By Deirdre Carroll: Senior Editor
I’ve always thought that challenging times generate some of the most innovative ideas.
Recently, the U.S. work force has had to deal with shrinking
staff numbers, budget cuts and the fact that the same amount of work, if
not more, still needs to get done.
That sure sounds challenging to me.
As a nation, we’ve become forced to work smarter (not to mention
harder) and are now faced with the need to come up with new, more
efficient and more creative ways to get things done.
Suppliers have long had the budgets and marketing resources to do
all sorts of fun and creative things to promote their brands.
Luxottica, Marchon and now Wescan have all sponsored film festivals
(look for more on Wescan at the Toronto Film Festival next issue).
Companies like Transitions, Oakley and Wiley X have strong ties to the
sports world, and if you follow our weekly Bold Face postings on
VisionMonday.com you know just about every brand capitalizes on a celeb
snapped in one of their styles.
But lately, Vision Monday has been addressing some of the more
imaginative methods ECPs and optical retailers are using to bring people
into their stores. Our August cover feature “Telling Stories”
introduced a few tricks of the trade a variety of retail outlets have
employed and even included an accompanying Action Plan (still available
on VisionMonday.com) with tips all retailers could implement.
And in this issue’s cover story, Fine Art , which starts on page
31, VM’s assistant editor Delia Paunescu dug in even deeper to explore
the connection many retailers are making to the art world. It’s an
article that sure gave us a whole new perspective on coming up with
creative ideas.
It’s impressive to see how a small amount of pressure, a little
bit of time and a whole lot of passion can manifest itself into
overcoming a challenge. I’m not saying that I’d like this economic
slowdown to linger any longer than it absolutely has to but as someone
who perpetually looks for the silver lining, I for one am glad that I am
no longer resting on my laurels or taking things for granted and that
“thinking outside the box” has become my new status quo.
At Vision Monday we are always interested in hearing what you
have to say. So if you have been thinking outside the box to boost
business or have come up with your own creative idea to overcome a
challenge, let me know. You just might see another cover story based on
it.
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dcarroll@jobson.com