Welcome to the first Coordinates, a monthly summary of interesting points across the areas of Consumer & Culture, Economy & Industry, and Brand & Marketing that give insights into which direction the wind is blowing. Enjoy!

Workout Mash-Ups

We all get tired of the same old workout routine, so mix it up by trying new regimes that combine two favorites to create something new.

• Just simple yoga—boring! Now there’s Snowga – Snowshoeing + yoga. Check out this New York Times article.
• From Vogue, try these new matches:
  • Barre exercises combined with kickboxing.
  • Rowing with yoga.
  • Spinning combined with pilates.

Inspiring New Foods

New natural, organic, and healthy foods continue to be the rage. Enter Oumph!, a line of products made with 100% beans, and an inspiring package design to match.

Green Costa Rica

Taking advantage of its natural resources and becoming an inspiration to other countries, Costa Rica is now running on 100% Renewable Energy. How cool is that?! Check out this article from Fast Company.

New Retail Formats to Build Relevance

Target and Goodwill are two retail brands leveraging new retail formats to build consumer relevance:

• In March, Target opened a hip, pop-up gallery in Manhattan to bring together vendor products and technology in an interactive format, another example of what we cover in our “The End of Retail” post this month. Read more on the store and view pictures from brandchannel.

• Goodwill is going upscale, creating cool, progressive boutiques to draw a new audience to its stores. Check out the photos in this Adweek article that demonstrates these locales are worthy of the hipster crowd.

Slow Growth Can Win the Day

Business is rewarded for growth, but often times slow growth can win the day.

Contrast these two stories:

• C Wonder took an aggressive growth approach and made financial commitments quickly before fully proving out its business model, only to file for bankruptcy in January 2015. Read C. Wonder Officially Files for Bankruptcy.
• Heath Ceramics, the artisan pottery maker, on the other hand has strategically chosen slow growth, pulling out of wholesale accounts to have better control of its margins and growth trajectory. Read How This Ceramics Company Is Moving Forward By Scaling Back.

Brands Growing Up

Urban Outfitter has been struggling for several years, so the brand is trying to regain its footing by adjusting its merchandising and marketing to realign with its intended target consumer, the older 18-28 year old, whereas in prior years it had started to attract teenagers. With a new CEO and changes afoot, the brand is starting to see signs of a turn around. Read more in this Business of Fashion piece.

Brands Maintaining Relevance

National Geographic is a brand that should inspire brand marketers. The traditional print magazine has done an amazing job of maintaining relevance in today’s digitally savvy world. To that point, check out the company’s new app, which makes it that much easier to engage with the brand.

Photo Credit: OliBac, license