Physical retail not only holds the opportunity to wholly immerse the consumer into the brand world, but helps promote the subliminal values and mission behind the retailer. From graphics and communication to the customer journey, retail branding is all about how you interact with your consumer.
Defining retail branding
To present your brand appropriately to the outside world, we must first understand how your consumer tribe is interacting with retail. Retail touchpoints such as the store exterior act as an essential communication tool, to entice the customer into a brands world and in turn persuades them to make a purchase. Anticipating how you want the consumer to interact with your product and where the main touchpoints lie, ensures you create a customer journey that is relevant and cohesive to your consumer.
Understanding the approach
Nodding towards deeper intentions, at D4R we not only develop concepts, but we read, research, and explore every brief to fully understand the brand and vendor objectives. Our research and insight teams immerse themselves into the wider commerce environment to interpret and navigate the retail and consumer landscape surrounding the brand. With opportunity to undertake competitor and brand analysis, we believe it’s this union of creative thinking, ideas with insights, commercial know-how and fail-safe delivery that sets us apart. Whether you tap into fashion, technology or fitness and lifestyle, the opportunities, and experiences you can create are limitless.
Empowered by community, MYPROTEIN approached us to develop a brand identity that would translate the success of their online offering into a physical retail environment. Creating a ‘grab and go’ kitchen themed store, we approached the brief by first looking into the driving forces behind the project. By identifying these core drivers, we were able to define the key consumer tribes and their respective interests to provide a recognisable concept that aligned with the consumers lifestyle. A simple, thematic approach with fitness flavour, that incorporated motivational brand communications and bold category graphics, empowered each customer to find the right products in their personalised journey.
In addition to the UK high street, we also work overseas to provide brand experiences like no other. Transforming the retail store environment and focusing on experience, we provided Etude House with a playground of cosmetic retail. Experiential and interactive elements such as interactive skin scans and a foundation mixing station, where the product is delivered by a robot, offered an intuitive pathway for customers. With a mission to showcase Etude’s purpose and values, we undertook in-depth strategic research ensuring that the heart of the brand shone through and narrated the story of Etude House. Completed with an omni-channel experience, the new store re-invented the cosmetic landscape whilst championing the various textures and shades of the brands core colour, pink.
Bringing strategy to life through predicting trends, and considering relevant market insights, allows us to provide recommendations that can lead customer experience and define a brands story. Building campaigns ranging from in-store print and product display tools, to launch zones and window displays, we know what it takes to capture your customer’s eye.
Whether it’s creating a retail identity from scratch, or translating an existing, established brand identity into a form that relays into retail, a concise concept adaptable to various outcomes, provides a harmonious solution and forms a consistent brand identity across all platforms.
In 2023, we joined forces with MAC to support their mission to be No.1 in complexion. Looking to produce an unmissable large-scale shade matching roadshow, we were able to deliver a vibrant space that created a buzz and amplified the key benefits of the new product. After careful consideration and collaborative working, we finalised the ‘home of MAC ‘concept, offering a one-to-one personalised experience whilst educating consumers on the product. By reinforcing the importance of the colour spectrum, we presented a multitude of concepts that provided a seamless customer journey and an interactive moment of gamification. Through providing a ‘drop to win’ game, the immersive moment encouraged onward sales through its exclusive offers.
Choosing materials and textures that emulate the aesthetics of a brand are equally as significant in capturing the impact of a brand’s identity, as your space will encapsulate the consumer within the narrative you’re trying to tell. Looking into our recent project with UGG, where we introduced their latest collection into luxury retail, we challenged shopper experience. Encouraging summer authentically, we implemented three-dimensional grain-like surfaces and a large-scale illuminated roundel that mimicked the aesthetic tempo of a summer’s day across a Californian desert. Through a juxtaposition of style, we amplified the tactility of the concept through FSC® certified birch plywood, which acted as a textural device against the ‘golden-hour’ plinths.
Encouraging sustainable design through FSC accredited materials and suppliers, allows us to provide sustainable retail solutions. During our prototyping stage, not only do we warrant accurate representation of the solution, but we also ensure all standards are met by checking all the finer details, including the viability of mechanical fasteners and material integrity.
Meticulous in our work with a deep involvement with the production process, our Technical Development team work hard to deliver on our client’s expectations and exceed them. Whilst working with Tempur we took a deep dive into the different markets to decipher our approach and understand the interpretations of the Tempur brand. Developing a complete retail guidelines document, we provided detailed solutions that show how the concept could be applied across all environments.
With sections dedicated to a comprehensive, creative suite of fixtures, we were able to provide a selection of furniture applications and RAMS backed designs that would bring the concept to life. Adhering to budgets and size stipulations we were able to visualise the concept, alongside our tech-drawings and detailed floor plans to showcase how all of the details come together as a functional, shoppable journey and how we could provide onward services with our spatial and specification know-how.
With a full turn-key process, from delivering concepts to manufacturing and installation, we promise to create a retail space that generates community and expands on the offerings you provide as a retailer.
Our extensive experience in working with some of the world’s most prestigious brands and retail locations, has earned us a trusted status with numerous global brands. Through incorporating features such as digital integration, interactive elements, and retail graphics, we are certain that your customers will leave with a never to be forgotten experience.