A multi-sensory product launch for a newly remote era.

In Spring 2020, design brand Kohler came to us with a problem: How might it engage with its professional audiences during a time when in-person interactions are extremely limited?

Overview

In the midst of the pandemic in 2020, I led the creative strategy and execution of an experiential marketing initiative that provided Kohler with an innovative way to reach their professional audience. For such a tactile group, connecting remotely deprived them of the sensory, in-person experience of viewing and engaging with products, as well as the inspiration of exposure to new ideas in their industry.

Collaborating closely with strategy, we initially created an experience playbook that could guide decisions on how to show up in virtual, digital, and hybrid ways for remote audiences, with feasible creative thought-starters that could scale for any future initiative. Almost immediately, Kohler decided to pursue two of our ideas for an upcoming product launch—a physical product kit, and a mobile AR portal experience.

To get there, I managed a global team of physical designers, experience designers, copywriters, creative technologists and spatial designers to land on a beautiful narrative that served as the perfect foundation for what became an exclusive physical-digital product launch experience for the top 500 architects and designers in the industry. I still have the physical sculpture in my studio at home.

The opportunity

Kohler’s trade audience is highly tactile and spatial — they are constantly seeking the physical experience of interacting with products to appreciate colors, materials, and finishes first hand. Often seeking visionary content from brands like Kohler, architects, designers, and builders were abruptly cut off from the world they knew in exchange for less-than-ideal forms of virtual collaboration.

We co-created a solution by developing a 105-page global experience playbook that would redefine both IRL and virtual events moving forward. We included a number of imaginative and forward-thinking creative concepts to provoke stakeholders into thinking about new realms of possibilities. The playbook outlined core principles we believed would define future experiences—leading with shared values, using scarcity to drive desire, prioritizing tactility, engaging beyond the screen, and most importantly, breaking patterns.

The idea

Within days of completing the playbook we were able to use it in support of an upcoming launch of an entirely new set of showering products. Normally the collection, described as a “generational” innovation, would be launched at a trade show and or within an experience center in Kohler Wisconsin. But since neither of this options were possible at the time, we had to think differently.

The product collection itself was a powerful symbol of tranquility, balance, and harmony. We wanted to create a memorable experience that could exemplify these qualities without being able to see the products first-hand. And so, we created a physical-digital interactive brand experience for architects and designers to discover how Kohler products and design work together harmoniously to restore balance in any space they occupy.

The execution

We approached this problem in two parts: a tactile product kit, and an augmented reality portal experience. The product kit was a physical means for the audience to interact with materials and tactile elements of the product design in order to fully appreciate them. The AR portal was a digital extension that allowed the audience to explore products in an immersive environment, from anywhere in the world.

A kit of parts. The product kit contains versatile parts inspired by the forms and finishes found in Kohler products that recipients can use to explore product and express their creativity. This playful puzzle gives a physical sense of how the forms work together to create harmony and balance through design. Recipients were able to get a sense of the sleek and contemporary forms and finishes, and how they can be configured in unexpected ways, creating an artful balance. Meant to be displayed and admired from various angles, the finished puzzle sculptures also act as an ongoing source of inspiration for architects and designers, kept as a treasured token from the brand in their studio.

Transporting users to inspiring places, and enabling interaction with 3D products. The AR portal takes users into serene natural environments with a life-sized, abstracted, product-inspired sculpture sitting at the center. The sculpture reveals a new perspective at every angle and shows how Kohler products can harmonize with any space it occupies. By interacting with this playful experience, users could explore products in 3D detail — pinching, zooming, and rotating to notice nuances in lighting, color, material, and geometry.

Key moments from the AR portal experience

The result

The experience was shipped to the world’s top 500 architects and designers, and was met with both enthusiasm and energy for the upcoming product launch. Because of this move, Kohler was able to sustain inspiring relationships with their professional audience. Since, they have broadened the ways in which they could reach their audiences remotely, and continue to utilize the digital experience at real-life events featuring the same product collection.

Project credits and info

My role: Creative Director

Collaborators: Victor Bogatch, Borys Chylinski, Sydney Fine, Faith Kaufman, Jason Schlossberg, Micah Ganske, Emily Wengert

Tech partner: Qreal

Agency: Huge

Client: Kohler

Experiential Marketing, Physical Design, Packaging Design, AR, Interaction Design, 3D, Creative Strategy, Immersive Storytelling

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