Together with Veritas, the Belgian accessory and creative goods chain, we researched, conceptualized, validated and (co-)implemented the Veritas Atelier concept. In October 2017, the concept was awarded bronze at the Mercurius Prize, rewarding innovative shop concepts.

1. Case: Atelier Veritas
Awarded Bronze at Mercurius Prize 2017

2. to impact decision making on different levels
True North helps
retail brands
understand & act on
ever-changing
shopping behaviour.

3. Case study
Atelier Veritas

4. Atelier Veritas wins bronze at
Mercurius prize 2017.
A jury of 7 retail experts, rewarded Veritas Atelier with a
bronze award. Only 3 concepts of a long-list of 11 contenders -
out of +100 entries - were rewarded as best retail concept.
The Atelier concept was praised for its cosy and warm
atmosphere, the workshops offered, the expertise of the staff
as well as the omnichannel focus that provides tips & tricks
via different channels, both on and offline.
Congratulations, Veritas.

5. The challenge:
“How to grow Veritas in
the creative market?”
Veritas is known for its accessory offering in the Belgian
market. With over 95% brand recognition - the brand exists for
125 years in 2017 - and attracting almost 70% of all female
buyers in the Belgian market, growth is a different ball game.
The creative department - offering goods & supplies for
creatives - is considered a growth category as the market for it
has been growing over the last years.
With a lower basket value per customer, growth is mainly
acquisition-driven. But how? To know where and how to grow,
True North was recruited to guide the process from A to, well,
Atelier.

6. Our approach:
Aligning business and staff with the needs
of the creative customer
To have impact with an improved offering and concept, we
used our proprietary 5/15/150 process methodology. It involves
a four phased process and involves three types of
stakeholders.
A business team (5) is responsible for the progress. 15 internal
stakeholders - staff members ranging from IT over sales, store
staff, marketing and HR - are involved for preparing and
validating every step. Their input & feedback make a feasible
concept come to life. A selection shoppers (150) is involved for
understanding their needs. Via a validation survey, containing
a visual presentation of the concept, creative customers
helped decide the ins and outs of the current implementation.

7. Our model:
A full concept requires
efforts on all levels
The success of the concept lies within a strong stakeholder
involvement from start to end. Bringing together all departments
around the same challenge solutions are created together
guaranteeing a multi-faceted view on every aspect.
Our Identity / Offering model involves both soft and hard
drivers of shopper needs. Success requires a focus on all drivers:
● Offering drivers include what you sell, at what price &
where: your value proposition, your pricing strategy &
channel approach. It are the hard drivers you control.
● Identity drivers focus on shoppers’ soft expectations,
ranging from shopper benefits, customer experience &
your thought leadership - the expertise you can claim.

8. UNDERSTAND:
Convincing first-timers
with a four-fold approach.
Multiple assumptions were raised about the creative audience
and the current impact Veritas had. We revealed the needs of
the creative, the improvement areas & thresholds to overcome.
We revealed four elements for success:
● Inspiration: creatives look for an answer to the most
basic question: “What will I make?”
● Convenience: a creative process involves a lot of
preparations and other challenges.
● Guidance: knowing how to start or when stuck, is an
often-heard threshold for both starters and avid makers
● Community: the need to share, talk & get feedback is
omnipresent.

9. ACT:
Pushing the buttons on all levels to
convince the creative market.
In a 4-phased stakeholder process, the concept was first
conceptualized internally, validated by over 3.000 creatives
and translated to a business case and implementation
roadmap on different levels:
● A clear & attractive zone was created instore & online
● The assortment grew with over 500 references
● An “all-in-one” box approach highlights convenience
● All own branded products were phased to the newly
created “Atelier Veritas” private label
● Workshops help creatives find like-minded people & help!
● Both on and offline Veritas hosts inspiration and tricks.
● External makers were involved to boost credibility and
raise awareness for both Veritas and the makers.

10. The results:
Impact on different levels
The goal to reposition Veritas as a go-to-source for all creative
needs and grow the business as a result, has been reached.
Progress was measured over the course of a year of activity:
● Veritas is growing with double digits in the creative
department for the new Veritas Atelier stores
● The brand is perceived as “younger” than the mother
brand, Veritas
● A new breed of creatives has been acquired via a focus
on more accessible ideas and “start to” workshops
● The overall brand perception of both the Veritas and
the Atelier brand are very positive.
● NPS scores are higher and perception of service and
expertise are (even) better at Atelier stores.

11. Why we are different
About True North

12. An action-oriented retail consulting agency
To understand & act: two requirements of today’s retail success
Nowadays, retail is changing faster than ever. According to
Standard & Poor’s it is the most stressed industry worldwide.
The main reason: not being able to keep up with the pace of
ever-changing shopper behaviour.
Turning data into valuable insights in order to convert them
into relevant measures for your brand, company and industry
is the sole focus of our retail agency. We have a passion for
retail and offer guidance towards your True North.
We have helped both national and international brands act
based on a better shopper behaviour understanding. The
success of the Lunch Garden restaurant concept upgrade, the
new Game Mania flagship store, Planet Parfum’s concept
store or Atelier Veritas, the “platform” to reach out to today’s
creative customer, are proof of our added value.
This document explained how we translate understanding
into action for one of the cases we are extremely proud for.

13. UnderstandingUNDERSTANDING is provided by all means necessary: we offer
typical market research services and have insights - off the
shelve - benchmarking over 120 brands in 10 different
sub-industries.
A panel of avid shoppers helps us to gauge how brands are
coping with shopper behaviours changes on an everyday
basis revealing insights of actual store visits by real shoppers.
With our custom solutions we dig deeper for improved
understanding with in-depth research, data analysis,
segmentation definitions, blind spot analysis, ...

14. ACT is the result of our stakeholder focused 5/15/150 process
methodology bringing together your decision making unit (5),
your internal teams that are crucial for making it work (15) and
your future customers (150).
In a 4-phased process, we go from exploration over co-creating
ideas to validating the business case before we start the
implementation coordination.
All insights collected are translated to our Identity /
Offering-model, making sure we cover all essentials to meet
shopper needs with the solutions we provide.

16. In case of questions, feel free to get in contact:
Bart Muskala, Founder
bart@true-north.be | +32 473 67 32 02