Burberry Pioneering Social Retail in a Phygital World

In a groundbreaking collaboration with esteemed British designer Nick Munro and technology giant Tencent, Burberry sought to redefine the future of luxury retail. The vision was ambitious: to create a pioneering "social retail store" in Shenzhen, China, seamlessly blending the physical and digital worlds. Blindfold joined this visionary team, tasked with bringing the concept to life through cutting-edge CG technology and immersive digital experiences. The challenge lay in creating a truly innovative retail environment that would captivate and engage customers, blurring the lines between online and offline interactions.

Our Solution:

Blindfold embraced the challenge, leveraging our expertise in CG artistry and interactive design to contribute to this groundbreaking project:

Visualizing the Future of Retail: We collaborated closely with Nick Munro and Tencent to create stunning CG visualizations of the concept store, showcasing its unique architectural design and immersive digital elements. These visualizations played a crucial role in communicating the vision and securing stakeholder buy-in.

Bringing the Store to Life: We generated high-fidelity CG assets for the store's interactive displays and digital installations, ensuring a seamless and engaging experience for visitors. These assets included product visualizations, animated sequences, and interactive elements that responded to user actions.

Augmenting Reality, Amplifying Engagement: We developed captivating AR experiences and mini-games for the store's dedicated WeChat mini-program. These interactive elements allowed customers to engage with Burberry products in new and exciting ways, unlocking exclusive content and personalized experiences.

A Seamless Phygital Journey: Our contributions helped create a truly integrated social retail experience. Customers could seamlessly transition between the physical store and the digital world, interacting with the brand on their own terms and sharing their experiences with their social communities.

The Impact:

Despite the unforeseen challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which unfortunately coincided with the store's launch, the Burberry social retail store remains a testament to innovation and creativity:

A Global First: The Shenzhen store marked a significant milestone in the luxury retail landscape, pioneering a new model for customer engagement and brand interaction.

Pushing Boundaries: The project demonstrated Burberry's commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology and design, solidifying their position as a leader in the luxury fashion industry.

A Blueprint for the Future: While the pandemic hampered the store's grand opening and the full realization of its potential, it serves as a blueprint for the future of retail, showcasing the power of phygital experiences to captivate and connect with customers.

The Blindfold Difference:

The Burberry project exemplifies Blindfold's ability to contribute to visionary initiatives that redefine industry standards. By collaborating with world-class designers and technology giants, we helped create a truly innovative retail experience that blurred the lines between the physical and digital worlds.