Sephora and Fermenich - Sensorium

Sephora, the leading specialty beauty retailer, and Firmenich, global leaders in fragrance and flavors, have created The Sensorium™ – a ground-breaking multi-sensory, interactive fragrance exhibition. The first time open to the public, The Sensorium™ is a dynamic experience that explores the emotion and instinct of scent through interactive experiences, compelling film, story-telling and three-dimensional art.

The journey includes six distinct encounters that encourage us to rediscover the magic of fragrance:

• The backstory of creation, revealing how we think, experience and interact with scent
• Our brains’ emotional reaction to fragrance, including the impact of a life without scent
• How scent connects everyday actions and memories, making them an integral, yet often unnoticed, part of our lives
• How molecules and extractions blend together to form a finished fragrance that embodies and evokes a unique emotion
• Our brains’ purely instinctual reaction to scent, where our most primal, uninhibited emotions are provoked
• The Fragrance Bar where, similar to a wine tasting, guests smell unbranded scents, discovering preferences based on emotion instead of marketing messages or bottle appearance

“Fragrance is such an important part of our business, and our clients are always searching for the newest and most unique offerings,” said Sharon Rothstein, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Sephora. “The Sensorium™, created with the experience, knowledge and insight of Firmenich, offered us a tremendous opportunity to reengage, educate and excite about scent in an innovative way.”

“Firmenich has a history of inspiring industry partners with the magic inside fragrance through our Sensoriums,” said Debra Butler, Vice President of Creative Marketing for Firmenich. “We are thrilled by the opportunity to work with Sephora to share the Sensorium dream with the people in a way that will educate about scent as well as illuminate its emotional impact on our lives.”

http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52623-sephora-and-firmenich-partner-to-create-the-sensorium

Kaiser Chiefs Create Your Own Album

For the release of their new album, The Future is Medieval, UK band Kaiser Chiefs have collaborated with Wieden + Kennedy London to create a website that allows fans to design their own album cover and bespoke selection of tracks, and even make money from their creations...

The site, kaiserchiefs.com, features a series of 'machines' that users interact with to create their own album. First up, you're invited to choose the tracks that you want to feature on your album, by plugging wires into a weird selection of objects that each represent a song:

Once your song choices are complete, you then move along to the 'artwork creator', where you can pick from a range of images and backgrounds to create your individual cover. Here are some we made earlier:

Once completed, you can purchase your album (for £7.50), and are then given the option to sell your bespoke version of The Future is Medieval via the Kaiser Chiefs site. For each copy of your individual album that is sold, you will receive £1 in commission. The site also offers blog banner ads and posters for you to promote your particular cover/playlist via your own website/blog etc. The band will then reward 'super-sellers' with special prizes announced later on Facebook and Twitter.

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/june/kaiser-chiefs-wieden-kennedy-london

Punchdrunk and Playstation '...and Darkness Descended'

Scrambling up a narrow stairway, I momentarily pause for breath only to hear a blood-curdling groan a few paces behind me. I daren't look back. A hand, or at least what I think is a hand, grabs at the bottom of my trouserleg. Usually, this would be the point where I press pause, make myself a cup of tea, and wait for my heart rate to slow back down before re-entering the world of video games.

But this isn't a game. This is a piece called "… and darkness descended", the latest project from immersive theatre pioneers Punchdrunk. Collaborating with PlayStation for the upcoming release of Resistance 3, Sony's flagship sci-fi horror series, the company has created a terrifying and brilliantly authentic-feeling world beneath the railway arches at Waterloo station. Enter at your peril.

You take the role of one of the few remaining survivors of an apocalyptic event. Newspapers litter one of the early rooms and seem to hint at nuclear war, but the context is immaterial. From the moment the door closes behind you and you start to navigate the first dank corridor, torch in hand, you are as much part of the experience as witnessing it.

The use of smell (horrible throughout but different in each area) and team-based activities to find clues and explore rooms lifts the project far beyond your generic, London Dungeon-esque horror attraction. The foreboding atmosphere is simply impossible to resist: the strange, metallic groaning noises that soundtrack your journey, the use of light and shadows to suggest movement in the corner of your eye at every turn. Even the most cynical member of our group was playing along within a quarter of an hour.

Try as I did to maintain a critical distance, by the end I was drenched in a cold sweat and my heart was beating like a jackhammer.

Carl Christopher-Ansari, head of sponsorship for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, said that Punchdrunk had been on the company's radar for some time, but finding the right game to launch a collaborative project had been a problem. Resistance 3, a post-apocalyptic zombie shooter (with a seemingly huge marketing budget to boot) was the perfect fit, and Christopher-Ansari was keen to stress the effort made to recreate the "emotions" of the game in the production.

Which raises an interesting point – doesn't a real-life horror experience only highlight the limitations of video games as a medium? After all, ultimately you're still just sat there looking at your television set. Having been elbowed out of the way by fellow journalists running for their lives, I'd have to say a game has never quite manipulated my emotions to this extent. For all that they're getting better at it, video games can't compete with these sorts of tangible attractions just yet. Though they do at least have a pause button.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2011/sep/02/punchdrunk-try-terrified

All ears: Sound experience awaits shoppers

2011:12:16

London – Design and architecture company, 42 Architects, has created a retail design for sound accessory brand Urban Ears’ first store in Boxpark, Shoreditch. The store uses sound-sensitive LED lights in the far wall to create a visual manifestation of the sound created by shoppers. ‘We worked with the two key components of the brand – colour and sound,’ says Johan Berglund, founder of 42 Architects. ‘The sound-reactive LEDs make the back wall a focal point of the store and are a nod to the headphones club heritage.’ This is a seductive retail design, which engages customers’ curiosity and draws them into the space. For more on how to optimise your retail environment, read our Tomorrow Store.

https://www.lsnglobal.com/seed/

Stella Artois Presents 'The Black Diamond'

2 lovers. 1 diamond. A thief. A curse. A classic film noir movie coming straight from late night Paris in the 1960s.

And you. You are the spectator, but also the actor. Only you will discover the secrets of The Black Diamond.

Set to be this summer’s must-attend event, Stella Artois Black’s latest immersive theatre experience builds on the success of last year’s The Night Chauffeur. Filled with alluring characters and one-to-one interactions, The Black Diamond will place audience members at the centre of the performance, involving them in a sophisticated tale of love, desire and deception.

Commissioned by Stella Artois Black and drawing on the creative expertise of acclaimed immersive theatre producer Felix Barrett, The Black Diamond is a dramatic mix of online experiences and real-life cinema in locations across Shoreditch.

The Black Diamond will run from 3rd – 21st July, offering just a few thousand lucky invitees the chance to be part of this unique immersive theatre experience. The story will develop simultaneously online, giving a new depth to the production and offering an additional interactive perspective for the audience, whether they’ve attended the experience or not.

James Watson, Marketing Director, Stella Artois Western Europe said: “The sophisticated world of The Black Diamond will deliver an experience rich with taste and refinement, reflecting the distinguishing attributes of Stella Artois Black. Whether people attend the events in London or take part in the story online they will discover a unique experience unlike anything they’ve tried before.”

http://thegeekmuse.blogspot.com/2011/06/stella-artois-black-presents-black.html

Fresh look: Beauty store blends old and new

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2011:09:02

New York – Local architecture practice Mapos LLC has redesigned the interior of a beauty shop called Fresh. The new design was inspired by olde-world bakeries, laboratories and apothecaries, reflected in the inclusion of an old English communal washbasin and a large antique walnut table piled with vintage botanical books and glass flowerpots. The soaps on sale are wrapped in floral printed packaging and placed on large glass display cases to look like confectionery.

Sweet Shoppe: A taste of the future of retail

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2011:09:21

London – The Future Laboratory and retail designers at Campaign have created a retail concept called Sweet Shoppe as part of London Design Festival.

‘We have created a vision of the future that will take you on a theatrical experience,’ says Chris Sanderson, co-founder of The Future Laboratory. ‘You will be welcomed by the Shoppe-keeper, and then you will experience a bespoke idea of the future of retail through the metaphor of a sweet shop.’

Branching out: Topshop lines up a class act

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2011:09:30

 
London – Fashion retailer Topshop has opened General Store, a rebranded concept shop stocking exclusive ranges. The move is a change from Topshop’s usual approach of selling discounted clothes in a large retail space. The retailer has created a more intimate store environment featuring exclusive lines.

Newspaper trail: Aesop moves with the Times

 

https://www.lsnglobal.com/
2011:10:03

New York – Skincare brand Aesop has opened its first stand-alone store in New York. The move follows the installation of a pop-up kiosk at Grand Central Station earlier in the year. L:S:N Global reported on the pop-up kiosk, which used pressed back-issues of the New York Times as structural building blocks, in July. The new store continues the concept, and features display walls constructed from the compacted newspapers forming the interior space. The initial pop-up, at one of the busiest commuter interchanges in the city, was a great way to establish the brand, and test the store concept before the full opening. 

 

Good for the Goose: Lounge is one to remember

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2011:10:05

London – Grey Goose vodka has opened an exclusive lounge in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow airport.

‘The Grey Goose project exudes our clubhouse vision of creating memorable experiences for our customers to enjoy and continue talking about when they leave for their destination,’ says Clare Bacchus, head of clubhouses at Virgin Atlantic.

Roast of the town: Monocle opens Tokyo café

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2011:10:24

Tokyo – Global affairs magazine Monocle has opened a café in Tokyo’s Yurakucho Hankyu department store. The Monocle Café is run by the culinary team behind the Transit General Office. This is a good example of a publication moving into the service industry. For more about how brands are branching out into new streams of income, read our Magtailing microtrend.

Tunnel vision: Paris store shows a personal face

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2011:10:26

Paris – A new shop in the French capital enables consumers to create personalised cosmetics from a range of natural, organic ingredients.

Heliocosm, designed by French practice FREAKS freearchitects, features a sharp, geometric wooden tunnel leading into two serene mint green rooms. Inside the tunnel, customers can make their own make-up based on advice from professional tutors using natural ingredients.

‘There are multiple advantages to making your own cosmetics,’ explains Aurore Delauney of Heliocosm. ‘You control what you put on your face so you can avoid chemicals. You learn about plants and how they can benefit the skin, and you make real cosmetics because you add active ingredients.’

Increasingly, retailers are recognising the value of theatricality and personalisation in store design. For more information, read our macro trend on The Tomorrow Store.

Tall order: Beer tower stars at festival

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2011:11:07

Eindhoven, The Netherlands – Multidisciplinary design studio La Bolleur brewed its own beer to serve from a giant tower at Hutten Festival in Tilburg.

‘We thought we would do a variation on how a water tower works, by using height to create pressure, to serve the beer through the pumps at the bar,’ says Frank Winnubst, a member of the design team. ‘The rough nature of the building was inspired by a rescue house on the coast in the Netherlands, a light structure that is also very strong.’

This is a good example of Conviviality Culture, achieved through an intriguing and eye-catching design.

Strong Kreechr: Ouma Sets Sail with Racy Brew

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2011:11:08

Cape Town– Sportswear brand Puma is celebrating its entrance into the Volvo Ocean Race by working with craft beer company Brewers & Union to create a limited-edition beer called Kreechr. Only 600 cases were made.

The design of the bottle is in keeping with Puma’s entry for the race, a vessel called Mar Mostro, which was inspired by a story of a boat that becomes at one with the oceans.

‘Kreechr takes its inspiration from the tough sailing conditions that Mar Mostro will face during the race, and was crafted extra strong,’ says Brett Bellinger, marketing director for Puma.

Retail Pitch: Hong Kong Shopping Mongolian-Style

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2011:11:09

Hong Kong – Luxury Chinese lifestyle brand Shanghai Tang has opened a pop-up festival celebrating Mongolian heritage in a series of retail yurts.

The Shanghai Tang Mongolian Village was built at the beginning of November on the rooftop of Central Pier 4 in Hong Kong’s busiest commuter hotspot for two months in the run-up to Chinese New Year. The immersive, outdoor branded shopping experience is designed to evoke the traditional nomadic lifestyle of Mongolia, and features six traditional yurts as retail tents. Merchandise includes a limited-edition Mongolian-inspired collection, Shanghai Tang’s bespoke tailoring service, Year of the Dragon products, and the brand’s clothing and lifestyle collections.

One tent is reserved for private-hire events – either sit-down dinners or cocktail parties – organised by Shanghai Tang’s concierge specialists. LS:N Global is impressed by this mix of transient, seasonal retail that fits in well with our Conviviality Culture macrotrend.

Tom Dixon's Flash Factory

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/upstaging_the_popup_shop_tom_dixons_flash_factory_20766.asp

This video is admittedly more flash than substance, but perhaps that's fitting; it highlights Tom Dixon's Flash Factory, launched last week at Manila's MOS Design Building the last stop in a series of events in Asia including a spotting during Beijing Design Week. Dixon's concept moves the pop-up shop one step further back on the production chain:

[At Dixon's Flash Factory] a limited number of exclusive products [are] made and sold onsite. Flash Factory demonstrates Future Industry and the new found power of the designer, able to service world markets with the latest products in greatly reduced time scales. Etch is a digitally manufactured collection that includes a light and candle-holder in brass. Flash Factory workers assemble products on the stand while the people at the event have the option to buy the full assembled version or flat-packed version to complete at home. The Flash Factory debuted at Salone del Mobile 2010 and will run in Manila until the beginning of next week, shutting down on Sunday the 16th. Proceeds from the Etch products will be donated to the Autism Society of the Philippines.

Pop-up stores - A fleeting and fanciful concept?

http://www.cosmeticsbusiness.com/technical/article_page/Popup_stores__A_fleeting_and_fan
ciful_concept/61906

Natural selection

24-Jun-2011

Today, experimenting and being daring appear the only ways to test the success of any new retail propositions. According to Miller the future for pop-up shops is a step forward in social e-commerce terms: “Flash sales on Facebook are as big as pop-up stores were when the concept was first developed. These are sales that run for a limited time and stem from brands’ Facebook pages. It’s an experimental phase, some good examples recently are Diane Von Furstenberg and Britney Spears who both achieved outstanding sales in one day.”

The company is launching a pop-up shop concept for Facebook this summer called mypopupshop. It allows a cosmetics brand to promote and sell a limited product or range to people that like their brand, and to their facebook friends, for a limited time only.

Miller comments: “With only a limited amount of time to buy, the purchasing decision is made easier. Each cosmetics product or brand lasts for a limited time on a Facebook user mypopupshop site, much like in a real life pop-up shop.”

Another model that pop-up shops could develop might be that employed by The Perfume Shop, that has launched 50 of its The Perfume Shop @ Superdrug retail format this year. Jo Walker, managing director of The Perfume Shop, said at the time the announcement was made:

“We are finding that the dwell time is longer in Superdrug as people take more time to browse. Because these formats target customers who aren’t just looking for perfume, we’re appealing to a new type of consumer, those who pop into Superdrug for cosmetics or baby wipes and then come across our shop-in-shop while there so this is really beneficial for us.”

Michael Sheridan, owner of the Sheridan & Co design agency that has a space in Marylebone used solely for pop-ups, comments: “I think in the future pop-ups will be used to more strategic effect. Traditionally, pop-ups have been used to create greater brand awareness in a certain geographical location. What we have with Clarins for example is more of a laboratory scenario whereby we can engage with consumers and learn from their responses on what works and what doesn’t. Even though it’s been around for some time, I’d like to think that the pop-up concept isn’t finished with yet. I think it will evolve to a different level.”

According to Sheridan, the core foundation of the pop-up shop concept – surprise, delight and generosity – will stay firmly in place. However because the market is so competitive brands will need to get something back in return. “I am talking about the invaluable knowledge that consumer feedback gives to the brand. Ultimately we will get to the point where it will be consumers, as a group, who will shape the direction of the brand itself,” concludes Sheridan.

Variations on the concept of pop-up shops allow retailers to understand what really works with consumers and the key element in the future will be flexibility and consumer engagement. Pop-up shops will not just be the way brands can make a quick statement about themselves and lure consumers in but rather a marketing tool employed to test the water, define the way consumers get to know about cosmetics and shape the brand’s direction accordingly so that they can stand out in an increasingly competitive market.

Springwise: Food and Cosmetic Innovations 'Tryvertised'

http://www.psfk.com/2011/10/springwise-food-cosmetic innovationsntryvertised.html#ixzz1biyohAgA  

October 24, 2011

Earlier this year we featured tryvertising store Sample Central which has opened in Japan and Hungary. Now extending retail-based tryvertising to food and cosmetics industries is Darling Delicious in the Netherlands, who provide a platform for companies to test their innovations with consumers before they launch on the market.

Researchers at Darling Delicious claim to search for the most luxurious, innovative, tasty and sustainably produced items, which they trial in two ways to a female market aged 25 to 55. In their trend store in Groningen, these trial products are tested in a real shop environment, and are available for purchase alongside Darling Delicious’ own range. Producers wishing to be stocked must provide a brief description of their company, the product, and the current phase of development. If they are selected by Darling Delicious, the producer will then receive access to all the consumer feedback on their product. Meanwhile, a “GooddieBox” containing new products is also sent to 200 carefully selected international recipients, at least four times a year. Producers can submit five questions to gain understanding of customers’ perception of their product, and after the trial period, Darling Delicious will help businesses analyze feedback to bring the final product to shelves.

According to the Darling Delicious website, 90 percent of new products disappear from shelves soon after their introduction. Gaining customer responses to everything from ingredients and recipes through to packaging style could provide the key to a longer shelf-life. One for luxury food and cosmetic innovators to get involved with?

The Urban Outfitters Store on Tour Movement is Mobile

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/urban-outfitters-mobile-shops1

When it comes to college student fashion, Urban Outfitters is king, which is why they’re partnering up with Dockers and hitting the road with Store on Tour. Their destinations? Only the biggest college towns in the United States: Knoxville, TN, Athens, GA and Tallahassee, FL, to name a few.

Urban Outfitters is bringing mobile shops stacked with curated gear and locally sourced pieces from some of the most promising young artists in the Southern United States. Store on Tour is sponsored by Dockers, so each artist involved will be giving their best interpretation of khaki using raw selvedge-like material from the Dockers Alpha collection.

So, if you’re lucky enough to be in one of the towns on the schedule of Store on Tour, be sure to head down to the Urban Outfitters mobile shops and check out some fresh threads and unique creations.

Urban Outfitters Mobile Shops Published: Oct 24, 11

http://www.trendhunter.com/slideshow/pop-up-innovations

Implications - In today's society, convenience and speed are two qualities to which a large number of consumers appeal. Businesses that devote their efforts to providing their clients with fast-paced services without having to sacrificing quality will likely fare well amongst today's convenience-hungry culture. Consumers will likely invest in those products that best suit their busy lifestyles.

Talking Sense: Museum smells like a winner

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2011:11:03

New York – Fragrance company Firmenich and cosmetics e-tailer Sephora have together created Sensorium, a pop-up museum that explores the history and science of perfume through multimedia installations. A main feature of the exhibition is First Scent, which evokes specific associations in visitors using sound, visuals and fragrances, including freshly cut grass, beaches and early morning breakfasts. For more on how retailers are using Synaesthetics to evoke the senses of consumers, read the Trend Impacts section of our Tomorrow Store macrotrend and our Innovate on MiN Rituals.