As far as consumer experience goes, brands with brick & mortar establishments have a huge advantage. Shaping a consumer experience is much easier when a brand has an entire space can do the talking: Jamba Juice is about easygoing health, Nespresso for serious coffee drinkers. Benefit is a fun make-up brand, Mac more glam. Besides marketing and packaging, a storefront is a way to immediately tell consumers what to expect from a brand. Is it homey and inviting? Minimalist and serious? Or is it for specialists?
When it comes to RTD beverages or drugstore cosmetics, all the branding happens on the packaging. Advertising sets the mood, but when touchpoints are across disparate spaces, it is more difficult to give consumers a feel of the experience we want attached to the brand. POS might help but these materials are dedicated more to functional messaging that seems to take precedence. Advertising may not hit everyone, and when there is only thirty seconds or 60-by-40 feet to tell a story, it is difficult to set the mood.
So especially for FMCG's who lack a physical place to spell out their brand feel and values, social media can play this role.
