Ron Johnson built the Apple Store from a blank sheet of paper, turning a company that couldn't get shelf space at Best Buy into the most profitable retailer on earth. Before that he helped make Target "Tar-zhay," and after it he had one of the most publicly dissected tenures in retail history as CEO of JCPenney. In this episode of Brainfluence, Roger Dooley talks with Ron about his new book, Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius (co-written with Zander Nethercutt), and the lessons behind each chapter of that career.
Ron explains why good design costs no more than bad design, what architect Michael Graves taught him about creating instead of copying, and how half an hour with the Ritz-Carlton's head of HR changed the entire vision of the Apple Store, including the bar that "dispensed advice instead of alcohol." He also makes the case that stores still work in an online world, weighs the future of department stores, and gives his candid account of JCPenney's everyday-pricing experiment: a strategy he still defends, executed at a speed he now regrets.
Show notes page with audio, text, resources: https://www.rogerdooley.com/ron-johnson-shop-different/
Amazon - Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius: https://link.amazon/B0iLSKZTu
LinkedIn - Ron Johnson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-johnson-589233b9/
Connect with Roger:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dooley/
https://www.facebook.com/roger.dooley
https://www.instagram.com/rogerdooley/
Roger's Stuff:
Website: https://www.rogerdooley.com
Neuromarketing: https://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog
Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerdooley/