Friday, October 3, 2008

Lost in the Supermarket

The folks at Trendwatching recently coined the word PERKONOMICS.

"A new breed of perks and privileges, added to brands’ regular offerings, is satisfying consumers’ ever-growing desire for novel forms of status and/or convenience, across all industries."



I love the concept in the signage above. In this case, a retailer can reward customers who behave in ways that is consistent with their brand -- even beyond the shopping experience.

When I was preggers with Son #1, for the first time ever, people began to offer me their seats on the subway and Metro North. Yep, right when the benefits of being knocked up kicked in, we moved to Northern VA. D'oh!

What I found there, however, was also pretty cool: signs in front of the best spaces in parking lots that said "Parking for Expectant Mothers." Hey, that's me! I was suffering from exhaustion and extreme cankles at the time and really appreciated the benefit (even if walking probably would have helped). Here, at the mega-Wegs in Pittsford, we have designated parking areas for parents shopping with small children. For a while there, I was loving that, too.

All of this has made me stop to think: are there ways (other than parking related) that my clients can offer non-traditional but brand-related perks to their customers? As Taco Bell reminds me, I need to start thinking outside the bun.

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On an unrelated note, did Wegmans just change their logo??

to

I'll be darned. It's definitely an improvement. Clean, less dated and more legible. But it's not grabbing me yet. Wegmans strikes me as a progressive, customer-centric, employee-friendly company; whereas, this image seems to hearken back to a bygone era. It makes me want to don an apron, vintage dress and put my hair in a beehive updo. Mind you, after saying that I wanted to be Amy Sedaris yesterday, that isn't entirely a bad thing.


(Image from AdoreVintage.com)

Maybe I can pick up the fixins for some tuna casserole.

5 comments:

uncle wally said...

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880927001

Pranayama mama said...

Well I'll be darn diddlyarned. I wasn't too far off! I guess they accomplished their mission.

Suzanne Marie DeWitt said...

I've never been on Urban Dictionary before. Killer! Plus how do you know so many sites devoted to vintage clothing??

Pranayama mama said...

Shocking since I'm so up-to-date fashion-wise :)

Suzanne Marie DeWitt said...

BTW I'll let you borrow from my collection of vintage cocktail aprons on the night of the tuna casserole. Just before the hubby walks in the door, you whisk off your grubby utilitarian apron, slip on one made of voile and glitter, and touch up your lipstick.

As any good wife would do.