insights
strategy
execution

defining the challenges. competing successfully.

Our retail clients tell us the primary challenges facing them in today’s complex and crowded retail environment include:

technology boom

Finding customers and communicating via their preferred channel.
customer expectations

There is no brand loyalty. Clients must win customers every time.
direct to customers

Competing for relevance when customers can buy direct.
differentiation

Delivering a truly differentiated positioning.
globalisation

Ability to compete with global online retailers.

The Retail Agency has the experience and a proprietary tool kit to deliver measurable results against these challenges.

our retail toolbox

Developed from solving challenges for our clients, The Retail Agency provides the following tools and services to deliver measurable results and ensure our retail clients seize every opportunity.

insights investigator

All strategy must be customer centric

When you need to understand more about your customers, your competitors and how best to respond to a fast changing marketplace.
shopping list accelerator

All strategy must be measurable

The Retail Agency is focussed on getting you on your customers’ shopping list (and keeping you there).
brand renovator

A small and quick correction to solve a problem or seize an opportunity

Our Brand Renovator breathes new life into your brand so you remain relevant, remembered, and retail focussed.
brand overhaul

The dramatic shift required to compete in a new retail reality

Brand Overhaul uses insights and market knowledge to deliver our clients a new and compelling brand proposition and retail strategy.

insights investigator

Uncovering actionable insights is central to how The Retail Agency delivers strategy and measurable outcomes for our clients.

Key elements to the discovery process include:

Brand awareness
Attitudes to the brand
Response to proposed brand choice
Key drivers of brand choice
Target customer behaviour
Buying consideration
Further segmentation of the target audience

The outcome of the discovery process is the truth about where, how and why your clients shop you…or your competitors.

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shopping list accelerator

“Only 28% of customers are brand loyal.”(Accenture)

To stay in the game you must be on your target customers’ shopping lists. Of course, time poor customers have short shopping lists!

Our goal is to ensure our clients are always within the top three unprompted brands in the retail category being shopped by the customer.

The Shopping List Accelerator leverages your knowledge of the category with our expertise in positioning brands across the communication channels that will connect with your customers.

The outcome is an effective strategy for delivering a differentiated brand that remains memorable and always on your customers’ shopping list when they are ready to make a purchase.

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brand renovator

Making a difference doesn’t always require a fresh start.

Sometimes the existing equity in a brand is critical to retain, and what is in fact needed is a better communications plan or a refresh that allows customers to more easily engage.

The Brand Renovator is a product that is delivered for a capped fee within 14 days from engagement.

This service guarantee allows The Retail Agency to be highly focused on efficiently providing our clients strategies to respond to the market quickly.

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brand overhaul

Sometimes a comprehensive brand revision is required when the offering is varied or there is a disruption in the marketplace that requires a brand to rethink how it will be more compelling now and in the future.

The Retail Agency has a proprietary process for delivering the right brand strategy efficiently within budget and on time.

It always starts with a validation of the customer and market realities so that we are clear on how our creative and strategic recommendations must resonate with the target audience.

It ends with all design elements and collateral across the full range of communication channels.

The process is complete in six weeks from engagement and the fees are quoted and capped.

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customer insights & discovery

Research is a key pillar of The Retail Agency approach.

It’s all about creating a competitive edge for your brand. It’s finding the point of difference. The insight into your market. The truth about where, how and why your customers shop you (or your competition).

We use research to validate directions, test strategic propositions, and even creative positionings.

The discovery process is captured in our proprietary “Insights Investigator” tool and can include:

Purchasing behaviour
Brand awareness
Buying consideration
Attitudes to the brand
Key drivers of brand choice
Definition of the best potential target markets
Segmentation of the target markets

work that’s worked

tyrepower
carpet court
burdens
berkowitz

Challenge: Move Tyrepower from the number 5 most recalled brand in the category and get them onto the shopping list.

Opportunity: Create a personality for the brand and give consumers a reason for shopping Tyrepower for tyres (a grudge purchase at the best of times).

Approach: Our 5 step strategic process included extensive qualitative and quantitative research that reviewed the market and target audience across Australia.This research uncovered a number of key insights and learnings that directly informed our creation of a new positioning
for the brand.“Get the power of Australia’s biggest independent” was born and the Tyrepower store owners were used to further differentiate the brand.

The Tyrepower store owners were seen as real, friendly, credible and trustworthy
(as opposed to polished, professional actors). This helps drive the ‘independent’ positioning for the brand versus the publicly listed corporate retail brands in the category.

Outcome: We can’t publish the results, but needless to say that with a well differentiated brand, Tyrepower now enjoys excellent brand recall and key business metrics are up in every market in Australia.

Challenge: To own the flooring category in a homogensied “same-same” marketplace.

Opportunity: Develop a distinctive brand personality and brand image in the market that
connects emotionally to the female home decorator.

Approach: We applied our 5-step strategic process to develop a new brand positioning.

Attributes At Carpet Court, we have the interior design tools and tips to bring your room inspiration to life.

Benefits At Carpet Court, you’ll get the help you need to bring your inspiration to life.

Values Credible, Expert, Value for money, Inspiring. Real solutions, making design accessible and listening to the customer needs.

Personality Contemporary. Stylish. Fashionable. Expert Advisors.

Brand Core Design Solutions from the floor up. Carpet Court is the essential first step in the decorator process.

Outcome: We delivered a new brand and retail campaign backed by point of sale and internal communications positioning Carpet Court as youressential first step in creating your new room.
The “love the look” campaign was born and still runs today.

Challenge: Reposition the brand from a budget price positioning (everyday low prices) to a modern contemporary positioning driving increased margin and sales.

Approach: Following a collaborative client review we introduced a personality with credentials in the category to front the brand across in-store point-of-sale, digital and catalogue advertising.

Outcome: We delivered a new campaign which repositioned Burdens as a modern and fashionable brand in the category.

Challenge: Create a campaign to differentiate the Berkowitz Furniture brand and grow sales in Australia’s most competitive furniture market.

Insights: The vast majority of retail furniture brands in Victoria are large corporate businesses. (Faceless and lacking personality.)
The core target market for Berkowitz Furniture is women in the middle to upper socio economic groups. The target market is seeking quality furniture that is well made and will last. Importantly, Furniture is an expensive purchase and women want higher levels of service to assist them with their choices.It’s also a fashion category but conservative styles are most popular.

Approach: The Retail Agency 5 step strategic process included researching current customer perceptions and determining what were the behaviours to drive store traffic.

Outcome: We delivered a new brand and retail campaign playing to the strengths of the brand: It’s “time for timeless” positioning resonated with the target market and is campaigned across all touch points including catalogue, television radio and digital.

our clients

The Retail Agency is proud to have worked on the following brands.

our team

We love the ‘cut and thrust’ of retail – fast-paced, sales-driven, highly accountable, fun. Which is why we’ve been doing it, and doing it well for more than 20 years.

dino bruni managing director
lachie dunn creative director
catherine caia art director
ainslee baruhas social media and content manager
allison cherry social media and content coordinator
craig hart chairman

dino bruni

managing director

Dino is a communications professional with senior marketing and advertising agency account management experience. With a long history at the senior level of some of Australia’s leading advertising agencies, including 13 years at Y&R Advertising as a Group Account Director, Dino has also worked in a senior marketing role at Myer. Dino brings his extensive communications strategy skills to play in the development of fully integrated campaigns for his clients big and small. At Myer, Dino contributed directly to the financial performance (sales and profitability) of the business by ensuring collaboration among various functions, and assisting in brand building efforts at the macro level.

lachie dunn

creative director

As a copywriter, Lachie has written countless successful ad campaigns that have not just helped build brands, but also delivered immediate bottom line results. From creating TV, radio, outdoor and press ads, through to brochures, POS, direct mail, websites and eDMs, Lachie has worked on everything from cars to department stores. It is in the cauldron of fast-paced retail where Lachie has built his career. He enjoys the immediacy of retail and the demands of quick turnaround times and tight deadlines. With more than 20 years in retail advertising, Lachie’s experience has been enjoyed at the cash register by an extensive range of clients.

catherine caia

art director

Catherine’s passion for great design drives her to develop stunning work for our clients. Importantly, Catherine’s design philosophy centres around the belief that great design is only ‘great’ if it works as a piece of communication. With more than 15 years experience in large and boutique ad agencies and design studios, Catherine’s eye for detail and pathalogical aversion to starbursts means her retail design work is fresh, clean and differentiated.

ainslee baruhas

social media and content manager

Ainslee is a skilled content producer and social media coordinator who specialises in delivering strategic solutions in the digital space. Equipped with an interdisciplinary skill set which includes knowledge and experience in Public Relations, Advertising, Media and a specialisation in Journalism. A writer at heart, she revels in bringing creative ideas to life and helping businesses to craft a lasting impression.

allison cherry

social media and content coordinator

Allison has a background in communication specialising in copywriting, social media and event management. In the social space, uncovering and sharing inspirational stories is one of her greatest strengths and passions. She’s worked in industries including health, telecommunications, finance, hospitality, education and not-for-profit, where her infectious enthusiasm comes from caring for the clients she’s working with, ensuring their end-to-end experience is memorable.

craig hart

chairman

Craig has held many senior roles within the marketing services industry over the past two decades. He was the President of Retail Agencies for Omnicom Limited across Asia Pacific, then the head of Retail and Field Agencies for Photon Group, before leading a private equity led buy out of the division and the establishment of Blueprint Group. In the last few years Craig has established corporate advisory firm Milestone, which assists the development of agencies to their full potential. He is presently also the Chairperson of Loud & Clear – Australia’s largest independent enterprise technology agency. Among other appointments Craig has been a Director of Food and Wine Victoria since 2007 and is the Chairman of Corporate Governance for the organisation.

contact us

“I don’t want more customers.”

said no retailer ever.

If your brand could benefit from a conversation with a specialist retail agency, get in contact today.

No gimmicks, no pressure and no strings. And no hard sell.

10 Charles Street,
South Melbourne, VIC 3205

Dino L Bruni
0409 350 684
dino@theretailagency.com.au

Lachie Dunn
0425 764 759
lachie@theretailagency.com.au

insightsstrategyexecution

everyone is selling something.

defining the challenges. competing successfully.

our retail toolbox

Developed from solving challenges for our clients, The Retail Agency provides the following tools and services to deliver measurable results and ensure our retail clients seize every opportunity.

All strategy must be customer centric

All strategy must be measurable

A small and quick correction to solve a problem or seize an opportunity

The dramatic shift required to compete in a new retail reality

Uncovering actionable insights is central to how The Retail Agency delivers strategy and measurable outcomes for our clients.

“Only 28% of customers are brand loyal.”(Accenture)

customer insights & discovery

work that’s worked

tyrepower

carpet court

burdens

berkowitz

our clients

our team

dino bruni managing director

lachie dunn creative director

catherine caia art director

ainslee baruhas social media and content manager

allison cherry social media and content coordinator

craig hart chairman

dino bruni

lachie dunn

catherine caia

ainslee baruhas

allison cherry

craig hart

contact us

“I don’t want more customers.”

said no retailer ever.

insights
strategy
execution