Earlier this month, Luxury British fashion retailer FLANNELS launched London’s newest 3D DOOH destination on Oxford Circus in partnership with immersive experience studio Pixel Artworks and official media partner London Lites. The multidimensional platform on Oxford Street is the first of its kind for brands, providing exposure to half a million consumers daily on Europe’s busiest high street.
MediaCat Magazine spoke with Jack Fleming, Business Director at London Lites and Dasha Legge, Executive Producer at Pixel Artworks about the new destination and the opportunities it brings for brands.
With 37 striking 8K LED screens, THE CUBE will be the first of its kind for brands. How did the idea behind the collaboration between FLANNELS, Pixel Artworks, and London Lites to launch London’s newest 3D DOOH destination come about?
Jack: We wanted to pay homage to the array of digital art that’s on continuous display at Flannels X through W1 Curates, a destination for some of the best digital artwork. Pixel Artworks have proven time and time again their top-class abilities across the globe and it seemed like a brilliant opportunity to align all parties allowing brands to create some best-in-class content.
FLANNELS’ Oxford Street store reaches half a million consumers daily and 200 million a year. How valuable is this reach for brands?
Jack: It’s extremely valuable for brands. It provides a platform to cut through and really engage with consumers in a densely populated landscape. However, the footfall and reach of Oxford Street are also incredibly valuable for brands, providing significant exposure to consumers, which has been reflected in Westminster’s approval of a £90m revamp of Oxford Street.
Dasha: This is a massive opportunity for brands. In-person experiences must work harder to attract consumers used to the convenience of online shopping. In this respect, Flannels X offers an attractive and tactile consumer experience. Bold and impactful in-person content really goes a long way and is far more memorable than seeing a fleeting online ad. Plus, Oxford Street is such a multicultural hotspot that it provides a diverse captive audience for brands to tap into. People strolling through London’s pre-eminent shopping district are already in a purchasing mindset.
This location presents a major opportunity. For some brands it’s a better place to advertise, a location more suited to people willing to spend. The location thus naturally lends itself to lifestyle brands.
Jack, you mentioned that this collaboration aims to set new standards for creativity and innovation in retail advertising. How do you envision this 3D element enhancing the consumer experience on Oxford Circus?
Jack: There’s a constant need and battle for engagement with consumers. 3D creative has proven to stop people in their tracks and divert their attention away from their phones and capture the content that is before them. Successful executions are imbedded in our memories, and this can only have positive outcomes for all brands when a singular execution can be so clearly recalled. Flannels can quickly become a playground for context and creative executions that will live long in consumers memory if executed well.
What future plans or developments can we expect from FLANNELS, Pixel Artworks, and London Lites regarding this innovative project on Oxford Circus, and how do you anticipate it will continue to evolve and shape the retail advertising industry?
Jack: We’re excited to be able to showcase soon, some incredible uses of this space and tech, where brands can amplify assets in ways they may have not been able to before. It would be great to see this level of innovation roll out throughout the UK, across locations that make brands and stores stop and think how they can activate something similar in their own spaces. Ultimately, we believe this will increase consumer engagement of which will bring benefits to all involved.
Pixel Artworks has already created the 3D workflow for THE CUBE, making it simple for brands to be ‘creative while still delivering unparalleled impact.’ How does this format differ from other digital advertising spaces, and how does it impact brands’ creative processes?
Dasha: There are few places in London that provide advertising at such scale, and with the added opportunity to create a 3D viral campaign alongside OOH advertising. Our expertise and template-driven approach take the technical drudgery out of content creation, thus turbo-charging the client’s creative process. FLANNELS X is an amazing venue, with lots of competing brands, so content needs to be striking to stand out.
Dasha, you mentioned THE CUBE offers a unique 3D illusion of the inside of a box, as well as the opportunity to use the levels of the building in the content. What possibilities does the space open up for brands in terms of creative expression?
Dasha: Unlike other corner 3D LED screens The CUBE is set within windows. This lends itself to creating a 3D illusion, and to utilise traditional projection tricks. In the animation there is a lot of depth, and the unique layout means you can use each screen individually as well as a unified whole. It is not a digital billboard, the content can be playful, beautiful, and differentiated. Currently, people don’t expect 3D content in this area of London or on these screens, so there is a real opportunity to surprise and inspire consumers.
The CUBE draws you into the content, which in turn draws you into the store, and then there’s the bonus of an event space downstairs.
What future plans or developments can we expect from FLANNELS, Pixel Artworks, and London Lites regarding this innovative project on Oxford Circus, and how do you anticipate it will continue to evolve and shape the retail advertising industry?
Dasha: I’m excited to work together to really push and explore the 3D content. It will be good to see the different ways people would like to use the space, coming from different sectors and perspectives. The massive footfall brings potential for further engagement.
It is a great environment for an AR layer. This one-of-a-kind retail space really is a turning point in the retail advertising industry, instead of shop windows the whole façade is a digital OOH opportunity. It even changes the process internally for FLANNELS head office.
FLANNELS X is there for the experience, you can see the LED carried through in-store too, an experiential space first before a store. Through content creation, the shopping experience is elevated to something more memorable and different.
Featured image: FLANNELS, Pixel Artworks & London Lites / The Cube