Outside the Box

NEW RETAIL PERSPECTIVES

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DIGITAL CHARISMA

Influencing others in a zoom call or other virtual meetings isn’t easy. But there are some rules to follow, according to Karlin Sloan ceo, Sloan Group International, a leadership development firm. Tips for virtual success include:

✓ Don’t fold your arms ✓ Look into the camera and not yourself onscreen ✓ Use hand gestures and facial expressions to convey messages ✓ Avoid fidgeting ✓ Make sure you are well lit ✓ Smile. People respond positively

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MARKETING UNREST

In the wake of the Capitol Hill riot, Ad Age has started a blog tracking the marketing industry’s response to the recent political unrest. The magazine said it would be updated regularly with information on how marketers and agencies are responding to the situation.

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Restaurants To Go

Eateries used to celebrate “Restaurant Week” with in house dining specials. Now, it’s about pandemicsafe dining. The celebration is still going on across the country, but it’s all about takeout with special menus and deals. It’s been so successful that New York City recently extended its off-premise event. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, Restaurant Week now includes Zoom cooking demos and prerecorded video tutorials.

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Mob Mentality

Comparing corporate culture with criminal enterprises is not always a bad thing, according to a new book called Relentless: The Forensics of Mobsters’ Business Practices. Certain practices will simply help build a stronger company. This includes: decentralized decision-making; long-term recruiting mechanisms; and an incredibly strong culture.

Dog Days

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First there was Chubby Hubby and Cherry Garcia. Now Ben & Jerry’s has unveiled Doggie Desserts with a sunflower butter base that is gentler on a dog’s stomach than dairy. The first flavors are named after the founders’ dogs – Ponch’s Mix, which is peanut butter and pretzels and Rose’s Batch, pumpkin an cookie mix.

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Falling Out

2020 was a record year for bankruptcies but 2021 might not be much better with a BDO survey reporting that 42 percent of retailers expect to restructure or reorganize this year as a result of the pandemic and a difficult financial environment. On the bright side 48 percent are making further investment in digital transformation including ecommerce but also in physical store.

Time to EGG-cecute

A new generation of entrepreneurs is on their way. Twenty-two-year-old Nick Hamburger and Zack Schreier invented a line of healthy, egg white-based chips called

Quevos and have received a $400,000 investment, or 10 percent of the company, on the ABC TV reality show

“Shark Tank” from Daniel Lubetzky, who invented

Kind Bars. “We were hoping to make a deal with Daniel because he’s amazingly experienced and successful in [the] healthy-food space,” Hamburger said. Loyalty isn’t what they used to be. Instead of asking customers to be loyal, restaurants are using AI to get to IA. In other words getting data from artificial intelligence to develop individual action programs that can predict customer behavior and personalize the dining experience. Surveys indicate that 68 percent of restaurants are investing in like this over the next few years.

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CHILD’S PLAY

One of the few bright pots last year was in the toy industry where sales rose to $25.1 billion, up 16 percent from the prior year. Families in lockdown shifted disposable income from other types of entertainment. Sales spiked 38 percent in May, a month after federal stimulus checks were distributed. Sales of sports toys such as skateboards and scooters rose the most, followed by fashion dolls and accessories and building sets like Legos, said NPD research.

The NEW Loyalty

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