2010 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Zain, the leading wireless services provider across the Middle East and Africa, tasked us with pioneering a retail brand experience rooted in digital technology. Zain wanted to make a bold brand statement, which would make them stand out as a global innovator. The entire retail space was created with the customer experience in mind, inviting guests to explore Zain products through interactive, informative, and entertaining digital engagements. From the Zain Café to the Customer Service seating area and the Zain Create personalization area, the store encourages customers to stay, play, and experience Zain.

Creative Execution

A retail experience is an excellent way to immerse customers in Zain products and services, surrounding them with the brand, allowing them to touch products and experience the services personally. Expert staff, trained for this flagship store guide customers and further differentiate Zain a leading brand in the region. The Zain brand mosaics and colors appear throughout the physical and digital spaces and, in the Zain Create area, can be applied to users’ devices as skins, beads, and tails to decorate and personalize handsets. With this, customers carry their Zain retail experience everywhere; a reminder of Zain and the brand experience.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

Being a leading technology company, Zain wanted to showcase their products and services through innovative technology in the retail space. Store designs and digital fly-through animations translated the best from Zain’s new brand into the retail experience. From a motion-tracking video wall to massive 42-inch touch displays, small phone bar displays, and customer queue check-ins, each display is a portal to the Zain brand. For a splash at the store opening, Zain transformed areas of Bahrain’s Seef Mall, enticing shoppers to come see the store of the future for themselves.

Results

Operators from all Zain regions were present at the store launch. A great deal of excitement came from the local operators and operators from other regions who were eager to see this experience on their own turf. With Zain’s flagship format roll-out strategy, even the smallest locations will now be able to take part in the digital side of Zain’s new brand. The Bahrain press was numerous at the opening and praised the store launch. The response to the store was so positive that requests have already been made to release other flagship stores to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Baghdad.