I recently was privileged to spend some time with Matt and Allison Sprouse, owners of Abode, a fabulous home store located on the square in downtown Knoxville, TN.

One bad habit that retail stores get in is doing sales every weekend. Eventually that strategy teaches consumers to never pay full price, resulting in lower margins. The strong brands we all know and love (iPod & Starbucks to name a few) don't work this way. Instead of lowering the price, they increase the experience.

Recently there was an event going in in the town square – great news – lots of foot traffic in and around Abode. What did Matt and Allison do? 20% off everything? NOPE! They offered free root beer floats. (I could talk here about how the root beer float fits their brand, but I'll save that for later). That Friday evening was one of their best in history from a revenue perspective. And they didn't have to discount prices to do it. They simply increased the experience.

Next time you find yourself about to lower a price, stop and have a root beer float first.

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One of my favorite books is Zag. If you haven't read it- you should. Swing by the office and we'll give you a copy. It might change your whole perspective on marketing, design, and branding. I recently came across a small sighting of the book in an article interviewing NBC's Vice President of Programming about the return of the heralded 80′s TV Show, American Gladiator. In it he said, "We've been circling around this property for a long time now. It's truly what's not in the TV landscape right now. While everyone's zigging, I'm attracted to doing a zag."

If you were a bright eyed bushy tailed little gen x'er boy like me growing up, then you too will be as excited as i am about the return of the show. I recently caught wind of the rumor, and with some swift google action confirmed the amazement. Not only was the reemergence of the greatest show in sports competition to ever be hosted by Larry Zonka true, but I also caught wind of an open casting call for contestants. A boy hood dream to battle Nitro in the assault was instantly constructed in my mind.

Unfortunately, I missed this season tryouts by about two weeks, but the good news is that traces of Zagging are all over. Wether in marketing the return of a 80′s classic or starting a small business, zag has truly sparked a new train of thinking for all businesses alike.

Read the full article from movie web.com

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This is our place to post some collective thoughts and rants about the branding and design world. Here you will find anything that peaks our interest, like admirable brands, raving trends, or profound ideas. Our goal is too create community with like minded people who are branding and design nerds like us!

So come back every so often and take a poke around.

+ bless

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