What Innovation Means for Brookstone

The goal of every Brookstone marketing effort is to create hyper-relevancy, Speltz said. Here are examples of how the retailer tries to accomplish that:

• intelligent targeting, including merchandising its products based on geography and weather events;
• product device compatibility, which Speltz explained as recommending products to consumers based on the device they're using to shop Brookstone's site (e.g., selling iPad accessories to a consumer shopping on an iPad);
• "thinking outside the text," Brookstone's version of the oft-quoted phrase "thinking outside the box," with ideas such as using animated GIFs in its emails and on its website; and
• a finger-friendly tablet site that makes it easy for users to type, which has resulted in a increase in conversions on the mobile device.

Experiment and Learn
Never stop thinking differently and experimenting, Speltz advised. Brookstone puts this philosophy into practice — to varying degrees of success. Its winners include e-gift cards and a partnership with Vat19, a source for "curiously awesome" gifts. Vat19 creates videos for Brookstone, for which Brookstone cedes complete control. One video went viral and generated 1.5 million YouTube views.