Why do we stop to take a look at windows? What is it that makes you take a few moments longer to examine a specific scheme when all around there are rivals vying for your attention. The answer is simple: simplicity.
A single message well delivered will always trump an overtly promotional vehicle and to see how this can be done effectively, a trip to Regent Street at the moment is probably in order. Banana Republic is a doggedly metropolitan format and in the UK there are just two stores: Regent Street and Brent Cross.
And currently, the theme of the Regent Street store windows is supposed to be Chinos, but is actually, well, dogs. Stuffed doggie mannequins, of various breeds, held on leads by headless mannequins.
So what's that got to do with Chinos? Just about everything as it happens. The faceless dogs are chino-coloured and their handlers are dressed in preppy Chino-based outfits. This may sound a mite contrived, but then what window isn't and as a vehicle for making you stop and stare, this is a store that currently boasts a scheme that demands attention in a way that others along the way just don't.
Keep it simple and make it fun. Every visual merchandiser wannabe should bear these two strictures in mind.
