Immersive
Experiences
Customer expectations are demanding more from physical stores, with the rise of ‘Hyperphysical Retail’. Brands must offer a more immersive, multi-sensory experience in store, integrating art, culture, and design and rather than focusing on immediate sales, create engaging customer experiences, with the belief that memorable moments lead to transactions. This innovative approach is gaining traction globally, especially among luxury brands, and is expected to impact the Australian retail landscape in 2024.
At Dashing, we have found the most unique experiences in store are often inspired not by other retail trends, but by the creativity and innovation seen in Theatres, Museums, Art Galleries and Events
- as demonstrated through some of our creative team’s favourite immersive experiences over the past year :
Gucci Achetypes
@ The Powerhouse Museum Sydney
This exhibition had a maximalist design approach, incorporating garments, accessories, sets, and props with dynamic lighting and sound to craft an immersive and escapist cinematic experience, effectively transforming Gucci products into art objects.
Originally hosted in Florence for Gucci's centennial celebration, the exhibition recreates iconic Gucci campaigns envisioned by Creative Director Alessandro Michele. Utilizing cutting-edge technology, meticulous craftsmanship, and exquisite interior design, it constructs immersive spaces that showcase the narrative power and creative brilliance of Gucci as a brand.
Each room was a dizzying display of Gucci, with Gucci Marmont handbags standing to attention in floor-to-ceiling infinity mirror cabinets, floral arrangements sprouting from lounge room floors and whimsical scenes projected onto mirrors - it was easy to imagine these displays translating to a show-stopping in store experience.
Weta Workshop Unleashed
@ Sky City Auckland
Weta Workshop, famous for design & set builds including Lord of The Rings, Avatar and Black Panther, takes visitors on a truly immersive journey through their creative process. This is done through three fictitious films in the genres of Horror, Fantasy and Sci-Fi; Each delivering their own individual worlds to explore.
The ‘behind the scenes’ approach provides an immersive education of their craft through models, maquettes, manouverable animatronics and prop pieces as well as thousands of artifacts and interactive displays.
Interactivity includes makeup filters, controlling lighting states, prop making masterclasses, photo moments at every turn and even an alien version of the popular game ‘operation’ where visitors are invited to remove foreign organs without waking the creature.
The focus on storytelling through process, not just the end product, engages on a deeper level to educate the standard of craftsmanship that goes into each project / product. Spaces are transformed periodically through timed lighting design to show day & night doubling the visual within the same space. This level of interactivity is hollistic and takes you on a brand journey that is unrivalled.
The sheer awe of playing with scale, lighting and special effects in their displays highlights some key take-aways that brands can apply in store. In a retail setting the knowledge that a purchase has longevity and is crafted by the best creates life long customers and brand loyalty.
Sydney Modern Project
@ Art Gallery of NSW Sydney
The expansion of the Art Gallery of New South Wales offers diverse, captivating and (of course) creative experiences. It’s opening exhibitions featured crowd-pleasers, such as Francis Upritchard's giant blue-tinged bronze humanoids at the entrance through to Argentinian artist Adrian Villar Rojas' Alien-esque installations in The Tank. Samara Golden's vertigo-inducing installation, "Guts," is a whimsical "Dreamhome: Stories of Art and Shelter".
Jeffrey Gibson's flamboyant "The Stars are our Ancestors" beckons visitors to not only walk around and explore the piece, but also to sit in one of the chairs.
The over-arching theme running through out the building is very much centred around visitor participation - the works use forced perspective, optical illusions, lighting & sound effects along with tangible/ interactive elements that would take an in store experience to the next level, by engaging all the senses.
Atmospheric Memory
@ Powerhouse Museum Sydney
Another standout exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum was the "Atmospheric Memory" experience. Beautifully combining historical artefacts with cutting-edge technologies including AI, robotics, endoscopy, fluid dynamics, nanotechnology, mapping, and 3D printing.
The most engaging and unique elements were the world's first 3D-printed speech bubble, observing your voice in a ripple tank and walking through clouds of mid-air text and losing yourself within a virtual environment featuring a vast 360-degree projection chamber.
The ‘Atmospheric Memory’ exhibition challenged any conventional notions of how we might think about sound being used in a physical space - A truly unique way of converting sound into tangible moments.
This is exemplified by multiple displays that responded to, and transformed sound in different ways - such as a wall display that transformed your speech into words written in mist right before your eyes.
Summit
@ One Vanderbilt New York
Stepping out onto the SUMMIT at One Vanderbilt, and being immersed in the floors of mirrors, is like entering a mesmerizing world of reflection and self-discovery.
As you walk on the mirrored surfaces, every step becomes a move of infinite reflections, creating an otherworldly sensation of walking on air.
The mirrors stretch out in all directions, both above and below, creating an illusion of an endless, ever-expanding space.
It's an immersive experience that blurs the boundaries between reality and illusion.
The Summits’ use of mirrored surfaces to create optical illusion of expansive form and space can be applied in retail stores - allowing brands to challenge customers perceptions of traditional in store interactions.
A more immersive in-store retail experience is crucial for several reasons:
• It allows customers to physically engage not just with your products, but your brand
• Provides a tangible experience that online shopping cannot replicate.
• Creates a sense of community through brand storytelling which resonates with customers more deeply.
Overall, the in-store experience is integral to a brands success in building customer loyalty, increasing sales,
and providing a unique and memorable shopping journey.