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3 Deep were appointed by Hardy Brothers to examine the critical business, brand, marketing and communications strategies required to increase sales across the group while reconnecting the brand with a new generation of luxury consumers.
Having established the core tenets of the program in partnership with their client, they set about integrating the strategy across a broad range of consumer touch points and initiatives including a revitalised store design and in-store arrival and service ceremonies.
The first store to be delivered under the new strategy was their client’s flagship store in Brisbane, Australia.
The store
As a primary experiential vehicle for customers enrolled within the brand world, the new store reflects an assemblage of experiences, artfully designed to capture the venerated history of the brand while establishing a space that priorities thoughtful exchange over ephemeral commerce. With areas dedicated to the display of the brand’s most extraordinary pieces through to intimate bridal and engagement areas designed to support bespoke commissioning services, the design of the store acknowledges the various stages of customer consideration in order to deliver relevant and inspiring moments that elevated the experience and made the purchasing decision easier.
A rich palette of materials including polished venetian plaster, fine leathers and rich Australian timbers were beautifully executed by Zero Nine Constructions, and the lighting design by FPOV Design brought to life to bespoke furniture, fixtures and fittings. The “pièce de resistance” of the experience is ‘Vault’, the apex of the client’s offer and a space designed for private viewings of the world’s most coveted diamonds and gems.
Design approach
Brands ultimately reside in the customer’s experience, a result of him or her encountering, observing, buying, using and interacting with an organisation’s products, services, environments and staff. Every one of these experiences is a ‘moment of truth’ for the brand-customer relationship with the experience either being positive or negative, ephemeral or engaging, differentiating or indistinguishable. While it was vital that the design for the store physically demonstrate the client’s unique values, personality and character, there were six key dimensions that underpinned our overall design approach. Integrated throughout all touch points, these dimensions not only allowed our client to create meaningful engagement with their customers but establish a set of guiding principles from which to direct service rituals, product presentation and staff presentation.
Artisanship
In this commoditised and mass produced world, consumers seek out brands, products and experiences that are linked to the artisans that have crafted them. Luxury products and services most notably maintain an enduring relationship to the artisans of our time as art and indeed the artefact. It was vital that the design lexicon spoke to this notion and embed a unique creative authority within the space.
The faceted geometry of our client’s logotype (also designed by 3 Deep) provided fertile ground for the design of a series of subtle and dramatic details within the space such as the beautiful metallic screen visible upon first entry and the detailing of point of sale and display cases. The commitment celebrates rarity, artisanship and quality, further captured through the design of gallery-inspired display plinths arranged in such a way to divide the space and control the ceremony of engagement with customers.
Authenticity
Brands have roots just like human beings have ancestors. All successful luxury brands celebrate a unique lineage and provenance and each has a unique story and place of origin. To be authentic in this context, the design of the new store (and the stories and product housed within it) needed to be unquestioning and innate. Rich stories of provenance had to be congruent with the client’s culture while providing a foundation for this new and contemporary direction. Traditional design signatures were reconciled against new codes and gestures that spoke to the commitment the desire to connect with the next generation of luxury consumers.
Time
Time is the ultimate luxury. By understanding the value of time in the context of a fine jewellery boutique, this space doesn’t serve only the needs of customers but successfully managed each moment of truth in the customer-brand relationship. Prolonging the pleasure of consumption through the design of unique service rituals and suspending time through the arrangement of both intimate and public spaces were all ways in which we influenced the ceremony of engagement with clients.
Individualism
As brands are an expression of taste, it was vital that the store cultivate fertile ground for a client’s development of self-image and self-expression. Individualism not only allowed to the architects to embed a unique creative authority into the store but allowed customers to establish a deeper engagement with staff and the diverse range of product and experiences that were being choreographed and presented.
Creativity
The most iconic brands in the world continue to explore and occupy the nexus of design and culture. These brands are creative leaders, not followers. As the value of Hardy Brothers is underpinned by the quality of its image, it was vital the management of every form of creative expression within the space: from the unique merchandising of product through to curated events and experiences, a sort of gallery like space that could change and adapt over time as required.
Hardy Brothers
Location Brisbane, Australia
Project lead 3 Deep Design
Store concept & design 3 Deep Design
Bespoke furniture 3 Deep Design
Construction Zero Nine Construction
Lighting design FPOV Design
Photos courtesy © Christopher Frederick Jones
Photos courtesy © Kristian Van Der Beek Photography
3 Deep is Australia’s leading luxury branding and creative agency. Since 1996 the group has been capturing the attention of consumers, whilst establishing genuine and lasting desire for the world’s most coveted brands. Established by Brett Phillips and David Roennfeldt, the agency collaborates with those at the vanguard of art and commerce in order to add depth, meaning and joy to the human experience.
by AN shopfitting magazine no.162 ©
