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Nike | Anfield Stadium | Liverpool

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The Brief

Premier League Champions Liverpool FC were changing their kit sponsor from New Balance who had been their sponsor since 2015, to American sportswear giants Nike.
This meant a complete rebrand in their state-of-the-art store which comprises of 19,500 square feet of selling space over two floors and is the largest Liverpool FC retail store in the world.
Working in partnership with Nike’s retail design agency ‘The One Off’, we were asked to bring their concept to life, showcasing this new and exciting union between Liverpool FC and Nike.

Objective

Direct Sales

Engagement

Brand environment / Showroom

Location

Anfield Stadium, Liverpool

Scope

Development & Delivery

The Deliverables

The design concept was to bring Liverpool’s rich heritage into the store. Shining a spotlight not just on the surrounding area but its local residence, explaining how these people and places shaped Liverpool FC into a Premier League winning club.
One of the main focuses was on ‘Meccano’, which was created in Liverpool by Frank Hornby in 1898. The system consists of reusable metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles, and gears, and this was what the designers wanted to utilise in the merchandise racks that surrounded the store. To mimic the Meccano look we had to search numerous industrial racking suppliers until we found a product that resembled Meccano, this was then powder coated in Liverpool Red, so it matched the brand.
The brand message was also key to the whole concept. Nike and Liverpool decided to use the theme ‘Tell Us Never’, which encapsulates the Liverpool mentality of achieving the impossible and striving for success. This was implemented in store by the way of large format print banners, hung from the ceiling.
Finally, there were hundreds of bespoke football scarves manufactured which had the ‘Tell Us Never’, theme embedded into the wool. These were then hung from a purpose-built ceiling grid that we manufactured and installed.

The Experience

This was the first time Envisage had worked with ‘The One Off’ design agency, so it was imperative we understood each other’s processes and ways of working from the start.
As well as being new to one another, we also had to overcome a global pandemic. COVID-19 at the time was having a huge impact on travelling, material supply chain and labour numbers. Meaning our usual methods of working had to change and adapt to meet the current situation.
Working together as a team in the design phase was such a key element to the success of the project as we had to prototype and pre-build, so we understood how integral elements of the project worked. This was only doable because Envisage were able to offer a full turnkey solution with all development and manufacture under one roof.

Our Response

Having to work within such tight parameters due to COVID-19 pushed Envisage and The One Off together. We formed a close bond that saw all team members pulling together for a common goal.
Over 50 members of staff from Envisage, The One Off, Nike and Liverpool FC came together on the final night of the install and worked late into the night, dressing windows, hanging scarves and filling shelves and rails full of new Liverpool/Nike football shirts so the store was ready for the grand unveiling.
The following days saw queues and queues of people snaking around the Liverpool store both inside and out. The new brand experience making it into the local papers, magazines, and on radio shows.

The Results

....thanks again to all the team for all the effort that went into this. The launch went amazingly well with customers queueing round the block. - Richard Collier