Top Articles: Physical Education Why the Real-World Location Isnt Dead

Lets get physical! Digital brands are rediscovering the value of physical spaces, specifically location-based entertainment. By leveraging digital behaviors offline, brands are developing engaging experiences in the real world.

The key is expanding existing ecosystems while maintaining good storytelling. This can be anything from virtual reality experiences, stores with Instagrammable features, branded convenience stores, and incorporating e-commerce aspects into the physical space. The idea of going to a physical location for entertainment isnt dead; theres just a new model of what this might look like.

Here are the top articles to read this week:1. Tesla Wants To Turn Some Of Its Supercharger Stations Into Convenience StoresBy Andrew J. Hawkins from The VergeSoftware/hardware company Tesla has already invested in real estate to create charging stations for their electric vehicles, but now the company wants to develop these physical spaces out even further.

They intend to attach branded convenience stores to their Supercharger stations. Since it takes 2030 minutes to charge a Tesla car anyway, it makes sense that the company would want to take advantage of this waiting period where the consumers already have Tesla on the mind. Based on the direct-to-consumer models in their retail stores, its easy to imagine how Tesla could reinvent the C-store.

2. Toys R Us Might Be Dying, But Physical Retail IsntBy Greg Satell from Harvard Business ReviewEvery 50 years or so, the retail space undergoes a major disruption. This time, the basic function of physical locations is changing; consumers no longer need to enter a store to complete a transaction because they can purchase almost anything online.

Rather, they go to physical locations to experience what you cant do online: try out the product, get problems solved, build relationships, etc. Retailers like Toys R Us that thrived during the last disruption are struggling because they arent adapting to the new model. Instead of going high-touch, they are going high-tech, which is essentially doubling down on a failing model instead of adapting to the new one.

3. The Future Of Shopping Has No ClothesBy Kim Bhasin from BloombergIn the name of enhancing customer experiences, Nordstrom and Walmart have designed stores where customers can try on and purchase products, but not go home with them. Instead of buying off the rack, customers make an online purchase in the store that will be delivered to them later.

This store-without-stock or shoppable showroom strategy is a way to provide the experiences customers are looking for in a physical location while keeping costs low. It provides personalized service for the customer that they cant get online and digital data for the retailer that they cant usually get offline.4.

Hollywood And AMC Theaters Are Betting On VR With Dreamscape ImmersiveBy Bryan Bishop from The VergeAMC Theaters has partnered with virtual reality company Dreamscape to create dedicated spaces at their theater locations for VR experiences. While location-based VR is not a new idea (theyre even in gyms now), this partnership shows something different because Dreamscape is chock-full of former entertainment industry execs. It therefore represents the bets that Hollywood is placing on VR content for the future of entertainment.

With movie theater ticket sales constantly declining, Hollywood has to find a new way to engage their audience and reimagining the physical spaces that they already have into something more digital is a good place to start. 5. Selfie Factories: The Rise Of The Made-For-Instagram MuseumBy Arielle Pardes from WiredBefore Instagram launched 5 years ago, there wasnt as much of a desire to take artsy photos everywhere you went.

Now that Instagram is here and beloved, it has changed not only the way consumers experience a physical space, but how the physical locations are actually designed. Branded art exhibits and pop-up installations are changing design features to make sure that their spaces are gramable for their audiences. Being able to post aesthetically-pleasing photos of your experience is a large consideration for people attending.

And what could be a more iconic digital integration than making sure your physical space will look good on social media?Curated by Hadley Stork RELATED QUESTION What's the meaning of Sia's Chandelier song? Before Chandelier, Sia was a singer with mediocre success.

She was really struggling to push her career when she lost her partner to an accident. She got addicted to drugs, suffered depression and even wrote a suicide note. Drugs and alcohol were her only coping mechanisms.

This song is about the time she was addicted to alcohol and drugs and her struggle to get out of it. In an interview, Sia said that she always knew she was a drinker and that she must stop, her guilt, shame is what the following lyrics suggest:- Sun is up, I'm a mess Gotta get out now, gotta run from this Here comes the shame, here comes the shame . but, out of peer pressure phones blowing up, they're ringing my door bells, I feel the love .

she did not stop. 1,2,3 . 1,2,3 drink throw them back till I lose count The only time she could escape from reality was when she was high, under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

She could be carefree, live like tomorrow didn't exist. I'm gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist Like it doesn't exist I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night Chandelier is ultimately a brutally honest tale of substance abuse. Sia wrote the song for Rihanna but I am so glad that she kept this one for herself.