Spaces
Spaces
“It’s About Holding Meaning.”
Retail specialist doesn’t even come close to describing what Marco Burkhardtsmayer, CEO and founder of MuSe Content and Stoked AI, does. It starts with technological solutions for spaces and quickly leads to the intertwining of various disciplines to form a coherent overall concept: from brand architecture, seamless communication, and self-checkout to intuitive data collection. This interview reveals just how analytical his insight into current topics and trends in the retail business is.
Text: Isabel Faiss. Photos: Brands
Marco, which store concept has impressed you the most recently?
The Dynafit store in Kiefersfelden. From the quality of the store design to the choice of materials, use of technology in this context, and the forward thinking in terms of human interaction on the sales floor. To help the service team better gauge their customers, there are wristbands in four colors, each representing a key topic that interests the customer. This allows customers to select their core interest as soon as they enter the store.
A buzzword that is currently popular is the experience economy in retail. What is your current best practice for a successful approach?
Definitely the Harry Potter Store in New York. It’s like a completely over-the-top merch store, but the experience is so on-point like I’ve never seen before. Every room takes you into individual film sequences that have been interpreted as shops and inspire with technological effects. But customization is at the heart of the whole experience. All fan wear and products can be personalized on site. This creates an emotional connection with the customer.
What can be learned from such concepts for retail?
The unconditional focus on the target group and authentic core messages that are communicated consistently! If you leave aside the whole Harry Potter fan culture, that’s the key message that can be applied to all areas. It’s about the meaning of a brand. If you stand for something, you stick in people’s minds because you address your customers on a meta-level that is not linked to a specific product.
Isn’t the focus on a certain community also a departure from the idea of globalization?
There is currently a huge shift towards localization. The best example of this, in my opinion, is Mediamarkt’s Xperion stores. On the top floor, there is a live stream gaming area where up to 100 people can play games for free. In front of it – and this is the really exciting part – there is a huge bar area with tables where people meet to play Pokémon cards. All of this serves a community that finds a physical space here to gather. The focus is on coming together, meeting, and sharing experiences. That’s what the concept of Third Places is all about: A place where like-minded people meet and celebrate their shared values, lifestyles, and brand experiences.
