Digital signage has helped create a sophisticated multichannel, multisensory customer experience for Miele's first Inspirience Centre in the Netherlands.

Scala, the end-to-end connected signage software provider announced that its certified partners, Troades and House of Media Experience have provided an immersive brand experience for Miele customers and its business partners that combined the latest audio, visual, aroma and interactive techniques.

Miele's Inspirience Centre in Vianen is the first to integrate a range of media channels to create a multisensory environment for visitors to showcase its wide range of products.

"We wanted the visitor to have a 360-degree experience. Digital signage is not only about sound and vision, but is enhanced by adding other human sense triggers. Their recollection of their experience and of Miele will be individual to them and as long as the experience was meaningful, helpful, timely and relevant. I'm convinced that this will build brand loyalty and that over time, that recollection and loyalty will be evidenced through referrals and purchases," said Luc Heijnen of concept design, Multisensory Experience at Troades.

Showcasing full potential

Miele recognised some time ago that in a typical reseller's store, their products were often not demonstrated to their fullest potential, and customers were not able to place the products into the appropriate domestic context. It also quickly became clear that traditional marketing channels would not deliver the brand experience Miele required with customers and dealers. The goal was to implement a two-way communication channel and create an experiential retail proposition.

Miele chose House of Media Experience and Troades, two cross-media and multisensory experience design agencies, to assist in the concept design, implementation and management of this centre. Scala was chosen as the core operating platform to manage and control the digital network as well as sound, vision, light scenes and scent throughout the centre.

At over 32,000 square feet, Miele's Inspirience Centre contains a range of custom furniture, lighting, brand-enhancing visuals, signposting, information channels, sounds and scents all collaborating in a centrally managed way to provide visitors with a sensory experience.

There are over 100 screens of different formats and aspects providing over 40 channels of customised Miele content at full high-definition (HD)s quality. This runs either dynamically (i.e., triggered automatically based upon predefined rules) or is controlled by customer interaction.

Personalisation key to experience

The customer experience is designed to be as personalised as possible. Customers are requested to register prior to or on arrival to provide Miele with basic visitor/shopper information including gender, demographics, lifestyle, historic Miele purchase information, etc.

Visitors are provided with an Apple iPod Touch which contains the visitor's name, preferences and profile. The iPod Touch can be used to retrieve information on the store (such as a floor plan), provide detailed information on Miele products and services, and enable customers to request advice and recommendations from the iPod Touch system.

The response of the system is based on the user's unique preferences and profile. Additional information can be printed out in-store or emailed to a customer's email address direct from the iPod Touch.

The store is equipped with indoor GPS technology which links to each iPod Touch each of which is equipped with its own GPS transmitter. This means Miele know which iPod Touch (and therefore which customer) is in which area of the store to the precision of 50 centiments the size of each square floor tile, each of which also has its own unique GPS address. This technology enables Miele to plot customer progress through the store and map shopping routes, hotspots and dwell times to help develop the digital experience.

Advanced in-store control

A "decision engine" also analyses the relationship between the visitor type and the area or product category they are in to refine the experience by adapting the media to suit their preferences. The system can adjust local lighting, aroma/scent dispersal, audio type and levels and the digital content that appears on screens close to the customer, within a matter of a few seconds.

Scala manages the coordination of these changes and physically applies the rules from the decision engine to the zone environment, from increasing or decreasing lighting brightness to the scheduling and dispersal of aromas, to the creation and scheduling of content for the more than 100 Apple and Philips screens installed throughout the store. These screens run multiple channels of content and provide interactive services across a range of screens including a 3 x 2 Z-shaped installation and a 3 x 3 installation of Orion borderless video walls.

Oscar Elizaga, vice president for Scala in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region commented: "The Miele Inspirience Centre is so much more advanced in terms of its form and function than most existing implementations in retail that you could argue that one day, all retailers will embrace experiential digital marketing in some form in-store if it means we can make the experience more relevant and helpful for that customer. I am delighted Scala was chosen to play a part in this cutting-edge retail media project."