ABOUT

As part of an ongoing relationship with PUMA, we designed and installed key digital and physical experiences within the new City Store at the Etihad Stadium, which re-launched as part of Manchester City Football Cub’s historical 10-year sponsorship deal with the global sports brand.


The brief

The objective was simple; draw MCFC fans closer to both brand and club, increase sales of the new PUMA X Man City kits, whilst encouraging fans to come back time and again. We set about the challenge of designing concepts within the new store; the windows and external façade graphics, the giant landing zone on the ground floor, an interactive boot wall and the stairwell, also the lift zone which runs to the kid’s department and the start of the club tour.


Bringing fans into the fold

Fans are the foundation of every football club, so our concept aimed to speak to them as a community, encouraging a deeper, more emotional connection with the PUMA brand whilst empowering them through a sense of belonging and ownership – encouraging them to come back time and time again.

Inspired by the city’s diverse and vibrant culture, we wanted to create a dynamic store experience that taps into Manchester’s infamous music scene, vibrant culture and impact on the arts, whilst also bringing out individual stories through the cultural heritage of both brands.


Flexing design to attract, engage and connect

Capturing the essence of Manchester, we used geometric patterns- evoking the city’s industrial past and the club’s crest- to flex throughout the space, from the initial ‘attract’ of the exterior, through to the ‘engage’ and ‘connect’ elements within the store.

A customisable landing zone, featuring digital mirrors bursts life and ambient content into the space; its reactive, programmable LED illumination encourages dwell-time whilst drawing people deeper into other areas of the store. The landing zone runs 4 key stories at any one time and can be changed and flexed as the club journeys through the season.

An interactive screen further enhances the pre-match experience by encouraging fans to input their anticipated score predictions- the accumulated data is then converted onto a statistical graphic, helping to fuel fan conversation and engagement. Further building pre-match anticipation, the cash-desk wrap and feature wall has been designed to provide dynamic, socially-shareable moments to entertain fans as they queue.


Global window programme & UK activations

When launching highly anticipated Home, Away and Third kits to the world, consistency and cohesion is paramount; we created the brand’s Global Windows toolkit- including in-store comms and e-commerce assets- for markets and agencies worldwide to execute the PUMA MCFC campaign in their region.

In addition to the City Store, we were briefed to create two bespoke in-store activations that launched in Manchester Selfridges stores- Trafford and Exchange- further promoting the new PUMA kits. Additional UK activations went live in five JD Sports stores in Manchester and London.