From its Model Citizen photo campaign to its  Disco Open Source Project  to its ThinkTank Community Idea Factory, Betabrand has built its brand around customer engagement. Insights Social Media Case Studies Betabrand brand apps brand hack brand hackathon crowdsourcing online retail retailWe recently ran a post covering the  Facebook-powered sock insurance program  from Betabrand, maker of geek chic such as the Executive Pinstripe Hoodie  and the Nauseating Holiday Pants. Asking your customers and fans to hack your brand is about as social as a social business can get. You MORE >>

This weekend I worked with local retailers from across the United States – many from small communities that do not appear on most maps. Yet, despite the current economic conditions their retail businesses are doing quite well. Just because a business is local does not mean it understands the local community. For example, national chains may have brick and mortar locations in our communities, but their staff has limited historical experience with its members. It’s another to be important to just a few people – your local community. MORE >>

Online retailers are doing relatively well in the current economic climate. Whilst spending is down across the board, online retailers are doing either significantly less badly than their traditional competitors, or they are actually performing strongly. Both ASOS and Vente-Privee are seeing relatively strong performances in a weak retail market. They also allow the retailers to stock smaller amounts of more products, allowing them to have a larger portfolio and to cater for a wider range of goods. Online retail benefits most when it lets you see such people. MORE >>

This time the topic was ‘social media and retail’. TM Lewin: the Off the Cuff online community. TM Lewin have a very clear strategy of what they want to achieve from social media (some of these aims include things like “educate and excite customers about the brand and product, Get customer insight into our product, marketing and services and be seen as an authority on business dress”) and they now have a presence on various social media platforms including a Facebook page, YouTube channel, Twitter account and their own community ‘Off the Cuff’. First up was Naomi. MORE >>

The community was shaped to her needs and facilitated the kind of interactions, learning and development paths she needed to practice successfully. She could post and read about cases on this community platform; ask for advice; compare results; brainstorm on solutions; and go as deeply as she wanted into a specialized issue. Its value was not a list of “benefits” but the community itself: a facilitated joint journey of continuous discovery. Retailers also receive training, resources and support. We all have had these moments. Members were accepted by invitation only. MORE >>