When Web 2.0 brands go physical.
Recently we collaborated with Piers and Jeff from PSFK on a communications and technology trends presentation to Nordstrom. While I can’t share the full presentation (sorry), I can talk about some of the themes. One that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is the trend of Web 2.0 brands creating a real-world presence.
A couple of the examples we shared were Etsy’s labs in Brooklyn, where Etsy run classes on various craft techniques.
From the Flickr of storque
And the Threadless store in Chicago where they teach design classes, host artist galleries as well as selling designs.
From the Flickr of iDanSimpson
Obviously there are a bunch of different insights that can be drawn from these moves but the one that has occupied me recently is the impact upon the practice of branding. Up till now, Web 2.0 brands have purposefully played by very different rules from traditional brands.
In a desire to paint themselves as products of the populace rather than products of the boardroom, Web 2.0 brands have draped themselves in friendly, un-polished, imagery and eschewed high design for functionality. See semiotics of Web 2.0 below.
However, while the handmade aesthetic feels disruptive and charming online, I have a hunch that it won’t translate quite as well offline, especially as more and more Web 2.0 brands move onto the High Street.
Out there in the real world, great design, polish, fit and finish are some of the things that progressive brands are using to disrupt their categories and attract smart, stylish customers. In retail experiences like the hundreds‘
or Colette…
high design is the disruption. Design is the primary tool for delivering an exciting and unexpected experience.
As more and more Web 2.0 brands create offline experiences to extend their brands, they will start to run head on into a completely new kind of competition. I think a bunch will flub it completely because they’ve made bad design a core part of their identity. However I think there will also be some really interesting new combinations as the more adaptable companies combine these two different sensibilities and create something completely new.
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