The Challenge

The nail lacquer category in travel retail lacks stand out. COTY tasked Play to create a new free-standing unit for market leader nail lacquer brand OPI which was both disruptive and innovative. The challenge was to re-imagine the trial experience for shoppers with limited time in a busy and competitive environment.

The Approach

Currently it’s not possible or practical for shoppers to physically try nail lacquer shades in store and this creates a significant barrier to purchase. This gave us an opportunity to reinvent the retail experience, remove the indecision, and drive sales. In travel retail you have just 3 seconds to capture the attention of passing shoppers. In order to do this we needed to design a unit which was not only innovative, but also disruptive, eye-catching and easy to navigate.

The Solution

Drawing on our expertise integrating cutting edge technology into the retail environment, we set out to design and produce the world’s first digital nail trial; to delight shoppers with no mess, no fuss and no wasted time or product. By placing virtual reality (VR) at shoppers’ fingertips, we provided them with an intuitive tool to enable assurance on their path to purchase. Utilising motion-tracking techniques we created a real-time photo realistic hand on which to view the lacquer shades which responded to the movements of the user.