We pride ourselves on producing thought leadership that answers the big questions keeping our clients up at night. Our subject matter experts not only create think pieces that push boundaries, elevate the customer experience, and drive innovation, but they have the experience to back it up and put these ideas into action. From industry specific POVs to white papers backed by consumer research to thought provoking podcast episodes, we have something to fit everyone's needs.
Best In Show
Explore a few of our favorite think pieces.
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HealthWellnessBrian Standage, CEO of Banner Health Urgent Care Services: Setting Sights on the Triple Aim
Brian has a unique career background, building his foundation in the retail sector before diving deep into the world of healthcare at Banner Health.WDCast -
EchoPark: A Case Study on a Sustainable Design & Build Approach
Climate change, a spotlight on EVs, and growing media coverage of such topics, have launched the topic of sustainability into the mainstream.Wayfind -
Think Outside the Box
How To Use Your Entire Store as Selling SpacePoint of View -
Will Circular Commerce Drive Traffic to Stores?
Resale is enormously popular, and only growing more so; the US market is projected to be valued at over $353b by 2030, up 154% from 20201.Wayfind -
HealthWellnessPrime Disruptor: Amazon In Healthcare
With the recent acquisition of One Medical and Iora Health, Amazon seems intent to make their mark on the healthcare industryPoint of View -
Does Meta Matter?
You’ll Be Surprised to Learn What Customers Want from the MetaversePoint of View
Point of View
There are thinkers and then there are thinkers that create POVs so relevant and forward-thinking that they must work at WD.
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Does Meta Matter?
You’ll Be Surprised to Learn What Customers Want from the Metaverse -
HealthWellnessThe Retailization of Healthcare: 2022 in Review
When more than 5,000 Americans were asked to grade the U.S. healthcare system overall, 44% of Americans gave the entire system a poor or failing grade. Meanwhile, the wellness market is growing quickly with 50% of consumers reporting wellness as a top priority in their day-to-day lives. -
Dine-O-Mite
Time to Blow UP What You Know About Restaurants -
HealthWellnessPets Are People Too
In the consumer-driven pet care market, the more customer friendly and accessible your practice is, the more you will have people come running to it. -
HealthWellness
Prime Disruptor: Amazon In Healthcare
With the recent acquisition of One Medical and Iora Health, Amazon seems intent to make their mark on the healthcare industry -
Think Outside the Box
How To Use Your Entire Store as Selling Space
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Wayfind Articles
Remember the pile of National Geographic magazines your parents had? This is like that, but better. Browse through dozens of past articles from our best thinkers.
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3 Great Retailers That Know How to Get Customers Offline and Through the Door
Driving Foot Traffic to the Store With Retail Experiences -
New York City Retail Is Back & We’re Totally Here for It!
Let’s Go on an Experiential Retail Tour in NYC -
HealthWellness2023 Health + Wellness Trends
Our resident Health + Wellness practice leader and EVP, Dan Stanek, shares his predictions for the top 3 Trends in Health + Wellness for 2023 -
Building a Sustainable Future
How Brands Can Act Today to Build a Better Tomorrow -
Restaurant Reinvention
A Time of Rapid Change and Rapid Evolution -
HealthWellnessRetailization of Healthcare
Addressing Change in the Health + Wellness Industry
White Papers
Humble brag time. Did you know we've talked to nearly 25,000 consumers and published over 15 white papers in the last 10 years? Okay, maybe a not so humble brag.
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Can Resale Save the Store?
How can a retail trend be so huge but still fly under the opportunity radar? -
Retail Supernova
The pandemic accelerated everything already in acceleration. -
The Store of the Future is Not a Store
People don’t have to go to stores anymore, they have to want to go to stores. -
Amazon Won, Now What?
The battle is over: what can we learn from the victor? -
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of 2020
11,000 consumers. The top 100 brands. -
Healthcare: Who Survives?
Primary care, urgent care and retail clinics are on notice.
WDCast
Would you rather listen to thought leadership instead of reading it? We have that too! Our podcast features WD experts chatting with industry experts about a variety of relevant business topics.
Disruption is the name of the game these days and it appears that no business or industry is safe. From consumers shifting demands, new competitors popping up on the daily, and those tiny computers in our pocket giving us 24/7 access to all our hearts' desires… times they are a-changing.
Join Lee Peterson, retail veteran and consumer expert, as he discusses super relevant business topics with equally relevant and interesting guests.
Subscribe and listen to WDCast through any of the following providers:
We’ve been talking with the best of the best, so many we lost count!
Check out all of our episodes below.
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Seana Strawn, Head of Home Furnishing Identity & Retail Design at IKEA: Big Store, Bigger IdeasJanuary 24, 2023We spoke with Seana Strawn, Head of Home Furnishing Identity & Retail Design, on IKEA‘s quest towards a sustainable planet
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Jamie Schisler, Chief Comfort Officer at UpWest: From Comfort Online to Comfort IRLJanuary 11, 2023Specialty Retail is at a crossroads and a new brand is paving the way for innovation. Jamie Schisler, Chief Comfort Officer of comfort clothing brand – UpWest, is welcomed on to WDCast to discuss the brand’s business model, growth plan, and a new approach to resale retail
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Julie DiNatale, Commercial and Strategic Partnerships Leader for Truterra (sustainability division of Land O’Lakes): Farmer-Driven, Sustainably-FocusedNovember 17, 2022Julie is the Commercial and Strategic Partnerships Leader for Truterra, the sustainability business of Land O’Lakes, Inc., one of America’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives.
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Anna Carlsson: Is Resale the New Retail? Ask Gen ZSeptember 7, 2022Gen Z'ers have picked up on a shopping "trend" that is paving a new way of shopping for generations to come: shopping used/vintage/resale goods
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Brian Standage, CEO of Banner Health Urgent Care Services: Setting Sights on the Triple AimAugust 16, 2022Brian has a unique career background, building his foundation in the retail sector before diving deep into the world of healthcare at Banner Health.
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Brian Bucher, Kari Engen & Mike Magee: WD Partners Sustainability ExpertsJuly 12, 2022Driving Real Change Through Sustainable Design
With sustainability so top of mind these days, we wanted to turn to some real experts on the topic.
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Speakers
Last but definitely not least, our highly esteemed speakers. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen one of these experts on a stage.
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Dan Stanek
Executive Vice President
As a noted authority in consumer trends and consumer behavior, Dan's areas of expertise include experience strategy, brand strategy, market positioning strategy, consumer insights, and new concept development. Dan has over 30 years of experience in consumer marketing and customer experience innovation for Fortune 500 companies. -
Jay Highland
EVP, Creative
Jay's work has been recognized by numerous industry publications, including Fast Company, Design:Retail, Interior Design, and VMSD, and he has led teams to two "Store of the Year" awards. -
Joanne Heyob
SVP, Operations Strategy & Design
While throughputs, labor assessments and peak capacity are operations-focused terms, as a speaker, Joanne makes operations easy to understand and delivers insights attendees are excited to bring back to their offices. As SVP, Operations Strategy & Design at WD Partners, Joanne brings 20 years of experience rooted in retail and store operations. -
Lee Peterson
EVP, Thought Leadership
Lee has more than 30 years of collective experience as a retailer, a strategist, a public speaker and as a leading voice in the future of retail. He brings an innovative approach to modern retail by understanding cultural trends, consumer demographics, and buying behavior across multiple industries.