Challenge
The NRF (National Retail Foundation) Big Show is the largest conference and expo in the world for the retail industry, with tens of thousands of attendees each year. Sensormatic Solutions is the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, powering operational excellence at scale and enabling smart and connected shopper engagement.
For NRF 2020, they partnered with Hamilton to show up differently. Sensormatic wanted to curate a customer journey by solutions – not by products or brand. They wanted to create an immersive retail environment where they could showcase their various security solutions within real-world vignettes. The space needed to feel modern, unique, and innovative – and position Sensormatic as an industry leader in retail intelligence and security solutions.
Approach
For the customer journey through the space, we created “tour stops” where attendees could experience hands-on demos of Sensormatic solutions – including shopper engagement, exterior store analytics, in-store shopper journey, dynamic content delivery, traffic insights, item protection, market intelligence, unified commerce, mobile checkout, fitting room 360, AI data intelligence, and AI vision intelligence. Each demo station was centered on how Sensormatic solutions enabled retailers to be more efficient, secure, and intelligent.
The design was inspired by parametric architecture – blending complexity and variety – evident through the interdependent structures on intersecting angles throughout the space. The floor plan was organized into circular areas of interest throughout the space – from the reception to the product areas. Floating above the space was the hanging sign that mirrored the 30’ x 80’ footprint, combined with floor supported organic ellipses -- shapes that signified the different product zones. Organic, over dramatic shapes were juxtaposed with monolithic storage and conference rooms, as well as the linear store front retail displays. Tall, clear windows were used to create focal points around the entrances and exits – which were also key areas of use for Sensormatic Solutions. Together, this design aesthetic created a show-stopping, unique atmosphere of a contemporary, state-of-the-art retail environment.
From the bright, retail lighting, to the demo stations, to the three large LED video walls on the exterior of the structure – the event technologies required to power the experience were substantial. Over two miles of data cables spanned across the booth, powering massive servers and internet routers.
Results
Not only did Sensormatic exceed leads captured versus previous years, the word-of-mouth and excitement on the show floor was electric. The booth was packed non-stop every day. Even after the show, the press Sensormatic received from major publications solidified their position as a leader in retail technology and proved the effectiveness of the solution-based customer journey strategy.
Press comments:
“No one else at NRF is combining data for loss prevention, inventory and traffic.” – MarketWatch
“I haven’t seen anyone else filer video assets through an AI algorithm… this is a competitive advantage for Sensormatic Solutions.” – CSA (Chain Store Age)
“Most technologies aggregate data, but don’t offer prescriptive recommendations. Shopper Engagement’s actionable insights are unique.” – IHL Group
“Veterans like Sensormatic’s ShopperTrak have provided multi-level solutions that range from simple infrared portal traffic counters to camera-based footpath tracking.” – Forbes
“Instead of the Amazon Go model, retailers should instead think about how cameras and RFID can work together to create seamless, in-store experiences.” – The Wall Street Journal
When NRF went virtual in 2021, Hamilton transformed their brand into a virtual, sales-enabled environment – The Sensormatic Innovation Experience. In addition, the Sensormatic Innovation Experience won the 2021 Platinum Hermes Creative Award in the Website Overall: Business to Business category.
Client Testimonials
"From the origination of ideas for our new booth design to the final execution, we could not ask for a better partner than Hamilton."
"Your [Hamilton] team is so creative, and we really appreciate how well you understand our business and objectives. We are grateful to you and the whole team for their herculean efforts in getting everything designed built, and ready for the show. Your attention to detail and professionalism did not go unnoticed."
"It is not easy to install a brand-new booth with the added pressure of having to coordinate all the services and labor in a venue like the Javits. You put in so much effort and everything you do makes our lives much easier at the show."
"NRF 2020 was a great success! We can’t wait to do it all again next year!"
