Did I have a project this weekend.

The plan was to tend my sparse garden: replace a bush, trim several others around the house, rearrange the soil in the front after the recent heavy rains, and enjoy the outdoors.

Little I knew, there was an unscheduled closet emergency brewing. A space built for twentieth century life caved in under the weigh of twenty-first century buying habits.

Admittedly, I do  most of my shopping in Italy, when I visit.

However, the better quality (still), and classic cuts both mean over the last couple of years I added many nice suits and boots.

Without realizing it, and with little additions over the last several months, I had broken the delicate balance between a lot, and too much for the rod and its bracket.

Hence I found myself with a broken bracket, and an irreparably bent rod.

So I dove right into some much needed paring down of my possessions – and fixing.

Organizing as flow

There's something to be said for physical labor. Both tending the garden, and clearing the closet put me in an exceptionally good mood. In fact, organizing is a trick I use to achieve flow. Whenever my creative juices need a boost, I pick something that needs a hard look, and dive right in.

Mind relaxed, I see much more clearly.

A day in the life

In the last week alone, I have seen a couple of retail marketing initiatives worthy of mention. They are a really good example of one of the 5 retail trends applicable to your business I discussed here last week: Daily life is better than daily deals.

Brands have rich opportunities to build context that convert consumers into buyers, and buyers into customers in the real world.

Dear America by Zara

Dear America is a collection of curated photographs by 50 photographers paying a tribute the the 50 United States. The occasion is the launch of the company's US online store. The photography is stunning. You can share on Facebook and tweet individual images. [hat tip Martina]

The only tie in with the brand is the small logo, which you can use to get to the online store.

ASOS Urban Tour

The idea is for the site to become an experience that provides immersion and ideas for young male shoppers. [hat tip BBH Labs]

Dominic Goldman (BBH CD on the project) shares how he wanted the interactive component to work:

“To allow people to click on any of the dancers at any time and check out the clothes, we would have to create a series of break-out moments whereby the action would rewind or forward to a specific performance. We then had to stitch together a scene in which the dancer would stop what they were doing, and come to life to show their clothes.”

Pulling together something like this is quite a feat. I do like the concept of site as experience — and thus as collaboration to make it happen, just like a movie with site credits to boot.

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The day in the life concept covered dealing with emotions, involved technical innovation, and partnerships. See what all this did for the Sgt. Pepper Kind of Experience

A Day In The Life – that was something. I dug it. It was a good piece of work between Paul and me. I had the 'I read the news today' bit, and it turned Paul on. Now and then we really turn each other on with a bit of song, and he just said 'yeah' – bang, bang, like that. It just sort of happened beautifully. [John Lennon, Rolling Stone]

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As for my closet, it's fixed now, and much ligther.

The accident provided an opportunity to re-organize. With the addition of one or two items, I figured it's also quite contemporary. This time, the order is ready to wear in this fall's fashion color combinations.

It's like taking your car in for detailing – it looks and feels brand new all over again.

Try it. You may discover all that you need is just a new perspective.

 

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