Strategic Foresight

Woman and digitalization

Five Ways to Fill the Digital Transformation Gap for Retail Brands

Brand Engagement, Brand Strategy, Communications, Customer Experience, Digital Experiences, Financial Services, Retail, Retail Design /

The Current State of Transformation   Digital transformation, for many institutions, has ended at the doorstep of their retail channels. The pandemic has accelerated the growth of both Amazon and Fintech, forcing banks and retailers to shift their focus to digital to help drive sales and customer retention. However, as digital transformation efforts mature and […]

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What Will 2022 Look Like for Retail Brands?

Brand Strategy, Business development, convid retail, Customer Experience, Design Innovation, Digital Experiences, Retail /

2021 was not the year many had hoped for. The pandemic, natural disasters, inflation, supply chain issues and a persistently polarized planet has put humanity’s resilience to the test. Yet, with the new year’s arrival, there is renewed hope that conditions will stabilize and provide retailers with a clearer look ahead. As a future-focused strategic

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How Disruption is Driving Business Model Reinvention in Healthcare

Brand Strategy, Customer Experience, Digital Experiences, Health and Pharmaceutical /

No industry or brand has been immune to the disruption of the past decade. From technological advances and start-ups to a global pandemic, change has become the only constant. The health and wellness industries are no exception – and as patient/consumer demand pushes the sector down a new path, brands must reassess their business models

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Why Authenticity and Inclusivity Must Go Hand-in-Hand

Uncategorized /

In North America, demographic changes are creating a more diverse customer base. This means brand strategy and marketing needs to become more inclusive quickly. But some marketers are nervous about making mistakes trying to speak to audiences with different experiences. Today our guest is Puja Prakash, a graduate student at OCAD, completing her Master’s in

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The Importance of Innovation and Design Thinking for Brands

Design Innovation /

Innovation and design thinking are new hot topics in board rooms these days, but anyone who has tried to make a company more innovative through strategic design knows that it’s really challenging. Newer companies that are starting off with innovation as a foundational principle have a big advantage over older organizations with legacy systems, ingrained

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Exploring the Possibilities of Augmented and Virtual Reality

Brand Engagement, Brand Strategy, Design Innovation, Digital Experiences /

Virtual and augmented reality are two of the most exciting technological developments of the last 20 years. Already widely used as a training tool in the military, healthcare, and professional sports, VR has many potential uses in a consumer-facing industry such as retail. Augmented reality is already starting up with fun extras, like augmented packaging,

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What Facebook’s Threat Report Means for Brands

Brand Strategy /

As we hit the halfway point of 2021, one trend that we have been particularly interested in at SLD is the continued rise of fake news and misinformation. While our recent DeepReal research elevated the conversation around real versus fake, the publishing of Facebook’s State of Influence Operations 2017-2020 Threat Report has helped validate our own findings and further

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DeepReal: Strategies for Banks in the Age of Misinformation

Brand Strategy /

Many of the attitudes and behaviours that have driven decision making for retail brands have been called into question by the pandemic, but there are other forces disrupting the consumer-brand relationship. At SLD, one that we think is critical is the rise of fake news and misinformation, especially on social platforms. We wanted to determine

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DeepReal: Strategies for Retailers in the Age of Misinformation

Brand Strategy /

Many of the attitudes and behaviours that have driven decision making for retail brands have been called into question by the pandemic, but there are other forces disrupting the consumer-brand relationship. At SLD, one that we think is critical is the rise of fake news and misinformation, especially on social platforms. We wanted to determine

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Discussing SLD’s DeepReal Study With Jean-Pierre Lacroix

Brand Engagement, Brand Strategy, COVID /

The rising concern about misinformation and fake news is a top concern of people around the world, whether we’re talking about Russian interference with foreign elections or an organic seal on a carton of milk. Skepticism is high and consumers expect it to become even harder to figure out what’s true in the future. Today,

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DeepReal Webinar

From Fake News to Deepfakes, it is no surprise that consumers have become wary of the information they receive – whether it comes from the news, social media, or a brand. To help understand how current market trends are impacting a consumers ability to make confident decisions, and what they expect from brands in an age

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DeepReal Part 2: The Blurring Line Between Fact and Fiction

Brand Strategy, Customer Experience, Digital Experiences /

The inability to tell fact from fiction is being driven by a number of factors and is challenging the way that consumers perceive and engage with brands. To help gain a better understanding of how consumers discern information and make their purchase decisions, SLD conducted a study among 2000 respondents in January, 2021. As part

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Robot using an interactive screen

How Robot Greeters Are Changing the Service Sector

Customer Experience, Digital Experiences /

The Ins and Outs of Robot Greeters   How Can Robot Greeters Improve Your Customer Experience?   These electronic greeters are available 24/7, multilingual, responsive, always smiling and capable to handle an almost infinite amount of information. Their strength also lies in the fact that they can be “emotional” and “non-emotional.” Their “emotions” powered by

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Mall of the Future Rendering

The Future Of The Mall – A Design Exploration

Brand Strategy, convid retail, Customer Experience, Design Innovation, Digital Experiences, Environmental Design, Retail /

Even before COVID-19, the shopping mall was under siege. As more consumers turned to online shopping and local, independent bricks and mortar retailers, it was not uncommon to see spaces for lease within malls and empty parking lots outside. In some cities, malls were being turned into mixed-use spaces, condos or distribution warehouses. Then the

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Finger pointing towards a blue open banking digital graphic

What Does Smart Banking Look Like in 2021?

Brand Strategy, Business development, convid banking, Customer Experience, Digital Experiences, Financial Services, Retail /

After a tumultuous 2020, the banking industry is transforming itself from being the root of the issue in the last financial crisis (2008) to being part of the solution in this one. Not surprisingly though, different banks are at different stages of transformation. In this article, we look at some of the best practices from

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