The Making of Escapology (Part 2)

escapology the making of

contents The Concept

(5-11)

The Creative Part

(12-24)

Let’s Talk

(25-51)

What’s Next?

(52-55)

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1.1 2.

2.1

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(28-33) (34-38) (39-42) (44-51)

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the concept As mentioned in the first part of this report, the aim is to create a hybrid coffee shop, but for the digital nomad. The insights into trends, the workplace and consumer habits already discussed have enabled me to gain a better understanding of how this new business will work.

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(Figure 27. Story - telling stories store, 2012)

(Figure 26. Enjoy Urban Station, 2012) (Figure 25. Costa Coffee Design, 2013)

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The main concept has been drawn from three different existing models - the traditional coffee shop, the hybrid such as Urban Station, and the experiential retail space such as Story in New York (figure). These all have elements that I want to keep within my own third space in order to relate best

This equation brings us to Escapology, the hybrid coffee shop for the digital nomad consumer. to the target consumer.

Escapology aims to be a new chain of coffee shop in a blue ocean. ‘Blue ocean strategy’ challenges companies to break out of the red ocean of bloody competition by creating uncontested market space that makes competition irrelevant. Blue ocean strategy is about growing demand and breaking away from the competition” (Chan Kim and Mauborgne, 2013). Some blue oceans are created from existing red oceans by expanding existing boundaries, which is what Escapology is doing, - taking the idea from already established red oceans and creating a new equation for a market based on the growing need of the telecommuters. This way, Escapology is a brand that has a narrower focus but aims to relate to a large consumer group.

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how does it work?

Escapology is a third space for the digital nomad that is outside of the home and work. With the growing trend of retail as a third space, Escapology offers an experience through in-store design and sensory aspects. The space will offer a place that consumers can go for better concentration, productivity and collaboration, an idea from primary research that has shown the reasons that people will work in a coffee shop are mainly: - Working in a different environment - Better concentration - The food and drink - Co-working and meeting other people - Free Wi-Fi and plug sockets - Meetings with colleagues (see figure 28)

(Figure 28. Reasons to work in a coffee shop infographic, 2014) 8

91% would feel guilty staying in a coffee shop for hours and only buying 1 item

This new chain can also benefit consumers and the economy as a new model for the high street. It has the ability to bring business to and regenerate an area and well as fill empty shop space. The store, similar to Urban Station and Ziferblat will be pay-per-minute. The need for this can be seen through primary research where it was found that 91% of respondents said that they would feel guilty staying in a coffee shop for a matter of hours and only buying one item. This way, the stigma attached to a sea of laptops in a coffee shop will be banished, adding to the convenient experience for Escapology customer.

The price per minute would be 8 pence making is ÂŁ4.80 per hour to be in Escapology. Within this price the customer would receive free Wi-Fi and standard tea and coffee, although specialist tea and coffees, as well as food would have to be chargeable.

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The reality of this idea can be analysed against the ansoffs model to assess the risk of the strategy (figure 29). The product offering, a space to work and a standard coffee menu will be the same, although the market is the innovative aspect, opening a new window for the ‘coffice’ in the UK. Market development will be used, where existing products or services are taken and placed into a new market at a lower risk than if new products were placed into a new market (Hanlon, 2013).

(Figure 29. Ansoffs Model - Escapology, 2014)

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interruptions every three minutes...

Research has found that today’s consumers are seeking balance between work and leisure, along with the need to find pleasure in everyday activities. This trend has led to the idea of taking the mind to an unknown place to increase work productivity and creativity. The name Escapology fuses the idea of escapism in a third space and knowledge relating to the equation of the concept.

The idea around helping the mind to escape will be a core value of the brand, something that can be elaborated on through communication campaigns and design of the space. Another focus of the brands ethos is around the statistic that the average UK worker’s day is now interrupted every three minutes.

Escapology will be devoted to creating tools that will reduce interruptions and ultimately find the balance between work and leisure.

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This has lead to the creation of the mission and vision statements for Escapology:

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MISSION: Escapology is committed to being the best ‘coffice’ for the digital nomad to work in. Offering tools to decrease interruptions, escapology aims to increase creativity and productivity by taking the mind to an unknown place.

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VISION: To be the leading, global ‘coffice’ chain for the digital nomad.

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To visualise this ethos, the branding of Escapology is inspired by the escapism theme with distorted imagery, using bright colours mixed with neutral tones taken from the Europe colour direction matrix for A/W 14/15 on WGSN. Figure 31 shows the final logo for Escapology, which can be seen in different formats in the branding book. The inspiration around the logo has been taken from print and graphic trends ‘flawless’ as well as ‘reversed type’ on WGSN, (see figure 32) where “typography statements are carefully thought out and placed in unexpected positions” (WGSN, 2014).

Figure 33 shows a series of artwork that has been created to use as the basis for Escapology’s branding. The inspiration for this can be seen from figure 34 which shows the idea of coffee steam and distorted colour patterns to create the work. The theme of escapism could have been shown through a natural, earthy and landscape look (figure 35), but I believe that is somewhat dated, and therefore went for the idea of distorted imagery to portray escapism. The artwork created will be used as design for products, the in-store environment and promotional material (see branding book).

(Figure 31. Final Escapology Logo, 2014)

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flawless / reversed type:

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(Figure 32. Flawless and Reversed Type, 2014)

(Figure 34. Artwork Inspiration, 2014)

ARTWORK INSPIRATION:

(Figure 33.Artwork designs for escapology branding, 2014)

(Figure 35.Hills, Lakes and Mountains, 2013)

artwork:

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The brand essence model (figure 36) shows Escapology’s core values, personality and actions. In order to reach the mission and vision statement, these will be integrated into Escapology’s products, services and campaigns, in order to best target the consumer. With these values in place, the key USP’s of the brand can be defined:

USP’S Understand the need of the telecommuter and for flexible working conditions.

Helps the consumer to lead a better, more productive life.

Connectivity across all stores and platforms.

Offers a 2 in 1 convenience driven service.

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the brand These unique selling points are all very beneficial to the consumer, making sure that the digital nomad chooses escapology over a traditional coffee shop.

(Figure 36. Escapology Brand Essence Model, 2014)

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The brand itself is made up of a few aspects to create a great user experience. The main one is the physical store, with the aim to open a large number across big cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Edinburgh. The design of the space will be kept simple with no clutter and will include design elements that positively impact the workplace such as access to views, colour, ergonomics and noise control all relating to how a store can manifest itself as a sensory experience (Stringer, 2013).

Mixed with the sensory experiences that are already prominent in a coffee shop, these elements together already create an immersive experience for the escapology consumer. The trend in activity-based offices will be applied to the design of the space in order to accommodate different needs.

Research suggests that workplaces should separate noisy spaces from quiet areas and offer policies to reserve places such as quiet areas or collaboration space (Stringer, 2013).

Figure 37 is a moodboard based around the potential design of different spaces and areas. The use of glass would be used where possible to allow access to nature views and daylight as well as using colours that are associated with higher focus and task accuracy (see figure 37, Stringer, 2013).

Blue = calm, mental control and clear creative thinking Red = enhances energy and feelings of strength Yellow = makes people feel alert and clear headed, good for decision making Orange = boosts self-esteem and helps to ease emotions (Stringer, 2013).

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(Figure 37. Moodboard for design of Escapology, 2014)

blue yellow orange red

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The design will benefit the freelancers’ different needs such as meeting spaces for when they meet with clients or solo pods for when needing a place to think.

The space will also offer a service for lockers. This idea has come from the trend in health body and soul where consumers need to counterbalance the fast paced and digitally connected society. The lockers (which could be placed within a solo pod such as figure 39), will offer a space to shut out digital technology that they do not need and also relate to the brand’s ethos of ‘no interruptions’.

This service of storage would also accomodate for creative freelancers such as Emily Birtles (figure 38) who is a freelance assistant stylist who often uses coffee shops as a place to hold bags whilst shopping on Oxford Street (see appendix).

From this insight, Escapology would ideally be situated close to high streets in the large cities to be close to offices and the creative workers.

(Figure 39. Dymitr Maclew - Co-working Space, 2013)

(Figure 38. Instagram Screenshots - Emily Birtles, 2014)

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lets talk

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“Communications need to flow to all the stages through which a customer moves on his route towards making a purchase and subsequent repeat purchases” Now that the brand essence and function has been established, the strategy in which the brand reaches the consumer can be discussed.

“Communications need to flow to all the stages through which a customer moves on his route towards making a purchase and subsequent repeat purchases” (Smith and Taylor, 2004).

It is important to consider that when choosing to use Escapology, it is a low-involvement process for the consumer, and will therefore require a mix of primarily heavy advertising as well as point-of-sale (Smith and Taylor, 2004). The communication plan for Escapology (figure 40) shows the journey from entering into market development, to addressing two main communication objectives, and using four strategies with appropriate tactics.

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market deveopment

OBJECTIVE 1

increase cutomer retention

mobile marketing

mobile app

launch / p.r

collaboration with brand

pull method advertising

targeting at touchpoints

OBJECTIVE 2

increase brand awareness

TACTICS

STRATEGY

exhibition / sensory space

TACTICS

STRATEGY

interactive experience

(Figure 40. Escapology Communication Objectives, 2014)

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1

increase customer retention

The first objective is around how Escapology will achieve customer retention. Escapology needs something that will keep customers visiting Escapology and not any other competitor. The first strategy that will be used for this is through an interactive experience. Within the brand essence, Escapology’s personality is very much motivational and relaxed. Taking this essence mixed with the rise in experiential spaces, Escapology will also have an installation room which changes monthly to promote a different feeling, taking the mind to an unknown place in order to stimulate creativity.

The rise of immersive exhibition spaces has been prominent recently with the Barbican’s ‘United Visual Arts: Momentum’ exhibition (figure 41) and Martin Creeds exhibition ‘What’s the point of it?’ which involved an immersive balloon room at the end of the exhibition (figure 42). From the 25th January till the 6th April 2014, The Royal Academy also held an exhibition named ‘Sensing Spaces’. The exhibition looks at reimagined architecture around how a room can make a person feel.

Architects were asked to reawaken visitor’s sensibilities to the spaces around them proving architectures experiential qualities (Royal Academy, 2014, see figure 43).

“Devoting full attention to a problem is not the best recipe for having creative thoughts.” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (see Zelinsky, 2002)

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“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”

(Figure 43. Sensing Spaces – Li Xiadong, 2014)

Erich Fromm (see Zelinsky, 2002)

(Figure 41. Momentum - Barbican Centre, 2014)

(Figure 42. Martin Creed Exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, 2014)

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(Figure 44. Recreated Diffusion of Innovation Curve, 2014)

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All these exhibitions and experiences have helped to inspire the idea for Escapology’s installation room.

Exhibitions are often places that start trends and would be placed on the curve of innovation (figure 44) near the top with the innovators and early adopters confirming the relevance of having an installation space within the project. Figure 45 shows the basic design for the installation space taking into consideration colours and moods that it portrays. Mirrors have also been used in order to create the idea of a bigger room responding to innovative workplace design. Themes for the space could potentially include distortion, wellness and motion all linked to the WGSN trend everyday utopias mentioned earlier.

The space will continuously link to the creative ideas of the brand through the concept of ‘only good interruptions’.

(Figure 45. Mock up of Escapology Installation Space, 2014)

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thomas Saraceno

Figure 46 shows inspirational work of potential artists that could enhance the space by exhibiting their work.

Rafael Rozendaal is a Dutch-Brazilian visual artist who lives around the world – made easy by the possibility of using the Internet as his canvas. He uses domain names as a file for his work where he presents his immersive imagery (see figure 47). This domain name then makes this sellable for anybody to see and art collectors to buy (see Turning the Internet into an Art Gallery – Rafael Rozendaal, 2012). This inspiration and design for the space relates to the strategy of a fantasy workspace – a place where people feel transformed in time, space and place “A fantasy workplace sets a stage for unexpected, thrilling experiences… it takes a worker out of the ordinary and into a dream world” (Zelinsky, 2002). This tactic will ultimately aim to help the consumer reach self-actualisation within their everyday lives.

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Pierre Le Riche (Figure 46. Potential artists and aesthetic for installation, 2014)

(Figure 47. Rafael Rozendaal Inspiration Moodboard, 2014)

rafael Rozendaal

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1.1 The second strategy set to increase customer retention is mobile marketing using the creation of an app as a tactic. Focusing on the theme of ‘no interruptions’, the app is based around trends within the workplace such as how offices are starting to worry more about what people are getting done rather than the amount of time spent there (Vaughn, 2009).

The app will also focus on the idea of time compression where consumers are finding it increasingly difficult to squeeze all our desired tasks into 24 hours (Hughes, 2013). Offering a service where consumers are able to buy back time through an app that helps to plan time and manage workflow will accommodate the needs of Escapology’s consumer.

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Another aspect to ‘EscAPPology’ will allow the customer to order products and services through the use of iBeacon technology. This technology is seen as the next generation of geotargeting and uses small Beacons placed within store to send shoppers data or messages to their smartphone (Hughes, 2014). Users will be able to use this technology to book a meeting room when in close proximity to the shop as well as ordering food or drinks to the spot in which they are sat. The idea of ‘no interruptions’ is shown here due to being able to choose when to be interrupted, and not having to leave the workstation.

The app will be named ‘EscAPPology’ and can be seen in logo format in figure 48. The app will mainly be used to enhance the user experience instore, “An app can push information to your users, adjust to slow data speeds and create a cleaner, more inspiring visual experience” (Larizadeh, 2013). The app will use web-tracking software that will track and analyse the usage of social media platforms in order to reduce the interruptions from them. Within the app, the customer will also be able to set up a personal profile setting where they will be able to see other people within the store that are working on similar things. This will push collaboration in-store and help the consumers get the most out of the space. This section of the app will also help the company to measure the types of consumers that are visiting the space.

(Figure 48. EscAPPology logo, 2014)

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Due to the concept of pay-per-minute and getting the most out of a certain amount of time – the opportunity to set yourself a to-do list with a time limit will also be an option on the app. All these mock-ups of the apps functions can be seen in figure 49. Using this app to enhance the in-store experience will ultimately help to retain customers and persuade them choose Escapology over other competitors. Although, with apps, there is often a problem where “it doesn’t matter how good or original the app is, it’s very likely only a few people will discover it and install it, which is why you must have a marketing and distribution plan” (Hughes, 2014).

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increase brand awareness 39

in collaboration with

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“devoted to developing emotional intelligence through the help of culture” The second objective of Escapology’s communication strategy is to increase brand awareness. As a new brand, this is an important objective as it is inextricably linked to brand growth.

This objective will also include a marketing and distribution plan to enable consumers to discover the brands app. The first strategy used to achieve this is through a collaboration event with The School of Life. The School of Life is a company founded

by Alain de Botton that is “devoted to developing emotional intelligence through the help of culture” (The School of Life, 2014). In order to help the customers achieve their most fulfilled life, the company offers physical classes and therapies as well books films and events. The issues addressed including how to find fulfilling work, how to master the art of relationships and how to achieve calm. Figure 50 shows examples of events and products that The School of Life sells.

The School of Life has a strong following of nearly forty thousand followers on the social networking site Twitter. Collaborating with The School of Life for the launch of Escapology will aim to increase brand awareness by targeting the consumers that follow them. The brands ethos and target market is very similar to that of Escapology’s, although the brands provide different services ensuring there is no problem of competition. The ethos of brand sharing discussed earlier is used here in order to strengthen the brand. The collaboration would be for the first three months of opening the business and would be shown through the media of in-store events, artwork, published articles as hand-outs and promotional material.

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(Figure 50. The School of Life Aesthetic Moodboard, 2014)

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To first launch the business, the launch event, would be the main collaboration with The School of Life. It would be held at the new Escapology store in London and invites would be sent to press such as The Guardian, BBC, TimeOut, Sunday Times Style, Harpers Bazaar and the Metro. Other people to be invited would include bloggers that have been targeted as users of coffee shops for working, as well as creative freelancers such as well known stylists whose lifestyle Escapology would play to. This tactic would be used in order to create successful and targeted PR around the brand. At the event, the guests would be shown around the space and shown how all the technology works and what services are offered. The School of Life would be used to hold their ‘How To Balance Work With Life’ talk at Escapology for the event on the 9th July 2014. This relates to the idea of making customer service more specialised which was noted within the JWT Retail Rebooted report (Berelowitz and Vaughn, 2013). It was suggested that many retailers are beginning to offer an array of special events and free in-store classes, a concept that can be seen taken from the success of the Apple store (Berelowitz and Vaughn, 2013).

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2.1

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4)

‘GOOD INTERRUPTIONS’

In order to further create brand awareness, a pull strategy will be used in order to pull customers into the store. A pull strategy requires an investment in advertising that will ultimately create consumer demand (Smith and Taylor, 2004).

In a commercial world, companies need to relate their products to the hierarchy of needs (figure 22) by Abraham Maslow, 1954. These needs have to reach their consumer through messaging, and the messages need to be presented in the right place at the right time (Bergström, 2008).

This promotional campaign for Escapology will go hand in hand with the collaboration with The School of Life, targeting self-esteem and selfactualisation, through the message ‘good interruptions’.

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safety physiological

The type of message that can be chosen to communicate this is either an instrumental message or a relational message. An instrumental message is based upon a problem that receivers may be experiencing, this is then displayed through negative motifs in texts and pictures which create drama, and therefore the receiver feels worried or frightened by it - wanting solutions (Bergström, 2008). This could be used for Escapology’s message through statistics around interruptions and getting the most out of the day.

Opposite to instrumental messages, relational messages try to prove to the consumer that a product or service will enhance their experience or well-being. It is more about creating a relationship between the service and the consumer and making them dream about something. The message here should be emotional and open to wide interpretation from the receiver (Bergström, 2008). This type of message could also be used for Escapology through the idea of taking the mind to an unknown place, and making the receiver feel the same way as they would in the store through looking at the advertisement.

It is known that “consumers appreciate humour, an important insight, drama, personal commitment, new knowledge, a splash of artistry or a touch of poetry” (Bergström, 2008) – but knowing the consumer is the most important thing in order to achieve adoption. For this, primary research has been conducted around freelancers working in different sectors in order to understand touch points within their daily lives. For this, a day in the life recording took place (see appendix 4) and it was found that an everyday occurrence was using the train or public transport system. This will therefore be a main touch point and place to promote Escapology with examples of the campaign posters shown in figures 51, 52 nd 53.

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(Figure 51. You’ve got work - promotional poster for Escapology and The school of Life, 2014)

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For the promotional collaboration posters a relational message approach has been used. By using the strapline ‘good interruptions’ imagery has been created that can be interpreted by the reciever in different ways. Inspiration for the graphics has been

(Figure 52. Battery Dead - promotional poster for Escapology and The school of Life, 2014)

taken from previous artwork created by The School of Life for The Guardian which can be seen in figure 50, this therefore falls in line with The School of Life’s branding and could be recognised by existing customers. If not, the posters are colourful and 47 eye-catching grabbing commuters attention.

(Figure 53. Please Disturb - promotional poster for Escapology and The school of Life, 2014)

I also wanted to use technology as the theme within the imagery due to the relationship between the digital nomad and gadgets, also moving away from traditional interruptions. All three images show how technology can interrupt their 48 day in different ways leaving the rest up to interpretation.

The idea of the posters is to spark the realisation of technology and interruptions leaving the consumer interested in the poster and wanting to find out more. Through collaboration it is then easier for the consumer to find out about the campaign through two businesses rather than relying on one.

(Figure 54. Moodboard of touchpoints for posters, 2014)

touchpoints 49

(Figure 55. Further collaboration products in store, 2014)

The tone of voice for the whole promotional campaign will be kept within the brands personality, which is shown within the brand essence model. The mock-ups of the material show Escapology’s fun, motivational but authentic approach.

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(Figure 55. Further collaboration products in store, 2014)

(Figure 56. TruVibe Packaging, 2014)

As well as promotional posters, the message will be used across products and the in store environment whilst the collaboration with The School of life continues. Artwork and messages would be placed on coffee cups, walls and designed hand-outs in order to create a relationship with Escapology’s products (figure 55).

Inspiration for this idea has been inspired by images seen in figure 56.

TruVibe organics, a new brand of raw and organics superfoods have taken the idea of positive messaging and applied it to their products. The inspirational messaging has been identified by LSN Global as a design direction, being used by health brands in order to accommodate the rise of a healthy mindset, which can be seen within the ‘Body Temples’ macro trend (Walker, 2013).

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what’s next? consistent and integrated

In order to keep this a consistent, integrated marketing campaign, the tone of voice will be mirrored across all platforms including social media platform Twitter. Twitter will be important to communicate with the target audience and tweets will often be timed with work hours. It is important to also consider global hours as well as the idea that a digital nomads workday can be very different to the norm. Therefore Escapology will be reaching out to them with the idea of offering assistance.

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cost

success

To start a company of this type it will require a reasonable level of upfront capital investment. This investment would be paying for factors such as the cost to fit out a property the cost of all equipment and licenses and expenses to advertise. Although the start up costs will be large this business will offer a steady flow of income with customers paying both for the amount of time they spend in the shop and also for consumables.

The success of Escapology could be measured through various channels.

The main one being profit from the stores resulting in an insight into if the right price is being charged or whether further promotion would need to be pushed. Success could also be measured digitally through the number of app downloads and visitors on social media and website.

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After measuring the success, plans could be considered for the future.

It is suggested that Escapology would open stores globally in big, busy cities. These stores could then be connected via ‘the cloud’. The cloud and personal clouds are now becoming mainstream (Meier, 2013), suggesting that Escapology could connect global stores offering a service to customers where files could be stored and retracted in any store.

Dependant on cost and popularity of the app, contactless payment could also be considered through Escapology’s own Beacon technology as payment methods constantly change. This would enhance the customers experience as well as make the consumer’s journey even more convenient. To further enhance the customers journey and relationship with Escapology, smaller franchises of the brand could be opened in places like train stations and airports. This would bring the brand closer to the digital nomad and help Escapology become the first choice of coffee shop to go to when travelling. Adapting to the needs of the consumer in each different space as well as globally would be a key element to consider.

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From finding a gap in the UK market for a ‘coffice’, Escapology has been created in order to accommodate the needs of the digital nomad. By creating a strategy to increase brand awareness and customer retention, mixed with a thorough branding aesthetic, I believe that Escapology would be a strong, successful brand in an uncontested market.

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