months, they

certainties. The changes in this dynamic food retail environment require fast and constant adaptation, with retailers needing to add value in a variety of different ways.

“The biggest challenge for mainstream food retail results from the global economic recession: consumers are demanding better value in all sorts of ways, and they are much more knowledgeable about how to get it.”

But the loyalty business has been around for about 100 years, and it’s based on human emotions that never change. The search for value, the opportunity to get something for nothing, the chance to get added value – these are all timeless desires. ■

RETAIL LOYALTY CONGRESS 2015

THE SPANISH FOOD RETAIL LANDSCAPE Spain is famed throughout the world for its delicious food. The variety and quality of ‘la cocina española’ are clearly reflected by the different store formats and retail companies active in the food sector. Barcelona is also the European city with the greatest number of covered and open-air markets creating this unique food experience. Source: Planet Retail

Retail environment

the retail sector was heavily dominated by traditional retailers

The structure of the Spanish food retail sector is similar to

and there was no serious competition.

structures in other western European countries: the market is mature and sophisticated, with a relatively high level of

Up to 2008, household expenditure on food continued to grow

concentration. The five top players account for around

at a similar rate to other retail sales, as Spaniards became more

two-fifths of the grocery market and most of them are multi-

sophisticated in their food choices. In a country where food

format operators, with the exception of Mercadona (which

occupies an important role in people’s lives, consumers do

only operates supermarkets). The sector also has a stronger

not mind spending extra money on food and particularly on

foreign presence (mainly from France and Germany) than

fresh meat, fish and vegetables. However, the economic crisis

other Western European countries, due to the relatively small

is affecting grocery sales. In terms of retailers, the discounters

size of local companies which provide plenty of takeover

seem to be coping better with this situation, as more price-

opportunities, plus the fact that some internationals, including

conscious consumers favour this format compared to pricier

Carrefour and Auchan, set up business in Spain at a time when

formats such as supermarkets and convenience stores.

RETAIL LOYALTY CONGRESS 2015

top 5 companies

Last but not least, discounter Dia operates the largest supermarket chain in Spain, with more than 4,000 outlets, around a quarter

The top 5 players capture over 40% of grocery sales, a percentage slightly

of them acquired from Schlecker in 2012.

lower than in most other western European countries.

It also recently bought Supermercados El Arbol, a regional chain with over 400 supermarkets. This retailer continues

The Spanish ‘top 5' zone is dominated by local retailers. The largest grocery retailer

to invest in Spain despite the gloomy

in Spain is Mercadona, which operates a network of around 1,500 supermarkets. Its

economic prospects, showing that is well

sales have almost doubled over the last five years, after the opening of around 100 new

positioned to withstand the crisis. Dia% is

supermarkets per year over the period 1999-2008, until the crisis forced the retailer to slow

one of the very few ever-growing retailers,

down expansion. Pricing is based on a competitive Every Day Low Price strategy which is

besides Mercadona.

positioned at around 3% below those of its competitors. Competitive prices are reinforced through its private label range, accounting for more than 40% of total sales in 2012 with products across a wide range of lines from grocery through to drugstore, health and beauty, and pet care. The total product range spans some 8,000 lines including food service counters for fresh fish and cheese. With relatively large stores of around 1,000-1,500 square metres, located in town centres, Mercadona has managed to effectively fill the gap between

El Corte Inglés ranks fourth in grocery retailing. This company is Spain's

hypermarkets and discounters for competitively priced, convenient grocery shopping.

second largest retailer, operating a wide range of formats from department stores to travel agencies and supermarkets. El Corte Inglés’s strategy is largely based on the department store and hypermarket sectors, although it is seeking to reduce its

French retailer Carrefour is trailing Mercadona for the leading position in the

dependence on these relatively mature markets, which account for 50% and 20% of

Spanish grocery sector, and ranks as the leading operator in the hypermarket

sales respectively. Since 2000, as part of this strategy and to circumvent increasingly

sector. Following its divesting of the Dia discount operation, Carrefour now trades

restrictive planning regulations, El Corte Inglés has sought to diversify its business

under three main grocery formats: Carrefour hypermarkets, Carrefour Market

with smaller food and non-food formats. In 2000 itself, it launched the Supercor

(supermarkets) and Carrefour Express (convenience stores). Recently, Carrefour re-

supermarket and Opencor convenience store formats, which the retailer is also using

entered the discount segment, with the Atacadão-inspired Supeco banner opening in

as part of its aim to be present in every city across the country.

southern Spain, with further openings taking place in 2014.

Eroski is the distribution group of the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation, the world's largest worker-owned co-operative. The Eroski umbrella covers a wide range of food, non-food, wholesaling and travel formats. Before the crisis, Eroski managed to grow at a good pace, aided by efficient logistics, cost reduction policies and the benefits of Alidis, the buying group that Eroski set up with French group Intermarché in 2003, and joined

Company

Number of outlets

Total Sales Area m2

Average Sales Area m2

Grocery Banner Sales Grocery Spending (EUR) Market Share

Mercadona

1,500

1,918,836

1,308

19,795,857,000

19.88

Carrefour

456

1,633,599

3,582

6,208,589,958

6.23

Eroski

1,804

1,551,540

860

5,173,062,082

5.14

Dia

4,151

1,460,271

352

4,648,375,960

4.67

El Corte Inglès

550

3,199,223

5,817

4,624,831,338

4.65

by Edeka in 2005. This alliance enabled Eroski to achieve economies of scale, helping the retailer to cut costs. Furthermore, in 2007 Eroski strengthened its position in the market further by acquiring a 75% stake in supermarket chain Caprabo. However, the crisis has taken its toll on the retailer, which posted negative sales since 2009 and has been forced to go ahead with a sell-and-lease store plan in order to reduce debt.

Source: Planet Retail 2014

RETAIL LOYALTY CONGRESS 2015

Markets In Spain, marketplaces occupy still a relevant position in terms of food shopping options. Barcelona in particular is also referred to as the ‘City of Markets’

retail tours

due to the large number of different markets it offers.

During the Retail Loyalty Congress, you will be able to visit these

Nowhere is the character of a city more apparent

and other Spanish retail outlets as we are offering the opportunity

than in its food markets, and no European city has more covered and open-air markets than Barcelona,

at different moments to participate in the following retail tours:

with a total of 40. The most famous marketplace is La Boqueria (next to the Ramblas). The Boquería market, officially called the Mercat de Sant Josep after the Carmelite convent that once occupied this space, is the city's biggest and most beautiful product market and over 100 years old. Other markets in Barcelona include: Mercat Del Ninot - a Barcelona market that's for the locals and away from the tourist traps Mercant Del Encants - Barcelona's biggest flea market

Fresh Food Experience Tour

Spanish Food Retail landscape Tour

Innovative Retail Tour

You will visit the city’s biggest and most beautiful food product market, ‘La Boqueria’, which is over 100 years old. You will also visit other fresh food experience outlets, including El Corte Inglés, learn about the challenges that the markets and other stores face with fresh products, and find out how they use these to attract customers.

During this tour, you will visit different chain stores currently active in the Spanish / Catalan food retail market. During these visits, you will receive more detailed information on specific Spanish challenges food retailers face, and will be welcomed by professionals of each chain who will talk about each retailer’s individual strategic approach to strengthening their positioning.

Often, the best ideas are encountered when visiting more than just other food retailers alone. During this inspirational tour, you will experience lots of different concepts that a variety of retailers are using to attract and retain shoppers. Be inspired as well and sign up for this tour!

Private labels Although private-label products had a slow start in Spain due to customer loyalty to leading brands, attractive prices and appropriate marketing have made private-label ranges increasingly popular. In value they represented 41% of total sales, according to Nielsen. All major foreign and Spanish food retailers in the market offer private-label ranges, from premium-priced lines

The tours will take place

to standard and economy ranges.

on the following dates 4 February 2015: 09:00 – 13:00 4 February 2015: 14:00 – 18:00

From price to premium

To ensure you don’t miss out on the chance to take part in the tour(s) of most interest to you, please reserve your place at the RLC 2015 now via

www.retailloyaltycongress.com

gadgets

Gadgets

Scribble Pen

Gadgets

This Scribble Pen is the chameleon of all the pens in the world. It can take – and reproduce – any colour you want. Just hold the RGB colour sensor to any object you like and the pen will let you draw or write with that exact colour.

Smart gadgets? We can never get enough of them. Some of them are just fun, while others are more

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functional. Take for instance a cup

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My Vessyl

that automatically knows what you’re

Tracking your physique and eating habits is popular, but time-

drinking, a ceiling fan that knows when

drink you consume. Luckily for us, there’s My Vessyl. A cup that

consuming. Especially the part where you have to enter every

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write in 100,000 different colours.

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during the day, but also knows what’s inside, automatically. myvessyl.com

Haiku Fan SenseME

Coolest Cooler At first, you might think this is the single most ridiculous gadget ever made: a rolling cooler with built-in blender and Bluetooth speakers. But take another look, because this is one of the most

The world is getting smarter and smarter. And we don’t mean people. We’ve written about a smart thermostat and a smart smoke detecter before, but now it’s time for the Haiku Fan SenseMe. This interior gadget has so many sensors, it will outsmart you in a comfortable way without you even noticing.

eCool Beer Cooler

Price: USD 1,000

You care about Mother Nature, but you

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Crock-Pot Smart Slow Cooker

friendly device lowers the temperature

How convenient would it be if you could access and operate

of your favourite drink naturally, beneath

your slow cooker while you’re not at home? Very convenient?

the ground. Because you’re not using

Than this Crock-Pot is the ideal gadget for you. Throw in the

any electricity, it will definitely cool your

ingredients and start cooking with your iPhone a couple of

conscience on a hot, sunny day too.

hours later. From now on, dinner is ready when you are.

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CREATING MONSTERS FOR OUR LITTLE MONSTERS DARE TO JOIN US AT THE RETAIL LOYALTY CONGRESS 2015

Loyalty Insights

opening the discounters’ doors Instant Loyalty Promotions weren’t considered a worthwhile investment for discount formats – until millions of colourful children’s giveaways proved otherwise.

Loyalty Insights

Daring to be different

Meet the Stikeez

Until a few years ago, Instant Loyalty Promotions (ILPs) were

The characters that the success of Lidl’s ILP depended on

practically a no-go area for discount retailers. Because of their

were Stikeez: small, colourful, friendly stick-on, pull-off figures

heavy focus on prices, margins and assortment, discounters

that can be stuck onto almost any flat surface at any angle.

weren’t really concentrating on attracting specific target

Created by a company called ZING, they were hugely popular

groups via promotional activities. As for loyalty companies

in the US before crossing the Atlantic to appear at the 2010

themselves, the salespeople rarely thought about approaching

Brand Licensing Europe trade fair in the UK. BrandLoyalty’s

a discounter to propose a loyalty programme, because they

ILP team came across them there, snapped up a licence deal

were sure to be rebuffed. So it was quite a surprise when Lidl

and immediately started building a concept around them. As

agreed to run its first-ever ILP in Germany – especially when

ILP Business Development Manager Wido Duncker explains,

it turned out to be a great success.

“We're always looking for innovative new things to give away for free, and we knew that this toy with a high perceived value

Attracting families with children

would be very appealing to children. We pre-tested the Stikeez

Andreas Ehle, Executive Director of BrandLoyalty Germany,

concept on a children’s panel, together with some other

takes up the story. “When we first started talking to Lidl about

concepts, and Stikeez came out as having huge potential. After

loyalty programmes, they couldn’t see the logic of using them.

running successful initial promotions elsewhere in Europe, we

So we did an analysis of why a loyalty campaign could make

were ready to launch it on a huge scale for Lidl in Germany.”

sense for Lidl as well as for its customers, and found out that Lidl attracted significantly fewer families with young children

Who dares, wins

than the average German retailer. As it emerged that the focus

During the four weeks of that first Stikeez promotion in the

should be on these shoppers, it was more logical to think of an

spring of 2013, young families poured into Lidl’s stores to do

ILP (which can attract specific groups, such as young families)

what the campaign slogan suggested: “Collect them all!” Families

than a normal Loyalty Programme (which focuses more on the

with children aged 0-5 years were the most active collectors,

existing client base).

closely followed by those with children aged 6-14.

While trying to persuade Lidl to say yes, it probably helped

What’s more, there was a significant return on investment.

that I have 20 years' experience as a retailer, so for me it was

Lidl’s market share and customer spend both rose by around

like going back to my roots and thinking how to influence the

7%, while the number of new customers increased by nearly

total business. It was also an advantage that I could look at

2%. When the results became apparent, Lidl decided to run a

the details of the analysis and work out the effect that the ILP

follow-on promotion the following year: “Stikeez from space!”

should have. But even so, I know it was quite a big decision

This time, with awareness of Stikeez having grown outside

for Lidl to entrust us not only with its first-ever ILP in its

Lidl’s own customer base, the number of new customers

home country, but also to base it on a giveaway that was more

increased by over 6%, customer spend increased by over 3%,

expensive than the usual cards and stickers promotions.”

and market share grew by around 8%.

"There was a significant return on investment. Lidl’s market share and customer spend both rose by around 7%."

Loyalty Insights

Andreas admits, “It was an unusual combination: a hard discounter with quite an expensive free gift. But Germany is a very mature ILP market, so everyone's looking for a differentiator: something new or exclusive. We ran the promotion after the Easter holiday so that kids would be back at school, because kids spread the word in the school playground, swap their Stikeez and want to get more of them to complete their collection.”

Why stop growing? Lidl International is responsible for stores in 25 countries, in different states of development and with different market shares. When approached with the Lidl Germany success story,

INSTANT LOYALTY PROMOTIONS HOW THEY WORK (EXAMPLE):

A promotion is run for a 6-week period

there was some doubt as to whether it would be possible to replicate the results everywhere else. As Wido explains, “In most of the countries outside Germany, there's still huge growth. So to tell a retailer who has double-digit growth that they should still do something on top was our greatest challenge. They're already doing so many things right and growing so much, why should they run a loyalty campaign too? But by producing the figures, we managed to

Promotions that stick in the mind

the customer immediately receives 1 free gift

sell the Stikeez promotion in 16 out of those 25 countries. Every retailer understands the importance of attracting families with children, and this is an easy way to do it.”

For each €10 spent,

Kids start collecting,

Collectability and fun

He continues, “ILPs such as Stikeez now form an increasing share of BrandLoyalty's portfolio,

playing with and trading the gifts

and are run by a dedicated team of specialists. Currently, BrandLoyalty is running nearly a dozen Instant Loyalty Promotions simultaneously in Europe, including Stikeez campaigns. For example, there’s Disney Cooking, an exclusive co-creation between us and Disney. The characters are classics from Pixar (the animators of Toy Story) and Disney films, with very

are stimulated with collector’s albums/boxes

high appeal. The basic idea is to collect stickers and put them in your album. You can buy an album for a couple of euros, and the moment you have one, you want to complete it. We added a cooking theme to the album, with beautifully visualised cooking recipes from the characters and an emphasis on good nutritional value and healthy living. The family cookbook album serves to extend the value of the promotion.

“It was an unusual combination: a hard discounter with quite an expensive free gift.”

We’ve also got Disney Flizz: robust, high-quality plastic shooters that girls love putting together and collecting in their album, while boys love the shooting mechanism. And there are quite a few more concepts that we’ve got up our sleeve. To create a hype, we always need to stay on top of what's happening in children's lives: the films they watch, the toys they play with, the themes they’re interested in and so on. It’s a fun business: it’s all about making children smile. That’s why we’re grateful to Lidl for giving us – and our competitors, of course – more opportunities to reach families with children. Lidl has truly opened the doors to Instant Loyalty Promotions in the discount sector.” ■

KIDS PLAY, COLLECT & HAVE FUN!

✑✍❚❁❐❆✿❄❉■❇❂❁▼▲✿❁❂❃❄❅❆❇❈❉❊❋●❍■❏❐❑❒▲▼◆❖◗❘❙❚❀✑✒✓✔✕✖✗✘✙✐✍✝✻✽✼✛✌✎✏ ✡✢✣✤✥✦✧★✩✪✫✬✭✮✯✰✱✲✳✴✵✶✷✸✹✺❞✁✠✃✄☎✾✆☛✈✉✿☞❛❝❜✚✓✜✞✟■

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COLUMN

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Let us take you on a tour of our extraordinary architecture.

In this edition of H&W, Shopper Marketing Expert Art Frickus shares his insights on interesting global retail developments.

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Hotel de la Villa Olímpica, S.A.

‘Lifestyle’ meets ‘Blurring’ The choice of a supermarket format

shopper with an individualistic mindset,

Corp in Seoul stands the flagship store

or leisure concept will in the future be

who is looking to utilise their time in the

of CJ FoodWorld; two floors of blurring,

increasingly dependent on the way we

best possible way while searching for the

where restaurant formats such as Tous les

live, our outlook on life and the measure

ideal interpretation of their wishes.

Jours, A TwoSomePlace, VIPS and Bibigo

in which a retailer is able to ‘visibly’ take

have taken up residence in the middle of

advantage of all this.

Divide and rule

a large supermarket. Because CJ Corp has

The ability to embrace ‘lifestyle’ as a

In an unending quest to serve every

all sorts of different food service formats

target group segmentation is, and will

consumer need, retailers are morphing

in-house, it can itself decide on the best

become, one of the decisive factors for

across as many channels as they can.

possible way to create the various locations,

success through which retailers and

Supermarkets are selling petrol and putting

from the drugstore to the fresh food

suppliers will manage to differentiate

convenience stores in their car parks. Mega-

market, and the coffee house to the ice

themselves. Today’s shopper will

store operators are creating smaller niche

salon – including maybe pairing them with

increasingly decide for herself when –

formats. Drugstore chains have aisles of

a cinema or a concert hall.

and on whom – she will spend her time

exclusive wines and sushi, and DIY stores

and money. This means that as a retailer,

are selling the best sandwiches. Channels

Taking an in-depth ‘lifestyle’ approach

you will have to reach shoppers’ hearts if

have never been as blurred as they are

and being willing to blur traditional

you want them to reach for their wallets.

today, giving shoppers a huge choice of

boundaries makes it possible to gain a fresh

where they can spend their money.

perspective of how to tempt and activate

In recent years, the spotlight has been

Many countries are just beginning to ‘blur’

individual shoppers. It gives retailers and

on Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

and are extremely busy experimenting to

manufacturers new opportunities to turn

‘Progressive’, ‘high quality’, ‘technology’

find the right mix. But in Korea, they’ve

each shopper into a loyal customer.

and ‘highly demanding customers’ were

already been through this phase. One

the terms that I already associated with

example of a completely hybrid retailer

the Korean retailer landscape, but there’s

is the Korean CJ Corporation. In fact,

more besides. The blending of added

‘retailer’ isn’t really the right description.

value and consumer experience on the one

The firm itself talks about being a ‘global

hand, counterpointed by efficiency and

lifestyle company’. It’s a worldwide

logistics on the other, have resulted in some

conglomerate and has branches in the

delightful concepts in which the boundaries

entertainment industry – with music and

between horeca and food retail are

film companies and cinemas – as well as in

becoming more and more blurred. In other

the pharmaceutical industry, logistics, the

words, companies are capitalising perfectly

food industry, food retail and the horeca

on the current wishes of the omni-channel

sector. Beneath the headquarters of CJ

barcelona special

from food to art Restaurants to remember TICKETS tapas bar Avinguda Paralelo 164 08015 Barcelona www.ticketsbar.es Opening hours From 13:00 to 15:30 (only on Saturday) and from 19.00 to 23:30. Closed on Sunday, Monday and during holidays.

Exploding olives that detonate on the tongue, tuna belly painted with cured ham fat, Galician crab cannelloni, fried duck egg with truffled fat and potato cream...the culinary surprises are endless. Desserts are equally inventive: just take The Living Forest, a fairytale concoction of meringue toadstools, pistachio moss, wild strawberries and coconut sorbet that resembles a dish of deadly

Ferran Adrià, founder of the world-famous El Bulli restaurant

toadstools on a grassy mound.

and considered one of the best chefs on earth, set up Tickets tapas bar with his brother Albert to serve innovative and

Tickets is one half of the Adrià brothers’ new venture within the

creative tapas in an unforgettable multi-themed atmosphere.

resurgent and creative neighbourhood of Poblesec, located adja-

The concept is ‘la vida tapa’: a fun way of eating that turns the

cent to its other half: cocktails-and-snacks bar 41°. It’s extremely

diner into a participant in the circus of life, interpreted through

difficult to get a reservation at either of them – you have to book

a variety of amusing and astonishing tapas.

through the website (try at midnight) months in advance!

41O

oyster, and pistachios wrapped in a delicate lattice of yogurt

Avinguda Paralelo 164 08015 Barcelona www.41grados.es Opening hours If you can find an available slot, just book it immediately.

and dusted with sweet white powder. Desserts are equally spectacular: meringues of dried raspberries with hazelnut, blackcurrent profiteroles and lime-flavoured marshmallow cubes give you some idea of the delights awaiting you.

Named after Barcelona’s parallel of latitude, 41º is described

Low-slung chairs and banquettes recline below glittering

as "a magnificent volcano of creativity, ideas and hopes."

bull skulls in this unique 16-seater gastronomic palace, yet

Offering both classic cocktails and more modern, contem-

admission is surprisingly simple and democratic: advance

porary ones, 41º serves amazingly inventive snacks by

reservations are required and can only be made through the

Albert and Ferran to accompany them, such as Parmesan ice

restaurant website. You just need luck and patience to find

cream sandwiches with lemon marmalade, Borscht with raw

the booking window…

Dos Palillos

CA L'ISIDRE Carrer de Les Flors, 12 - 08001 Barcelona t. (+34) 93 441 11 39 - www.calisidre.com Opening hours From 13:30 to 16:00 and from 20:30 to 23:00. Closed on Sunday and during holidays.

15:30 and from 19:30 to 23:30 Closed on Sunday, Monday, and during holidays.

Albert Raurich, the founder of this highly exclusive tapas bar, worked at the worldfamous El Bulli from 1997 till 2007, where he was head of kitchen for 6 years. Dos

Passadis del Pep

MOMENTS

Casa Leopoldo

and stuffed pigeon. Desserts are equally

your waiter’s suggestions. For example,

Moments at Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona Passeig de Gracia 38-40 - 08007 Barcelona +34 931 51 87 81 Mobcn-moments@mohg.com

inventive and delicous. The visionary chef

you could begin with slices of bread

has also designed an ‘anti-ageing’ menu,

rubbed with tomato and a plate of

in collaboration with Dr. Manuel Sanchez,

Iberian, acorn-fed cured ham, followed

Opening hours FROM 13:30 TO 15:00 AND FROM 20:30 TO 22:00 CLOSED ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY

specialist in anti-ageing treatments.

by portions of the best shellfish and

With 80 years of history behind it, this

crustaceans prepared simply but with a

classic family-run restaurant has been

distinct personality. You could continue

buzzing ever since señor Leopoldo

Pla de Palau 2 - 08003 Barcelona Tel. +0034 933101021

with a dish of the very best fresh grilled

Gil inaugurated it all those decades

fish, cooked to perfection with sautéed

ago. Situated at the heart of Raval,

Opening hours 13:15 - 15:45 20:30 - 23:30 Closed on Sunday

garlic and vegetables. Other specialities

it’s remained immune to the endless