Danish branding expert Martin Lindstrom was widely regarded as one of the best speakers at the 2013 Narta conference. Here are the main topics from his presentation:

Instant Gratification

Lindstrom claimed that the new generation of consumers require instant gratification and love to multitask and he suggested successful retailers must meet this need in the store and online:

“You need to build instant gratification into your store. When you have customers that walk around with phones comparing and checking, you need to change the store environment. You need to tell amazing stories.. Ask yourself: ‘are you stimulating people in your store anymore?’”

Lindstrom at his ‘buyology’ blackboard.

Online vs Offline retailing

For retailers looking at developing a ‘clicks and bricks’ model combining online and a physical store strategy, Lindstrom claims that retailers need a clear strategy:

“Online has taken off and killing a lot of you, but we are still human beings. Consumers perform preliminary research, physical inspection and post research. If you own both online and offline channels, then your store will just be a display store. For those that cannot change the entire ecosystem, you must control the physical inspection. You need to have a sensory store which appeals to as many different senses as possible.”

Sound & Vision

Using the link between sound and vision, Lindstrom claimed consumers had an emotional engagement which drove consumer preference:

“The emotional side of the brand was disrupting our taste preference. That is the fundamental challenge in retail. They say one thing and then they do something completely different. Only 15 per cent of our mind is conscious, the remaining 85 per cent is acting unconsciously.”

Sensory shopping

Lindstrom asked the brand owners whether everything in their business was ‘smashable’:

“Can I blindfold myself and recognise your store? If I removed the logo, would I know that I am in your store or touching your product?”

Lindstrom said retailers should not compete using the terms of the internet such as volume and price within their stores; they should develop the use of senses instead:

“Locking products behind glass doors and windows, you are preventing consumers from experiencing the most important sense:  touch.”

Lindstrom claimed that when consumers touch products they create an emotional relationship with the device:

“The internet will never be able to compete with it.”