The innovation strategy of Edenred to conquer new markets
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
At the International Marketing Trends Conference in Venice, Damien Joannes of Edenred explained the strategy of his group to diversify its activities and conquer market shares. The key seemed to be in proposing services tailored to evolving needs of businesses.…
Get inspired by concept stores to improve your marketing strategy
I was called in mid-July by the Belgian TV Channel RTBF to explain what concept stores are. The 3-minute television report was filmed –obviously- in a concept store located in Brussels : SMETS. I went back to the store later…
Positive return for subsidies to innovative SMEs
A recent press release by the European Commission has brought some interesting statistics about the effectiveness of subsidies to SMEs. More specifically the European Commission measured a series of performance indicators in eco-innovation SME which had received funding via the…
Do High-Tech startups deserve so much support? What about Low-Tech firms?
Hi-tech startups receive a great deal of attention in the press and from official authorities; they are sexy, make cool products, are usually launched by talented young guys with excellent engineering / business degrees. The purpose of my post today…
Innovation in the postal industry : the self-service trend
We reported that the postal industry, not see by many as one of the most innovative sector, is actually trying new ways to better fit into consumers’ behaviors. Two recent Esmerk press releases confirm that the self-service trend is extending…
Create a discipline to become more creative
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Sharing thoughts with our clients Nicolas and Christophe the other day, we discussed the very interesting topic of how to find time, as an entrepreneur, to be creative. We had invited Christophe and Nicolas offsite for a Design Thinking session…
Lessons learned on a Design Thinking session: DO’s and DON’T’s
I’m just back from a Design Thinking workshop we organized in Bordeaux (France) for a e-commerce project. The least I can say is it was successful and extremely enriching. We had invited a group of people from different horizons representing…
Have supermarkets signed their own death warrant ?
The latest stats show that prepared shopping carts tend to help supermarkets sustain their growth. Whereas in France supermarkets (-0.2%), hard discount (-0.4%) and small urban stores (-0.2%) all lost market shares, “drives” gained 1% on the same period. It’s…
The Wine Business Innovation Summit in Brussels
The Wine Business Innovation Summit (WBIS in short) was organized on Jan 19th in Brussels to gather entrepreneurs and leaders of the wine industry and fuel inspiration among the participants. The least we can say is that it was successful.…
What’s new in 2013: more advices for entrepreneurs with a focus on market research and innovation
Looking back over our shoulders Looking back at 2012 we’ve written a lot (like in 2011) but took a pretty long break after the summer. With a sudden increase in workload we had to concentrate on clients’ assignments. This is…
Delhaize seems to be happy about the results of The Cube barcodes scanning campaign
When Delhaize launched The Cube earlier this year we were warning that it wouldn’t be as successful as expected. However in a recent press release Delhaize said it was a success and that online sales increased 22.6%. So in the…
Innovation at its best at SIAL 2012 food and drink fair
As every two years we visited the SIAL 2012, which took place in Paris from Oct 21st until Oct 25th, the largest fair for professionals in the food and drink industry. With almost 6000 exhibitors this fair is one of…
Meeting with a genius: Enric Ruiz Geli
Sometimes you meet up with people that can inspire you for the rest of your life. This happened to me when I met Enric Ruiz Geli, the architect of the MEDIA ICT building in Barcelona 2 weeks ago. I’ll not…
SIAL deadline is approaching: innovations in the food and drink sector
Every two years the world's biggest trade fair for the food and drink sector is organized in Paris. The SIAL will atract ca. 140,000 visitors and we welcome more than 5000 exhibitors (!) during 5 days, from Oct 21st until…
When the consumer interacts actively with the store window
To follow up on our latest post on future store windows, we publish today this example we found in Portugal in an ICT store. Located at the bottom of an office building in Lisbon, this store proposes a window with…
Delhaize launches virtual shopping innovation in Brussels
Tesco started it in South Korea in 2010; Delhaize is doing it now in Brussels. Four boards depicting 300 products were set up last week in Brussels Central Station, allowing travelers to order products with their smartphone. Each product picture…
Pay What You Want
In 2009 a paper was published in the Journal of Marketing on a new concept called “Pay What You Want” (PWYW) which seemed to be interesting for firms. This research showed counterintuitive results, namely that consumers will exploit their control…
A call for an open-minded attitude in marketing innovation
Sometimes I really get the impression that I don’t get understood. Not long time ago I had a meeting with the marketing manager of a big and renowned Belgian company. I came there to present an innovative consumer behavior-related idea…
Visit to the SIAL: first impressions
Thanks to Jean-Christophe Samalens, the active founder of the well-known blog drinky.fr, I went this year to the SIAL in Paris. Thank you for this. For those of you who don't know the SIAL, it's the equivalent of the CEBIT…
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