Amplifying cult-status: Park City

Skullcandy are the original audio lifestyle brand. Worn by skaters and sold in snowboard shops, their headphones are popular among the action sports community. To amplify brand awareness and product innovations amongst early adopters in music and tech, we took Skullcandy’s global retail capability to a new level. This is the story of how a global merchandising project evolved into an R&D playground, right in the heart of where things started – at Skullcandy’s global headquarters in Park City, Utah. A modular space, it’s where in-house teams test product displays and learn first-hand in order to drive global brand consistency.

Skullcandy wanted to immerse consumers in its audio innovations like never before. A successful challenger brand, it invested in content marketing and product innovation, while selling its products via retail partners. But in retail, the product was getting lost. Our brief was to establish greater brand awareness and achieve a higher level of brand consistency globally.

With its roots in board sports and indie music culture Skullcandy has never been afraid of challenging the status quo. So, we took our inspiration from the skate parks, the music scene and the irreverent attitude of Skullcandy itself. Creating something progressive yet pragmatic, something future-proof, which never stood still. We imagined a multi-dimensional stage set which made each new product its headline act.

To get under the skin of the Skullcandy culture, lifestyle and product innovations, we flew to their HQ in Park City to experience it first-hand.

First, we worked with the brand team to create a series of modular ‘stage sets’ and demo bars that would help bring each new product to life. One thing led to another and we went on to develop an R&D playground in the atrium of their HQ. This is the place for the team to test and create in real-time, and it became Skullcandy’s first-ever flagship store.

Giving back to the community that raised it, products would launch here first – so board sports fans travelling to the nearby Olympic Park get exclusive access. The flagship space also invests profits back into local non-profit programs focused on music, mountain, and board sports education.

This unique space capitalised on Skullcandy’s challenger-culture whilst successfully driving retail experimentation and consistency

• Experiment drove significant uplift in multi-brand retailer interest
• Allowed product and retail staff at HQ to get direct, first-hand feedback from consumers
• Put Park City HQ on the global map
• Reported as 'one of the best flagship stores in the world'