Nike Raises Bar For Digital Retail In New London Pop-up Store
March 15, 2012 by Dave Haynes
Nike has opened a new retail space that pretty seriously raises the bar on what experiential digital look like for brands and consumers.
The NikeFuel Station & NikeiD Studio at Boxpark in East London is located in the world’s first pop-up mall – a temporary shopping centre built out of shipping containers. The general area is one of several east London boroughs hosting Olympics sites this summer.
The store, says Nike, features engaging digital experiences designed to enable and inspire runners to be the best they can be. From May, NikeFuel Station at Boxpark will also be one of the select stockists of the Nike+ FuelBand, an innovative wristband that tracks movement throughout the day to help motivate and inspire users to be more active.
NikeFuel Station at Boxpark experiences and services include:
• Floor-to-ceiling motion sensing, interactive LED walls designed to encourage you to move more and demonstrate NikeFuel – a new metric that is the measure of a person’s athletic activity
• Nike+ FuelBand interactive experience created in conjunction with AKQA – an engaging motion sensitive installation where consumers see a life-size, digitized reflection on an LCD wall that reacts to movement to create a stunning piece of digital art that can be shared with friends via social networks. The faster you move, the more spectacular the results!
• Augmented reality tools to bring product technologies to life giving consumers access to interactive, animated product information
• ‘Digital mannequins’ – motion sensitive intelligent mirrors that reveal film footage of local runners wearing key products from the store
• Interactive touch screens – providing consumers with information about Nike+ products, forthcoming Nike+ Run Club sessions and the ability to purchase products from the entire Nike collection via Nikestore.com
• Weekly Nike+ Run Club – free running club open to all East London runners
• Physio and nutritionist services – free regular consultations with physios and nutritionists for Nike+ Run Club members
• Gait Analysis – in-store treadmill to allow consumers to ensure runners purchase the right shoe to match their running style
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“Nike is changing the face of retail with the opening of Nike+ FuelStation at Boxpark,” says Andy Walker, Global Creative Director for Nike. “Nike+ products and services have merged the physical and digital worlds to help inspire and enable athletes of all levels to be the best they can be. Now we’re taking this approach one step further by combining innovative products with digital services and interactive multimedia experiences to create a state-of-the-art retail environment.”
The project was designed entirely in-house by company’s Brand Design team. The store blends contemporary interior design and architecture with ideas inspired by the first-ever Nike store in Portland almost 40 years ago.
Nike is also opening a separate NIKEiD Studio on the first floor of Boxpark where consumers can design and customise their own performance and lifestyle footwear with the help of consultants drawn from the local design community.
The NIKEiD space has a completely unique look and feel to the NikeFuel Station. Focusing on craft and creativity, the space is a fusion of a luxury boutique, a tailor’s workshop and a design library.
The main feature of the space is a 20 metre long oak bookcase that follows the same ‘chevron’ structure as the bleachers in Nike+ FuelStation. The bookcase is filled with a vast collection of inspiring design titles and showcase products to motivate consumers to design their ultimate Nike shoe.
Other features include four individual design stations set into gym-inspired tables, and two larger design stations using 55” plasma screens to enable groups of friends to collaboratively create designs.
The NIKEiD space is also the first Nike store outside of the US to feature the ‘Bowerman Wall’, an interactive 92” touchscreen wall which showcases an audio visual library of Nike’s heritage. True to the essence of customization the entrance to the space will be a canvas for local artists to showcase their creativity through the lens of Nike innovations.
Very, very nice. Not the sort for thing, obviously, many brands would or could do. But definitely something that speaks to the Nike brand and experience it wants to convey.
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