Key takeaways from Innovate ’10

Like many attendees at last week’s Retail Innovation & Marketing Conference, I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few days trying to put my arms around everything I learned in within a 72-hour period. While mobile and social media were two strong themes throughout the conference (there’s so much opportunity for each it can make your head spin), there were incredible discussions and presentations about store design as your brand, the economy and customer acquisition. We also saw more amazing creative showcased at the Racies.

We blogged a lot from the event, but the truth is there was so much great content we could have written about much more. It’s hard to pick one favorite session (though I’d love to hear your favorite sessions and/or blog posts), but right at the top of my list was probably Macy’s CMO Peter Sachse, who talked about the company’s changed focus on the customer. This concept seems so simple, but was so unexpected to me. I’ve been thinking about it all week.

Another big “ah-ha” moment for me came when Express CMO Lisa Gavales spoke passionately about her opinion that e-commerce should report through marketing. Jeff Rayport was amazing, too. Best Buy’s Tracy Benson blew me away both at her Mobile Boot Camp session and again as the final session at the conference with their video on mobile.

As a classic case of how even people from the same company have different takeaways, read my colleague Larry Joseloff’s post on what he got out of Innovate.

Here are all the blog posts from Innovate broken out by day. Take a look at some of the nuggets you may have missed, or get a refresher on what you took away.

Mobile Boot Camp

• 5 things to keep in mind when designing a mobile site
• What Steve Madden knows about its mobile customer (+what that’s important)
• How two retailers used SMS to increase sales
• Mobile retail is the future…or is it?
• Seven tips for building and deploying effective mobile sites

Innovate ’10: Day 1

• All the buzz at Innovate: The MingleStick
• Williams-Sonoma CMO talks the economy, branding and the online/offline battle
• Williams-Sonoma CMO offers advice to retail execs (video)
• Five things you need to know about engaging your customers
• Mobile: the key to cross-channel retail integration
• Macy’s CMO takes unconventional approach: “We don’t need to get new customers”
• The best customer is the engaged customer (especially if he’s laughing)
• Let customers call the shots in retail marketing
• Moosejaw entertains–and educates–Innovate audience (video)
• 3 digital trends for 2010 (video)
• Are you ready for extreme retailing?
• Swooponomics 101 (video)
• Social media mantras from Diane von Furstenberg
• Who’s at your social media party?

The Racie Awards

• Scenes from the Racies
• Sears’ Heroes at Home program wins prestigious Peter Glen award (video)
• Creative guru Robert Raible elected to Advertising Hall of Fame (video)

Innovate ’10: Day 2

• Dell’s secret to successful retail partnerships? Be N.I.C.E.
• Panel: Social commerce has arrived
• Innovative ways to integrate technology in bricks-and-mortar stores
• What’s Augmented Reality? Quite simply, it’s magic. (video)
• Express organizes for ease of business
• Why Best Buy loves mobile (video)
• Mobile retail: The first steps

The sold-out event was incredibly successful, and conversations have already started for next year’s event. Make a mental note – or a real one – to join us next March in San Francisco. We promise we’ll be in a much larger space!