CASE STUDY

Uniqlo /
This article appeared in Contagous issue Sixten. Contagious is an intelligence resource for the global marketing community focusing on Non-Traditional Media and Emerging Technologies. www.contagiousmagazine.com For more information please contac Harry Gayner on +44 (0) 20 575 1822 or harry@contagiousmagazine.com

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CASE STUDY / UNIQLO / FOUND IN TRANSLATION / THERE IS MORE TO UNIQLOS BRAND STORY THAN COOL CELEBRITY COLLABORATIONS AND CASHMERE CUDDLES. A CLOSE BRUSH WITH BANKRUPTCY DEMONSTRATED THAT THE ONE SIZE FITS ALL BUSINESS MODEL THAT THRIVED IN A RECESSION-STRUCK JAPAN WOULD NEED TAILORING TO FIT THE FICKLE WESTERN RETAIL ENVIRONMENT. OPERATING WITH A FRESH AND FLEXIBLE NEW BRAND IMAGE SUPPORTED BY AWARD-WINNING INTEGRATED MARKETING CAMPAIGNS, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNIQLO COMMUNITY IS NOW A THOROUGHLY MULTI-CULTURAL, MULTI-PLATFORM AFFAIR. I THINK WERE TURNING JAPANESE I REALLY THINK SO / BY WILL SANSOM /

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t could be a pair of pants. Perhaps it's a cashmere sweater, or maybe even a T-shirt sporting a mean n' moody Manga-inspired design. Whatever it is, chances are that you own at least one item of UNIQLO clothing. If not, it's only a matter of time until you do. Officially Japan's leading clothing retail chain, UNIQLO currently has 804 stores worldwide, the sales from which have encouraged parent company Fast Retailing Co. Ltd to reveal optimistic forecasts for the fiscal year of 2008 of 585bn (3.5bn) in net sales. Indeed, in June, Fast Retailing reported a five-year record high share price of 9860 (59). With this in mind, the chances of this financial target for 2008 being met, are almost as likely as that pair of pantone-perfect socks winding its way into your top drawer by the end of the year However, like all the best success stories, the UNIQLO saga is not without its share of adversity. Initial attempts to replicate UNIQLO's quintessentially Japanese business model in the western retail environment did not go exactly to plan and after failed expansion in 2001, the brand was forced to retreat and regroup. It would seem that a different methodology would need to be adopted if what started out as a single unisex clothing store in Hiroshima was to be successfully rolled out on a global scale. From tiny warehouses The UNIQLO brand philosophy has always been about creating a distinctly utilitarian retail experience for consumers. Normal concerns held by the average shopper about style, quality and brand are dissolved by a simple assurance that whatever they buy, it will be great quality, low in cost and will look good with anything and everything they decide to wear it. What UNIQLO does therefore, is to provide the basic but premium ingredients of your wardrobe. The 'Unique Clothing Warehouse' was opened in 1984 by the Yamaguchi-based Ogori Shoji, which, since 1949, had operated a chain of clothing stores called 'Men's Shop OS'. However, the simple difference of stocking unisex clothing was enough to ensure that the success of the new store far eclipsed that of the existing outlets. Ogori Shoji was changed to the somewhat catchier 'Fast Retailing' and in turn, its rapidly expanding new chain became UNIQLO. By April 1994, over 100 stores had been opened across Japan and to meet this new demand, in 1997 UNIQLO adapted the SPA (Specialty Store of Private Label Apparel) model which had proved so successful for US retail giant Gap; instead of selling proprietary clothing, UNIQLO would now exclusively produce and carry its own garments. The out-sourcing of the manufacturing process to more affordable

factories in China enabled the brand to capitalise on this business model, providing great value clothing that was snapped up by the Japanese public in the clutches of a recession. In 2001, the first overseas UNIQLO outlets were opened in Shanghai and shortly after, four more in London. However, poor execution of this expansion meant that the brand was met with indifference by the UK public. Simon Coble, UNIQLO UK, CEO, elaborates: 'We opened without a flagship store and expanded our network with a scattergun approach very quickly, before we stabilised operations. Opening stores in Romford and Knightsbridge wasn't, in hindsight, the best approach as the brand wasn't solidified and we failed to support our outer London stores with the marketing that they required.' Marino Donati, news editor for fashion publication Drapers, adds: 'In the UK, you've really got to shout about your identity in order to be heard. On the one hand, retailers such as Zara and Topshop were practising fast fashion with a quick turnover of lines, whilst on the other, retailers like Primark and Tesco had the budget end of the market cornered. Occupying a space somewhere in the middle, UNIQLO was something of a lost sheep.' However, what doesn't kill a brand only makes it stronger, and over the following three years concerted efforts were made to revive and repair the struggling business. In Japan, the solution was born out of a realisation that the standalone SPA business model referred only to production and sales. Accordingly, UNIQLO embarked upon a far more collaborative approach to its branding and advertising; rather than enlisting any one agency, key figures from different creative disciplines were recruited to collaborate on, and rejuvenate every aspect of the brand. Kashiwa Sato executive creative director, Samurai, Tokyo, oversaw the process as well as taking care of graphic work such as the redesigned logo which would be used on store facades, marketing materials and the products themselves. Markus Kiersztan creative director, MP Creative, NY handled in-store visuals and communication strategies, whilst digital supremo Yugo Nakamura of tha* ltd. Tokyo used his quirky Flash genius to revamp UNIQLO's online presence and enhance the digital element of the ensuing campaigns. In keeping with this new approach, changes were being subtlety implemented and experimented within the remaining UK stores Simon Coble expands: 'We realised that we had a loyal following in the UK and there was a definite bubbling interest in the right demographics so we had to be careful to keep the niche element and attraction to the brand that appealed to this audience, whilst at the same time retaining our "bread and butter"

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customers in the suburban stores.' UNIQLO, it would seem, was once again ready for a stab at globalisation combining what it had learnt from the UK with the fresh and most importantly, considered new brand identity. From Tokyo to NYC In November 2006, UNIQLO opened its global flagship store in the SoHo fashion district of Manhattan. Prior to the opening, several shipping containers were hoisted via crane and flat bed truck into selected locations around New York. Powered by an external generator, these temporary outlets contained neatly folded stacks of clothing and gave a glimpse of the kind of utilitarian perfection preached by the brand. However, once the store itself opened, it would become apparent that this sense of utility had been perfectly blended with a fresh, cosmopolitan feel every bit in keeping with its highprofile location. Designed by renowned architect Masamichi Katayama of Wonderwall, Tokyo, the 36,000 square foot space epitomises a carefully constructed juxtaposition between the brand's Japanese heritage and a contemporary, culturally inclusive retail experience. Scott Kraenzlein, account executive with MP Creative, emphasises the challenge encountered when striking a balance with the new store: 'UNIQLO has always been more about a service than a fashion brand; however, your average Manhattan shopper is not only extremely style conscious, but also has higher expectations of what a retail experience should encompass. Above all, simplicity is key and the clothes are given the space to speak for themselves, allowing customers to become acquainted with the brand at their own pace.' One device used to introduce the UNIQLO philosophy to New Yorkers, was the UNIQLO Paper, conceived by MP Creative. Distributed in-store and available online via a Flash-enabled application, the free magazine features interviews with designers, local celebrities and artists, illustrating the cultural relevance of the brand. 'We wanted to create a magazine that was more than the standard look-books you get at other stores,' explains Marcus Kiersztan, 'We wanted to align the brand with the art and design industry.' A large in-store gallery was used to exhibit a range of over 100 limited-edition, exclusive T-shirt designs from over 40 artists including Yayoi Kusama, Tezuka and

Godzilla. This space was then used from Spring 2007 to house products featuring in the first installment of the UT Campaign. Yet another example of a distinctly Japanese retail device being tailored for a global market, the project rode on the back of the phenomenal success of the exclusive UT Store in Harajuku, Tokyo. This shop, devised by Kashiwa Sato, sells limited-edition T-shirts packaged in plastic tubes on open shelves, providing a super-efficient self-service system that is more Japanese convenience store than fussy fashion retailer. The campaign was supported by print, poster and in-store advertising, featuring portraits by renowned fashion snapper Terry Richardson. In spring 2008, the project launched again on a global scale, this time with Brit Matt Irwin shooting 300 street-cast models in Tokyo, New York and London. The success of the new formula in NYC proved that UNIQLO was finally striking the right balance for the western retail environment. Kensuke Suwa, UNIQLO global marketing director, comments on the expansion: 'Each new territory spells new challenges as we move towards becoming a truly global brand be they internal or external factors. However, after the lessons we learnt back in 2001, we now approach each new market tentatively and look to gain a solid understanding prior to large scale-commitment.' London calling Clearly, whatever had originally been lost in translation was finally being found. One year on from the opening of the global flagship store in New York, the brand was once again ready to tackle its territorial Achilles heel and take on the UK fashion market right where it is distilled to its most competitive and fickle the high street. And what better high street to take on, than Oxford Street in central London? With over 200m visitors and 300 retailers taking approximately 5.5bn (7bn) every year, this is one of the busiest retail environments in the world. The same collaborative process that gave birth to the NY store was employed in the design and execution of not one, but two new stores which opened simultaneously at either end of Oxford Street in November 2007. The larger of the two premises (nearer the more up-market Mayfair area) is the official European UNIQLO flagship store, echoing in terms of interior design and architecture, many of the features found in the New York location. Four huge revolving mannequin boxes reach up to the first floor, displaying the current seasonal offerings and for the first time outside Japan, a dedicated UT 'future

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convenience store' section has been created with the shelf-stacked 'T's in tubes' layout of the Harajuku shop. The re-birth of the brand in the UK was promoted not only by the 2008 incarnation of the UT T-shirt project, but also by a more cohesive version of the People campaign first devised for the New York launch by Marcus Kiersztan of MP Creative, and Nicola Formichetti, creative director of Dazed & Confused. Focussing on local heroes and celebrities as brand advocates, the success of this egalitarian campaign relied heavily on it being adapted for each specific location. Therefore for London, home-grown British talent was featured such as eclectic rapper Dizzee Rascal, who also performed at the opening of the stores. Kensuke Suwa concludes: 'When launching the London flagship store, the strap line "From Tokyo to London" reinforced the idea that the brand was Japanese, but by working with British talent such as Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, actress Samantha Morton and Georgia Jagger, we created a campaign specifically for London that would resonate with Londoners.' Building global communities online Considering the size and location of UNIQLO's flagship stores, one could be forgiven for presuming that globalising the brand has thus far been a strictly territorial, real-world affair. However, looking at the most successfully integrated of the brand's advertising and marketing campaigns, it soon becomes clear that encouraging consumers to interact with the brand in a digital environment has played just as big a part if not bigger in helping the UNIQLO community to expand and transcend cultural boundaries. Yugo Nakamura, as well as forming part of UNIQLO's Creative Committee, is creative director at tha* ltd. the agency responsible for some of the brand's most innovative digital campaigns such as UNIQLO GRID and

UT LOOP. 'With all of the UNIQLO online campaigns, the basic question is how to deepen and broaden the users' brand experience. The challenge is then to achieve this through encouraging user participation, by creating and visualising a space where users can actively interact with the campaign. This isn't to say that everything is dependent on the activity of the users; what is important, is to keep the balance between places where users can be passive and places where they can be active.' Designed to reflect how the brand is constantly evolving in the hands of the consumer, UNIQLO GRID allows users on a dedicated microsite to manipulate the UNIQLO logo by using the mouse pointer to click, drag, spin and multiply to their hearts' content. However, the digital canvas on which they play with the logo is shared by thousands of users across the world making this a genuinely collaborative exercise. At the top of the page, it tells you exactly who (by nickname) is making which moves. At the time of writing, Mako in Japan was furiously multiplying in diagonals across the bottom of the screen For a slightly trickier but ultimately more rewarding creative process, check out the UNIQLO UT LOOP part of the UT T-shirts campaign. Originally running alongside a series of TV spots, this Flash-enabled site provides you with nine different UNIQLO representatives, each with their own sample noise, be it a shout, grunt or even a big ol' fashioned raspberry. You can then drag and drop the different characters, complete with noises, into sixteen different spaces, thereby creating your very own mini dub loop. Once you are happy with how it sounds, you can submit your loop to the website, where it will be

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shuffled and played at random as part of the 'People's Loop'. There is even an easy 'Blog this' button which allows visitors to download and share either this collaborative loop or just their own, as a widget for embedding on blogs or external websites. Yugo Nakamura concludes: 'Rather than being at the centre of fashion trends, UNIQLO has a philosophy of providing the high quality components of fashion. Respectively, UNIQLO GRID and UT LOOP both encapsulate this idea of combining simple elements into a complex and freeform variety.' Clicks and clocks There is of course, a campaign masterminded by Projector, Tokyo which took the interactive and monstrously addictive flash site model to a whole new level in 2008. It has scooped thus far, the Innova Lotus Gold Award at ADFEST, 2 Gold Awards and the Grand Prix at the One Show Interactive, a Grand Clio for Interactive, a D&AD Black Pencil for Online Advertising as well as a Cyber Lions Grand Prix and the prestigious Contagioussponsored Titanium Lion award at Cannes 2008. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the UNIQLOCK.

award-category boundaries and creates something altogether better. Titanium is about finding tomorrow's ideas that reset the creative bar and move the industry forward. The UNIQLOCK was an idea that stopped the jury dead in its tracks. An idea that fused together everything that is new in our business: entertainment, utility and interactivity. After all, only with innovative and ground-breaking thinking can we adapt to the speed at which the world is changing. This is virtual, branded utility pure Titanium.' The 2008 campaign is a development of a 2007 initiative an online clock which marks passing moments with 5-second clips of female dancers performing micro-routines clad in the new UNIQLO line of cashmere. Somewhere between branded entertainment and utility, this delightfully distracting microsite struck a chord with bored office workers everywhere; it racked up over 30m views in 195 countries highly significant considering that the brand has stores in only a handful of these territories. Recognising the brand-building potential of the application, Projector set about making it bigger and better for 2008. As a result, it now operates 24/7 for 365 days a year, with the dancers' clothes changing according to each season polo shirts in spring and cashmere sweaters in the winter. It will also go to sleep at night, with sequences on the hour and an alarm clock function in case you're in the habit of keeping your laptop next to your bed. Perhaps most significantly however, a downloadable version of the UNIQLOCK is now available as a widget for embedding on blogs, iGoogle or Facebook profiles. By viewing WORLD. UNIQLOCK, users can link to all the embedded sites via a global map which lets you see at any given time, exactly how many people are watching the UNIQLOCK and in what country. This is perhaps the most literal realisation of the UNIQLO global community to date proven by the fact that so far, over 27,000 widgets have been downloaded and the site itself has been viewed 68m times in over 209 countries. 'I had the intuition that an expression which perfectly synchronised bodily movements with sound, would be the most simple and pure way of representing UNIQLO's products. The concept of MUSIC X DANCE X CLOCK came from the "rhythm of a second" dance

Mark Tutssel, chief creative officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide, was the Cannes 2008 Titanium and Integrated jury president. He describes the impact which the UNIQLOCK had on the judges: 'A Titanium Lion is an idea that's so unique, pure and new it cannot be labelled in a conventional way. It breaks through traditional

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to the rhythm of a second and music to the rhythm of a second in the same way that a clock keeps time to the rhythm of a second. After Googling the name "UNIQLOCK" and finding zero results, I knew straight away that this tag would be perfect for spreading the experience across the web and uniting global bloggers,' says Koichiro Tanaka, creative director, Projector, Tokyo. Since the UNIQLOCK, Projector has continued to study the behavioural patterns of internet users concentrating on that initial moment of uptake and how content is absorbed. As a result, its latest campaign for UNIQLO's line of Dry Wear focuses on the way in which neurons fire in the human brain when we observe the actions of another human on screen. More abstract than the UNIQLOCK, DRY IN MOTION displays a grid of graceful gymnasts, which replicates or changes in size every five seconds. Each figure is contained within their own sphere which displays around its rim, the passing seconds in different increments. There is also a counter in the top corner of the screen showing 'your view time' a reminder of just how distracting this kind of website can be. Koichiro Tanaka describes the thinking behind its conception: 'I am interested in the mirror neuron which copies the behaviour of another human as if the observer itself were acting. When we see completely controlled body movement, our feelings move and as a result, we want to see it more. In other words, emotion is made by body motion. I feel that it is important to visualise "Time in Motion" another method of representing the user's behaviour in a different way from the UNIQLOCK which visualises the expansion of the users.'

Turning Japanese UNIQLO aims to triple its turnover in the next four years with continued expansion into Singapore in 2009 along with the opening of a new European flagship store in Paris. The success of the US and UK flagship stores has proved that the brand is now capable of adapting to cater for each new location operating with a duality which allows it to sell simultaneously in the Japanese suburbs and the centre of Manhattan. However, South America, India and Australasia present whole new cultural and economic challenges, so until stores are prospering in these locations, discussions of UNIQLO becoming the world's biggest retail brand will have to be put on hold. One thing is for sure though thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Creative Committee and campaigns such as the UNIQLOCK, the brand has set in place a marketing strategy which is capable of using every second of every day to build brand awareness within a truly global community. The rest, as they say, is just bricks and mortar.

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ANALYSTS INSIGHT /
By Neil Saunders / consulting director / Verdict Research /
Uniqlo is a distinct brand with a wide competitive set including Gap and Primark at the basics end and Zara at a more premium level. It operates in a space which is not only crowded in terms of competing retailers, but also in the context of marketing messages trying to target similar demographics. As a result, Uniqlo has to work very hard to get its message across. Marketing innovations like the Uniqlock and the Loop are useful in helping to build communities and raise the presence of the Uniqlo brand. It's a fair aspiration for Uniqlo to want to be the world's biggest retail brand, but it has a long way to go before meeting this goal. Companies like Inditex, the parent company of Zara, are far more advanced in terms of creating a sustainable and profitable global reach. However, there is an opportunity for Uniqlo to become more visible and relevant. In-store, presentation is clean and visually compelling with lots of colour, while block merchandising makes the offer look significant and attractive to consumers. Uniqlo's large flagship stores in capitals like London and New York give the brand a toehold in countries where it is unlikely to work as well in more provincial towns and cities. In an urban context with high footfall and diversity, almost anything can be credible, but in retail terms, cities like London are an exception. Uniqlo's plan to focus on expansion in Asia, bringing it closer to its home country, is likely to be a more successful strategy. www.verdict.co.uk

CHALLENGE / INITIAL ATTEMPTS TO REPLICATE THE QUINTESSENTIALLY JAPANESE, UTILITARIAN BUSINESS MODEL IN WESTERN TERRITORIES PROVED UNSUCCESSFUL. THE RAPID EXPANSION COMBINED WITH A LACK OF FLAGSHIP STORES AND SUFFICIENT MARKETING SUPPORT MEANT THAT THE BRAND WAS LEFT OUT IN THE COLD BY THE UK MARKET. CLOSE TO BANKRUPTCY, A NEW APPROACH WAS REQUIRED THAT WOULD HELP UNIQLO CARVE ITS OWN NICHE IN THE MOST COMPETITIVE RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS IN THE UK AND THE US, STARTING THE SUCCESSFUL GLOBALISATION OF THE BRAND ANEW / SOLUTION / INSTEAD OF ENLISTING THE SERVICES OF ONLY ONE AGENCY, A COMMITTEE WAS DEVELOPED UTILISING THE BEST CREATIVE MINDS FROM EACH DISCIPLINE. A FRESH, COSMOPOLITAN BRAND IDENTITY WAS MASTERMINDED WHICH WOULD DEFINE THE DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE OF NEW FLAGSHIP STORES IN NYC AND LONDON, AS WELL AS THE MARKETING AND ADVERTISING WHICH SUPPORTED THEIR PRESENCE. IN ADDITION TO THE REAL WORLD EXPANSION OF THE BRAND, INTEGRATED MARKETING CAMPAIGNS WERE DEVELOPED TO BUILD A GLOBAL COMMUNITY ONLINE. CAMPAIGNS SUCH AS THE UNIQLOCK USED THE BLOGOSHERE AS A BUZZ-BUILDING PLATFORM COMBINING A SENSE OF FUN, FASHION AND UTILITY IN A MICROCOSM OF THE BRAND ITSELF / RESULTS / THE FLAGSHIP STORES IN NYC AND LONDON ARE EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL, PROVING THAT THE NEW BRAND IDENTITY NOT ONLY WORKS, BUT CAN BE ADAPTED FOR NEW TERRITORIES. A NEW EUROPEAN FLAGSHIP IN PARIS IS DUE TO OPEN IN 2009 ALONG WITH STORES IN SINGAPORE. THE UNIQLOCK, AS WELL AS SCOOPING NUMEROUS AWARDS HAS SO FAR BEEN SEEN OVER 68M TIMES BY PEOPLE IN 209 COUNTRIES. FURTHER PROOF THAT THE UNIQLO GLOBAL COMMUNITY IS EXPANDING, IS EVIDENT IN PARENT COMPANY FAST RETAILING'S PROFIT FIGURES. PREDICTIONS FOR FISCAL 2008 ARE 585BN (3.5BN) IN NET SALES AND IN JUNE IT REPORTED A FIVE-YEAR RECORD HIGH SHARE PRICE OF 9860 (59). UNIQLO FOUNDER TADASHI YANAI IS AIMING TO MAKE UNIQLO THE WORLD'S BIGGEST RETAIL BRAND /

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00

UQ

UQ
01

UNIQLO / BRAND MAP /

01 804 STORES 03 03 UNIQLO PAPER

RETHINK

UT
02 SERVICEDRIVEN 02 IN-STORE GALLERY 02 03 PLASTIC TUBES

01

03 STREETCAST

UNISEX

BASIC
02 CONTAINERS

02

02 MP CREATIVE

NYC

01 COLLABORATE

01 REJUVENATE

01 / RECRUIT & REJUVENATE /

02 / UTILITARIAN & UNIQUE /

03 / PAPER & PLASTIC /

Uniqlo is Japan's leading unisex clothing chain, with 804 stores and a 2008 net sales forecast of 585bn (3.5bn). Shares in its parent, Fast Retailing reported a five-year record high of 12,110 (71.7) in July. This scenario certainly wasn't predicted after a failed expansion into the UK in 2001. Uniqlo had high expectations of its European launch, but was met with consumer indifference largely because of a 'scattergun' approach to retail locations, the lack of a flagship store and minimal marketing activity in the key territory of London. This retreat forced the brand into a rethink, embarking upon a more collaborative approach to its identity and marketing that has since sparked a global success story. Rather than using a single agency, key figures (Kashiwa Sato, Markus Kiersztan Yugo Nakamura, etc) from numerous creative disciplines, were recruited to rejuvenate every aspect of the Uniqlo brand, from store design to its digital presence.

The UNIQLO brand philosophy has always been about creating a distinctly utilitarian, service-driven retail experience to reflect the basic prices but premium product quality. Prior to the 2006 opening of its global flagship store in Manhattan's fashion district, several shipping containers were hoisted into selected locations around NYC to serve as temporary outlets the neatly folded stacks of clothing promoting the utilitarian perfection preached by the brand. Once the real store opened, the 36,000 square foot space showed a deliberate juxtaposition between the brand's Japanese heritage and a contemporary, culturally inclusive retail experience. After the lessons learned in London, this strategy shows that UNIQLO now approaches each new market tentatively and looks to gain a solid understanding prior to large scale-commitment. With plans already in place for Paris and Singapore, the company aims to triple its turnover in the next four years.

Aligning the brand with the art and design industry, the UNIQLO Paper is a free in-store and online magazine conceived by MP Creative. 'More than a look-book', it features interviews with designers, local celebrities and artists to emphasise the brand's cultural relevance. An in-store gallery exhibited a range of 100 limited-edition T-shirt designs from 40 artists including Yayoi Kusama, Tezuka and Godzilla. This space was later used to house the first foreign installment of the brand's UT Campaign. Based on the successful UT Store in Tokyo this distinctly Japanese retail device sells limited-edition T's packaged in plastic tubes, providing a self-service system that is more convenience store than fussy fashion retailer. The campaign was supported by print, poster and in-store ads, featuring portraits by Terry Richardson. In spring 2008, the project launched on a global scale with Matt Irwin shooting 300 streetcast models in Tokyo, NY and London.

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05 THA*LTD

UQ

UNIQ LOCK
05 06 209 COUNTRIES

04 OXFORD STREET

04

05 INTERACT

05 EMBED

HOME GROWN
04 04 PEOPLE

BLOG THIS

06

06 DRY IN MOTION

HEROES

68M
06 PROJECTOR

05

05

GRID

LOOP

04 / LONDON & LOCAL /

05 / LOGOS & LOOPS /

06 / CLICKS & CLOCKS /

The re-birth of the brand in London's Oxford Street (200m annual visitors) was promoted by the 2008 incarnation of the UT T-shirt project, but also by a more cohesive version of the People campaign - first devised for the New York launch by Marcus Kiersztan of MP Creative, and Nicola Formichetti, creative director of Dazed & Confused. Focussing on local heroes and celebrities as brand advocates, the success of this egalitarian campaign relied heavily on it being adapted for each specific location. Therefore for London, home-grown British talent was featured such as eclectic rapper Dizzee Rascal, who also performed at the opening of the stores. The strap line 'From Tokyo to London' reinforced the idea that the brand was Japanese, but by working with British talent such as Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, actress Samantha Morton and Georgia Jagger, Uniqlo created a campaign for London that would resonate with Londoners.

Encouraging consumers to interact with the brand and participate with each other inside the digital environment has played a big role in helping the UNIQLO business expand by transcending cultural boundaries. Designed to reflect how the brand is constantly evolving in the hands of the consumer, the UNIQLO GRID microsite (designed by Yugo Nakamura's tha* ltd) allows users to manipulate the UNIQLO logo. This digital canvas is shared by thousands of other users across the world making it a genuinely collaborative exercise. The UT LOOP is a flash-enabled site providing visitors with nine different UNIQLO representatives. Each comes with their own sample noise (shout, grunt, raspberry, etc), thus creating personalised mini dub loops which people can submit to the main site to be played at random as part of the 'People's Loop'. A 'Blog This' widget allows visitors to share and embed this collaborative device.

A monstrously addictive flash site masterminded by Projector, Tokyo scooped a coveted D&AD Black Pencil and both the Cyber Grand Prix and Titanium Lion at Cannes 2008. UNIQLOCK is an online clock that fuses entertainment, utility and interactivity. Operating 24/7, it marks passing moments with 5-second clips of female dancers clad in UNIQLO clothes that change according to the season. A downloadable UNIQLOCK is available as a widget for embedding on blogs, iGoogle or social networking profiles. Users can link to these embedded sites via a global map which details exactly how many people are watching UNIQLOCK worldwide. The site has been viewed 68m times in 209 countries highly significant considering that the brand has stores in only a handful of territories. Projector's latest campaign, DRY IN MOTION, features gymnasts and is inspired by the way neurons fire in the brain when observing the actions of another human on screen.