The technology retail sector has been a key player over the last 18 months as the industry was reshaped by new lifestyle habits and ways of working. Today, the demand for technology is greater than ever, becoming a staple in consumer’s daily routines. Embracing technology has helped people survive through challenging times and it’s set to continue now that the dust is settling on the pandemic. Being a big focus for the industry right now, it felt fitting that October’s campaign should be dedicated to all things tech to help brands navigate this evolving sector. This month we introduce a Tech Takeover where we’ve teamed up with our tech colleagues to share their experiences. We’ll explore key areas including the retail environment, females in tech, training and even follow a day in the life of some of our talented colleagues.
Lindsay Hey, Customer Development Director at McCurrach, leads our technology function. She’s been at the forefront of the sector, witnessing how it’s evolved over the last few years. Her teams have worked with brands throughout the pandemic and adapted strategies to drive sales no matter the environment. Therefore, when we planned this campaign she was the perfect person to turn to for some first-hand insights. She explains why tech retail is so important right now and what to expect from October’s campaign.
Why should brands focus on the technology sector right now and follow our campaign?
“We've learned a lot over the last 12 months about how to make an impact, especially in retail and it's probably more than we've learned in the last 12 years. We’ve re-engineered lots of really simple things. We’ve changed and we’ve experimented. We've had a growth mindset and we've really changed the way that we can help brands within their markets. This campaign will breakdown some of this so that we can share our journey. Hopefully some of these things might be a surprise, but not out of a brand’s reach to be able to grasp hold of themselves. The technology retail sector was closed for a long period of time alongside other sectors and big retailers. However, it’s actually come out of this particularly well. If you think about the future of retail, after food, technology is probably the next biggest sector as it has an impact on everything that we do in daily life. Whether that's the mobile communications that you have in your hand, what you want to watch for entertainment, or how you are productive at work or at home. It could be the IT sector, your safety and security through the use of cameras or simply the great appliances that you cook with and clean with. Technology is a sector with such an abundance of categories that affect people's lives across the board. Technology retail is a really important space that will remain in the overall retail sector because expertise and knowledge around how to how to bring technology into consumers lives will continue. We’ve already seen examples of this through retailers like Curry's who have had to weather the storm and have come out the other end as a much stronger business.”
In the meantime, do you have any top tips when it comes to planning your strategy in this sector?
1. Understand your brand message and capture attention
“The first one is our guiding light and it’s understanding the message that you want to give about your brand or your products within that brand. It’s all about keeping it fresh, exciting and relevant to the customer. Too many brand messages turn into wallpaper really quickly. You have to capture people's attention and work hard to keep that messaging fresh and exciting.”
2. Pick an agile partner with the right expertise
“The second one is pick the right partners within the retail space. Whether that's creative agencies or field agencies like us that can adapt really quickly and are willing to try new things. A lot of our brand clients have been really pleased about the way that we can turn on the drop of a hat in terms of agile. Whether that's about structure or the objectives that we have in store. McCurrach loves a challenge and we wouldn't ever be really comfortable if we didn't have a pipeline of new challenges in the plan.”
To find out more, and to hear more from Lindsay and our other experts, make sure you follow our campaign throughout October.
