Radio Saved The Retail Star - Gen Z Report

01 _You’re on Air

01. You’re on Air

Ever seen or heard a sports fan’s reaction to the prospect of recording and watching “the game” later?

If yes, you’ll quickly understand just how important it is to understand retail’s “live” role for your brand.

People didn’t just gather around radios and TV shows because they were solely interested in the content, they were also aware that millions of others with the same values, beliefs, and interests were doing the same thing. This is community.

Whilst on-demand services like your social channels and websites offer convenience that consumers demand, it’s critical to understand your retail environments are one of the only live spaces that should offer an unmissable experience from your brand.

But… in a sea of static, what’s your signal?

“Gen Z are getting quite savvy about how algorithms are dictating who they spend time with and becoming more open to this idea of organic possibility and meeting people in real life.”

Source: Zing Tsjeng, editor-in-chief, Vice

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Seen Studios x Nike House of Innovation

_Frequency vs Volume 02

02. Frequency vs Volume

Akin to a seasoned DJ, your brand needs to lock into its unique frequency. Not all about turning up the volume; this entails clarity and resonance. We regularly see consumer trends come and go, however it’s the macro trends driven by global influences (political, economic, technological, cultural etc) that are shifting behaviours attuned with consumer’s deeper values.

Leading a brand to ask questions likewhat is our short to mid-term brand message? What is our store’s tone of voice?

As these impressions, shared values and cultural insights are what your consumer tunes in for.

Whilst your audience will undoubtedly interact with your ads and services, regardless of how relevant they are, they consistently care for one thing. Your brand voice and purpose.

Meaning one thing- as a brand, what you talk about and who you’re talking to adds value to your audience’s captured and retained cultural attention.

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Seen Studios x Marine Serre

Seen Studios x Marine Serre

Regenerate: Atelier Live

Bringing the space to life, the space was designed to become home to live workshops, hosted by a Marine Serre Atelier. Guiding guests on making a range of items using deadstock material. This process would be streamed online.

Items left unfinished in the workshops would then be finalised by the atelier in the days after, at a workbench positioned in the front window of the Cornershop. The window will become a live portal into the craftsmanship of Marine Serre. Live feed cameras will also stream this process onto the brand’s socials, allowing those who attended the workshop to tune into watching the finishing touches of their handy work.

_Caller on the Line 03

03. Caller on the Line

Gamification and online to offline strategies have withstood the test of time but the power of exclusive insights into our audience’s cultural universe has been reduced to fleeting digital content in store.

If we are attempting to drive cultural conversations and remain relevant to our audience, what kind of creative partnerships are we having dialogues with and how are we sharing these insights?

These partnerships can transform your retail space into a channel of diverse perspectives, engaging, and authentic content, turning passive listeners into engaged participants eager for your next brand segment.

“Research finds 85% of respondents under 30 are interested in contributing ideas to help brands develop solutions for social and environmental issues”

Source: Ogyilvy

Seen Studios x Marine Serre

_The Art of the Playlist 04

04. The Art of the Playlist

The success of a great radio show isn’t just in the choice of music, but in how it’s presented- tailored to the listener’s daily rhythm.

Similarly, your store must master the art of delivering content that not only appeals to Gen Z but also fits seamlessly into their lives.

If your retail environments don’t feel “live” and look even remotely like your on-demand online experiences, this is your sign to start programming, curating, and mixing.

Whether it’s through exclusive insights, immersive experiences or engaging hyperlocal content, the aim is to create a content playlist that becomes the soundtrack to their day every day.

“Outside of school and religious ceremonies, there are hardly any environments where we get to read in unison. It’s kind of beautiful, no?”

Adam, a Reading Rhythms regular (source: The New York Times)

“Going to a reading party is a new status symbol”

Source: Carly Ettinger, US foresight analyst

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Wrapping it up…

So, how can our retail spaces feel like a town hall, a stadium, or a media station- places that bring people together under one roof sharing values that they’re deeply and culturally invested in?

When it comes down to constantly curated content, product, and entertainment, let’s stop creating physical manifestations of our online sites, that are meant for a singular and convenient function, which at the very best may amuse your customers with the use of a singular “shareable” moment in the shape of a photo booth.

If the prospect of fine-tuning your strategy to the Gen Z frequency seems daunting, we’re here to help. Reach out to collaborate on building engaging strategies for retail environments with genuine purpose.

05 _Case study

Nike Lunar Roam

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For the re-launch of Nike’s Lunar Roam, we collaborated with the Nike SNKRS team to host an exclusive member’s experience, immersing attendees into the sneaker’s ethereal aesthetic with a life drawing session.

London-based Life Drawing collective which champions East & South East Asian bodies, we designed, produced, installed, and managed the experience for Nike’s member community.

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Between layers of rock, sand, and cosmic accessories roamed models, styled by Lauren Amie Pariola in Central Saint Martin’s very own- Yaku Stapleton’s designs. All looks of which featured Nike’s Lunar Roam on foot. Welcomed into the space with all the artistic tools to explore the practise of life drawing with ESEA, we also fuelled our Nike SNKRS community members with food ft for extra-terrestrial experimentalists. Freeze-dried snacks to be exact.

Hosted in collaboration with ESEA Life Drawing, the

The set, which channelled a hyper futuristic concept, was created to embrace the Lunar Roam, a sneaker designed to confront the daily challenges of reality and foster self-expression through performance.

Putting our otherworldly fantasies to reality, this was an exceptionally special branded experience, created in collaboration with the Nike SNKRS team.

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Converse Pop-up Toolkit

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Partnering with Converse’s Global Store Design Team, we conceptualised, designed, and engineered a comprehensive toolkit, enabling global partners to build and scale temporary retail experiences for their respective marketplaces in a reusable and efcient way.

A viable “kit of parts”, we set out to strategically develop a retail environment which was authentic to the Converse brand for small, medium, and large executions that could be placed within multiple formats.

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With efciency, sustainable sourcing and global scaling in mind, the toolkit consisted of a pop-up retail strategy, creative direction and material application, 3D renders, key marketing principles and an engineered drawing pack.

Stemming from their existing store design, we ensured the temporary-retail designs featured in the toolkit refected the essence of the brand, allowing space for in store collaborative experiential activations with Converse ambassadors.

Designed to be rolled out across various global markets, shared here are the frst of many physical executions, installed in the city of Chengdu in China.

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Nike House of Innovation Paris Air Max Day

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In alignment with Nike’s Air Max Day event in Paris, ‘Dynamic Land’, we took over Nike’s House of Innovation arena, designing, producing & executing a high-octane game space with prizes to be won, celebrating the next generation of air.

Taking over both the space and the digital landscape within, our experiential ideation was inspired by the Dynamic Land and the traditional excitement of funfairs and arcades. 3 gamifed pressure pods took centre stage, allowing members to race against the clock collecting as many Maxx Character tokens as possible in exchange for limited edition prizes, redeemed at the fairgroundesque concession stand.

The space also held Dn branded claw machines, flled with prizes, an event-bespoke digital quiz hosted by the Parisian fashion and streetwear collective, Camino TV and a Dn try on stationwith additional rewards made available post purchase. Prizes included Dn branded scarves, t-shirts, keyrings, fgurines, and patches- designed especially for the weekend.

An exhilarating air-fuelled experience for fans of Nike Air.

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Choo Café for Jimmy Choo

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One of our most notable projects, this collaboration with Jimmy Choo saw us design, produce and install the iconic Choo Café in the renowned ‘Shoe Heaven’ area in Harrods.

Without a doubt one of our boldest projects, our design narrative was defned by Jimmy Choo’s signature colour, fuchsia. Boasting plush pink carpets and mirrored gold accents, alongside 70’s inspired modular seating upholstered in pink Melton wool, we designed the space to be a fully immersive portal into the brand’s Varenne collection.

Host to Jimmy Choo’s take on a classic British afternoon tea, for the Café’s residency we designed and produced branded crockery and cutlery to set the

scene alongside a menu of English teas, picnic sandwiches, cakes, and pastries, all topped with an edible Jimmy Choo logo.

Bringing luxe, indulgence and fun to the 5th foor of Harrods, the Choo Café took the internet by storm and was featured within the likes of Hypebae, Forbes and WWD. Additionally, the Choo Café was said to be one of the most successful pop-ups within Harrods to date and the full design was later rolled out in Seoul, taking this slice of pink opulence cross continent.

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Nike Air Max Dn Car Boot Sale

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Teaming up with Nike SNKRS, we designed, produced, delivered, and hosted London’s Dn Car Boot for this year’s Air Max Day Campaign- from initial content creation through to event night.

Briefed to create an unforgettable launch for Nike’s latest sneaker silhouette- The Air Max Dn and celebrate Nike’s annual Air Max Day, our team got to work pulling together one of our most experiential retail projects to date. A frst for Nike, we designed an adaptation of the ritual weekend activity for Londoners in the city- The Car Boot Sale.

from Currie Goat, sneaker cleaning from Sneaker Lab, trims from SliderCuts and nail art from Suki Nails. Keeping members fuelled, a London classic- Willy’s Pies served up pies and an ice cream van saw the delivery of unreal Dn chip cones and ‘Nike Cuppas’chipped antique tea cups flled with vegan panna cotta.

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SNKRS Members arrived in hundreds to the Dn Car Boot at Hoxton Docks, greeted by the sounds of Foundation FM as well as rooms worth of car boot traders, retro gaming, live tufting

Sourcing & partnering with independent creative traders across the city, we worked with Soldier Boyfriend, Johanna Parv, Dolly, Greater Goods,

PASTDOWN.STORE,

Splitdat, Holsales, Octi, Peachy Den, Peak Television and Goodhood to bring the car boot sale to life, all selling their own product throughout the night.

Ofering loyal followers of the Air

Max a frst dibs at purchasing the triple black Air Max Dn, we also

gave every member a rafe ticket upon arrival, inviting them to take part in the ofcial Dn rafe dropwith limited edition prizes from the creative traders up for grabs.

Performances from CityBoyMoe, Lola Young and a surprise visit from DJ & Producer Izzy Bossy closed the celebrations- putting the Air Max Dn on the map as the uniform of the city.

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