Green Room Retail hears the Music for Man City and Umbro
Birmingham-based Green Room Retail (GRR) was drafted in to help launch the new Manchester City football strip by Umbro.
Last month the agency developed, manufactured and installed 3D realisations of the creative concept for both the Manchester City FC Stadium store and the Arndale Centre store.
Working closely with Umbro’s lead creative agency Anomaly, GRR developed the creative theme into a range of physical and visual executions, creating a store ambience in keeping with Umbro’s MCFC launch campaign that centred its theme around the cultural connection between Umbro, Manchester City and Manchester’s music scene.
The retail execution focussed on giving the Arndale store the feel of a record store rather than a more traditional replica kit retailer. The design incorporated a 2.5 metre high by 5 metre wide wall of speakers (painted in City blue), graffiti, fly posters, and (in the stadium store) four 11 metre long window displays.
Umbro has also created a limited edition range of t-shirts celebrating the cultural connection and these are being sold from bespoke record sleeve style boxes and merchandised out of 12 inch vinyl style units - created by GRR - on the shop floor.
The experience included an exclusive gig in the Stadium grounds headlined by Manchester band Doves, and a DJ set from Hacienda legend Mike Pickering.
The project delivered commercially, with more shirts being sold on the first day than any other Manchester City kit launch, showing that great retail design has an essential role to play in delivering the commercial side of a brand experience.
GRR founder and chief executive Richard Ash comments: “Manchester City have been extremely busy this summer not only snapping up some fantastic footballers but also creating a totally unique shopping experience at the Arndale as well as develop a class leading store at Eastlands. It is always exciting for GRR to be involved in such a dynamic sport however it has been truly inspirational for our team to work with Umbro, MCFC and Anomaly as they really challenged conventional club shop design.”
See pictures of the stores and the kit launch here