The Challenge

Rebel is one of Australia’s largest sport equipment and apparel chains. Rebel and its partner Nike recognized an opportunity in the Australian retail landscape to create a differentiated offering for the sports-minded community.

In developing a retail experience around Performance, the goal was to reposition the brand as the undisputed leader in performance enhancement, one that offers the most relevant merchandise to support its customers’ performance at every level.

The Approach

The focus of the project was to identify and more deliberately target the sports-minded consumer through an in-depth analysis of their attitudes, behaviours and underlying needs. This set the foundation for defining the right value proposition and positioning of Rebel.
This helped differentiate Rebel from the competition and set the tone for the brand as a whole through a compelling store-concept and experience.

The design solution redefined Rebel as the choice destination for consumers to shop for running and performance products. Rebel would be a destination for people to start ‘Right’ and embrace what performance means to them.

Key to the concept was the customer journey. Leading with Performance and Running, the organizing principle of the design came to life by breaking down the space in order of Gender, Category then Brand.

We led with Running as the primary category, supported with zones of interest that focus on innovation by featuring the latest and most advanced products and supportive messaging. These zones sit throughout the space and speak to customers at a personal level through storytelling and solution-selling and are supported by surrounding mass merchandising in each category.

The Rebel concept is driven by a brand voice and attitude that supports a positive stance on performance. By empowering, challenging and motiving them, customers are liberated to explore ways to enhance their performance. Simple images with graphic tones visually align to pixel board numerics that suggest performance benchmarking of speed and distance.

To clearly distinguish the zones by Gender, the women’s area is defined by warm colours and wood materiality, whereas the men’s area is defined by more neutral grey masculine tones. The colour scheme design is purposely simple and consistent. Neutrality in materials and tones is used to allow merchandise, seasonal styles and colour variations to clearly stand out.

The Outcome

The retail space opened March 18, 2020 at the start of the global pandemic. Despite a 50% reduction in foot traffic, the concept has proven to be successful. Nike sales within the store increased over 20% and Rebel’s new store concept reported sustained sales in comparison to last year. Rebel won the 2021 Retailer Awards for Customer Experience of the year and Store Design of the year.