edge alignment

retail communications

© 2011 Two West, Inc.

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edge alignment

retail communications

2 Introduction

4 How Do Archetypes Work?

6 Where Do Retail Archetypes Come From?

8 The Four Structural Elements

10 The Twelve Retail Archetypes

35 Retail Archetypes Create Place

36 Actualizing Archetypes

Table of Contents

Introduction

Customers can get khaki pants or shampoo or furniture anywhere. Even from home. In an arena where every product cannot be a standout, the retail environment itself must provide a compelling reason to visit and buy.

It isn’t enough to make the store look inviting and to reflect the brand standards of the company. Retailers have to think about their space as a destination, a stage for the shopping story in which customers see themselves as the star.

Using studies drawn from the experiences of Nordstrom, Tiffany & Co., Cabela’s and other retail powerhouses, the authors show that the most successful brands are those that most effectively tap into fundamental patterns in the unconscious mind. These patterns fall into 12 basic categories or archetypes.

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This guide will help retailers identify and understand the most successful retail archetypes and serve as a decision tool to help them balance corporate strategy with the subconscious needs of their customers. For retailers who use this system, the outcome will be a consistently more engaging, more powerful brand experience.

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How Do Archetypes Work?Clearly, investing in the right location with the right amount of space and the right

demographic mix for your target audience is important. But to be successful in

today’s competitive landscape, you need to talk to not just the conscious but also

the subconscious.

Once upon a time… We’re exposed to stories at a very young age. You probably

remember being read to by a parent or teacher. Stories provide a rich reserve of

common knowledge from which to draw to help us make sense of our world.

There are certain basic characters and story lines that regularly appear in myth,

fairy tale, literature and film. First advanced by Carl Jung early in the 20th

century, these common characters, known as archetypes, represent core aspects of

the human condition, capable of channeling universal experiences and emotions.

From the Hero to The Sage to The Devil, we know what to expect from and how to

feel about these characters. Consider Harry Potter (The Hero), Dumbledore (The

Sage) and Voldemort (The Devil) from The Harry Potter series. Even if you were to

start reading or watching in the middle, you’d immediately feel familiar with the

characters, even though how they act out their story is new and exciting.

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This pattern goes beyond characters in narrative and myth. It can be applied to

retail spaces as well. After all, from the castle to the garden, archetypal characters

have to have a familiar place to act out their familiar stories. Because shopping

is not a passive act, archetypal settings allow shoppers to become characters and

make the shopping experience part of the shopper’s story line. Archetypal settings

draw people in exactly because they are a balance between what is known and

comfortable and what is new and exciting.

When your customers determine where they want to do business, do they look

at your environment and see the setting for their retail “story?”

If you want to establish real loyalty in an age when procuring goods is simply a

matter of an internet connection and a visit from UPS, you have to speak to deeper

needs and symbols. Retail archetypes give shopping emotional context and shoppers

a clearer sense of purpose. They give shoppers permission to assume a role – from

a knight shopping for a ring to an explorer shopping for bargains – in a play on a

stage that happens to be a store.

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Where Do Retail Archetypes Come From?Methods for retail space design come in a wide variety, atmospherics being the leader. The basic principle behind atmospherics is that pleasant environments result in an approach response and unpleasant environments result in avoidance. Simple.

Too simple. That’s because, as we’ve mentioned, shopping has evolved beyond the mere procurement of goods. And retail spaces have evolved beyond the transaction. They are now places of entertainment, places to construct the notion of family and friends, even places to teach social values.

The archetype model expands on atmospherics, combining and evolving the principles of psychology and anthropology, including dramaturgy, proxemics and habitat theory, to give people “reasons” for choosing one shopping venue over another.

DRAMATURGYAnthropologist Erving Goffman used the imagery of the theater to portray the importance of social action. If you understand the roles being assumed by the shopper, your retail space can be used as a stage to help them live out the desired role.

PROXEMICSThe term proxemics, introduced by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in 1966, encompasses how people culturally develop motion around and assign meaning to spaces, transforming it from space to “place,” complete with a sense of personal investment in the environment.

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HABITAT THEORYAccording to geographer Jay Appleton, humans are hardwired to favor environments that satisfy survival needs. We seek out evidence of abundant resources, minimal threat and shelter from the outside world. Much of this is subconscious, but it remains deeply ingrained in our collective psyche.

PLACE IDENTITYPeople create memories within places and form personal connections. The stronger the connection, the more likely they are to frequent and to bring new people to that place. A good retail space needs to create a shared identity, connecting the brand and the shopper.

ARCHITECTURAL PLEASUREIn Architectural Pleasure theory, architect Grant Hildebrand proposes that enjoyed environments share two common traits. First, even as we seek out environments that speak to our needs for comfort and survival, humans are inherent risk takers. We find enjoyment in settings that test our abilities and invite discovery. Second, diverse resources suggest stability and appeal to our survival sense. Conversely, homogenized experiences make us uncomfortable because they imply limitation.

What does it all mean? Customers need experiences, not just things. As more people are shopping online for convenience and deals, the in-store experience becomes an increasingly important differentiator. Retail archetypes provide brands with a tool that helps them craft a solid, sustainable and captivating experience, based on deeply ingrained psychological needs, leading to loyalty, advocacy and sales.

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Four Structural Elements

Based on this psychological, anthropological and design

research, four basic structural elements emerged, creating

two axes on which to plot and compare retail environments.

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CULTURE ritualized, structural, civilized, learned, vertical

VS

NATURE organic, contextual, primitive, instinctual, horizontal

OPEN thrilling, adventurous, extroverted, public, light

VS

CLOSED safe, restful, introverted, private, dark

Factory

Ca

thed

ral

Theater

Camp

ColiseumBa

zaa

r

Shrin

e

Esta

te

Tower

Laboratory

Cave

Ga

rde

n

CU

LTU

RE

OPEN CLOSED

NA

TURE

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RETAIL ARCHETYPES

RETAIL ARCHETYPESWe looked at hundreds of stores, mapping them against the four structural elements to uncover 12 Retail Archetypes.

SHRINE

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The Shrine is all about design. It creates an altar of reverence and devotion for shoppers to fully realize the beauty of the product design. Through use of focused lighting, shoppers are invited to touch and inspect products, to witness their quality and innovation – because in the shrine, purchase is ritual, a display of devotion.

SWATCH CULTURE/CLOSED

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ESTATE

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The Estate is all about escape. When the rigors of the city are too much to bear, people need a place to get away from it all. And that’s what the Estate provides. A return to a simpler time. A return to tradition and luxury. The Estate seduces shoppers with the promise of shopping in an environment that represents the ideal state of man.

RALPH LAUREN CULTURE/CLOSED

15

TOWER

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Grabbing an object and holding it between the thumb and fingertips stimulates a desire to possess and object.

The Tower is all about protection. It creates a secure and exclusive place to encounter products. When shoppers enter, they feel they’re escaping the common and entering a vault holding treasure and riches. Towers have a sense of history and permanence and inspire within shoppers an intense need to spend to become part of that history.

TIFFANY & CO. CULTURE/CLOSED

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LABORATORY

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The Laboratory is all about experimentation. With a design that puts shoppers at ease while inspiring their creativity, the Laboratory offers a warm, safe environment that nurtures an instinct to build and tinker. Surrounded by a cluttered charm, shoppers view purchase as fulfilling a primitive need to build and see the space as validation of that need.

INTELLIGENTSIA NATURE/CLOSED

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CAVE

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The Cave is all about desire. It creates a primal lair that excites and brings about curiosity as well as the need to explore. With low light and iconic presentation, shoppers’ senses are stimulated as their instinctual, animal desires are awakened. Within the Cave, purchase is the result of primitive pleasure.

ABERCROMBIE & FITCH NATURE/CLOSED

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GARDEN

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The Garden is all about comfort. It creates a simple and honest space for shoppers to explore. By using organic shapes, natural materials, weathered objects and other rustic elements, Gardens become the mother and engender a sense of nurturing that inspires shoppers to purchase based on the comfort and love they feel for the products they’re considering.

ANTHROPOLOGIE NATURE/CLOSED

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BAZAAR

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The Bazaar is all about discovery. It creates a market-type environment where the shopper must explore and hunt for the items they want. The diversity and complexity of the Bazaar imply stability and work to satisfy a human need to categorize and “learn” a new place. Within this environment, purchase is a proof of skill and ability to search and find better than those around you.

IKEA NATURE/OPEN

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CAMP

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The Camp is all about exploration. The shopper is taken away to a rugged outpost where the narrative is driven by wide-open layouts featuring natural materials like wood, stone and metal. The act of shopping takes on the importance of survival and self-sufficiency. It’s about gearing up for the expedition ahead and being prepared no matter what conditions are encountered.

REI NATURE/OPEN

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COLISEUM

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The Coliseum is all about power. It creates a forum that appeals to the shopper’s need to conquer others. Shoppers are turned into competitors and products are seen as tools and weapons for defeating rivals. It’s a mix of peril and pleasure that creates an intense thrill in the shopper. Purchase becomes the path to personal success.

ADIDAS NATURE/OPEN

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THEATER

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Most retail customers turn right when entering a store.

The Theater is all about story. It creates an escape for shoppers to take part in an elaborate and engrossing piece of entertainment. By transforming the space into a stage and using employees as cast, shoppers fully take part in the fantasy and feel a sense of belonging and self-affirmation. Purchase is then transformed into a way to remember or connect with the story.

DISNEY CULTURE/OPEN

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FACTORY

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The Factory is all about modernity. It creates a dystopian future world where the simple act of shopping is a sign of progress. Science becomes art through industrialist design that creates clockwork environments of gears, bolts and cables. This machine chic merges shopping with a production line, making participation a necessary part of society.

DIESEL CULTURE/OPEN

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CATHEDRAL

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The Cathedral is all about status. It creates a majestic shopping experience that affirms feelings of belonging and transcendence. With wide aisles and decadent flourishes, shoppers believe they are spending time in a special place – a place with scale and importance, a place where consumption is right and rite.

NORDSTROM CULTURE/OPEN

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Retail Archetypes Create PlaceShopping is a practice that has ritual structure and involves the creation of value and relationships.

By transforming the retail space into an archetypal place, shoppers come to see it as a preferred setting

for them to enact their retail stories, one where they want to spend time – and share with friends.

Place Creates EngagementFor years, retailers have framed the path to purchase in store as a process with three zones:

Through our research on retail archetypes, we found that this model is

missing a fourth critical zone. What’s more, the path is not linear.

Rather, it’s a cycle that starts with a fundamental, deeply emotional

trigger. We call this zone “enact,” because it is the point where the store

sets a stage and invites the shopper to play a role in a particular kind

of story. From there, every attraction, interaction and action happens

within the context of an immersive, engaging narrative. One that allows

shoppers to participate in a more personal, more creative and more

meaningful experience.

ATTRACTGet attention

INTERACTInvolve physically/mentally

ACTInspire action/transaction

ENACT

ACT INTERACT

ATTRACT

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SPACE

Distance between placesDevoid of meaning

We move through spaces

PLACE

Destination where we spend timeFilled with meaning

We are moved by places

VS

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Actualizing ArchetypesMore than a decade ago, in a book called The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater

& Every Business a Stage, authors Joseph Pine and James Gilmore wrote: “Those

businesses that relegate themselves to the diminishing world of goods and services

will be rendered irrelevant. To avoid this fate, you must learn to stage a rich,

compelling experience.”

We agree. Now more than ever. With most retail growth today coming from digital

channels, where shopping is mostly about price, quantity and ship dates, too many

brands are losing their stories – their opportunity to conjure emotion and engage

customers through relevant experiences. Of course, we’re talking about the stuff

that ultimately increases margins and builds loyalty.

The overabundance of choice and proliferation of information has transformed

shopping from a magical experience into a technical exercise. In this world, the

retailer with the best web optimization may win the battle for today’s purchase

but lose the war against eroding brand equity.

When it comes to the brick-and-mortar front, however, retailers can reverse

the charge of comparison shopping by creating incomparable experiences.

To do this, brands need to shift how they think about shopper engagement, relying

less on selling and more on storytelling. Playing to deep-seated archetypes is the

best way to evoke an emotional chain reaction that will lead to more meaningful

transactions. Through the strategic use of psychological, cultural and biological cues

in the retail environment, stores can create a context and connection with shoppers

like no other channel.

Some questions to consider in constructing your retail story:

If your store were a story, what would it be about?

What retail archetype best fits the setting of the story?

If you transformed into someone else inside this store, who would you become?

What problem would you solve?

These questions will help you think in archetypal terms, so you can shape

experiences that invite customers to do more than transact, but to enact a role and

engage in a long-term relationship.

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About Two WestIn retail, emotions are energy. At Two West, we use the power of emotions to drive deep customer engagement – in store, at home and

on the go. We call what we do retail momentum, because our aim is to turn shoppers into buyers by creating unstoppable desire.

www.twowest.com

www.twowest.com