Hospitals Build A Better 'Healing Environment'†

Outdated Facilities Redesign Patient Areas To Lift Quality Of Care

Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2007 — At Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Ill., the neonatal intensive-care unit's open-plan nursery is being transformed into a series of private "pods," with glass walls that allow staff to observe infants, but privacy curtains and reclining chairs for moms to be alone with their babies. The aim: to sharply reduce noise, harsh lighting, and other environmental stresses that can spike blood pressure, interfere with breathing and heart rate, and worsen sleep for newborns.

In Aisle Three, Couch Potatoes Trying the MP3s

New York Times, March 18, 2007 — FOR its first store in the United States, Samsung, the Korean electronics company, took an unconventional route: it refused to sell anything. Having leased 10,000 feet of astoundingly expensive real estate in Midtown Manhattan, it instead encouraged customers to commune with its products — to check e-mail on Samsung computers, watch reality shows on Samsung flat-screen televisions and make long-distance calls on Samsung cellphones.

Heineken Hopes Branding Will Fly at Airport Bars†

Heineken wants to bring the Starbucks Coffee experience to beer.

Wall Street Journal, March 16, 2007 — A new bar at Hong Kong's international airport serves up as much Heineken NV branding as it does beer. Bar stools reflecting green neon match the Heineken-logo T-shirts for sale. TV screens show Heineken ads and sports events sponsored by the company. While the bar sells other beers as well as wine and spirits, only Heineken-owned brands are available on tap.

Tesco May Change American Idea Of Convenience Stores

MediaPost Publications, March 16, 2007 — WHILE FOOD RETAILERS AREN'T ANY closer to knowing exactly what British supermarket giant Tesco has planned for the U.S. when it begins opening stores here later this year, some observers expect it to hit a sweet spot.

AT&T Megastore Aims to Make It Fun to Buy a Phone

New York Times, March 13, 2007 — With the opening yesterday of its first megastore, AT&T is trying to do the seemingly impossible: make buying cellular service an almost entertaining experience. The 5,000-square-foot store in the Compaq Center complex in Houston is the first of 11 AT&T Experience stores planned for opening this year with the aim of making shopping for communications equipment less daunting and, perhaps, more fun.

How Starbucks Strayed†

Case Study: Automatic Espresso Machines, Day-Old Food and Plastic Chairs

Advertising Age, March 5, 2007 — In the wake of the Starbucks "Memo Shot Round the World" from Chairman Howard Shultz on the looming commoditization of its brand, we asked the experts how they would restore the mythical Starbucks Experience.

Departments of Energy†

Brandweek, February 26, 2007 — When one big retailer acquires another big retailer, replacing the name over the front doors in locations across the country, maybe it's big news for employees and shareholders, but you can't expect dancing in the streets. Yet, if that retailer is Macy's parent Federated Department Stores, which absorbed 400 May Co. stores, maybe you actually can.

The New Video Arcade in Spain Might Be the Movie Theater

New York Times, February 26, 2007 — For the last three years, Enrique Martínez has been toiling like a 3-D warrior to let the games begin. The result is a hybrid movie theater with all the digital fire and fury of a video game: fog, black light, flashing green lasers, high-definition digital projectors, vibrating seats, game pads and dozens of 17-inch screens attached to individual chairs. And naturally, there’s buttered popcorn.

First National Bank of Cappuccino? The Experience Economy Gathers Steam

Marketing Profs, February 20, 2007 — When I stepped off the cable car at California Street and Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco last week, I quickly ducked into the Wells Fargo Bank branch on the corner. At least I thought it was a Wells Fargo—until I saw all the leather armchairs, hardwood floors, artsy wall coverings and the espresso bar.

All Hail the Latest Media Mogul: Jack in the Box†

IDEA SPOTTING: Chain's In-Store Branded Videos Aid in Revamping Image

Advertising Age, February 19, 2007 — Jack in the Box is taking inspiration from the internet-video phenomenon to bring its ball-headed Jack Box character to life in its restaurants. The No. 5 burger chain has been testing Jack TV, a series of 33 branded films and interstitials played on flat-screen TVs in about 115 concept stores in Seattle and Waco, Texas.