Following the success of the showroom upgrade programme and of the Ford Store programme, we were tasked once more to deliver a completely new concept, called Ford Signature, sponsored by Elena Ford directly and the Ford Global team based in the US.

Ford Signature is a new global design for a vibrant, innovative and digitally connected retail environment. It links the in-store and online Ford experience and provides a ‘Best-in-Class’ automotive purchasing experience for the customer.

The new design allows for optimal vehicle presentation, positioning the vehicles as ‘heroes’ within the showroom. Immersive, inviting spaces and supportive digital technologies are provided, which put the customer in control and encourage them to explore and discover.

Ford Signature encompasses an update of showroom exteriors, as well as customer facing interior areas, to create a seamless customer journey.

Ford of Europe and the Ford Global Team appointed us as the main supplier to support and guide the Ford Dealer Operations Managers in all 24 countries and their dealers on this exciting journey.

We have developed, tested and improved furniture designs and adapted it to the European standards where required. We have undertaken a very strict price review with the Ford Global Team and Ford of Europe to make sure that the Ford dealers would receive the best products and the best services at the most competitive prices.

This project has been a real team effort, with support provided from our APS Multilingual Account Management Team, the APS Multilingual Customer Service Team, the APS Product team, the APS Logistics and Transport teams and the APS Installation team and we are all extremely proud to carry on supporting Ford and its dealers on this new inspiring journey will see all the Ford network fulfilling the Signature concept over the next 7 years.

As the automotive customer journey is constantly evolving, we discovered a need for a more immersive experience in Ford’s showrooms – a customer-led approach that improved the decision and sales process.

Think

Behind a driving force of changing customer expectations Ford required a solution that would improve customer service and signposting within their dealerships, creating a more immersive experience. It was vital that the end result had the ability to evolve and grow as well as fit in any dealership.

Create

We were tasked with facilitating a premium showroom upgrade programme across Ford’s European dealerships; managing communications, manufacturing, procurement, logistics handling and implementation for materials, such as free-standing walls and furniture.

Deliver

We created 4 fully interactive customer ‘zones’ in each showroom, along with over 1,000 pages of self-guided, multilingual documentation and videos for dealers. Due to varying dealer sizes, we produced modular ‘kits’ that would work in any dealer environment across Ford’s 3,500 locations.

“APS’s end-to-end management approach has delivered some great flexibility for us and our dealers and customers have been really impressed with the service.”

Manager Retail Experience, Ford of Europe

Superdrug wanted to engage a younger, more fashion-forward audience: an audience that would come in-store to glam-up and experiment.

Think

Affordable beauty has long been part of the core Superdrug proposition, so extending it to affordable beauty services was a logical step. Hence, the introduction of a unique high-end retail beauty concept which was to be premiered in Cardiff, prior to a potential nationwide roll out. The principle was beautifully simple. What was required was an equally beautiful, game-changing approach that would introduce a whole new audience to the idea of ‘glam-while you-wait’.

Create

We created dedicated areas for the beauty and hair salons which would integrate stylishly into a store environment and provide a platform for a glamorous launch campaign: and so Beauty Studio and Hair Space were born.

The launch had to satisfy two key criteria: create a social buzz and engagement at a local level and generate excitement at a national level among the target demographic and key influencers (e.g. beauty bloggers).

Deliver

The creative theme represented a mix of 1950s retro glam and pop art: candy-coloured and fun. Shareable real-time digital content featured on in-store displays and interactive/mirrored screens – connecting the salon with the online world of dedicated followers of fashion and beauty.

Together we worked on delivering:

• Point of sale – artwork production and delivery for the new store
• Logistics and fulfilment – sourcing of materials
• Systems and support – provided a digital screen delivery system that deploys real-time content, as well as the technical support

All of the photography and artwork for in-store and launch comms were designed and produced by our creative team, along with all of the necessary digital content and animations, an in-store catwalk and a selfie app enabling customers to take a pic or video of themselves strutting their stuff and share it instantly.

With around 200,000 visitors and over 2,500 exhibitors ISH is the world’s leading trade fair and international meeting place for the combined topic of water and energy. For Ideal Standard, a multinational bathroom, sanitary ware and plumbing fixture company, it’s the key event in their calendar to showcase new products and ranges to the industry.

The Challenge

We were approached to manage Ideal Standard’s social media channels at the event, as well as ensuring that during the event, social media channels were optimised with content that promoted the events taking place in Frankfurt such as press conferences and product launches.

Think

Our pre-event approach involved posts around the new brand pillars to create an emotion, countdown posts to build excitement about the event and a LinkedIn strategy to encourage the 15,000 followers on LinkedIN to also follow the brand on Instagram.

Create

Our team, comprising of social media managers and filming, editing and photography professionals landed in Frankfurt the day before the event and immediately set about capturing what Ideal Standard had to offer at ISH, with a posting strategy comprised of the following:

• Mix of reportage style shots from the stand and beautiful product shots all showcasing the range and the new brand positioning with a focus on the 3 defined brand pillars.
•  Instazines – Instagram is a great platform to showcase beautiful product shots, however in order to portray product innovation, a greater level of detail was required. We created a series of Instazines – Instagram posts specifically designed to be mini catalogues that gave a greater level of product detail
• Reactive Instagram stories and daily highlight reels were posted throughout the week of the conference building on the buzz surrounding the event and tapping into the audience attending

Deliver

At the end of the pre-event activity and in-event activity, we had grown Ideal Standard’s following from 50 followers to over 5,000, with numbers increasing all the time due to an ‘emotion’ based posting strategy.

“I would like to thank APS Group assisted for a successful ISH 2019. Their dedication, availability and efforts are appreciated. Our posts look great, they drive engagement and growth which is the key in social media.”

Global Digital Director, Ideal Standard