Programs
Nike’s New Membership Model for Kids’ Sneakers Amplifies Shift to Direct Sales
The athletic apparel brand has launched a new premium loyalty program for kids’ shoes. “Dave Cobban, Nike Adventure Club’s general manager, said that the group’s goal was to figure out how to solve problems for customers that lead to closer relationships with the Nike brand. That resulted in a membership model targeted at both parents and kids, which offers parents a more convenient way to replenish quickly-worn kids’ shoes as well as fosters customer loyalty.”
Customer Experience
Sam’s Club Debuts Cashierless Store
Texas will have the first cashierless location for the retailer, and consumers will be able to shop using the brand’s app.
Dunkin’ Offers Pumpkin Spice Early
The QSR is offering pumpkin flavored items throughout its menu this August, as the brand “is looking ahead to fall, getting a jump on Starbucks with pumpkin doughnuts, a signature latte and pumpkin-scented lip balm.” It will be interesting to see how consumers react to this departure from orthodoxy.
Tech
VR Experience Provides Users with Self-Therapy
The University of Barcelona has conducted a study on individuals who enter a VR experience, in which they, as Sigmund Freud, offer themselves (displayed in VR as an avatar) personal advice. The study “found that immediately after body swapping with Freud and counseling themselves in virtual reality, about 80 percent of the 29 participants reported feeling like they had a different perspective on their problem and that this would result in a change in the way they dealt with it (compared to 40 percent of another 29 participants in a control experiment, where there was no body swapping with Freud and the psychotherapist’s avatar used pre-recorded responses). More strikingly, a week after participating in the experience, the same percentage of people reported the change sticking with them.”
Leadership
Résumés Are Starting to Look Like Instagram
Employers are starting to grow accustomed to résumés that are emulated social media profiles. “When it came time late last year for 23-year-old Valentino Bogliacino Bueno to revamp his résumé, he added up top an oval photo of himself smiling. He didn’t stop there. He designed a watermark of his initials and stretched it diagonally across the page. He included a “by the numbers” section in large blue type to highlight points about his budding career. Accounts under his supervision: 125+. Languages he can speak fluently: two.”