Bricks-and-mortar eyewear retailers can thrive amid online and big box competition, but only if they’re willing to try new strategies. My name is Scott Ginsberg. I’m the guy who wears a nametag 24/7. This is what would happen if I owned the world’s coolest eyewear store.
STORE NAME: PRSPCTV
We would be known for the story we tell, not the glasses we sell. In retail, telling a good story is the strategy that gets customers to pay attention and walk in the door. Our story would be about perspective, not vision. We would hire models and actors and raconteurs who could tell compelling stories and entertain our guests.
We would donate 10 percent of our profits to charity. Every month, we would select a organization that does meaningful work. We would post a summary of that group’s mission to inform customers where the money is going — and post the amount donated each month.
We would have screens with customer pictures. Since we’re all about perspective, not just vision, we would keep a stream of customers’ Instagram pictures. Using the hashtag #PRSPCTV, customers would share selfies wearing their new glasses. We would outfit every employee of other nearby stores with free eyewear as a promotion to drive traffic.
We would become a temple to a belief system and a place to enter into a fantasy world. We would have our own coffee shop and bookstore with live music. People could practice experiencing life with their new eyewear, soak up the ambience and kibitz with people who share their worldview. Our store is where they’d take refuge from everyday life, seek shelter from the winds of the world and feel something closer to love than simple convenience.
Grand opening coming soon!
Since 1999, SCOTT GINSBERG, aka “The Nametag Guy,” has authored 27 books, released six musical albums, published an award winning blog, and delivered over 600 presentations and corporate training programs worldwide. Scott is the only person in the world who wears a nametag 24/7. Even to bed. Follow him @nametagscott.
This article originally appeared in the March 2015 edition of INVISION.