This was a design challenge I did a while back, but I liked the end result so I decided to include it as an interesting case study. The challenge was to “design a social commerce application for UNIQLO that celebrates their community-minded brand,
connects the physical and digital channels, and extends their reach beyond brick-and-mortar stores”.

If you’re unfamiliar with the brand:

Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing company that delivers unique and high-quality products at a reasonable prices.
The company is currently trying to gain market share, stores only exist in major American cities.
Their target customers actively participate in social media, they are expressive, and they like to generate content.

Setting Itself Apart

One aspect that sets Uniqlo apart from the competition is the high quality of their products and the technology behind the fabrics. During the cold seasons they heavily promote their HEATTECH technology, touted as a “Technical revolution, HEATTECH adapts to the wearer and feels like a second skin”. Made from innovative fabrics co-developed with leading textiles maker Toray Industries, HEATTECH offers exceptional warmth and comfort, as well as quick drying and odor control functionality.

Uniqlo is a very socially conscious brand, they’ve started their own charitable projects in Asia and are expanding their positive influence worldwide. They’ve promoted initiatives to help those in need during the year’s cold months, in 2012 year they launched the “Feel The Warmth” where they gave away thousands of free Heattech products to those in need.

Strategy & Key Insights

After the online exploration of the brand, their products, and its influence on global social media and mobile platforms, these were the key insights I uncovered.

With only a few retail locations in Europe and the US compared to competing brands, it is important to drive new potential customers to the online store, since retail stores are not as widespread.
It’s important to showcase the technology behind the fabrics, since it’s a differentiating factor for the brand.
Uniqlo is still a relatively new brand, so it’s important to leverage social media to spread knowledge of the brand.

After brainstorming a few ideas I eventually landed on a concept that focused on the flagship line of Heattech products, enabled self expression, increases community bonds and took advantage of the upcoming holiday season.

Say Thanks With Uniqlo

The ideas is to create an app for a Thanksgiving campaign aimed at people that already know and love UNIQLO products — they love it so much they want to share the warmth with their loved ones.

The app It would let users record a Thanksgiving video message to a loved one and they would have the option of sending out a digital giftcard valid for HEATTECH products on www.uniqlo.com.

The application lets users view and like the Thanksgiving messages of other users as a way to maintain a sense of community through the UNIQLO brand.

Say Thanks With Uniqlo

The campaign and app interest UNIQLO for the following reasons:

Leverages the flagship line of winter products, the HEATTECH line, which they showcase heavily during Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
Thanksgiving time is a prime season for retailers in the US, especially for cold-weather clothing.
The purpose of the gift card is twofold; (1) since UNIQLO is a relatively new brand, people that have a coupon are more likely to buy something at a store they do not know, (2) The gift spreads knowledge of the brand and drives people to buy products at the UNIQLO website. Since there are very few brick-and-mortar stores in the US this a way to attract a new customer base.