I’ve spent the last year and a half working with some of the
largest brands and with a number of top creative agencies on eCommerce and
eMarketing sites. Couple that with my agency background and I’ve got a lot to
talk about when it comes to the state of brand presence on the internet.
I still strongly believe in defending the idea. I see the
brands who use their sites to build relationships with their customers, who
create unique reasons for their customers to badge themselves with their brands
and their products, who celebrate their uniqueness and tell their story.
But I’ve also seen technology replace the idea. I’ve seen
the statement, “I don’t want to get in the way of a customer who wants to buy.”
as an excuse to put up eCatalogs rather than immersive sites. I’ve seen
short-sighted brands and agencies fighting over easy things—fonts and cropping
and colors while never tackling the fact that they’ve lost the idea.
People like beautiful, functional sites—there’s no doubt
about that. But that is just the entry fee to be a top brand. What they really
want is that experience you get when you walk thru Saks or Macy’s or Bergdorf
Goodman’s and bump into something unique. The salesperson focuses you on the
things you need to make a buying decision. Whether you buy or not, you’ve had
an experience.
Right now I am infatuated with commerce on the internet.
This is that rare time when nobody quite gets it. Sure, there are great
paradigm breaking sites like Uber, Task Rabbit and AirBNB. These breakthroughs
are changing the way we buy. But for established brick and mortar brands,
there’s no simple answer.
That’s why I’m trying to press my creative friends to start
thinking about eCommerce. I believe that with the current platforms (open
source and SaaS) there are ample opportunities to be great merchandisers. But
what I haven’t seen yet is how a great marketer can breath life into an online
presence.
Let’s make shopping social and interesting and exciting and
an experience unto itself. Let’s use personalization and all the data we have
to paint a unique picture for our customers. Let’s combine commerce and
concept.
The opportunity is there. This is the time. It’s freaking
exciting.
