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Retailisation Series #3: The Cultural Utopia
How retailers go from selling goods to selling cultureThe Retailisation Series will spotlight how digital and architectural experiences are causing a shift in how brands, retailers, and shoppers...
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Sustainability & Design #1: The Sustainability Epiphany
Sustainability. Going Green. Eco-consciousness. Whatever you want to call it, it's a movement that's here to stay. Consumers are looking for, and increasingly expect, companies to be responsible to the...
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Sustainability & Design #2: Nature Knows Best
When it comes to designing more sustainable products and experiences, why not start by learning from the best? Mother Nature has been designing sustainable organisms and ecosystems from the beginning...
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Sustainability & Design #3: Redesigning the Product Life-cycle
Sustainable Design is all about broadening our perspective—beyond simply product specifications or user requirements to how a product contributes to a more sustainable environment over the course of...
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Sustainability & Design #4: Getting Virtual
When it comes to getting to more sustainable product designs, sometimes the solution isn't a product at all—but a virtual service. In the spirit of "Dematerialization", the approach to design that aims...
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Abundance, Scarcity, and the Impact of Retail Theatre
I've always been enamored by retail.As a planner, there's something about a physical space filled with live consumers (err, shoppers) that fills me with enthusiasm. Just by walking into a store, you...
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Life, Liberty, and... Privacy?!
The Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2013Is the dream of freely-shared data dead?Maybe.In the wake of the (not-so-startling) revelation that the NSA has been tapping the databases of Facebook and Google,...
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A QR Code Done Right?!
Yes. You read that right. A QR Code done very right.I have a brief confession to make: up until now, I'd never scanned a QR code.Though I of course downloaded my first QR code reader years ago, when...
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Breakaway Brands #1: Consistency
What are the keys to making a brand stand out? Better yet, how can brands not only stand out, but break away from all others in their category?This is the first in a series of posts inspired by the...
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Breakaway Brands #2: Truth
What are the keys to making a brand stand out? Better yet, how can brands not only stand out, but break away from all others in their category?This is the second in a series of posts inspired by the...
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Breakaway Brands #3: Innovation
What are the keys to making a brand stand out? Better yet, how can brands not only stand out, but break away from all others in their category?This is the third in a series of posts inspired by the...
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Breakaway Brands #4: Leadership
What are the keys to making a brand stand out? Better yet, how can brands not only stand out, but break away from all others in their category?This is the fourth in a series of posts inspired by the...
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New "Life as a Planner" Series on APGCanada.ca
Happy New Year!While 2014 will no doubt bring new resolutions (more sleep!), it will hopefully bring more planning goodness on this blog, and more activity within the Canadian planning community in...
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Wynnevertising
Who knew that one of my favourite TV spots from the holidays would be a political ad?Source: YouTubeTypically, political ad dollars are either spent trumpeting campaign platforms, or slugging the...
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Death of the Easy Button
What does Staples' move into a more emotive territory mean for the beloved red button? Is it a good move or a bad one?For the first time in a long (long) time, Staples is changing things up, moving...
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A New Role for Brands
Killing off "Zombie" Ideas, and Why Brands Really MatterSource: CHUD.comMark Tomblin, Chief Strategy Officer at TAXI, recently spoke on the Planning Salon, a Google Hangout series where planners form...
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A Minimalist's Guide to the Internet
SourceI'm a minimalist. I'll admit it.Don't worry — no need to run for the hills (yet). Minimalism isn't what you think. It's not carting everything to the dump — clothes, DVDs, pogs! It's not cutting...
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Are Newspapers Brands?
Why newspapers need less news and more brandThis was a sad week for newspapers in Toronto.The Grid, a Toronto Star run weekly, formerly known as Eye Weekly, which had, over the past two years, grown...
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Behaviour! Insights!
Learning from a Behavioural Insights MeetupSo behaviour change "science" is all the rage, right? Well yes — of course it is. I myself have written about Habit science, as well as the Art of Choosing,...
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The Lean Brand
Brand Building in the Startup AgeBrant Cooper and Jeremiah Gardner present the "Lean Brand" approach at The Working Group on Oct. 27, 2014Back in the day — and I mean way, way back (we're talking...
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