The "In" Crowd

An aging, but still rampant, retailing concept sees established brands opening up boutiques in popular department stores.  Taken to the next level, an established ad agency has just opened up in a popular boutique.  This from Marketing Magazine:

Bleu Blanc Rouge has opened a new agency in a downtown Montreal store, in an attempt to get the opinions of trendy youth straight from the horse’s mouth.

BW, which stands for Black and White, has its home on the retail floor of Off the Hook, a second-storey Ste. Catherine Street retailer that describes itself as an urban culture store and gallery selling specialized streetwear.

“We wanted to be in a location where the trendsetters are,” says Hubert Sacy, senior partner of Bleu Blanc Rouge. While it’s possible to understand youth from within an agency, Sacy notes “it’s much more easy to do it on the spot."

While this "eliminating the middleman" concept kinda reminds me of the old joke about the guy drinking beer at a urinal, it does make perfect sense.  Both my sons shop--and hang--at Off The Hook all the time, and nowadays, I don't even have to ask "Where'd you get that?" when I see them wearing something new and hip.  I call them "the world's smallest focus group," but even I have to wait until they get home to learn. 

Who knows, if this "embedded market research" catches on, agency sub-lets may become a new and important source of revenue for trendy restaurants, gyms, schoolyards, even your own basement...anywhere where people with opinions gather.  Like Lucy Van Pelt's Psychiatry Booth, ad agencies can now be pre-fab, portable and nomadic.

Don't laugh. 

It's why wildman Louis Prima sang "Closer to the bone/Sweeter is the meat." 

It's why Willie Sutton replied "'Cuz that's where the money is!" when asked why he robs banks. 

And it's why I tell the creative types at Airborne Entertainment to "Get off the floor and out the door" when coming up with new content and application ideas for mobile phones (they ain't gonna come from sessions in a boardroom, no matter what color our walls are painted).

Wanna REALLY know your market?  Don't be afraid to get into bed with it. 

Or at least share a lease with it.