Visual Merchandising

  • JOB POSTING – Visual Merchandising Specialist – Powersports & Outdoor Products

    Create LOOKs

    LOOK Marketing is in search of new, strategic eyes and hands for our growing merchandising design and retail environment reset services to support our industry leading powersport & marine product client in the USA and Canada

    The specialist will support our ongoing merchandising services growth; LOOK is seeking a Visual Merchandising Spark Plug to lead a variety of merchandising buildouts and resets for our industry leading client’s powersport / motorsport dealerships.

    You will directly report to the LOOK Director of Show and Retail Design / Visual Merchandising

    You Will: 

    • Lead the on-site execution of powersports, in-dealership merchandising set-ups and resets according to a provided brand direction and your strategic creativity. (no planogram).
    • Ensure a seamless approach is taken to support the in-dealership customer experience, linking brand/merchandise presentation and retail creative across different locations.
    • Strategize with LOOK and Client stake holders to determine approach to on-brand/product positioning
    • Lead efforts at multiple sites in multiple states/provinces, in the creation and implementation of creative brand/merchandise presentation concepts and techniques that promote an exciting shopping environment for customers, and drives revenue
    • Communicate effectively, ensure timely, consistent communication with all lines of business
    • Strategically plan/manage multiple projects simultaneously, anticipating obstacles, determining solutions ensuring deadlines are met
    • Pre-visit planning with client, LOOK specialist, and dealership to ensure on-site design efficiency
    • Logically and strategically plan travel throughout North America (need passport)
    • Steward budgets, ensuring optimal use of available funds, maintaining timely & accurate reporting

    You Have :

    • 6+ years experience and knowledge of Visual Merchandising of outdoor products, recreational products, or motorsports industries, retail product presentation, and display window design and stylizing.
    • Savvy regarding Visual Merchandising industry trends, vendors, materials and design elements
    • Demonstrate consistent and high-quality work ethic
    • Have project management and organizational skills; must be proficient in time management with a focus on managing multiple tasks, assigning priorities, and meeting or exceeding deadlines
    • Proficient at adjusting an established strategy to fit differing physical retail environments and differing inventory collections 
    • Proven ability to build working relationships, influence all levels by being knowledgeable and credible
    • Exhibit personal and professional excellence with the ability to exercise good judgment and handle confidential, sensitive information
    • Experience Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook and/or Google drive and docs
    • Travelled extensively and are comfortable with extended, multi-stop presentation builds. Need to be flexible even if it is project based.
    • Driven to tell a brand story through display presentation – comprehension of specific client brand positioning .
    • Solution-oriented, passionate about merchandising and able to multitask in a fast-paced environment

    Minimum six years of Retail and Merchandising experience in Powersports, Outdoor products, or Motorsports world.  

    You Get:

    This is a project based, contract position paying premium rates for premium work. Full brand and product training included (brand knowledge expectations are high and mandatory to merchandise properly), company cc included for travel and resources. Work is remote with occasional in-person training and/or meetings. Based in US Mid-West, Central Florida, or ATL area would be ideal yet not mandatory.

    Integrity, Energy, Professionalism, and Passion are required in that order! The individual must be motivated to work in powersport environments that are undergoing a merchandising modernization revolution. Work for a small, specialized agency delivering projects at a best-in-class level. Must be driven to deliver projects that make impact on our client’s dealership businesses and ours. Bottom line, do you want to be a part of something special and do something you love?

    Get ready to leverage your creativity and organizational skills, and love of powersports to take your career experiences to the next level. LOOK recognizes that talent is the key to all success. Bring your passion for providing exceptional customer experiences and join a dynamic team that values the entrepreneurial spirit and is dedicated to doing things right. 

    #LOOKatUS: LOOK is a strategic marketing agency offering a range of integrated communications and go-to-market services based on Florida’s Space Coast. LOOK offers strategic brand building, promotional marketing efforts in the areas of public relations, content creation (creative, video production and photography), retail and show merchandising design and experiential event marketing.  

    Please forward your pitch and resume for our Merchandising Specialist to [email protected].

    Give your strategic creativity full power with LOOK. (LOOK designed Global Powersports Dealer Meeting showroom, Club BRP, Denver, CO)
  • 2019 Club Ski-Doo: Trade Show Design

    Club Ski-Doo Trade Show Design Project Background

    LOOK Marketing’s creative visual merchandising and trade show design specialists conceptualized and executed a showroom display and merchandise design project to highlight industry leading, client BRP Ski-Doo‘s 2019 collection of riding gear, clothes and accessories for its annual global dealer meeting.

    This was a business-to-business project aimed at inspiring the dealers to place wholesale orders on vehicles, accessories, clothing, riding gear and parts.

    The Space

    The trade show space occupied 23,000 SQFT in New Orlean’s famed Mercedes Benz Super Dome. The space was designed in a circular pattern with the intention of creating a very dynamic and unique traffic flow experience for the trade show attendees.

    Aerial view of circular trade show space in Super Dome illustrating hub and spoke exhibition floor layout.

    The Team

    Displays and Visual Merchandising Strategy and Design

    LOOK Marketing: Michele Chenard and Paulo Kaladeen

    Event Planning and Production

    Altitude/ C

    Lighting and Set Design

    Luz Studio

    The Design: Displays & Visual Merchandising

    Ski-Doo Riding Gear Floor Display & Interactive Layering Concept Wall

    Michele explains that the driving force for the show floor vignette highlighting the three-part layering philosophy for Ski-Doo’s riding gear was the client’s requirement that the show display be educational and effectively communicate the science of layering the riding gear from the base layer to the mid layer and finishing off with the outer layer.

    Her design team developed a concept based on BRP Ski-Doo’s “Build Your Own” system which graphically demonstrated in what order the clothing layers should be worn. The LOOK Marketing visual merchandising and store design team took that idea and interpreted it for the trade show floor by creating a display wall showing a chart with layering using numbers (1,2, and 3 – each associated with a layering stage) and integrated with three spinners (see concept renderings below). According to Michele, “Each spinner had technical information about the layer on one side and on the other side all the merchandise’s photos that went under that layer.”

    Completing the Ski-Doo riding gear and interactive layering floor section was a set of geometrically inspired podiums opposite each other. On each podium, three mannequins designated for women’s and men’s gear, respectively. The mannequins were dressed in various stages of the layer dressing. This was used to convey the three-part philosophy, and to further tie the visuals to the layering process expressed in the layering chart on the display wall.

    Rendering depicting Ski-Doo clothing and recommended layering methods.

    Trade show exhibit wall with spinners.

    Detail of interactive layering panel wall display section at Club Ski-Doo.

    Ski-Doo Helmet Display

    New Orleans Club Ski Doo 2019 Helmet Collection

    Michele Chenard, Director of Visual Merchandising at LOOK Marketing shares insight into her team’s approach to the Ski-Doo helmet display:

    We used two auto-self white walls with matte finish. One of the displays showcased Ski-Doo’s Cross family helmets and the other highlighted Ski-Doo’s full face helmets.  The design concept (see display rendering below) for the honeycombed niches that housed the Ski-Doo helmets were inspired by Ski-Doo’s use of the honeycomb shape in their marketing campaign.  Each of the honeycombed niches were lighted and had a mirror finish on the back to ensure a better view of the graphics and details of each helmet.

    Rendering of of proposed space design for helmet section in trade show space for model year 2019 Club Sea-Doo.

    Innovation Wall Display

    Elevating engineering feats to an art form with the Innovation wall display which exhibits Ski-Doos seven best innovative accessories.

    For the Innovation wall display, Michele explains that the “ultimate goal was to showcase Ski-Doo best innovative accessories.” In order to bring their show design concept (see rendering below) to life, the design team had a 24’ long wall built and covered with with slightly faded imagery of moments exemplifying the lifestyle associated with the tagline “That Ski-Doo Feeling”. Seven display niches were sculpted out of the wall – each niche with varying degrees of depth to best highlight the item contained within. The geometrically defined niches – either a square or rectangle – contained light fixtures to fully illuminate the innovative Ski-Doo accessories. This show design evokes a feeling of an art gallery wall dedicated to important engineering accomplishments that contribute to the Ski-Doo product and enhance the Ski-Doo lifestyle of the ski rider.

    Club BRP -Ski-Doo Accessories Innovation design rendering.

    Clothing Lifestyle Exhibit | Mountain Section

    Ski-Doo has several lifestyle segmentations for which it produces specific clothing and riding gear. Shown here is the mountain segment.

    Expanded view of trade show floor space with focus on Ski-Doo’s Mountain clothing and riding gear.

    For the clothing and riding gear sections, the objective was to create an unforgettable and impactful 3-dimensional visual look book. The design team called this a “look-alike” window. Its purpose was to bring attention to Ski-Doo’s most important soft goods segmentation line up. The driving factors shaping the aesthetic show design was the need to deliver a clean and minimalistic approach while ensuring that the star of the vignette – the clothes and riding gear wowed the trade show attendees. The team executed their design vision (see design rendering below and see above for delivered design) using a white, glossy material for the display. At the top of the display, faded imagery of Ski-Doo lifestyle shots and below that image section the tagline, “That Ski-Doo Feeling.”  An acrylic window sporting signage identifying the specific Ski-Doo segment offered a feeling of a window display in a retail environment inviting shoppers to come take a closer look at the mannequins  outfitted in Ski-Doo riding attire and accessories.

    Mountain lifestyle section design rendering for the Club Ski-Doo trade show.

    Ski-Doo XPS Oil & Maintenance Products

    Merchandising Ski-Doo XPS products in a dramatic, contemporary fashion that aligns the product with the Ski-Doo brand and lifestyle.

    Positioning the Ski-Doo XPS oil and maintenance products to express the premium characteristics and quality of the product range was the show design team’s goal for the display concept (see rendering below).  According to Michele, the team’s creative director, the merchandising team took inspiration from the product packaging graphics, logo and color scheme (which is silver and black). Within the matte black display wall, lighted recess shelving showcased groupings of the XPS oil and maintenance products as shown in the photo above.

     

    Display panel for Ski-Doo XPS products.

    The Design:Vehicle Floor Set

    Visual Merchandising and floor set with Ski-Doo snowmobile vehicle.

    Color Harmony: Visual Merchandising and floor set with Ski-Doo snowmobiles to visually tie the riding gear and clothing with the Ski-Doo vehicle.

    Retail store design inspiration.

    Powerful Possibilities: Display to highlight various accessories that complement the Ski-Doo snowmobile. This configuration allows dealers to visualize what is possible and to offer inspiration for design within their retail space.

    Trade show set design - defining the product hero. look marketing

    Hero Stand: Highlighting importance of Ski-Doo unit in trade show space.

    2019 Ski-Doo snowmobiles.

    Ski-Doo vehicles displayed with walk around space and key information readily available for dealers to access.

     

  • Visual Merchandising for Sales Success: Route 1 Motorsports

    Visual Merchandising and Store Styling

    With plans to build a new mega-showroom underway, Route 1 Motorsports knew they wanted LOOK Marketing’s Director of Visual Merchandising, Michele Chenard and her team to design the showroom and store displays for BRP powersports’ brands Can-Am Off Road and Can-Am Spyder as well as Sea-Doo watercraft.

    Grand Opening Showroom Tour

    When Route 1 Motorsports  officially opened the doors for business at to their new powersports dealership in Florida’s Brevard county – home to the iconic, history-making Space Coast,  we were honored to have been there to celebrate this momentous event with them. Over the course of the evening, we captured a few photos of the showroom vignettes and product displays designed and styled by LOOK Marketing’s award-winning Visual Merchandising team.

    Store design: Designing for the consumer experience.

    Organized and inviting display shelf filled with accessories and gear with vehicle vignette in foreground – offer consumers an enticing shopping environment that translates to an elevated consumer experience.

    Styled to sell. The science of merchandising design for powersports retailers.

    Styled to sell. The science of merchandising design for powersports retailers.

    Mannequins dressed to ride. Display vignette for BRP Can-Am Spyder.

    Artfully conveying the Can-Am Spyder lifestyle in this vignette with mannequins dressed in Can-Am riding gear set against backdrop of vehicles and one on display. All components from color, spacing, pattern and texture work harmoniously together to create a display that is an attention-getter and money maker.

    Smart store design optimizes every inch of available display space which in turn increases the amount for revenue making space. LOOK’s visual merchandising team combined the science of retail design with their artful eye for creating beautiful environments, and designed this revenue generating series of display and merchandise vignettes that are guaranteed sales makers.

    Color theory and display placement in Visual Merchandising.

    Harnessing the science of color theory and placement to create an attractive retail display wall.

    Science of shopping implemented in powersports retail business.

    Eye-pleasing merchandise wall display presented in a visually rhythmic fashion makes it easy for shoppers to quickly find exactly what they need.

    It’s been a privilege to work with our friends at Route 1 Motorsports and contribute to their business success. We’ve enjoyed seeing their journey marking major milestones including the press event at the ground breaking, sharing the construction progress via social video  and finally seeing it all come together at the grand opening festivities.