HONG KONG. Beauty&You – The Shilla Duty Free’s new store concept at Hong Kong International Airport – comes with a startlingly disruptive brand vision, identity and philosophy.
The interactive stores, for which a Grand Opening event was held last week, have an ambitious aim: to redefine the travel retail experience for passengers. The Beauty&You concept combines innovative store designs with an extensive product range, top-class service and exciting promotional activities.
In an immersive environment, products from perfumes, cosmetics, fashion and accessories categories are interwoven, creating an atmosphere of discovery and interactivity. Beauty is no longer defined, it is a personalised experience.
Behind this brand vision is London-based consultancy Designhouse. The company worked with retail design agency gpstudio (also based in London) as well as the retailer to create the Beauty&You concept, winning Airport Authority Hong Kong’s highly-competitive beauty and accessories tender.
Designhouse has plenty of experience in the travel retail sector, having revamped The Nuance Group brand in 2012. It is from that project that Beauty&You can trace its roots. Roberto Graziani, ex-President of The Nuance Group, is now at The Shilla Duty Free parent Hotel Shilla and is in charge of implementing Shilla’s new retail activities at Hong Kong International.
Graziani was impressed by domestic retailer John Lewis’s revamp of its cosmetics department at its Oxford Street flagship store, and asked Designhouse who was responsible for the design. The answer was gpstudio, and following discussions the trio of companies decided to work together on the Hong Kong tender. Designhouse would focus on branding, while gpstudio would do the design work.
“Roberto said he wanted the store concept to be ‘where fashion meets beauty’,” Designhouse Executive Creative Director Peter Dobie tells The Moodie Davitt Report. “Passengers should come in with no pre-conceived ideas about what the store is, and will therefore find a few surprises.”
Travel focus Designhouse’s other projects in the travel and travel retail sectors have included work for Heathrow Express, Amadeus, consultancy The Blueprint Partnership, Alpha, and the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA). “Our role is to make communication easy,” says Dobie. He cites examples such as bringing to life the luxury world of the Heathrow Express trains through a 3-D logo, with the branding later incorporated throughout the company’s estate. Social media work has also been key, with the comfort and security of booking with ABTA highlighted in clever campaigns. Dobie also notes the importance of owning a colour, and that concept is clearest in its work with The Nuance Group. Nuance’s use of lime green makes it stand out and puts it firmly in the luxury bracket. Touchscreen technologies have also been incorporated in stores to further communicate the brand message. Designhouse may be about to increase its presence in travel retail still further. Dobie says the company’s work on Beauty&You has already led to a new project in the sector, and details on this will be unveiled in due course. |
So the store could not simply be called ‘Shilla Perfumes & Cosmetics’ or similar. The partners could not create another typical airport store, the concept had to stand out. “We all love one-off concepts,” says Dobie. “They invite curiosity.” Indeed, Airport Authority Hong Kong’s main demand in launching the tender was that the store should be a destination. Beauty&You fits the bill superbly.
“The challenge was to develop a unique brand identity for the Hong Kong International passenger – a high end consumer who indulges themselves with a range of luxuries and accessories to complement their beauty purchases,” says Designhouse Managing Director Lavinia Culverhouse. “Our Beauty&You concept was based on the idea that a beauty offer needs to be tailored to every individual.”
Dobie explains that the use of the word ‘you’ “allows Shilla to incorporate lots of different elements. There is room for self-indulgence, but also gifting, and finding new things”.
The typography itself becomes a brand device, with an ampersand used as a unifying device, and overlapping and layering representing the diversity of Hong Kong itself. “There are layers of culture in Hong Kong, with high business at one end and street markets at the other,” explains Dobie. “There are so many different levels.”
Expanding on the use of the ampersand, Dobie says it “offers opportunities for fun, for disruption, and can glue things together in design terms”. Finally, the bright colours and bold typeface are vital in expressing the brand vision.
The use of the word ‘you’ also widens the appeal of the store. “It takes away the sex element and becomes inclusive, meaning men can visit the store [rather than being put off by the use of terms such as perfumes and cosmetics],” says Dobie. “’You’ incorporates both the first- and third-person. This is a store you choose to go to rather than one that is thrust upon you.”
“We wanted to create a style of brand that is more exciting [than what is usually seen in the channel], looks different, and has got a bit of attitude,” concludes Dobie. “We’ve made it big and ballsy.”
Domestic influence
Beauty&You offers a high-end experience and takes as many cues from luxury high street retail as it does travel retail, if not more. The domestic retail experience brought to the table by gpstudio was key in achieving this.
“Taking our inspiration from the city of Hong Kong where the experience of natural tranquil space is juxtaposed against a high-tech urban environment, combined with the emerging trend of omni-retailing, our concept is to bring in new ideas to deepen customer engagement through digital and physical initiatives,” says gpstudio.
“At the heart of our concept is a curated zone that brings together products to create a full lifestyle offer including virtual reality shopping and testing bars to set a new benchmark in duty free retail through an exciting and engaging customer journey.”
