Shaping Foxtrot's Storytelling

Students in MMM’s Business Innovation Lab are helping alum Nora Boneham (MMM ‘19) create a smoother shopping experience for customers at Foxtrot.

Nora Boneham (MMM ‘19) wants to tell her customers a story. She is turning to a familiar place to help find the right words.  

Boneham is the product lead for the consumer and retail experience group at Foxtrot Market, a next generation corner store and café. Started as an app-only delivery service of select products such as wines, cheeses, and fresh-made meals, the company now has 32 stores in four metropolitan areas, with plans to continue expansion in both new and existing markets.  

But there is a challenge, and Boneham is passionate about finding the solution. Foxtrot carries a selection of emerging and local products that encourages discovery and exploration. But how do you convince people to break their routine and try something new? 

To help find the answer, Boneham is turning to the students in the Business Innovations Lab (BIL) of Northwestern's MBA + MS Design Innovation (MMM) program — a dual-degree program between Northwestern Engineering and the Kellogg School of Management. BIL is a two-quarter capstone to the MMM experience that allows students to showcase their learning by helping actual businesses with real challenges.  

“So many of our products are by smaller makers with great stories, but we could do a much better job telling you their stories when you're standing in our stores,” Boneham said. “Can we find the right intersection of in-store experience and technology to boost storytelling and improve product discovery for our customers, all while maintaining the neighborhood feel of our stores?”  

Boneham is asking BIL students to devise a plan that does just that – find the right way to share the stories behind the brands in the stores to overcome the unsettledness customers might feel when they encounter something new. Do that, Boneham said, and customers are much more likely to actually make the purchase.  

Boneham was inspired to return to her alma mater for assistance because of her own MMM experiences. She joined the program in 2017 to help boost her knowledge and transition from commercial real estate and into a role that allowed her to innovate.  

She said she found everything she was looking for in the MMM program.   

“I would not have been able to pivot to a strategic product role in technology without a MMM education,” she said. “The program unlocked an entirely new career path for me, not only through the coursework, but also in the confidence and experiences I gained when collaborating with my peers.”  

Now, Boneham is leaning on the MMM peers who followed her in the program to help her solve one of Foxtrot’s biggest challenges.   

She said she turned to the MMM program and students in BIL because she knows the quality of work that comes from both.   

“This is a complex problem to solve that needs fresh eyes and an out-of-the-box approach,” she said. “Between their comprehensive coursework and the support from faculty, I am confident that the students will come up with something that is both innovative and desirable for customers.”  

And, she said, the students will find their own reward when they one day are able to go into a Foxtrot and see their ideas shaping the shopping experience for the company’s customers. 

“My hope is their strategic recommendation is something they will see come to fruition,” she said. “In a year, when they walk into a Foxtrot market, they can enjoy the new product storytelling experience that they helped to ideate.”