A virtual reality experience from John Lewis & Partners.
I was part of the team developing a virtual reality trial called Visualise Your Space that allows customers to discover new products and make better buying decisions.
With Visualise Your Space, customers can reimagine a 2D floor plan of their room in real-time 3D. A John Lewis Partner facilitates this using the customer’s room dimensions and a 3D room planning tool on an iPad. Wearing a VR headset, customers can then see their room come to life, view furniture and check how it fits.
It all went a bit, Tron.
Yup, for the creative we had the idea to go all futuristic, taking the iconic John Lewis & Partners stripes to create a Tron-inspired campaign for point-of-sale, totems and a geo-targeted banner to existing customers who were in a 10-mile radius of the store. I wanted the campaign strap-line to be short yet create excitement for customers to go to their local store and go try out the experience. I crafted a holistic series of comms from marketing to POS instructions as well as the room design after the VR experience.
In-store tannoy message.
Another fun part was coming up with the in-store tannoy message enticing customers to the experience:
“Ready to redesign a room in your home? Try our virtual reality experience! Give us the dimensions, and we’ll simulate your space. So, when you put on our VR headset, you can try out new furniture, check the pieces fit, and even change it all around! Visit us in the furniture department to see your new room come to life in 3D. Or, speak to a Partner at the experiences desk.
Before you begin your room, stop by Visualise Your Space to make sure the furniture you love fits right inside!”
The creative.
This creative was used both in-store and for marketing
VR instructions.
Displayed beside the VR experience at point-of-sale
Results.
Not only did the launch bring in plenty of coverage including Daily Mail, Yahoo, Real Homes and BBC Radio Sussex, our team also learnt lots about virtual reality and the future possibilities of ways to implement it in stores. The positive reaction from customers whetted appetite for further future exploration. After all the future of retail depends on using technology for creating experiential spaces that are irreverent, fun, interactive, personalised and genuinely useful.