Immersive Retail Capability Programme for a Global Consumer Electronics Brand
Overview
A global consumer electronics company was preparing to renovate a number of flagship retail stores across the UK. During the renovation period, more than 300 retail staff would be temporarily displaced from their stores.
Rather than pausing development, the organisation saw an opportunity to re-engage and re-energise its retail teams.
PreSSense was engaged to design and deliver a large-scale immersive development experience that would reconnect retail staff with the brand, the technology they represented, and the customer experience they were responsible for delivering.
The Challenge
The project involved several significant challenges:
Supporting over 300 retail staff during a period of organisational uncertainty
Maintaining engagement during a TUPE transition affecting the retail workforce
Delivering an experience that would rebuild enthusiasm for the brand and its technology
Designing a programme that could operate at scale while remaining highly engaging
Ensuring the development experience remained closely connected to the customer environment retail staff would return to
The organisation’s central question was simple:
How do we help our teams fall in love with the brand again?
The Approach
PreSSense designed a two-week immersive development experience hosted in London.
The programme was built around a creative narrative inspired by the film industry and the Oscars, using storytelling and team-based challenges to frame the entire experience.
Participants were organised into teams and tasked with creating short films using the latest mobile technology produced by the organisation. Each participant was provided with a new device, which became both a learning tool and a creative platform throughout the programme.
The programme combined several integrated elements:
Immersive Team Challenge
Teams worked throughout the programme to produce a short film using the technology they sold in-store. This encouraged creativity, collaboration, and practical exploration of the product ecosystem.
Passion Rooms
Specialist sessions were hosted by internal technology experts, allowing participants to explore the devices and software in depth and understand how to demonstrate them effectively to customers.
Focus Labs
Participants practised engaging with customers in new ways, exploring how technology could support different real-world use cases and customer needs.
Continuous Experience Design
The experience was designed to run throughout the entire day, creating an immersive environment that extended beyond traditional classroom training.
From morning sessions to evening team activities, participants remained engaged in the learning narrative.
The Outcome
The programme successfully re-energised retail teams during a challenging organisational transition.
Participants returned to their stores with renewed enthusiasm for the brand and greater confidence in the technology they represented.
Key outcomes included:
300 retail staff engaged across the two-week programme
15 flagship store teams supported during the renovation period
98% positive satisfaction across five programme evaluation metrics
Strong engagement from participants and brand specialists
The programme demonstrated how immersive development experiences can strengthen engagement, capability, and brand connection at scale.