Imagine a place where a giant set of lips becomes a swing hung with gold chains, and photos of lips become wallpaper. That place also created retail clothing displays from 80s-style arcade video games, old-fashioned steamer trunks, and colorful door frames. Every day, something extraordinary and magical is crafted in this special place. This isn't the start of a great children's tale. This place and its creations are very real. It is none other than Phase 3's fabrication department. Their mission is to produce innovative, memorable, and branded environments that allow businesses to shine.
What is Fabrication?
Marketing fabrication offers endless possibilities for creative expression and brand storytelling in a physical environment. Fabricators help create physical assets and branded environments for events, conferences, and customer-driven business locations like retail and restaurants. It can also show up in shopping centers, office buildings, healthcare campuses, educational campuses, community facilities, and more. Fabrication includes ideation, design, engineering, building, and installing various components. These components could include signage, decals, murals, fixtures, lighting, props, and displays. Some fabrication techniques and materials are temporary, while others are permanent. The goal is to create an immersive experience that drives visitor engagement and achieves business objectives.
With a clear understanding of fabrication, let's explore why it's become indispensable for experiential marketing strategies.
How is Fabrication Valuable for Marketing?
Fabrication enhances experiential marketing for brick-and-mortar businesses by adding depth, creativity, and interactivity to customer experiences, setting a brand apart in the marketplace.
Enhanced Customer Experience
For marketers, fabrication can play a significant role in shaping how customers experience a brand. Brands use fabrication techniques to generate exceptional environments, interactive displays, and positive experiences that enhance customer engagement and loyalty. Take, for instance, the lip swing. The team created it for It’s a Secret MedSpa's lip filler services campaign, where customers sought out the swing for a unique and memorable experience.
Brand Recognition and Visibility
Well-designed window displays and signage featuring a company's logo, colors, and messaging help increase brand visibility and recognition. They serve as a constant reminder of the brand, increasing the likelihood of customer recall and purchase. The Phase 3 team has fabricated many compelling window displays for Neiman Marcus that draw customer attention and inspire them to come in and shop.
Ambiance and Atmosphere
The design and aesthetics of interior displays and signage can also create a specific ambiance or atmosphere that aligns with the brand's identity and resonates with its target audience. This can be as simple as installing the brand's logo or name displayed in acrylic on a wall. Fabrication can help set a tone by providing sleek and modern or rustic and informal accents and displays. Displays can also indicate a celebration, holiday, or event. For example, the team fashioned a winter wonderland holiday display for Neiman Marcus in Dallas, using an authentic ski gondola as a selfie station.
Driving Sales
Strategic placement of displays and signage can influence customer behavior. The Phase 3 team creates eye-catching displays for brands like Ferragamo and Margot McKinney, strategically placed in high-traffic areas or at the point of sale in Neiman Marcus to encourage impulse purchases. We've also produced one-of-a-kind clothing displays using those brightly colored doors and nostalgic video games to catch the customer's eye, showcase product features, and drive sales.
Here's the Bottom Line
Consumers are bombarded with marketing messaging every day. Brands need to be different and unique to attract their attention. Customized and imaginative displays, environments, and experiences will always stand out.
Now that we've highlighted the significance of fabrication in creating notable brand experiences, it's time to unveil an exciting development for Phase 3's fabrication team -- a new, state-of-the-art studio that promises to elevate their capabilities to new heights.
Phase 3's New Studio
We are thrilled to announce that the wonderful wizards in Phase 3's fabrication department are moving into a new 45,000-square-foot space this fall. They'll have twice the space and more resources to create their magic. Let's look at the opportunities this new space will offer.
Expanded Fabrication Possibilities
Fabricating displays and projects using a variety of materials, including wood, metal, plastic, glass, and acrylic, will only be dependent on the client’s design requirements and budget. The new space will include an expanded wood fabrication area with new and exciting milling capabilities for fixturing. Additional metal fabrication capabilities will also be available to router, cut, bend and weld projects. We’ll even have an in-house automated channel bender for interior and exterior lit signs and cabinets and powder coating capabilities.
But it's not just about the tools, it's about the opportunities. Instead of utilizing existing display units, products, or materials as a starting point, the team will have the ability to push the envelope. They'll be able to think outside of what's currently "in-market" and instead think about what should be "the market." The team is looking forward to imagine and build environments never thought possible. In addition, there will be more metal and lighting combinations possibilities, including lighting with UL Certification for exterior use. In short, we are planning a mixed-media fun zone.
Enhanced Capacity and Streamlined Services
In addition to pushing the boundaries of originality, the new studio will address logistical challenges and enhance efficiency. When the studio opens, the team will have the capacity to eliminate current bottlenecks in existing services. For example, two new paint booths with dryers and a custom paint mixing station will cut turnaround time in half and double capacity. This means that our clients can expect faster project completion and a higher level of service.
Overall, our production space will increase fourfold. It will allow us to take on more complex projects at once, providing our clients with even more opportunities to create unique and extraordinary brand experiences. We’ll be able to fabricate the same quality products but more efficiently. We’ll also be able to offer enhanced logistics support to handle the transportation, delivery, and installation of completed projects.
Client Collaboration and Custom Design
The new studio is not just a workspace, but a creative hub where clients and designers can come together to concept and innovate. It will feature a full showroom and ideation area where we can highlight our past work and brainstorm new ideas. The showroom will exhibit standard retail displays, trade show pieces, millwork, metal lighting, and signage, as well as more original pieces. The space will also have full CAD and 3D rendering tools, along with design tools to help the client visualize the idea before anything is fabricated. Prototyping for client approval on every element of a project will be possible. This new studio will enable the team to deliver exactly what our clients expect from every project. And that's what sets Phase 3 apart.
The Phase 3 Difference: Ideation to Execution
Phase 3 is known for custom displays and other large-scale activations that deliver results. Our focus is our clients. We call this Ideation to Execution. From start to finish, we work together to provide solutions to meet our clients' expectations and challenges. And stay within their budget.
Our team loves thinking outside of the box for clients. Anyone can set up crates and shelves for retail displays. We specialize in creating experiences that bring customers into a display, like using a gondola for a selfie station or creating a lip swing. We love combining disparate materials and finishes to produce something memorable and engaging. Our studio is unique in that we can ideate, fabricate, and build projects right in the same location. We can also print large-scale signs and other marketing materials on-site. Read more about the Ideation to Execution process here.
Today’s experiential marketing needs custom solutions to make the impact and drive the engagement a brand is looking for – and that’s what Phase 3’s expert fabrication team knows best. Our innovative approach to dimensional displays guarantees a show-stopping result.
We hope you'll visit our new fabrication studio when it opens this fall and see some of the wizardry our team has cooked up. Meanwhile, if you'd like to start making magic for your brand, contact us today.