Consistent shop branding is a winner
Brands are increasingly being presented in special brand shops. The design and planning of new brand worlds is blurring the boundaries between temporary and permanent architecture.
Flagship store, ambassador shop, collection store, global store or epicentre - more and more companies are presenting their products and services in spatial scenarios for which ever more novel names are being dreamt up. These coinages denote spaces for the presentation and sale of goods that are clothed in ever new interior design outfits. The spatial presence of a brand is concentrated at a distinctive location so the associated image can be experienced first hand.
As early as the 19th century, the architect and theorist Gottfried Semper recognised "the principle of clothing" as a characteristic element in architecture. Semper's view was that skin, garments and buildings are all different types of clothing for human beings that offer different degrees of intimateness, protection and identity. Spatial clothing that is intended to communicate aspects such as identity and values is today mainly used by the global players amongst the brand traders to build up a relationship between the image of a brand and the consumer. The umbrella provided by a big brand offers the customer both protection and identity, and a way of visibly demarcating themselves from others.
In shop branding, this is largely done by reducing the goods on offer to a single manufacturer. Vendors in the premium segment, above all, like to take the retailing of their goods into their own hands to ensure consistent quality and protection of brand values from production to sales and the consumer. Moreover, the manufacturers of brand goods are allergic to discounts and special offers. After all, a stable price ensures long-term stability of product value. The trend towards single-brand shops is clearly on the increase in the textile sector, while proprietor-managed shops offering different labels are struggling. Flagship stores also provide the necessary space for the entire range of a brand and the intended diversification of the portfolio with allied product lines. Accessories are afforded more space: A manufacturer of exclusive luggage may now also offer garments and decorative arts or a stationer may sell watches and jewellery.
But companies from completely different sectors are beginning to recognise the value added that can be achieved by owning flagship stores. Capital and consumer goods manufacturers, for example, for suppliers of building and sanitary goods, computer companies and vendors in the cosmetics and wellness sector present themselves with innovative shops and outlets. For example, in April Beiersdorf AG opened the world's first Nivea House in a prime location, Hamburg's Jungfernstieg. The construction costs to the tune of EUR 2 million and the costs for around 20 employees are seen by Beiersdorf as a marketing instrument and investment in the value of the Nivea brand. After a 95-year history originating in Hamburg, Nivea is the leading skin and body care brand in the world today. Under the management of Klaus-Martin Hoffmann the architects of Hamburg company ECE Projektmanagement have staged "a world of wellbeing for the body, spirit and soul" on three storeys covering about 800 m2. The Nivea House has seized upon the trend for brief wellness services in "day spas" and offers numerous applications to do with the group's products. The topics beach, sky and sea were allotted to the three storeys, in which the typical brand colours blue and white prevail. For the moment, the Nivea House is seen by its builder as a new dimension in brand staging that is not required to turn a profit. But if the concept is a long-term success, other locations may be opened.
The development of single-brand shops has resulted in a new construction task that blurs the boundaries between temporary and permanent architecture. While architecture at tradeshows and exhibitions is becoming more complex and construction times as a result are getting longer, the use cycles of brand-compliant interiors are becoming ever more dynamic. For example, "pop-up stores" are built to be torn down and re-erected in all their glory in another location. The value of brands is constantly increasing. So it is little wonder that consistent shop branding is advancing. The design and planning of new brand worlds is fast becoming an interdisciplinary process involving architecture, marketing, scenography and fair contracting. In this case, the designer is on the way to becoming an "imageneer" to put it in the words of the American Disney group. His task is to transport the iconography of an imaginary identity into physical reality.
Jons Messedat
m+a report Nr.6 / 2006 vom 22.09.2006
m+a report vom 22. September 2006