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Retail Update: Banana Republic's content push; a budget Tesco chain; and why Amazon isn't the pinnacle of CX

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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

August 27, 2014 | 5 min read

The Drum's weekly round-up of the retail scene takes a look at the latest retailer to shrug off traditional marketing and create content instead; why brands need to be thinking beyond the website when it comes to customer experience; if dividing Tesco into a budget and high-end brand could be a wise move; and the joy Waitrose has been spreading with a new brown sauce bottle design.

Banana Republic launches content hub

Banana Republic is the latest in a line of fashion brands to bridge the gap between commerciality and content.

Chief marketing officer (CMO) Catherine Sadler exapliend to The Drum that it is venturing on to platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat to create content for the ‘New Look of Banana Republic’ brand overhaul campaign and is looking to "engage on a deeper level with its customers."

An interesting way it has done this is to put the spotlight on people in the company. First up was its new creative director Marissa Webb and the brand is driving people to her social channels in a bid to tell the story of the brand and what is inspiring its change.

The push from Banana Republic follows a similar initiative by heritage jeans brand Levi’s which rolled out earlier this year. Unlike Banana Republic, it relied on consumers to create the content which would tell its story and, as global CMO Jen Sey explained, “put it back in the centre of culture.”

Other retailers, such as Warehouse, have gone down the route of actually becoming publishers. The high street retailer revealed last week it was launching a print magazine and had created a blog which would offer more than just the latest fashions, but would engage with customers by offering life, travel and career advice.

Customer experience beyond a good website

According to Mel McVeigh, founder of Opposite Days and co-founder of SheSays UK, the companies we think of as the “pinnacle” of customer experience, such as Amazon, aren’t really doing that great a job.

McVeigh is the chair of The Drum's upcoming 'The Joy of CX' event and she said there is an emphasis put on the logistics, service and product design as well as how effectively retailers harness data. However, this can mean important elements of customer experience are being overlooked; such as the way people are greeted in-store, the physical layout of a shop and how things are packaged.

The challenge for online retailers to deliver beyond an easy-to-use website and fast checkout remains high on the agenda and has led some to create experience labs in-house.

Shop Direct is one such retailer. Its head of e-commerce Jonothan Wall delved into the strategy behind an in-house Lab with The Drum last week while Ryanair - another brand taking part in 'The Joy of CX' - is in the midst of making a raft of hires to its new innovation lab which aims to develop ideas to imporve the experience for passengers.

Should Tesco split to compete with rivals from all angles?

As the question remains as to how long 'The Big Four' - Tesco, Adsa, Sainsbury's and Morrisons - will survive against the competition from both high-end and discount retailers, an analyst has urged Tesco to split into separate outlets.

Bruno Monteyne, an analyst at Bernstein Research and former Tesco executive, suggested that the brand split ino a high-end and discount division based on its 'Finest' and 'Everyday Value' brands if it wants to attract a wider range of consumers and compete with both Waitrose and M&S and well as Aldi and Lidl.

Whether such suggestions would be entertained by incoming chief exec Dave Lewis is yet to be seen, but Monteyne was adament that the radical change is “exactly what Tesco needs” following poor results earlier this year.

Harry Deverill, 7, behind Waitrose's brown sauce bottle design

And on a more joyful note, Waitrose has rolled out a brown sauce bottle designed by seven-year-old Harry Deverill.

“Dear Mark Price," read the letter from the boy. “I am writing as the other morning I had Waitrose Essential Brown Sauce with my bacon sandwiches. I asked Daddy what the picture is of on the label. Daddy didn't know and neither do I. Please could you let me know. Mummy says I am good at drawing so if you would like me to draw a new picture for the label I would be happy to.”

Waitrose did want him to and the special edition brown-sauce bottle will be available in shops nationwide for £1.20.

Banana Republic CX Waitrose

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