As a leader in retail consulting and design, Perennial | DCM has worked with great brands and leaders for over 30 years. In that time, we’ve seen them not only lead in the face of adversity, but use that adversity to drive positive change. With 2020 coming to a close, great brand leadership has never been more apparent—so we’re celebrating it: Introducing the Perennial | DCM Brand Leadership Awards. Chief Brand Officer Kevin Lund has the details in this latest video.

In our latest Perennial Perspective video, DCM’s Chief Brand Officer Kevin Lund looks at a solution for reclaiming brand relevance among food-service businesses in the delivery channel. While delivery apps are now a revenue mainstay in the industry, they have made restaurants beholden to a business model that works against them. Delivery is undeniably convenient, but when executed by a third party, it disconnects customers from the restaurant brand. Restaurants need to consider the channel as part of their own business—not someone else’s.

Today the healthcare experience takes place across a variety of touchpoints, with the patient bearing the responsibility of connecting the dots. The opportunity to unify that experience, under a single brand, exists in the grocery channel. The retailer that delivers on this will achieve a new level of customer intimacy and loyalty, maximizing wallet-share potential.

Direct-to-consumer models have been an industry game-changer for CPG players, unlocking highly coveted access to individual, consumer-level data. But the model also brings with it the risk of mediocrity: simply creating an online catalogue of an in-store offering is not enough. Here’s how we believe CPG companies can use the model to achieve maximum value.

Across North America, once-vibrant strip malls are struggling to retain their relevance. Could these random, retail hodge-podges be restored to the community anchors they were intended to be?

If retailers are eliminating physical flyers, they are going to need to tighten the often adversarial relationship between their merchandising and operations teams.

Covid-weary consumers are facing a holiday season of continued distancing and digital—and they’re craving a more connected experience. Any brand that ignores that and approaches the holidays the same as years past will not be successful.

The anchor is a relic of a retail past that is now overshadowed by e-commerce and digitally native brands. Could we revive anchor stores in a new way—one that revitalizes both the store and mall and grows alongside a changing market?

When the retail industry was virtually knocked off its feet (aka: disrupted) by the advent of e-commerce a dozen or so years ago, brands had two options: Adapt to this brave new online world, or be left behind by it.

From initial annual sales forecasts of $5B to current projections of less than half that, the high hopes for legalized cannabis in Canada have not materialized. The answer lies in the convenience channel.

Mall operators across North America have been rolling out drive-in movie experiences in their parking lots to generate traffic and reconnect with consumers. Could shopping centres be missing out on the even bigger opportunity presented by the drive-in?