Tuesday 14 October 2008

arken win six POPAI awards

arken are pleased to announce they have received six awards in the POPAI awards 2008. This includes 2 Gold’s, 3 Silver’s and a Bronze award.

The first Gold award was awarded for the Kwik-Fit wall display – A merchandising unit used to sell car accessories to customers whilst they wait to have their tyres changed.

The judges’ comments:


“The clear winner in this category, this was a well thought out design that met all the requirements of the brief and worked well for customers.
The unit was designed to sit in the reception space of Kwik Fit outlets to encourage customers to buy while they waited for tyre fittings. As the reception space had not been designed with retail sales in mind, the unit had to offer modular flexibility and needed to be easily maintained. The design provided clear range segmentation and displayed a wide variety of product types and sizes effectively and logically. Sales performance was well ahead of expectation and provided a true incremental opportunity for the retailer. Good use of space, well branded, operationally efficient and customer friendly – a winner all round.”


The Sennheiser headphone comparator display also won Gold . This interactive display allows customers to listen to ‘on board’ sound samples and compare the sound quality of the various noise cancelling head phones available.


Judges’ comments:


“The Sennheiser comparator unit allows shoppers to aurally appreciate the quality of the headphones particularly when compared with those supplied with MP3 players.
The extra details such as the ability to demonstrate noise cancelling technology and being able to test with different music genres impressed the judges and it was thought to be an excellent execution of the brief.”


For Microsoft arken designed a keyboard and mouse display – A category initiative for Microsoft featuring high performing keyboards and mice, allowing hands on customer interaction. This design won a silver award.
Judges’ comments:


”The clear, space efficient design with good use of materials enabled marketing objectives to be achieved. Being able to ‘play’ with the product appears to have really driven sales with strong category uplifts.”





New York Colour Cosmetic Update Project for Del Laboratories Ltd also received silver.


The judges commented that “This display was designed to be functional whilst encouraging consumers to browse. An effective solution to market was of paramount importance so a facility to refresh units with minimal disruption and cost was also essential. All these requirements were delivered. The promotional mechanic was very clear with the offer communicated at eye level in the middle of the display. The NYC brand has a considerable product range but the unit was designed to enable the stand to remain clean and tidy in appearance while still allowing customers to test the range.”







arken’s ‘Maplin Battery Display ‘ for Maplin Electronics Ltd also received Silver.

Judges’ comments:

“With a return on investment in just four months and a sales increase of 118% over the Christmas period, this flat-pack display with flexible graphic “wraps” was quick and easy to assemble.
Initially an own-label unit, the adaptability and the ease with which graphics could be changed allowed for brand specific promotions and thus increased the longevity of the display.”

Finally the House of Prince Horeca Unit – An illuminated display to create brand awareness amongst the trendy bar crowd in Scandinavia, received a Bronze award.