STRATEGY SESSIONS 005

Expand Your Brand

Image: Guinness Storehouse

Flagships, concept stores, pop ups? Oh my.

We all know that the retail world has been absolutely revolutionized over the past couple of decades. To lure customers off their screens and into stores, brands are turning to some wildly creative new tactics – one of which is the aggressive branding of types of retail locations. Any given brand might have flagships, concept stores, pop ups, outlets — you name it – in addition to their core retail locations.

These days, that kind of innovative retail strategy is what’s expected to compete. But it’s difficult to do well, and the lines are often blurred. Here, we dive into two of the most common retail innovation strategies we see across industries: the flagship vs the concept store. What’s the difference, why launch one, and how to do it right.

Flagships are Brand Extensions.

While “flagship” may occasionally still refer to a brand’s first location, it has evolved to become a separate behemoth branding challenge in its own right. These days, it seems like every major brand across industries (from coffee to shoes to makeup to furniture) is building a destination-worthy flagship store. Often, we see flagship headlines focused on the physical square footage, like Nike’s 68,000 sq/ft space in NYC or IKEA’s new 82,000 sq/ft flagship in London. And most often, they’re far from profitable. But they should be so much more than just humongous storefronts – they should be a true brand pinnacle, designed to immerse loyalists in the heart & soul of the company. When done right, these are the ultimate expression of the brand. No bias, but Dublin’s Guinness Storehouse is actually a great example of this.

Concept Stores should be more like Endorsed Brands.

Usually these are more focused on experimentation and create a platform for innovation to create new experiences, powered by the parent brand. These can be great for driving growth for the parent brand by exploring new need-states. A separate concept store allows for experimentation, trial and error, and ‘fast fails,’ so the core brand benefits from perceptions of newness, without being hurt by the concepts that sunset or do not scale.

For example, Nike just launched its third UK "Nike Rise" concept store in Leeds, featuring innovative digital experiences like the "Footwear Fastlane" and customization services through "Nike by You," aiming to revitalize the local sports scene.

Examples

Our Place, Melrose

POP-UP CONCEPT STORE
Image: Dezeen
Apple Fifth Avenue

FLAGSHIP STORE
Image: Apple
HAY House

FLAGSHIP STORE & OFFICES
Image: Dezeen
Guinness Storehouse

FLAGSHIP EXPERIENCE
Image: Guinness
Nespresso

FLAGSHIP STORES
Image: Nespresso

Flagships must achieve:

An amplification of the brand, showcasing core equities in order to strengthen loyalty.

Concepts must achieve:

Innovation & experimentation in an attempt to expand brand narratives and therefore attract new customers.

Let’s look at an example in the foodservice world…

Let’s take a look at the world’s biggest food brand as an example. McDonald’s uses Flagships and Concept Stores to address different needs. The McDonald’s Flagship in Chicago is a celebration of the brand’s craft, quality, and heritage. It works much like a usual McDonald’s and serves largely the same offerings, but in a more refined and amplified context.

Meanwhile, McD’s newly announced brand CosMc’s is doing something else entirely. CosMc’s is a beverage-specific concept with a nostalgic brand angle that leverages McDonald’s expertise to tap into a new market opportunity. Sure, you can tell it’s associated with McDonalds, but it has a different visual identity, offering, etc designed for a specific GenZ audience who are going to concepts like Swig and Dutch Bros for beverage-centric occasions. McDonald’s is leveraging their dominance and expertise in the fast-food/drive-thru space to create a related, but separate concept.