#iMentor

TREND REPORT:

THE YEAR OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Subject Topic: Trending Now

Objective: To better understand the key drivers of millennial shopping and purchasing habits as
well as the global trends for digital/social and amazing retail
Disruptive retail experiences (US/UK/Canada/EMEA/France/Italy/APAC)

Samsung 837 (NYC, US): A massive, multi-story digital playground designed around art, music,
entertainment, sports, wellness, culinary, technology, and fashion. Some of its features include a
concert auditorium, giant digital screen for viewing parties, art gallery with rotating digital
installations, smart home kitchen, caf and virtual reality stations.

The Glossary (NYC, US): A store within Barnes & Nobles that sells mass and prestige beauty
products on college campuses (currently present in four universities: Emory, Southern Methodist,
Tulane, and the College of William and Mary).

WithMe (LA, US): A revolving pop-up store that is kicking off its launch with Century 21. WithMe
offers a truly hi-tech, immersive experience with digital displays and interactive fixtures displaying
mens and womens apparel, accessories, swimwear and fragrance.

Everlanes Shoe Park Pop-Up Store (NYC, US):

Whimsical, interactive shopping adventure where customers can engage with the products and
control their own self-guided experience through interactive installations that let you try on
various styles of shoes.

Good Ship Benefit (London,UK):

Benefits pop-up stationary ship on the River Thames offering hero products across different
themed spaces (e.g. the Porefessional Vault Mini Bar, the Lashitude Restaurant, the Pinkton
Parlour Coffee & Cocktail Bar, Hoola Deck for yoga classes, and the Boutique and Brow Bar).

Hermes Store (Singapore): Four-story flagship boutique with an art exhibition space.

Siam Discovery (Bangkok, Thailand):

A 40,000 square meter space for Thailands largest lifestyle specialty store, which focuses on
providing highly interactive experiences and personalization for its visitors. The space houses the
latest brands and retail experiences, including breakthrough concept stores by Nike, Issey
Mayake, Adidas, etc.

Cool things we are loving you might be missing #FOMO

Interactive Mirrors: Stores are engaging the consumer and providing them information
via interactive mirrors (e.g. Samsung mirror displays in hair salons in Korea, interactive
fitting room mirrors in Polo Ralph Lauren, Rebecca Minkoff, Rent the Runway etc.).

Healthy Home Delivery Options: Services such a Blue Apron, Sakara Life, and Maple are
tying together healthy, clean eating with direct convenience. Sakara Life offers a strict
regimen of meals throughout the week, Blue Apron gives you fresh pre-prepped
ingredients and original recipes, and Maple delivers affordable, top-chef quality meals.

SkinINCs Customization: Skin Inc is the worlds first Skin Supplement Bar offering highly
concentrated, 100% pure, and active serums and skincare from Japan. Build you skin
identity though a skin diagnosis test, then co-create a customized solution by combining
3 recommended serums into your Daily Dose bottle. Their offerings are available online
and have even been featured as pop-ups in Sephora Europe and Asia.

Transportation Collaborations: Brands are allowing the consumer to multi-task during

their daily commute. Nike took over a Toronto Streetcar and turned it into a store.
1Rebel Spin Studio is planning to merge their spinning studio with a bus in London with
their class Ride2Rebel.

Social Awareness Pop-Ups: Pop-up stores are appearing to push a message rather than
product. Animal rights organization PETA set up a pop-up in a popular Bangkok
shopping mall to shed light on their Behind the Leather campaign. Dutch brand The
Mad Rush lured customers into what they thought was their Amsterdam fashion-forward
clothing store, but instead was a mock sweatshop to raise awareness of the unjust
garment industry.

No Inventory, No ProblemTest and Try stores: Sephora Beauty TIP (Test, Inspire, Play)
stores, Everlane (US-based), and Grana (HK-based) are all stores that promote trial and
testing and drive online orders instead of purchasing directly in store.

Rise of the GIFs: More apps are incorporating GIF- sending capabilities. The Giphy API
tool is already in use by Facebook, Twitter, and Tinder. Now smartphone users can even
download a GIF keyboard to enhance communication. Some brands are capitalizing
on this trendfor example, Starbucks ran a holiday campaign where smart-phone users
were encouraged to send each other humorous Starbucks holiday greetings GIFs,
which, when shown on a specific day to a barista, would grant them a free holidaythemed drink.

More #FOMO!

Auto-Beautification Selfie Apps: Extremely popular in Asia, these apps allow you to
enhance your facial features by retouching blemishes, reshaping your nose,
shrinking your thighs, applying makeup, etc. Meitu, Chinas most popular selfieediting app is currently valued at $3.7 billion with over 800 million active users.

Uber for Beauty: Apps like UK-based Blow LTD, Priv, Prettly, and City Swish are
making it easier for beauty junkies to book treatments via their smartphone ondemand. Professionals come straight to you and provide services ranging from
blow dries, make-up, facials & nails.

MetGala: Brands like Maple and TopShop tapped into the MetGala hype. Maple
offered to deliver themed meals inspired off of the Met Galas menu. The Topshop
and Topman team designed exclusive outfits for select celebs attending the event,
which they featured on their blog and promoted on their e-comm page.

Targeting the College Consumer: Glossary gives college students access to

purchase beauty brands. Amazon is creating pick-up locations in college
campuses that feature communal work spaces with interactive media pods
(students can connect their devices to TV monitors for presentations, brainstorming,
studying, and collaborating. Amazon student and Prime members will also receive
expedited shipping benefits.

Going Retro: Brands are leaning towards old-school campaigns/product features to

tap into the nostalgic millennial. Glossier and Too-Faced provide stickers with their
packaging to allow consumers to customize their palettes/makeup bags. Airbnb
ran billboards and postings throughout Brooklyn of minimal, doodle-style aesthetic.
These prompted viewers to dial a number to hear recordings of different local
Airbnb hosts talk about their favorite spots. This fun gimmick takes pride in its
throwback to technological limitations.

Sharing Economy hits athleisure (Classpass): Membership platform that provides an

all-access workout pass to local studios and classes.

LOreal Snapchat Selfie Lens: LOreal sponsored a selfie lens that applies a branded
signature makeup look to users, featuring a sleek cat eye and bold lips.

Apps we love services at the touch of your finger

Boomerang: Instagrams video app. Inspired by the stories of Instagram, Boomerang takes a burst of photos and stitches them
together into a high-quality mini video.

Mapstr: An app that lets you keep track of all your favorite places around the world, tag them, and find them on your very own
map. Users can share their personal maps with friends, and vice versaplus, you can access details in one touch (pictures,
opening hours, website, contact number, etc.).

Taskrabbit: Think postmates for services. The app connects you to safe and reliable help in your neighborhood. Pick a task
(anything from cleaning to moving help or handyman work), get matched with a tasker within minutes, and get the job done
(once task is completed the service is billed directly in the app).

Houzz: An interior design app. Discover design ideas, connect with local professionals and shop for your home to make your
interior design dreams come to life within the palm of your hand.

PrimeNow: Amazons PrimeNow app allows you to order household items and essentials at your fingertips with free 2-hr delivery.

Social/Digital Campaigns
+4M followers
Instagram

Endource: A members only community (free registration) where

every single shoppable item has been edited by top
editors/influencers/trendsetters around the globe. You can
simply find an item of clothing, see who said what about it, and
buy it straight from their site.

Kylie Cosmetics: Kylies Lip Kits are constantly sold-out. The

combination of status and scarcity makes the product all the
more alluring. It could cost Kylie Lip Kit fans $3000 to sport the
orange lip liner and matching lipstick 22 (a 10,000% markup).

Glossiers SnapChat Campaign: Glossier granted their SnapChat

followers an early access code allowing them to shop their new
Balm Dotcom flavors.

Levis #501 Day: Levi set up a pop-up photo shoot session in

NYC, collaborating with Man Reppellers Leandra Medine and
street fashion photographer Phil Oh. Fans were stylde and
photographed by some of the best in the business, and images
were printed and posted in real time. Levis fans were
encouraged to post their style photos on Instagram with the
hashtag #501Day, with the chance to win a $501 Levis gift
card.

Tasty: Short, bite-sized video tutorials on how to create delicious

recipes. Buzzfeeds recipe channel has garnered over 50 million
likes on facebook, and has a greater Instagram following than
buzzfeed itself (3.1m vs. 1.8m).

Athletas Power of She:

Campaign that inspires women to life one another up every day
and share experiences of female communities such as run club,
surf group, and dance/art collective.

Lip Kits sold out

in less than 30
seconds

+59M likes
on Facebook
+3.3M followers
on buzzfeedtasty
instagram
(vs. Buzzfeeds
1.8M)

Implications + Opportunities for ELC

Ideas:
Pop-ups that sell a message vs. sell a product: Instead of pushing for a pop-up sale,
why not do something disruptive and create an event/experience that focuses
more on delivering a message (e.g. self-empowerment; a brands philanthropic
cause)
The university consumer: Make brands accessible on college campuses. Target the
student demographic to garner product adoption and loyalty.
Instant Benefits: providing instant benefits and multiple usages within a single
product (Laneige Lipstick 2-1 creates the perfect ombre lip in seconds SkinINC
talks to product benefits as categories ie. Nourish, Glow, Prep, etc)
Tap into nostalgia: Create campaigns or products that consumers will find
endearing and reminiscent of their youth. Incorporate elements of play with vintage
themes.
Make the store a main attraction, not a pit-stop. Interaction is keyfocus on
offering opportunities for consumers to test and play with the brand.
Apps:
Use Snapchat as a means to reach consumers and generate a feeling of
exclusivity. Build brand authenticity and story telling via behind-the-scenes clip.
Create a sense of community by having conversations with your followers and allow
them to play with fun selfie lenses + filters. Snapchat content is very different than
the other platforms but brands like Birchbox, Sephora & Smashbox are among
Millennial Favorites in our industry.
Social/Digital:
Create campaigns that warrant shareable souvenirs for the consumer (e.g. custom
product, professional selfies, etc.)
When communicating messages, integrate as much animated content to captivate
the viewer (GIFs, Mini-clips, etc.)
Talk to your consumer: use social handles to pose questions and encourage sharing.
Carry out digital/social competitions that make followers navigate through content
or create a sense of urgency (e.g. share this photo by 5pm today for a chance to
win; find the golden palette in our Instagram and win our sweepstakes!, etc.)
Leverage local influencers who are already being followed by target audiences

ANIMATION

NOSTALGIA

SELL A MESSAGE
VS. SELL A
PRODUCT

THE
UNIVERISTY
CONSUMER

INTERACTION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to the following
#iMentors for their contribution:
Amy-Lee Cowey, UK
Anne Vogt, UK
Casey Scherck, US
Dinara Annaniyazova, Canda
Emily Chan, US
Helene Aubier, US
Ines Makula, US
Kathryn Stuke, US
Kristina Niceski, Canada
Lexie Macko, US
Linn Henriksson, UK
Mathilde Juarez, UK
Nicky De Simone, US
Thomas Hoffman, EMEA
Tiara Kawser, US
YunHee Choi, US
Zahra Subjally, UK