Retail collaborations have often been popular on the high street, with brands forming temporary or long-term partnerships to promote their products. This premise and its potential impact are perhaps best evidenced in the success of celebrity and media events, such as Rihanna For River Island and Lush’s Stranger Things bath products, many of which see customers head to the high street in great numbers so as not to miss out on special products and experiences.
These types of collaboration, however, are not necessarily new and retailers have always sought to connect with public figures and media franchises, especially if they will benefit their brand’s aesthetic and core values. It’s the reason why a figure of refinement like George Clooney is chosen to promote Nespresso products, imparting a sense of luxury and quality to the products.
For many years, these associations have been primarily focused on such forms of brand association. However, in recent years, these collaborations are beginning to change, becoming more frequently occurring and with an interest in shaping retail spaces.
Shop spaces are extensions of a brand and, as a result, have the potential to communicate brand values through decor and design. Certain retailers will go to great lengths to ensure that their store’s layout and shop furniture are not only suitable for their operation but also exemplary of their brand values, advertising to customers the sense of quality and style they wish to associate with their products.
Now, we are seeing a greater preference for customers to support retailers that match their own ethical values, with 62% of shoppers stating that retailer ethics are even more important to them following the pandemic. This cultural shift is leading retailers to not only design their spaces in the promotion of quality and style, but also ethical values.
As a result, the collaborations that are occurring across the high street are changing too. H&M Home, for example, has recently launched their latest collaborations working with Lulama Wolf and Amber Vittoria, which head of design and creative, Evelina Kravaev-Söderberg, notes will help to empower young female creatives and give them an additional platform while simultaneously seeking to demonstrate the retailer’s own brand values.
While this type of international collaboration isn’t possible for a number of high street retailers, especially smaller concepts and pop-up shops, there are a number of ways in which more casual and nonetheless effective collaborations can occur. Retailers can, for example, reach out to local artists and invite them to contribute to their shop space, designing a mural. In Falmouth, a vintage shop found great success conquering local graffiti tags and promoting their shop aesthetic by reaching out to the area’s artists.
Others can begin selling the products of local creators, filling shelves and greeting card units with the designs of artists and artisans. While some might find it both simple and successful to welcome designers to curate their window display. Such initiatives are low-risk and have the potential to communicate to customers a number of messages, whether it is simply the support of local creativity or a more definitive statement about sustainability.
For support with your shop design, the Crown Display catalogue not only features a wide range of high-quality products but also bespoke and handmade services, allowing retailers to create shop furniture and shelving to perfectly suit their branding. Email sales@crowndisplay.co.uk for more information.
