informal manifesto: part 4 — Unscripted Flows
The informal manifesto traces back the origins of the decline of retail spaces and proposes a new way forward by reintroducing informality to shopping. It drafts the intellectual framework underpinning Informal Retail, a startup which installs retail embedded within existing local businesses and stocks them with a rotating selection of brands.
4. informality 1: unscripted flows
Authenticity is not something to be fabricated, it is something to be allowed — to be left purposefully unscripted. Breaking the script is required to regain authenticity. Especially for heritage brands who have navigated decades of changing trends and cultural shifts, their narratives and brand guidelines serve more to protect an image which is no longer aligned with its current DNA than to actually relate to its customers. Brand guidelines and protocols designed to protect brand images also prevent them from the serendipity and spontaneity necessary to create meaning outside of themselves — to be truly alive.
Pop-ups, often designed to connect with a younger audience by staging brands as more hip and playful, run the risk of coming off as contrived and predictable if not driven by a clear guiding vision. They do little to fill the void of meaning which is affecting traditional brands.
A new format is needed to allow brands to break the script of formality. More agile and spontaneous than a pop-up, this format must re-frame products in new, diverse contexts, create meaningful juxtapositions outside of the expected frameworks of retail. Collaborations, a powerful way for brands to recontextualize and expand their audience, are too involved to casually orchestrate, requiring a deep involvement from the executive, creative, and marketing teams. They also run the risk of compromising the brand image if enacted too frequently or with the wrong partners. Instead, informal installations are spontaneous manifestations, fleeting flares forming new constellations of connections which underpin the authenticity and meaning of a brand or space today without diluting the brand image. Whether they occur with like-minded brands and venues, or conversely within unlikely places with unexpected participants, these juxtapositions allow customers to weave new understandings of brands and their products, relate to them differently. They need to be seen fresh eyes — as if for the first time.
