creating brands that stimulate business demand

buildingsuper brands

creating brands that stimulate business demand

electrical retailingbold steps in a downturnHarvard Business School professor John Quelch, writing in The Financial Times, said instead of cutting budgets businesses need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value, and how they are responding to the recession. A downturn is “no time to stop spending on marketing”. Businesses like M.Video, one of the largest and successful electrical retailers in Russia, increased their use of design services, and advertising during the downturn to maintain their position as no.1 in their market.

M.Video decided they needed to launch ‘service’ in a bigger way. They threw open the challenge to a number of design consultancies in September 2010 to develop a new concept with new in-store communications and retail design. The existing masterbrand would remain the same. Their aim was to open 12 stores before Christmas 2011 with a view to a new store opening schedule for the next 3 years thereafter. The campbellrigg concept was commissioned.

When some competitors are waiting for the market to change, or even cutting back, many other retailers across Europe are forging ahead. According to a UK Design Council survey during the downturn over half (54%) of firms believed design will help them stay competitive during the economic downturn. Some 59% of firms agreed or agreed strongly that there was a clearly positive link between investment in design and profitability. Furthermore, 85% of rapidly growing businesses consider design to be integral or significant to their operations.

edifying the spirit of a brandBrand is evolving quickly from being merely a message to a customer segment, and representing a set of values. It now represents service. Consumer empowerment means we are seeing a shift to the customer. Retailers in light of this, and with the advent of other channels such as Internet, are in need of gearing their outlets to a more customer-oriented experience through signage, way finding systems, and better customer flow.

We create impactful signage and entrance area treatments

Being customer-focussed will help electrical retailers drive greater loyalty

We create focal points to hero product

campbellrigg believe if you understand your core brand values and then integrate them consistently in everything you do, the brand will know how to behave in every situation, across every touchpoint, through all communication hierarchies. Resources that we produce such as toolkits, a brand database, printing guidelines and brand guardianship ensure that the programme of activity is not in isolation of the wider marketing mix, but geared for ongoing seasonal and tactical activity after the initial concept is implemented.

The existing M.Video brand logo would remain, and so we began by conducting a brand audit to drill down into the brand essence to produce new visual language and a new concept design.

Our concept would integrate the best customer experience and online self-service help desks with a traditional retail environment. An entirely new sub brand was created to promote service, M.Service. The credit zone was redesigned to be more accessible and open to customers at the point of purchase. The checkout area was

We plan the customer journey

enhanced with a ‘History Wall’ to reinforce the heritage of the company. A full suite of service communication material was developed for use at the point of purchase and to aid customer choice a new ‘Knowledge’ communication suite was developed. All these elements dovetailed to produce a vibrant new store brand environment.

the all-important vindicationAs with all projects our client needed to see that our efforts would help to produce a boost in sales. The first store opening in Moscow showed that that year-on-year sales had seen a significant boost. Operational team feedback from M.Video was very positive too: “The end result was in line with our expectations”, “overall we were happy with the cost”. There were the “normal challenges of a new concept store” but M.Video were “satisfied” with the quality of the final concept design.

In October of 2011, we received recommendation of our achievements from the President & CEO of M.Video, Alexander Tynkovan:

“In September 2010 M.Video company, the leader of consumer electronic retail market in Russia, started up the project with the final goal of creation new store design concept for the format we operate in. In the result of tendering process CampbellRigg was chosen as partner for this project. In the process of fruitful and positive cooperation we received from CampbellRigg unique solutions which were developed taking into account M.Video brand identity and views of our marketing team. The new format proved its success uplifting sales levels and attracting new customers to our stores. Therefore I would like to give positive recommendation for CampbellRigg as a reliable partner and successful design creator.”

what we didOur work took account of the M.Video competitive environment. With an ever-increasing choice of product in store, our design had to embrace the cutting edge of electrical retailing:

• New store planning and a revised customer journey including new navigation signage and wayfinding• A more open and inspiring entrance for the promotion of new product lines• The development of new fixtures with improved product display, visibility, and accessibility• The creation of a more focal service area to assist customers including a new sub brand• A new graphic design suite was created to improve customer communication, enhance the customer experience, and to promote value.

we sought to:- …maintain their position as market leader …communicate with customers more effectively …simplify technology for the non-technical consumer …induce a softer atmosphere, to appeal to women …inspire consumers …provide a level of service unsurpassed in the sector …develop the ‘we care’ message in store …ensure the store was more understandable and easy to navigate …address ‘green’ sustainability issues

for more information please contact

campbellrigg8-9 apollo studios, charlton kings road

london nw5 2sb united kingdom

+44 (0) 207 284 1515www.campbellrigg.com