On Saturday, 19th May 2001, the “Bricks & Mortar” retail world changed forever - even if we didn’t know it back then.

On that date Apple opened its first stand alone store in Tyson’s Corner Shopping Mall in McLean, Virginia - near Washington D.C. They also opened a second store in the Glendale Galleries in Glendale, California, on that same day. Many believe that the stores were designed by Steve Jobs, but they weren’t - the stores were conceived by a Mr Ron Johnson.

Prior to Apple, Ron Johnson was the Vice President for Merchandising at Target Corporation. Steve Jobs hired him to develop the new stores for Apple, after he had instigated an innovative collaboration between American Architect, Michael Graves and Target in 1999, resulting in Graves designing “designer” kettles, toasters and small kitchen items - which transformed Target from

Customer Engagement.

Two words we are told should be forming the basis of a successful retail strategy, but rarely do the come with a disclaimer to explain how to put the concept of better engagement into practice.

The Four Attributes of Customer Engagement is perhaps the clearest outlining of how an organisation can become more engaged with its audience, basing itself on the fundamental active, emotional, rational and ethical qualities that determine an organisations’s brand value and how these factors can drive deeper engagement.

All organisations in the private and public sector connect with customers, most often through the work of the marketing, sales and customer service departments.