Oskar’s reputation for high quality at low prices helped it to become the Czech Republic’s third largest mobile phone operator in just four years.
However, the company was keen to move away from its low-cost positioning and drive more business through its high street retail outlets. Although a well-known brand, Oskar believed its values and strengths weren’t being properly articulated through its stores, and the company decided to engage an outside agency to address the problem.
‘Oskar grew very quickly, initially on a low price positioning,’ explains Steve Poulin, Oskar’s senior consultant for brand experience and environmental design. ‘But as our business evolved, we needed to attract higher value customers, and it soon became evident that our retail outlets weren’t living up to the brand’s promise.’
Although the general standard of retail environments in the Czech Republic is can be low, Poulin and his team wanted to create a retail experience worthy of the world’s best high street stores. They decided to search internationally to secure the best design talent available, and Poulin drew up a shortlist of three design agencies, which were invited to tender in a paid-for pitch. ‘We wanted to pay to get the best,’ he explains, ‘and to ensure we were well positioned as early as possible because we were working to a tight deadline.’
‘It was clear at the pitch that the Oskar team had really done their homework to gauge the sort of designers they wanted to work with – not just the credentials required, but even the appropriate personalities,’ explains Enterprise IG Creative Director Sue Daun. ‘Personality match was extremely important. They wanted to work collaboratively, not to be told what to do, but to pool insight and knowledge.’
Enterprise IG’s winning pitch outlined the building blocks it believed would enable Oskar to translate its brand values into a retail environment by identifying the shape, form, colour and even smell of the brand. The agency appointment was made in early 2004, and the first pilot stores were scheduled to open just nine months later.
