Think Retail

Discover how industry leaders are innovating ways to give returns a second life and significantly reduce waste. This insightful panel session is moderated by Jean-Pierre Lacroix, president of SLD, with guest speakers Nancy Yousef, Chief Business Officer at Soles4Souls, and John D. Lee, President of JDL Associates. In this webinar, you will learn about:The key factors driving waste and its impact on retail performance How leading retailers are addressing this critical challenge The role of organizations like Soles4Souls in mitigating waste Six actionable strategies to transform returns and reduce waste Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No brand is immune to falling from grace even beloved brands have come under fire for both serious misconduct and things that are completely beyond their control. Some have managed to regain consumer confidence while others stumbled for years or even completely faltered. In today's conversation, we're talking about how brands need to address negative consumer perceptions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Understanding your target consumer is key to success, doesn't matter what industry you're in. With the many tools available today to gather data about consumers, the ability to create a clearer picture of your customers and how they might fall into different categories has never been stronger. However, it's difficult for most companies to make use of every tool available. That means we have to pick and choose which tactics we want to develop strong portraits of our consumer segments. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Social media is constantly evolving. Something as little as removing the number of likes can make a big difference in the way users respond to a post. Just when marketers feel like they figured it out, a new platform, a new trend, or a tweak to the algorithm switches it all up again. Today, we're talking about some of the newest trends in the world of social media and how brands can respond. And welcome, Matt Wilson, SLD's new digital communication specialist. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

These days we're all a little bit sensitive, maybe a little more than ever, and we really need a sense of connection. Community is one of those words that can be misused, but one of the positive things that happened during the pandemic was community building. Whether it was in a branded virtual community like Peloton, a school discord server, or the conversion of outdoor spaces into more comfortable community gathering spots, we craved being together when we were suddenly separated.Today, we're talking to Zayin Hossain, futurist and managing director of OCADU about community building and the implications for branded spaces. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

COVID is no longer preoccupying our lives as it was three years ago. Now, the war in Ukraine and the destabilization of the world economy are creating more uncertainty. It may seem like there are just too many things to worry about. And for retail brands that have been anticipating a celebratory end of the pandemic, it might feel almost soul-crushing to be facing another major crisis.So how do you get yourself and your team back up on your feet and looking ahead to a positive future when things are so uncertain? Today, I'm speaking to Richard Dirstein, SLD's EVP of Creative and Innovation about how retail brands can support their communities right now. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Every other day, you read a headline about labor shortages hurting restaurants and hospitality. In some places, companies are recruiting 14-year-olds, while others are offering big signing bonuses. Many restaurants are closing their doors several days a week because they don't have enough staff to stay open, further hurting businesses that have managed barely to stay afloat during the pandemic. And government benefits that have supported those who've lost their jobs have ebbed away. So, why this dearth of workers? And why is it persisting? And if it continues, what does that mean for service?Today we're speaking to Patricia Ghamami, General Manager of the Drake Hotel Devonshire and Motor Inn, about working in the service industry today and tomorrow. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

At the end of the year, we like to regroup and look back at the big brand stories that caught our attention throughout the year. And this year was a particularly strange one. The pandemic experience has become regionalized and our appetite for doom scrolling has kind of disappeared. Political intrigues have been flying under the radar in spite of the efforts of social media, and the biggest communal problem the planet's facing aside from the existential threat of climate change, which we appear to be unable to face, is one that most of us have never really thought about before, and that's supply chain issues. So, if you feel like 2021 was a little bit vague and unfocused, you're not alone because when we decided to talk about brand stories of the year, it was really hard for me to jog my memory. But we do have a list and Digital Marketing Strategist, Sebastian Maynard, and I are going to take you through our favorites. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Retail may have suffered a blow during the harshest times of the pandemic, but as we emerge in various stages around North America, people are heading back to stores, salons, restaurants, theaters, and malls. But are they shopping the way that they used to? A significant shift to e-commerce is not the only drastic change to consumer behavior that retailers are now facing. As people go back to the real world, another trend is emerging and that's the destination shop. We're talking about new flashy flagships, concept stores, showrooms. They're changing the way we think about store design and channel strategy. Today's guest, Retail Insider's Dustin Fuhs, is going to share his thoughts about the destination shop and what it means for retail brands. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For many years, fast fashion was on top – cheap, ubiquitous, ripped from the runway designs that were so fast and easy they were literally designed to be disposable. However, the impact of this approach to clothing has come under intense criticism. From enormous quantities of product ending up in landfills to chemical dye pollution and unethical labor practices, the cost of fast fashion is adding up. For consumers and many in the industry, the cost of such an unsustainable model has inspired them to seek out other approaches now coming under the umbrella of slow fashion. Upcycling, thrift flips, resale, micromanufacturing, and made-to-order are becoming more common as the impact of fashion and climate change changes the way we decide what we want to wear.Today, I'm speaking to Diana Coatsworth, an independent fashion designer from Toronto who has recently shifted her approach to be slower and more sustainable. We'll also be speaking with Kayla Vickers, an Account Coordinator at SLD who studied fashion from the business perspective, about how social media platforms like Poshmark and The RealReal are influencing the slow fashion movement. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Even though grocery stores remained open during lockdown, many people chose to do their grocery shopping online to avoid exposure to COVID. In fact, in SLD's recent study on e-commerce for CPG brands, 69 percent of respondents said they shopped more online for groceries during the pandemic. For CPG brands, this news is not generally received with enthusiasm. The online shopping experience is extremely different from a shop in the store and options, such as saving your previous purchase list for reorder can make it harder for brands to be noticed. Some CPG brands are wading into the waters of direct-to-consumer platforms but with mixed success. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The financial services industry has largely begun to undertake the work of transforming their customer experience model from physical branches to their digital experience, to at least some degree. However, to get the most out of these intensive projects, transforming the people who work in banks and how they work is just as critical as your app, your branch design, and marketing campaigns. When people are included in transformation, not only do financial brands get a better end result when it comes to the customer experience, but they're better poised to fend off incoming disruptors. Today, we're speaking to EJ Kritz, the EVP of Training & Customer Experience at ath Power Consulting about why financial brands need to take as much care with transforming their people practices as they do with every other part of their business. EJ, thank you for being with me today. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Over the past few years, brands have more often ventured into the realm of social justice and politics, whether it's Starbucks giving their entire retail network a day off to learn about racial equity, Dick's Sporting Goods taking automatic guns and ammunition off their shelves, or beauty brands making a pledge to stop Photoshopping models, every day there's another story about a company taking some sort of stand. Why is this happening, and does it build or harm brand equity? Today I'm chatting with Digital Marketing and Communication Strategist, Sebastian Maynard, about some of the biggest issues driving consumer preference. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In North America, demographic changes are creating a more diverse customer base. This means that brand strategy and marketing needs to become more inclusive quickly. But some marketers are nervous about making mistakes trying to speak to audiences with different experiences. Today, my guest is Puja Prakash – a graduate student at OCAD, completing her master's in Strategic Foresight. We're going to talk about why this is so important to take on, and how to put yourself in the best possible position to be authentic and inclusive. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The future is unfolding in real-time, all the time. But most retail brands are in a state of constant catch-up – just being at par before another innovation appears. This is partly the result of fast-moving times, but it's also the result of an industry that has been somewhat lackadaisical about innovation.To really become a brand of the future, today's guest sees audacious leadership as essential. Nancy Giordano is a strategic futurist, speaker, consultant, and author of Leadering, a book aimed at challenging leaders to be bolder in shaping the future – not only of their companies but of the world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Innovation and design thinking are new hot topics in board rooms these days, but anyone who has tried to make a company more innovative through strategic design knows that it's really challenging. Newer companies that are starting off with innovation as a foundational principle have a big advantage over older organizations with legacy systems, ingrained cultural dynamics, and leadership who might understand the benefit but not really know where to begin.Today's guest, Avi Raj, is a design strategist who understands how to connect the dots between design thinking, business, and digital experience. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Virtual and augmented reality are two of the most exciting technological developments of the last 20 years. Already widely used as a training tool in the military, healthcare, professional sports, VR has many potential uses in a consumer-facing industry such as retail. Augmented reality is already sprouting up with fun extras like augmented packaging and practical uses such as wayfinding through a store or checking to see how an item of furniture might look in your living room. As exciting as these technologies are, a lot of us don’t really have a great understanding of the full implications. Today, our guest is Brian Banton, a designer whose work in virtual and augmented reality has been put to good use at Facebook is going to talk us through what’s actually possible and how to plan to get there. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The rising concern about misinformation and fake news is a top concern of people around the world, whether we’re talking about Russian interference with foreign elections or an organic seal on a carton of milk. Skepticism is high and consumers expect it to become even harder to figure out what’s true in the future.Today, we’re talking to SLD’s president Jean-Pierre Lacroix about a recent study we conducted on the subject of why brands should be thinking about this and how they can become ambassadors of DeepReal in a DeepFake world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a world where distribution channels are becoming more and more tailored to specific locations, consumers and products, technology is enabling innovation that would have been impossible only a few years ago. Today we’re speaking to Corey Yantha, CEO of Dispension Inc. about a very unique way to sell a specific kind of product and the potential application to a wide range of scenarios. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here is a little trivia for you: what is the oldest and longest-surviving company in North America? Think the fur trade, striped, colourful blankets, and a coat of arms that features one fox, two elk and four beavers. Give up? It’s Hudson’s Bay, of course!Founded in 1670 with their first department store opening in 1881, The Bay now operates close to 100 locations across Canada along with a huge online store that ships across the country. From fashion apparel to home goods, whatever you want – The Bay probably has. But how can such an iconic brand stay relevant as local shops and direct to consumer brands eat away at market share?In this episode of Think Retail, we speak with Ryan Booth, Director of Design at Hudson’s Bay about the very exciting (and daunting) challenge he has taken on. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

At SLD, part of what we do is trends analysis. And since clients are always asking for our perspective on various emerging innovations and ideas, we thought we would make this part of what we share with you on the podcast. Today I’m joined by podcast producer and Digital Marketing Strategist, Sebastian Maynard - you may recognize his voice. And we’re focusing today on emerging trends in the realm of social engagement online. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

People are what make your company culture. Who are your people? This is the question I’m exploring today with retail HR specialist, Suzanne Sears. From emerging job descriptions and COVID shortages, to service excellence at the frontlines, in this episode we talk about how retail brands can become more future-focused by finding the right people for the right position. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It has been quite telling over the years working with retail brands, whenever you bring up the subject of employee engagement, it’s usually not a top priority. Everybody is so focused on e-commerce and social media that employees are often treated as an afterthought. And while digital is, of course, critical for any brand in bricks and mortar retail, people are the power behind real success. So why aren’t retail leaders more focused on leadership? April Sabral has had a long career in retail leadership with companies such as Banana Republic, Starbucks, and Apple. She’s the brains behind retailu, an online learning platform designed especially for retail leaders. In this episode, we talk about retail leadership and her new book, The Positive Effect. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A big buzzword for 2021 is optimism. Politicians, marketers, and even celebrities are cheering the world on as vaccination efforts roll out. And while the end of the pandemic may still be further away than we’d like, at least an end is in view. How does this relate to the retail experience? As we all know, shopping hasn’t exactly been a fun experience lately. It’s felt more like a military operation at times. That being said, wherever brands can bring a little bit of joy into their messaging and store experience, it will be most welcome. In this episode, we speak to Paul Goldsmith, who has years of experience managing retail brands, not just in Canada, but internationally. Most recently, he was leading design services for Walmart Canada, and that encompassed a broad portfolio, from private label, to in-store, to next-generation store design. In Canada, he also worked for Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws in product and marketing leadership roles. He describes himself as an optimistic person. And today we’re going to discuss why the world needs a good dose of happy thoughts, now more than ever. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How to get more people into your store is a question that retailers both big and small have been asking since the dawn of e-commerce. Add Amazon, a pandemic, direct to consumer online brands and a smartphone in the hand of nearly every consumer in North America, and the answer seems less clear still.Mark Kinsley and Mark Quinn (also known as Dos Marcos) are both veterans in the retail industry and have written a book on this very subject. Come Back to Bed is a joint effort, bringing their expertise and experience in the mattress industry together to discuss core principles that can apply to any retail category. Today, we’re going to talk about these core principles as well as strategic tactics brands can implement. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

At the end of every year, it’s tradition to reflect on the things we’ve loved, hated, and what we’re looking forward to for the coming year. 2020 was obviously pretty unusual, and although 2021 promises to be an improvement, it will also certainly be a year to remember. Today, I’m talking to some designers and thinkers from the SLD team about trends in design, technology, marketing, and culture – the good, the bad, and what’s next. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

TikTok and Snapchat, Google’s antitrust lawsuit, AOC versus Zuckerberg, it seems like every day there’s a new factor that could change digital marketing, making it a moving target for brand marketers. With so much to stay up to date on, it can be hard to know where to focus your efforts. Luckily, our guest today lives and breathes the world of digital marketing.Martin Waxman is a digital and social media strategist who also teaches at the Schulich School of Business, Seneca College and McMaster University. And we’re going to talk about the shifting landscape of digital marketing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The word transformation gets bounced around a lot, and like any other word that starts to become part of our marketing vernacular, it can start to lose its true meaning. That being said, when it comes to what’s happening in the world of retail banking, there really isn’t a better word to describe what’s going on. For banks leading this revolution, we’re seeing fundamental shifts in their model that are truly transformative. But for many banks, catching up with digital innovations has been enough of a challenge, and if you add COVID on top of that, it might seem like this lofty word is unachievable. Today, we’re talking to strategist and President of SLD, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who has worked on numerous bank transformation initiatives, about why the time to embrace transformation is now, and why it’s more achievable than you might think. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One of the buzziest and most debated tech terms of the last 5 to 10 years is artificial intelligence. To start off with, what does the term artificial intelligence actually mean? If you just Google “define artificial intelligence,” you’ll discover that even computer scientists and engineers don’t entirely agree on what to call everything that fits under the AI umbrella. And when it comes to putting it to use, there’s even less clarity. For retail brands, many of whom may be sitting on a lot of consumer data, understanding what options are available now, and what could be relevant tomorrow is key to staying ahead.George Wang is a designer whose work bridges areas of innovation and technology, product development, and software. And he’s going to talk to us about what artificial intelligence means for retail design. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What was your first job? Mine was as a teller at a big box store and there’s a very good chance your first job was also in retail. Maybe you were a busboy at a restaurant, or you bagged groceries or sold shoes at the mall. The retail industry is massive. In the U.S. one in four jobs are retail jobs. And yet working in retail is often seen as a default, not a choice to be lauded. Today’s guest, Ron Thurston, has had a long career in retail, starting off as a part time sales associate and now VP of Stores for Intermix, and his new book Retail Pride celebrates retail careers, including the accidental route many take to their positions. Today, we’re going to dig into some of the things he explores in the book to find out why and how leaders should make retail pride central to their culture. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Digital transformation was something retail organizations and financial institutions were already talking about before COVID hit. The pandemic has accelerated the trend and brought with it more challenges that were not anticipated. While brands have adopted many makeshift processes and systems to address these needs, companies are now wondering what’s going to stick after the pandemic. Today, our guests are going to provide some context to help answer that question. Stuart Armstrong is Chief Revenue Officer at JohnRyan and is a leading figure in customer engagement and digital signage technologies with a focus on how these technologies underpin business building applications within retail and retail banking industries. Jean-Pierre Lacroix is President and Lead Strategist at SLD, and together Stuart and Jean conducted a joint study with over 500 respondents in the retail and finance categories to find out what companies are dealing with now to gain insights and provide advice on how to move forward. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Any branded environment tells a story and a big part of that story is visual. Today, we’re talking to Cybelle Jones, CEO of SEGD, a not-for-profit professional organization for designers from all over the world who focus on shaping content-rich experiential spaces. Trained as an architect, she’s worked on many projects that involve historical and cultural environments such as galleries and museums, as well as working with brands to create memorable, interactive experiences. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As disruption from the pandemic rises and falls in waves around the globe, retail brands are pivoting their business to try and make up for related sales losses. Many brands were in good shape to manage this with robust digital and omnichannel ecosystems already in place. Many luxury brands, however, were not as well prepared. Heavily reliant on an in-store, really personal customer experience model, luxury brands in North America are now scrambling. A drastically changed in-store experience, the loss of tourists from Asia, and inexperience in the digital realm are some of the key challenges they’re facing. Fortunately, Casey Golden, founder and CEO of retail experience platform Luxlock believes that luxury brands have everything they need to get through this crisis and come out on the other side by leading digital transformation and setting a higher standard for shopping online. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today, we’re talking about cash. Is it going to go away completely? Is it unhygienic? Should retailers still allow cash payments, or is it okay to push consumers towards cards and digital-only? Today, our President Jean-Pierre Lacroix is talking to David Fagleman, Director at Enryo, a consultancy firm in the UK that helps support financial services in times of change. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brainstorming is a practice that most businesses need to employ from time to time, but it’s not as simple as just getting a bunch of people together with a whiteboard and some sticky notes. It’s a real skill. It requires a lot of preparation, guidance, structure and a plan. You need to be able to help the team focus but also be creative. Brainstorming sessions can be invigorating and exciting, if not challenging. And with work from home being an ongoing reality, brainstorm sessions might seem impossible to manage. In this episode we speak with SLD’s brand strategist Ada Zhang about some foundational brainstorming tips and how to make the magic happen, even remotely. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For sports teams, the brand is everything, it’s massive. Fan behavior in which individuals feel their own self-identity is intertwined with a team, even to the extent that the team’s performance is felt on a deeply personal level, has been widely studied by psychologists and academics and has driven sales of billions of dollars of merchandise around the world. But relying on diehard fans for sales is limiting. Today, we’re talking to professional sports team brand expert, Anthony Partipilo, the Chief Brand Officer for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, about why sports teams need to reach beyond their inner circle of fandom to new kind of fan and how the Roughriders are doing just that. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We all know COVID has changed the game for many retail categories. Some have been obvious winners and others are feeling extremely strained. For the fashion industry, some are saying the pandemic may be a day of reckoning. Today, we’re talking to iconic Canadian fashion designer, David Dixon, and his brother, interior designer, Glenn Dixon about the silver lining and how smart brands can use this as an opportunity to leap into the future. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The perks of operating your own independent business are often outweighed by the enormous burdens that come along with it. You become a de facto marketer, administrator, HR specialist. You work incredibly long hours and no matter what category you’re in, you’re facing increasing competition, both for clients and talent from larger organizations. For the Canadian Orthodontic Partners, the burden on independent orthodontic practices presented an opportunity. Founded by orthodontists, the organization has brought an initial 51 independent orthodontic practices under one banner in a new national brand. Today, we’re talking to Paul Abrams, Vice President of Marketing and Growth for the Canadian Orthodontic Partners and their new consumer-facing brand docbraces. Paul, thank you for being with us today. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Design Thinking is a term that many of us have heard, but what exactly does it mean, and how can financial brands benefit from this approach?Today we’re speaking with Janet Jones, a design thinker with an incredible range of experience in design, strategy, and innovation about design thinking for financial brands. Janet’s experience includes 25 years of interior design, as well as working as a strategic foresight consultant and an instructor in foresight and design, at OCAD. This experience led to working directly with financial brands as an innovator and the first design strategist with Scotiabank’s Digital Factory, to help implement a design-driven culture in the bank’s digital transformation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the financial industry, security is paramount. As the world moves online and technology becomes more sophisticated, so do hackers and scams. The advantages of leveraging technology have just skyrocketed with the impact of COVID-19, but preventing systems breaches can make the difference between customer loyalty and customer attrition. In China, biometric security is rapidly being adopted as a safe and easy way to handle financial transactions securely. Will COVID-19 be the thing that pushes North American banks to begin implementing these security measures on a wide scale?In this episode, we speak with Nick Hallas, Vice President of Sales at Daon – an innovator in developing and deploying biometric authentication and identity assurance solutions worldwide – about the why and the how of biometric security. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As cannabis legalization sweeps through North America there’s been a corresponding race for brands entering the market in what has amounted to a gold rush turn green. And Organigram is one such brand, they’ve been in the market from the time that medical cannabis became legal in Canada in 2013 and they now offer a range of brands including that medical line Organigram, and recreational lines Edison, Edison Reserve, ANKR and Trailblazer.Ray Gracewood is the SVP of Marketing and Communications for Organigram and he’s going to tell us about the roller coaster ride at the front lines of the cannabis industry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A field of study that previously was seen as something of an academic niche is now emerging as a key tool that can help brands not only stay relevant, but if leveraged to its full extent, can even help them leapfrog ahead and become leaders. That field is strategic foresight and future studies.Today, we’re talking to Foresight Strategist Robert Bolton to understand exactly what strategic foresight is and how it can help brands. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, President of SLD speaks with Manpreet Juneja, a Design Strategist at SLD about a study we recently conducted on the subject of future readiness and strategic foresight. The study asked brands to consider the subject of the future and how well prepared they think their organization is to cope with change. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With economies in a fragile state due to COVID-19, many are wondering what Q2 and Q3 will look like, or if they’re even going to have a job. Retail brands that have incorporated AI are faring better. Today we speak with Max Peiro, CEO of Re-Hub about how Chinese companies have used innovation to get through this difficult time, and what the rest of the world can learn from their experiences. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As retail brands are forced to close their doors in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19, many are understandably concerned about the impact this is going to have on their business. In times like this, it’s still important, or maybe more important than ever, to keep the lines of communication open with customers. Despite retail locations shutting down left, right, and center, retailers need to be creative in maintaining relationships with their customer base, positioning themselves as part of their communities and offering help in any way they can. Today, we’re speaking to Scott McArthur of Statflo – a brand dedicated to helping brands communicate directly with their customers – about how to weather this storm. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Almost every retail category has been transformed by technology, social media, and the mainstreaming of progressive social attitudes. But for the luxury beauty industry, the change has been more long coming than for others and it’s been revolutionary. Up until the past few years, luxury beauty focused on the narrow idea that affluent white women were their one and only target market. Models were almost always thin, white, and young. However, the shift over the last decade has been remarkable. The very idea of beauty and luxury are being redefined by younger generations who’ve never even flipped through an edition of Vogue or bought a lipstick at Saks. Today we’re talking to BXP’s Linda Casey about branding luxury beauty in this brave new world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For the majority of indie start-up brands, design seems like something of a luxury. Indie operators end up doing a lot of the work on their own, relying on an ad hoc internet education to patch together something that feels like an image. Once they grow and have a bit of money, then investing in design might be on the table. Local Toronto brand Pilot Coffee Roasters took a different approach. They were fortunate enough to have today’s guest, Creative Director Michelle Wilkin, as part of the family, and as such, Pilot has been in a unique position to be able to leverage a design approach from early on. We’re going to talk to Michelle about the challenge and the value of design thinking as an integral part of your business, and how this approach has helped Pilot make a mark in a very competitive category. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Every new year brings the promise of new, magical, game-changing digital innovation. But what we expect from technology doesn’t always deliver quite the way we want it to. As retailers consider the expansion of 5G, AR, VR, and artificial intelligence, there are a lot of promises. But what will they actually deliver? In this episode we speak with Christopher Hall, Managing Director of the ICX Association, about five big tech promises for 2020, and whether he thinks they’re going to live up to the hype. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, SLD's Jean-Pierre Lacroix has a conversation with Simon Stenning, a consultant who works exclusively in the foodservice and hospitality sector, providing brands with actionable market intelligence. Simon’s background includes working with huge names like Hilton and Compass. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For years now, Millennials have been the most researched and targeted demographic group in the history of brand marketing. Today, Millennials are approaching middle age, and as their needs shift, Generation Z is stepping into the spotlight. Born in the late 1990s and early 2000s, they’re now coming of age and represent 25 percent of the U.S. population, making them bigger than Boomers or Millennials. Today, we’re talking to VP and Managing Director of our New York City office, Janice Jaworski, about designing for Gen Z. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Men’s apparel has undergone major shifts as workwear becomes more casual and at the same time more men are interested, or at least curious about being fashionable. So how then do you take a classic menswear brand into the future? Today we’re talking to Lance Itkoff, CEO of the iconic men’s wear brand Tip Top. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.