In 2017, Under Armour engaged frog to help them design their new flagship location in New York City, nicknamed ‘Galileo’. Galileo’s purpose is simple - to become a brand and experience hub for Under Armour.
frog was tasked with designing blue sky, tech heavy concepts that could eventually be realized when the store opens (the opening has been slated for 2021). Working alongside an architecture firm, we heavily relied on service design methodologies to help map out what the ideal customer journey would be inside of the store - this journey was then paired with our tech heavy concepts.
This flagship location will be situated next to the new, 24 hour Apple store on 5th Ave - Under Armour took over the space from the famed NYC toy store, FAO Schwarz. Since the space is so beloved by New Yorkers, Under Armour had to create its own type of magic.
Under Armour themselves were extremely involved in the process, and came to the frog studio multiple times over the 10 week engagement. The final presentation was shown in the frog studio to Under Armour founder, Kevin Plank.
Under Armour’s brand guidelines and purpose served as a ‘north star’ to guide us during our concept phase.
An initial experience journey was made, based on the floors that the architecture firm had already outlined; these floors include features such as a Performance Center, a Recovery Roof, and a service area.
The Experience Journey evolved into a more detailed journey map, which included initial concepts matched to various phases of the customer’s journey through the store. Due to the nature of how customers would journey through a store such as this, there are multiple avenues of progression.
To generate the concepts, we mapped out what the ‘studio’ layout of the store would be; since the space itself was over 50,000 sq feet, there was room to make each floor feel special and unique. Under Armour’s mission was to create a place where customers could shop, but also feel part of the UA family.
Concepts to bring this to life included events on the rooftop, activity studios, bespoke tailoring areas and personalized technology.
An example of one of the concepts proposed; each concept included various fidelity levels of illustration, as well as features, customer needs and the value exchange for Under Amour.