Will supermarkets become extinct?

Or at least be frequented less?

Walmart Labs recently launched a new initiative called Goodies, which is a subscription based food discovery service. It's not the only one of it's kind, in fact there are a whole slew of subscription based discovery services out there, including: Birchbox, Glossybox, ipsy and a whole bunch of other competitors.

I think this model is really neat because it represents an evolution of Seth Godin's permission marketing principle. Many companies have been using a monthly subscription model to offer services for some time now (mostly software companies) and it is interesting to see how packaged goods companies are getting involved.

As usual, I am interested in what the future of this will mean. Right now, if we use Goodies as an example, Walmart is acting as the middle man between packaged goods manufacturers and end-consumers. Will we eventually see a disintermediation in this space?

Will you one day be getting the newest and coolest products directly from giants like Unilever and P&G every month? If so, where will their store fronts be? Where could they possibly reach a massive global audience ... Facebook perhaps?

Walmart is massive and has now set a really neat precedent. I wonder who will follow suit.

How do you recruit the best person for a job?

I came across this video thanks to a brilliant article written by Rob Schwartz on Forbes.

I think recruitment is an industry that is ripe for disruption. These examples are a growing testament to the need for showcasing your ability to do a job ... before you actually do a job.

If you want to hire the best person to replace you in your current job ... how would you test him or her? What would they have to showcase?

American Express makes your TV a store

How can you incorporate relevant marketing messages into something consumers already find inherently interesting?

This is not the only example of how American Express is making your television into a virtual store.

The insight and innovation here is something to admire. Consumers would not consider these to be 'commercials' or 'ads' but yet they are still very much marketing messages. Television is huge and still very relevant medium; however, we no longer interact with TV like we used. The rise of the 'second screen' is giving marketers a whole new opportunity to deliver highly relevant content again and it will be very interesting to see how marketers take advantage of that.

Passionate user

One click at a time.

With every click you have a chance to win a prize.

Every (x) many clicks, something appears on the screen to show you are actually progressing.

Every (x) many clicks, a challenge appears to give you an even greater chance of winning.

1,143 clicks and counting.

Sony has created a game, to get gamers to play, to potentially win a game ... and the ENTIRE time, these gamers are being delivered interesting (and potentially relevant) marketing messages.

This seems to be an innovative way of gamifying marketing. The interesting part is that this would not happen without a passionate user.

If your brand created a game like this ... would you find someone who clicks this many times?

Once you find them, how will you nurture them? How will you use them to spread your message and influence others like them to become part of your tribe?

A brilliant Halloween idea

Take a look at what was going on at this mall (in Canada) on the 31st of October.

Trick-or-treating ... indoors.

Sometimes, it gets cold in Canada ... so where can your kids (who get super excited to dress up and get candy) go on a cold potentially even wet evening? The mall. Brilliant.

Great for the kids sure ... but think about it from the parent's perspective. Better yet, from the retailer's perspective ... you have the attention of parents, roughly one month before the holiday shopping season begins!

Why not use this opportunity to give them coupons/discounts for future shopping? Why not give THEM a treat?