My wife bought a pair of shoes today and like most shoes, they came in a shoe box.\u00a0 But this shoe box was unique.\u00a0 The entire surface was printed in black and white text, with words of varying sizes and fonts.\u00a0 At first these words appeared to be scattered without any real design intent.\u00a0 When you looked closely though, the box very cleverly told the story of the manufacturer and their brand.\u00a0 It was a very creative piece of marketing.<\/p>\n

Now, contrast this to the countless numbers of shoes sold every day in non-descript (and highly forgettable) boxes that serve no purpose beyond transportation and storage.\u00a0 \u00a0Apart from a logo, size and style, they\u2019re mere pieces of cardboard.\u00a0 Just a box!<\/p>\n

The company that made these<\/em> shoes obviously didn\u2019t see it that way. I can only assume that somebody there said \u201cwait a minute; it\u2019s not just a box\u201d.\u00a0 Instead they saw an opportunity to tell a unique and compelling brand story – a novelty that would make buying their shoes a little more memorable.\u00a0 It would have been infinitely easier and probably less expensive to adopt the \u201cjust a box\u201d mentality but they didn\u2019t.\u00a0 So, in the end, what most shoe manufacturers treat as a mere packaging cost became a great branding piece and a differentiator for this company.<\/p>\n

How many things in our businesses do we treat like shoe boxes?\u00a0 How many things do we put in front of customers that are purely functional with no added value?\u00a0 How many chances to be remarkable<\/a> are right under our noses and not being realized?<\/p>\n

What if tomorrow we adopted a new point of view?\u00a0 For example, what if your store windows suddenly became art gallery showcases where your unique brand-story came to life every day?\u00a0 Would your store windows look any different?\u00a0 What if your staff were really brand-ambassadors<\/em> both inside and outside the store \u2013 walking embodiments of what your business is all about?\u00a0 Would your interviewing process change at all?\u00a0 What if that bland recorded message that customers hear when they call your store became the most compelling sales pitch of all?\u00a0 What if?<\/p>\n

Tomorrow when you visit your website, open your store or simply sit down to do your job, start the day by saying five simple words.\u00a0 It\u2019s not just a box<\/em>.<\/p>\n

See what happens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Great retailers take nothing for granted. Every touch point is an opportunity to enhance the customer experience. Here, we look at how one company used a plain and often disregarded piece of packaging to leave their mark. Within the story there are lessons that can be applied to any business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[24,25,26],"class_list":["post-1885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-retail","tag-retail-sales","tag-retail-tips"],"yoast_head":"\n