Flagship stores for web business?
Last Sunday I ended up in the Orange flagship store in the heart of Rotterdam. Orange claims you can ‘experience’ their brand in this huge shop and guess what: you can!
At first sight it looks like any other telecom shop - lots of mobile phones in a crisp décor.
However, proceed and you’ll find a coffee shop called ‘Orange café’ in the back of the store. Take your macchiato upstairs where Orange has created a couple of lounge areas - they call them ‘living rooms’ - full of sponsored gadgets. A free wifi connection is available, so you can even get some work done while you’re there. Did you forget your laptop at home? No problem - Orange also provides workstations.
‘Living room’ in Orange flagship store (Picture by Alper)
Not for free, but just as interesting are the meeting rooms. Together with Samsung and Motorola, Orange set up two slick meeting rooms crammed with high tech. I’d say it’s a sweet spot to present your brilliant web 2.0 concept to investors. Prices start at €350,- for half a day.
While reclining in one of the lounge areas I realised that flagship stores are indeed a very powerful way to express a brand’s identity. This is particularly interesting for companies whose products are intangible, like Orange.
Products of web business are intangible as well, so why don’t they open flagship stores? Take Google for example, they already provide me with tools to get my work done, so why don’t they also provide me with a space to work in? There’s a couple of benefits to this:
- It lowers the bar for people to get to know new tools.
In general people are not very keen on changes. Working with new and unfamiliar tools (Google Docs, Google Talk etc.) scares them. That’s why most of these tools are only popular amongst a small group of people. Opening up recognisable stores can help overcome this fear. - It gives shape to a company’s identity.
Companies have an identity, that is, what they’d like to be. They also have an image, that is, how they’re seen by customers. Obviously, the gap between a company’s identity and its image should not be too large. Flagship stores can bridge this gap. - People are probably willing to pay for it.
Flagship stores are expensive but they don’t have to be unprofitable. I believe people are willing to pay for both coffee and a working space.
Clearly, opening flagship stores is far too expensive and risky for small companies. But, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, what are you waiting for?
Robert http://53miles.com
March 12th, 2007So you’re a Web 2.0 start-up looking for investors and already spending 350 on half a day of presenting? What’s wrong with this picture?
Nice room though.
Cristiano Betta http://www.ibbydibby.com/
March 12th, 2007Technically, this is exactly what Apple has been doing for years now with their Apple Stores. When you walk into the Apple store here in Regent Street it is not only about products, but i think 50%+ is about the experience of service (geek bars) and discovery (studios).
I do believe that Apple can learn one thing from Orange which is the point of serving beverages. With all the nice things to do at an Apple Store (I forgot to note their everyday workshops) I wouldn’t mind having something to drink with it.
Alper recently send me this article which highlights some of the great things about the Apple Store design but I can’t seem to find it. Maybe Alper can post a link to it?
PS: I agree with Robert for the 350. But if you want to make a promotion and need a top location in the near vicinity of restaurants and bars it is still a great deal.
PS2: Link gevonden: Appe Stores get the last laugh
martijn http://martijnpillich.nl
March 12th, 2007Point taken. Maybe it’s better to rent that room for a second investment round - until then you can use the *free* office space Orange offers you.
alper http://alper.nl
March 12th, 2007C’mon Cris, link to the real article. It’s well worth a read.
Cristiano Betta http://www.ibbydibby.com/
March 12th, 2007Haha, I think this proves that you send me too many articles and that I lose track once in a while.
I think you can give more comment as you told me last week that you in fact didn’t like the Orange store. Care to ellaborate?
alper http://alper.nl
March 13th, 2007In the article you can read that Apple goes for minimalist and elegant designs in their store: “We’ve gotten it down so there’s only three materials we’re using: glass, stainless steel, and wood”.
This esthetic is not present in the Orange Flagship Store. I’m not a fan of the style they employ and there is no unity present. It looks kludgy. Even worse is the lack of finish all over the place. Why spend this much on a store and not finish it?
Upstairs The upstairs was for me mostly a negative experience. This can be due to the fact that there wasn’t anybody there. There were some people downstairs but hardly any of them made it upstairs. Not a good sign for a Saturday early in the afternoon.
This could be partly blamed on the lack of experience presented.
The constructed living areas were flat and hollow and felt positively fake. One of the living rooms had a showcase of cell phones in it. Who has a showcase of cell phones in their living?
There was a row of very ugly internet terminals wich were turned off as were most of the other digital appliances and I couldn’t get the media center to work (no remote).
The most experience I experienced upstairs was playing a game of Rockstar Table Tennis on a demo XBox 360. Oh yeah that, and meeting a security guard who told me I couldn’t take any pictures anymore.
Downstairs The La Place is fair and has nice food and comfortable tables to sit. They don’t know anything about coffee, which is to be expected. The free WiFi definitely is a reason to grab a bite here. A nice resting point in this hectic part of Rotterdam.
If you want really good coffee and food, Open is a short walk away.
The sales area was nice with somewhat functional phones on display and friendly sales people. Though nice, this is stil a traditional sales experience. In the article it says Apple blends their sales into the experiences presented in their stores and is simplifying their lineup more and more. All stuff which this store does not.
I understand that for a company like Orange formulating a coherent retail strategy is not easy. All the more reason to do it. Opportunity does not lie at the point of least resistance.
The Orange Flagship Store is a mixed bag. Still, you have to give Rotterdam credit for trying to create habitable spaces.
Reinier http://zwitserloot.com
March 13th, 2007Actually, your average web2 startup doesn’t have an office. If they’ve made the mistake of having one, I certainly hope it’s not a very nice one, because those tend to be very expensive. 350 euros is pocket change compared to the costs of having a real (and nice) office.
Thus the dilemma: Once the time arrives to have a meeting with a bunch of important folk, either for a deal, or perhaps an investment, you don’t want to set a bad precedent and take them to a shitty conference room.
350 euros is absolutely nothing; it totally pales in comparison to the alternative: Leaving the impression you aren’t serious, and/or on the verge of bankruptcy. Of course as a startup you usually are, which is exactly why you don’t want to leave that impression.
We are fortunate to have friends with very nice offices which we can freely use if the time comes, but if you’re not, paying 350 for a high tech, fully served, nicely located meeting room that even gives off a nice vibe… no brainer.